IT Project Management, Third Edition Chapter 6 1 Chapter 3: Project Time Management

IT Project Management, Third Edition Chapter 6 2 Importance of Project Schedules Many IT projects fail in terms of meeting scope, time and cost projections. Time has the least amount of flexibility; it passes no matter what happens on a project. Schedule issues are the main reason for conflicts on projects throughout the project life cycle, especially during the second half of projects

IT Project Management, Third Edition Chapter 6 3 Importance of Project Schedules Schedule problems are so common because Time is easily and simply measured People often compare planned and actual project completion times without taking into account approved changes in the project. Managing Time is an important activity.

IT Project Management, Third Edition Chapter 6 4 Project Time Management Processes Project time management involves the processes required to ensure timely completion of a project. Processes include in PTM: Activity definition Activity sequencing Activity duration Schedule development Schedule control

IT Project Management, Third Edition Chapter 6 5 Activity Definition 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 Activity definition involves developing a more detailed WBS and supporting explanations to understand all the work to be done so you can develop realistic duration estimates.

IT Project Management, Third Edition Chapter 6 6 Activity Definition Example A WBS item might be “Produce report”. The project team would have to understand what that means. How long should the report be? Does it require a survey or extensive research to produce it? What skill level does the report writer need to have? So further defining that task will help the project team determine how long it will take to do who should do it.

IT Project Management, Third Edition Chapter 6 7 Activity Sequencing Involves reviewing activities and determining dependencies You must determine dependencies in order to use critical path analysis

IT Project Management, Third Edition Chapter 6 8 Project Network Diagrams Project network diagrams are the preferred technique for showing activity sequencing A project network diagram is a schematic display of the logical relationships among, or sequencing of, project activities A network diagram represents activities that must be done to complete the project

IT Project Management, Third Edition Chapter 6 9 Figure 6-2. Sample Activity-on-Arrow (AOA) Network Diagram for Project X

IT Project Management, Third Edition Chapter 6 10 Activity Duration Estimating After defining activities and determining their sequence, the next step in time management is duration estimating Duration includes the actual amount of time worked on an activity Resources assigned to a task will also affect the task duration A duration estimate of one day could be based on eight hours of work or four hours of work People actually doing the work should help create estimates, and an expert should review them If changes are made to the scope of the project, the duration estimates should be updated to reflect those changes.

IT Project Management, Third Edition Chapter 6 11 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 Important tools and techniques include Gantt charts, PERT analysis, Critical path analysis, and Critical chain scheduling

IT Project Management, Third Edition Chapter 6 12 Gantt Charts Gantt charts is a common tool which provide a standard format for displaying project schedule information by listing project activities and their corresponding start and finish dates in a calendar format

IT Project Management, Third Edition Chapter 6 13 Figure 6-5. Gantt Chart for Project X

IT Project Management, Third Edition Chapter 6 14 Critical Path Method (CPM) CPM is a project network analysis technique used to predict total project duration CPM provides the following benefits: Provides a graphical view of the project Predicts the time required to complete the project. Shows which activities are critical to maintaining the schedule and which are not. 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

IT Project Management, Third Edition Chapter 6 15 Finding the Critical Path First develop a good project network diagram Add the durations for all activities on each path through the project network diagram The longest path is the critical path

IT Project Management, Third Edition Chapter 6 16 Figure 6-8. Determining the Critical Path for Project X

IT Project Management, Third Edition Chapter 6 17 More on the Critical Path Misconceptions: The critical path is not the one with all the critical activities; it only accounts for time. The critical path is not the shortest path through the network diagram There can be more than one critical path if the lengths of two or more paths are the same The critical path can change as the project progresses

IT Project Management, Third Edition Chapter 6 18 Traditional Techniques for Shortening a Project Schedule using the Critical Path Various compression techniques are used to shorten a project schedule estimate. 1.Starting work as early as possible, not even when scheduled which give rise to multitasking. 2.Reduce the duration of activities on the critical path. The Project Manager can shorten the duration of critical path activities by adding more resources to those activities or reducing the scope of activities to complete the project on time.

IT Project Management, Third Edition Chapter 6 19 Importance of Updating Critical Path Data It is important to update project schedule information The critical path may change as you enter actual start and finish dates If you know the project completion date will slip, negotiate with the project sponsor

IT Project Management, Third Edition Chapter 6 20 Controlling Changes to the Project Schedule 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

IT Project Management, Third Edition Chapter 6 21 Using Software to Assist in Time Management Software for facilitating communications helps people exchange schedule-related information Project management software can help in various time management areas