Project Scheduling www.AssignmentPoint.com

What is Project Scheduling A schedule is the conversion of a project action plan into an operating timetable It serves as the basis for monitoring and controlling project activity It is probably the major tool for the management of projects along with the plan and budget In a project environment, the scheduling function is more important than it would be in an ongoing operation www.AssignmentPoint.com

The basic approach of all scheduling techniques is to form a network of activity and event relationships This network should graphically portray the sequential relations between the tasks in a project Tasks that must precede or follow other tasks are then clearly identified, in time as well as function www.AssignmentPoint.com

It determines an expected project completion date Networks are a powerful tool for planning and controlling a project and have the following benefits: It is a consistent framework for planning, scheduling, monitoring, and controlling the project It illustrates the interdependence of all tasks, work packages, and work elements It denotes the times when specific individuals must be available for work on a given task It aids in ensuring that the proper communications take place between departments and functions It determines an expected project completion date www.AssignmentPoint.com

It identifies so-called critical activities that, if delayed, will delay the project completion time It identifies activities with slack that can be delayed for specific periods without penalty It determines the dates on which tasks may be started - or must be started if the project is to stay on schedule It illustrates which tasks must be coordinated to avoid resource timing conflicts It illustrates which tasks may run, or must be run, in parallel to achieve the predetermined project completion date It relieves some interpersonal conflict by clearly showing task dependencies www.AssignmentPoint.com

Network Techniques: PERT and CPM With the exception of Gantt charts, the most common approach to scheduling is the use of network techniques such as PERT and CPM The Program Evaluation and Review Technique was developed by the U.S. Navy in 1958 The Critical Path Method was developed by Dupont, Inc during the same time period www.AssignmentPoint.com

PERT has been primarily used for research and development projects PERT has been primarily used for research and development projects. CPM was designed for construction projects and has been generally embraced by the construction industry PERT uses probabilistic time estimates while CPM uses deterministic time estimates. In CPM activities can be crashed at extra cost to speed up the completion time. The two methods are quite similar and are often combined for educational presentation www.AssignmentPoint.com

Terminology Activity - A specific task or set of tasks that are required by the project, use up resources, and take time to complete Event - The result of completing one or more activities. An identifiable end state occurring at a particular time. Events use no resources. Network - The combination of all activities and events define the project and the activity precedence relationships Path - The series of connected activities (or intermediate events) between any two events in a network Critical - Activities, events, or paths which, if delayed, will delay the completion of the project. A project’s critical path is understood to mean that sequence of critical activities that connect the project’s start event to its finish event www.AssignmentPoint.com

An activity can be in any of these conditions: It may have a successor(s) but no predecessor(s) - starts a network It may have a predecessor(s) but no successor(s) - ends a network It may have both predecessor(s) and successor(s) - in the middle of a network The interconnections depend on the technological relationships described in the action plan www.AssignmentPoint.com

Drawing Networks Activity-on-Arrow (AOA) networks use arrows to represent activities while nodes stand for events Activity-on-Node (AON) networks use nodes to represent activities with arrows to show precedence relationships The choice between AOA and AON representation is largely a matter of personal preference www.AssignmentPoint.com

Activity on Node www.AssignmentPoint.com

Activity on Arc www.AssignmentPoint.com

Activity SLACK SLACK = LSij – ESij OR LFij – EFij ESij = maximum (EFi) EFij = ESij + t ij LSij = LFij - t ij LFij = minimum (LSj) There are two types of Slack Free Slack Total Slack www.AssignmentPoint.com

Example#1 www.AssignmentPoint.com

Probabilistic Time Estimates Expected Time, TE = (a + 4m + b)/6 Where, a = optimistic time estimates b = pessimistic time estimates m = most likely time estimates www.AssignmentPoint.com

Example#2 www.AssignmentPoint.com

Uncertainty in Project Completion Time Z = (D - )/ D = Desired project completion time  = Critical time of the project = The variance of the critical path, the sum of the variances of activities on the critical path Z = The number of standard deviations of normal distribution www.AssignmentPoint.com

Example#3 Given the following financing project being considered by a venture firm, find the probability of completion by 17 weeks, by 24 weeks. By what date is management 90 percent sure completion will occur www.AssignmentPoint.com

Time (Week) Activity Optimistic Most likely Pessimistic 1-2 5 11 1-3 10 1-4 2 8 2-6 1 7 13 3-6 4 3-7 3-5 4-5 6 5-7 14 6-7 www.AssignmentPoint.com project management

Gantt Chart The Gantt chart shows planned and actual progress for a number of tasks displayed against a horizontal time scale It is an effective and easy-to-read method of indicating the actual current status for each set of tasks compared to the planned progress for each item of the set It can be helpful in expediting, sequencing, and reallocating resources among tasks Gantt charts usually do not show technical dependencies www.AssignmentPoint.com project management

There are several advantages to the use of Gantt charts: Even though they may contain a great deal of information, they are easily understood While they may require frequent updating, they are easy to maintain Gantt charts provide a clear picture of the current state of a project They are easy to construct www.AssignmentPoint.com project management

www.AssignmentPoint.com project management