Wachemo University Durame Campus

College of Engineering and Technology

School of Computing and Informatics
Department of Information Technology

Information Technology Project

Management

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 CHAPTER THREE
PROJECT SCHEDULING

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Outline
 Project Time Management
 Project Network Diagram

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Project Time Management
 It includes the processes required to ensure timely completion of the
project.

Project Time Management Process

 Activity Definition—identifying the specific activities that must be
performed to produce the various project deliverables
 Activity Sequencing—identifying & documenting interactivity
dependencies
 Activity Duration Estimating—estimating the number of work periods that
will be needed to complete individual activities
 Schedule Development—analyzing activity sequences, activity durations,
and resource requirements to create the project schedule.
 Schedule Control—controlling changes to the project schedule. 4
Activity Definition
 Activity definition: - identifying the specific activities that must
be performed to produce the various project deliverables.
 Project schedules grow out of the basic document that initiate a
project
Project charter includes start and end dates and budget
information
Scope statement and WBS help define what will be done.

Outputs of this process include an activity list, activity

attributes, a milestone list, and project management plan
updates.
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Activity Sequencing
 Activity sequencing involves identifying the logical relationships
or reviewing activities and determining dependencies.
Mandatory dependencies: inherent in the nature of the work.
They often involve physical limitations. Also called hard logic.
Discretionary dependencies: defined by the project
management team. Also called preferred logic, preferential logic,
or soft logic.
External dependencies: involve relationships between project
and non-project activities.
 The above listing are inputs for activity sequencing and you must
determine dependencies in order to use critical path analysis.
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Tools and Techniques for Activity Sequencing

Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM)

 Activities are represented by boxes
 Arrows show relationships between activities
 More popular and used by project management software
 Better at showing different types of dependencies

 This technique is also called activity-on-node (AON).

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Cont.….
It includes four types of dependencies or precedence relationships:
 Finish-to-start—the initiation of the work of the successor
depends upon the completion of the work of the predecessor.
 Finish-to-finish—the completion of the work of the successor
depends upon the completion of the work of the predecessor.
 Start-to-start—the initiation of the work of the successor
depends upon the initiation of the work of the predecessor.
 Start-to-finish—the completion of the successor is dependent
upon the initiation of the predecessor.

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Cont.….

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Project Network Diagrams
 The preferred technique for showing activity sequencing
 It is a schematic display of the logical relationships among,
or sequencing of project activities.

Arrow Diagramming Method (ADM)

 Arrow Diagramming Method (ADM) also called activity-
on-arrow (AOA) project network diagrams
 Activities are represented by arrows
 Nodes or circles are the starting and ending points of
activities
 Can only show finish-to-start dependencies 10
Project Network Diagrams
Activities Immediate Predecessors Expected time (day)

A - 1
B - 2
C - 3
D A 4
E B 5
F B 4
G C 6
H D, E 6
I G 2
J F, H, I 3

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Project Network Diagrams for Project X

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Process for creating AOA diagrams
 Find all of the activities that start at node 1. Draw their finish nodes
and draw arrows between node 1 and those finish nodes. Put the
activity letter or name and duration estimate on the associated arrow.
 Continue drawing the network diagram, working from left to right.
Look for bursts and merges. Bursts occur when a single node is
followed by two or more activities. A merge occurs when two or
more nodes precede a single node.
 Continue drawing the project network diagram until all activities are
included on the diagram that have dependencies.
 As a rule of thumb, all arrowheads should face toward the right, and
no arrows should cross on an AOA network diagram.
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Activity Duration Estimating
 Activity duration estimating is the process of taking information on
project scope and resources and then developing durations for input
to schedules.
 After defining activities and determining their sequence, the next
step in time management is duration estimating.

Reserve time (contingency)

 Project teams may choose to incorporate an additional time frame,
called time reserve, contingency, or buffer, that can be added to the
activity duration or elsewhere in the schedule as recognition of
schedule risk.
 The reserve time can later be reduced or eliminated, as more precise
information about the project becomes available. 14
Schedule Development
 Schedule development uses results of the other time
management processes to determine the start and end date
of the project and its activities.
 Ultimate goal is to create a realistic project schedule that
provides a basis for monitoring project progress for the time
dimension of the project.

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Tools and Techniques for Schedule Development
 Include Gantt charts, PERT analysis, and critical path analysis.
 Gantt chart: It provide a standard format for displaying
project schedule information by listing project activities and
their corresponding start and finish dates in a calendar format.
 Symbols include:
 A black diamond: milestones or significant events on a
project with zero duration
 Thick black bars: summary tasks

 Lighter horizontal bars: tasks

 Arrows: dependencies between tasks

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Gantt chart for project X

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Program Evaluation and Review Technique /PERT/

 Graphical representation of activities and events.

