Chapter 7 Schedule Control

22 Learning Objectives  Perform the steps in the project control process  Determine the effects of actual schedule performance on the project schedule  Incorporate project changes into the schedule  Calculate an updated project schedule  Control the project schedule

33 Real World Example Vignette: A Fish Tale Building an aquarium typically takes about seven years to complete. Bernie Marcus, co-founder of The Home Depot chain, decided he wanted to build one in half the time in Atlanta, Georgia. The Georgia Aquarium was completed for $290 million in less than three years and eight months. Contracts were established with each company to ensure activities were in sync with one another. All fees for all companies were retained unless all projects were finished on time, which fostered a stronger collective project team. The aquarium opened in November 2005, and as of early 2007 had already welcomed more than 3.6 million visitors.

4 Real World Example Vignette: The Eaton Hotel Project The Eaton Hotel project, the largest private historic rehabilitation project in Kansas history, was to be completed by Dec. 22, Project was to cost a total of $15.4 million, with construction costs of about $12 million, and had to be completed by Dec. 31, Key Construction was selected to renovate the hotel’s historic, and badly deteriorated, building. They spent most of their time throughout the duration of the project on ‘‘ongoing value engineering,’’ An agreement was signed that city officials and key people would work together as a team. Key Construction didn’t request any unnecessary change orders that would slow work and drive up costs. The project was an overwhelming success: finished 9 days early within budget.

5 Project Control Process The key to effective project control is to measure actual progress and compare it to planned progress on a timely and regular basis and to take required corrective action immediately. Establish a regular reporting period. During each reporting period, collect: data on actual performance information on any changes to project scope, schedule and budget. Changes mean a new plan must be established.

Project Control Process (contd) Once an updated schedule and budget have been calculated, they need to be compared to the baseline schedule and budget and analyzed for variances. Corrective actions maybe necessary. The project control process continues throughout the project. 6

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8 Effects of Actual Schedule Performance Actual finish times (AFT) of completed activities will determine the earliest start and earliest finish times for the remaining activities.

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10 Incorporating Project Changes into the Schedule Changes might be initiated by the customer or the project team, or they might be the result of an unanticipated occurrence. The degree of impact may depend on when the changes are requested. When the customer requests a change, additional costs might need to be charged.

Incorporating Project Changes into the Schedule (contd) Other reasons for changes: Oversight when the original plan was developed. Unanticipated occurrences. Adding more detail to the network. Any type of change will require a modification to the plan. 11

12 Updating the Project Schedule An updated project schedule can be calculated based on actual finish times of completed activities

13 Approaches to Schedule Control Four Steps Analyze the schedule Decide what corrective actions should be taken, if any Revise the plan Recalculate the schedule

14 Approaches to Schedule Control (Cont.) A change in the estimated duration of any activity will cause a corresponding change in the slack for that path. When a path of activities has negative slack, focus on:  Activities that are near term.  Activities that have long estimated durations.

15 Reducing the Estimated Durations  Apply more resources.  Assign a person with greater expertise to perform or help with the activity.  Reduce the scope or requirements for an activity.  Totally eliminate some activities.  Increase productivity through improved methods or technology.

16 Approaches to Schedule Control (Cont.) Reducing durations of activities usually results in an increase in costs or a reduction in scope. The key is to effectively address paths with negative or deteriorating slack values as soon as they are identified. COST SCOPE SCHEDULE

17 Schedule Control for Information Systems Development Common necessary changes during IS development projects:  Changes to input screens  Changes to reports  Changes to online queries  Changes to database structures  Changes to software processing routines  Changes to processing speeds  Changes to storage capacities  Changes to business processes  Changes to software resulting from hardware upgrades, or vice-versa

18 Project Management Software The software allows you to perform various control functions. The percent complete for each task can be entered. Changes to the duration estimates can be entered. The software will automatically revise the project schedule and the corresponding network diagrams.

Time-Cost Trade-Off Each activity can have two pairs of duration and cost estimates Normal time and cost Time to complete under normal conditions Cost if done in normal time Crash time and cost Shortest possible length to complete the activity Cost if done in crash time Appendix 19 Appendix (is testable!)

Time-Cost Trade-Off (cont.) Assumptions Activity duration can be shortened by applying more resources with an associated cost Crash time is the shortest possible duration Resources for acceleration are available Relationship between time and cost is linear Crash cost – Normal Cost cost per time period Normal time – Crash time 20

A: Max accel:C: Max accel: Cost/wk: Cost/wk: B: Max accel:D: Max accel: Cost/wk Cost/wk: 21

Time-Cost Trade-Off (cont.) Objective of time-cost trade-off Determine shortest completion time By crashing activities with smallest cost increase Method: Shorten project duration one period at a time Crash only activities on critical path(s) with lowest cost per period increase Until get shortest possible project completion time 22

Reduce by 1 wk CP: Which activity to accelerate: New duration: New cost: Project duration: 18 weeks Project cost: $200,000 $6k/period$10k/period $5k/period $6k/period 23

Reduce by 1 wk CP: Which activity to accelerate: New duration: New cost: Project duration: Project cost: $6k/period$10k/period $5k/period $6k/period N = 9 24

Reduce by 1 wk CP: Which activity to accelerate: New duration: New cost: Project duration: Project cost: $6k/period$10k/period $5k/period $6k/period N = 9 N = 7 25

Reduce by 1 wk CP: Which activity to accelerate: New duration: New cost: Project duration: Project cost: $6k/period$10k/period $5k/period $6k/period N = 9 N = 6 26