PROJECT SCHEDULING

 A project schedule is a timetable that shows the start and end

date of all project tasks, how the tasks relate to each other and
usually which team members or other resources are
responsible for delivery.
 Itis a dynamic document that is created during initial the
planning stage.
 While schedules are often thought of as planning and control
tools, they are also critical communication tools for team
members and stakeholders.
 The approved project schedule act as a baseline to work to, but
it is maintained and updated throughout the project as things
change.
How to do Project Scheduling
 Scheduling is a part of the planning process; some simple steps to effectively
schedule your projects are to:
 Confirm the project activities: make sure they cover your project scope
 Sequence activities: determine which order the tasks need to be completed
 Determine dependencies: identify tasks that rely on each other
 Determine durations : accurately estimate how long each task will take
 Estimate milestones: set the key dates that need to be met
 Allocate resources: internal staff, contractors tools, and workspaces.
 Assess risk and decide how it will be dealt with in your schedule
 Define baseline schedule :taking into account the dependencies, sequence,
resources durations and risks, layout all tasks on a timelines.
 Monitor and control: decide how you will monitor, control and report on any
changes to the schedule.
Benefits of effective project scheduling
 The project schedule guides the project team as they deliver the project
 It communicates progress to the team, management and other stakeholders.
 It makes the entire project run more smoothly and help you finish up on time and on budget
 Contributes heavily to project success
 Provides a clear roadmap to everyone at the beginning of the project.
 Manages stakeholder expectations
 Monitors and communicates project progress
 Ensures buy in and accountability for tasks and deadlines
 Lets the team know which tasks rely on others
 Serves as an early warning system for potential project issues.
 Reserves your resources for when you need them.
What are included in a project schedule?

 Deliverables
A description of the outputs created by the workdone
 Task description
A description of the outcomes you want to produce
 Task duration
The entire time taken to complete a task
 Task start and end date
The dates the task will start and finish
LEADS, LAGS & FLOAT
 Leads, lags and float are concepts used in schedule development process.
 The process of schedule development includes:
1. identification of all activities
2. sequencing all activities based on dependency
3. estimating duration of each activity
4. finalizing the schedule.
Leads, lags and float are used as part of activity sequencing process. All activities
once sequenced will form a schedule network diagram.
Float
 Float (also known as slack) is the amount of time by which the start of an activity can be delayed without
delaying the project completion time. Every task will have following set of start and finish time.
• Earliest start time (ES) - The earliest time, an activity can start once the previous dependent activities
are over.
• Earliest finish time (EF) - This would be ES + activity duration.
• Latest finish time (LF) - The latest time an activity can finish without delaying the project.
• Latest start time (LS) - This would be LF - activity duration.
 Float time of an activity can be calculated by taking the difference between Late Start (LS) and Early
Start (ES) OR between Late Finish (LF) and Early Finish (EF).
 Float = LS-ES OR
 =LF-EF
 A positive float time indicates the flexibility we will have in delaying the specific activity without
delaying the project completion time.
 Typically, while doing scheduling, the critical path tasks will have zero float and the non-critical path
tasks will have a positive float. That means non-critical path tasks can be delayed to certain extent without
compromising on the project completion time. Float time information of tasks is very useful to the project
team for taking scheduling decisions when there will be resource constraints.
LAG
 Lag is the amount of wait time between two tasks. Or in other words, lag is the amount of time by
which a successor activity will be delayed. Lag can be used in all the four logical relationships in
scheduling, such as Finish-to-start (FS), start-to-start (SS), finish-to-finish (FS) and start-to-finish
(SF).
 In below example, Task A and B have a Finish to Start (FS) relationship. Ideally both A and B should
get finished on the 12th day. But when we insert a waiting of time of 2 days before B can start, then
both A and B will get completed only on the 14th day.
LEAD
 Lead is the amount of time a successor task can be accelerated. Lead can applied only on finish-
to-start relationship between two activities.
 We can see the below example. In the below example, task B can start 2 days before the
completion of task A. Hence the start of task B, which ideally would have been on 6th day, will
not start on 4th day.
UNDERSTANDING TASK DEPENDENCIES
Dependencies are the relationships among tasks which determine the order in which
activities need to be performed.

There are four (4) types of dependency relationships.

Types of dependencies
Finish to Start Start to Start Finish to Finish Start to Finish

FS SS FF
Predecessor must Predecessor Predecessor must SF
finish before must start before finish before Predecessor must
Successor can Successor can start before
Successor can
start. finish. [Laying Successor can finish.
start. [Road excavating [Road excavating
Asphalt must be
[Land must be must start before complete before must start before line
purchased before Asphalt can be line painting can be painting can be
road building can laid] completed]
completed]
start]
 Dependencies are the relationships of the preceding tasks
to the succeeding tasks.
 Tasks may have multiple preceding tasks and multiple
succeeding tasks.
 The most common dependency relationship is a finish-to-
start relationship.
 Task P (predecessor) must be finished before task S
(successor) can start. The least common relationship is
the start-to-finish relationship. Project Insight, project
management software, supports all four dependency
relationships.
RESOURCE
LEVELING
Introduction
 Resource leveling is a technique in project management that
overlooks resource allocation and resolves possible conflict
arising from over-allocation. When project managers undertake a
project, they need to plan their resources accordingly.
 This will benefit the organization without having to face conflicts
and not being able to deliver on time. Resource leveling is
considered one of the key elements to resource management in
the organization.
 An organization starts to face problems if resources are not
allocated properly i.e., some resource may be over-allocated
whilst others will be under-allocated. Both will bring about a
financial risk to the organization.
The Two Key Elements of Resource leveling

 As the main aim of resource leveling is to allocate resource

efficiently, so that the project can be completed in the given time
period.
Resource leveling can be broken down into two main areas:
1. projects that can be completed by using up all resources, which
are available
2. projects that can be completed with limited resources.
 Projects, which use limited resources can be extended for over a
period of time until the resources required are available. If then
again, the number of projects that an organization undertakes
exceeds the resources available, then it's wiser to postpone the
project for a later date.