 It shows dependency relationships between tasks/activities
in a project.
 Clearly shows tasks that must precede (precedence) or
follow (succeeding) other tasks in a logical manner.
 Clear representation of plan – a powerful tool for planning
and controlling project.

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Example1
Activity Description Immediate predecessors
A Buy Plastic Body -
B Design Component -
C Make Component B
D Assemble product A, C

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Example 2
Activity Immediate predecessors
A -
B -
C B
D A, C
E C
F C
G D, E, F

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Cont.…
 Dummy activities are used to identify precedence relationships correctly
and to eliminate possible confusion of two or more activities having the
same starting and ending nodes.
 Dummy activities have no resources (time, labor, machinery, etc.) –
purpose is to PRESERVE LOGIC of the network.
 Examples of the Dummy Activity

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Earliest start & Earliest finish time
 The longest path through the network, i.e., the critical path.
 Starting at the network’s origin (node 1) and using a starting time of 0,
we compute an earliest start (ES) and earliest finish (EF) time for each
activity in the network.
 The expression EF = ES + t can be used to find the earliest finish time
for a given activity.
 For example, for activity A, ES = 0 and t = 5; thus, the earliest finish
time for activity A is

EF = 0 + 5 = 5

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Latest start & latest finish time
 To find the critical path we need a backward pass calculation.
 Starting at the completion point (node 7) and using a latest finish time
(LF) of 26 for activity I, we trace back through the network computing
a latest start (LS) and latest finish time for each activity.
 The expression LS = LF – t can be used to calculate latest start time for
each activity. For example, for activity A, LF = 26 and t = 2, thus the
latest start time for activity I is LS = 26 – 2 = 24.

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Slack or Free Time or Float
 Slack is the length of time an activity can be delayed
without affecting the completion date for the entire project.
 For example, slack for C = 3 weeks, i.e. Activity C can be
delayed up to 3 weeks (start anywhere between weeks 5 and
8).

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Critical Path Method (CPM)
 CPM is a project network analysis technique used to predict total
project duration.
 A critical path for a project is the series of activities that
determines the earliest time by which the project can be
completed.
 The critical path is the longest path through the network diagram
and has the least amount of slack or float.
 To find the critical path first develop a good project network
diagram and add the durations for all activities on each path
through the project network diagram.
 Then, identify the longest path which is the critical path. 25
Example

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Example3
Activity Immediate Predecessors Completion time(wk)
A - 5
B - 6
C A 4
D A 3
E A 1
F E 4
G D, F 14
H B, C 12
I G, H 2

1. What is the total time to complete the project?

2. What are the scheduled start and completion times for each activity?
3. What activities are critical and must be completed as scheduled in order to
keep the project on time?
4. How long can non-critical activities be delayed before they cause a delay in
the project’s completion time?
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Solution:

 Earliest start time rule: The earliest start time for an

activity leaving a particular node is equal to the largest of
the earliest finish times for all activities entering the node.
Forward pass calculation 28
Cont.….

Latest finish time rule:

 The latest finish time for an activity entering a particular
node is equal to the smallest of the latest start times for all
activities leaving the node. 29
Cont.….
Activity Earliest start Latest start Earliest finish Latest Finish Slack(LS-ES) Critical path
(ES) (LS) (EF) (LF) (LF-EF), (LF-ES-t)

A 0 0 5 5 0 Yes

B 0 6 6 12 6

C 5 8 9 12 3

D 5 7 8 10 2

E 5 5 6 6 0 Yes

F 6 6 10 10 0 Yes

G 10 10 24 24 0 Yes

H 9 12 21 24 3

I 24 24 26 26 0 Yes

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Techniques for Shortening a Project Schedule
 Shortening durations of critical tasks for adding more
resources or changing their scope.
 Crashing tasks by obtaining the greatest amount of schedule
compression for the least incremental cost.
 Fast tracking tasks by doing them in parallel or overlapping
them.

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Schedule Control
 Schedule control is concerned with:

a) influencing the factors that create schedule changes to ensure that changes
are agreed upon,

b) determining that the schedule has changed, and

c) managing the actual changes when and as they occur.

 Schedule control must be thoroughly integrated with the other control
processes.
 Perform reality checks on schedules
 Allow for contingencies
 Don’t plan for everyone to work at 100% capacity all the time
 Hold progress meetings with stakeholders and be clear and honest in
communicating schedule issues.
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