Project Time Management Fundamentals

• Estimating project time involves creating an activity list, creating a Project Schedule Network Diagram, estimating activity resources, and estimating duration for project activities.
• Project Time Management belongs to the Planning Process Group.

Activities

• Activities represent an element of project work requiring an action to produce a deliverable.
• Activities should have an expected duration, consume budget or human resources, and be named in verb-noun format.
• An example of activities in a company project are to revise user manual, make a sales presentation and to reserve conference room.

Work Package

• Work packages are planned work or deliverables and are the lowest-level component of the work breakdown structure (WBS).
• Cost and schedule can be easily estimated for work packages.

The 8/80 Rule

• The 8/80 rule is a guideline for work packages, suggesting they require more than 8 but fewer than 80 hours of effort to complete.
• It aids project managers in creating work package lists.

Schedule Management Plans

• Schedule management plans involve an approach to developing, maintaining, and managing the project schedule.
• These plans describe the purpose, approved tools and techniques, number/types/purposes of project schedules, how changes to the schedule baseline are managed, responsibilities for developing and maintaining project schedules, and schedule performance reporting.

Define Activities Process

• This is the process of identifying and documenting specific activities that must be performed to produce the project's deliverables.
• Inputs include scope baseline, enterprise environmental factors and organizational process assets.
• Tools and techniques include decomposition, rolling wave planning, templates, and expert judgment.
• Outputs include an activity list, activity attributes, and a milestone list.

How to Define Activities

• Guidelines include gathering inputs and materials, analyzing and decomposing each work package of the WBS (Work Breakdown Structure) into activities required to produce the deliverable.
• Other guidelines include consulting records of similar projects/subject matter experts/all constraints and assumptions.
• As well as evaluating the activity list once each work package is decomposed into activities.

Completed WBS Table Example

• WBS: TRN0002.0 to student to assess needs.
• Training activity examples: training needs review with key resources; review with BT Strategic Planning group, identify high-level BT PM Needs, PMO Steering Committee, new PM processes; training content review, training material and results.

The Sequence Activities Process

• The sequence activities process is a planning process that involves identifying and documenting interactivity dependencies among project activities for the purpose of creating the project schedule.
• Inputs include activity list, activity attributes, milestone list, project scope statement, and organizational process assets.
• Tools & Techniques include precedence diagramming method (PDM), dependency determination, applying leads and lags, along with schedule network templates.
• Outputs include project schedule network diagrams and project document updates.

Activity Dependencies

• Activity dependencies represent a logical relationship that exists between two project activities.
• Design functionality depends on the framed structure, walls, windows, and roof.
• The structure in place depends on reassessing the plans and determining modifications.

Types of Activity Dependencies

• Mandatory dependencies are inherent to the work itself and affected by physical constraints.
• Discretionary dependencies are defined by the project and project management team at their discretion.
• External dependencies are contingent on inputs from outside the project activities.

Precedence Relationships

• Precedence relationships are the logical relationships between two activities that describes the sequence in which they should be carried out.
• For example, drywall installation must finish before painting can begin.

Precedence Relationship Types

• Finish-to-Start (FS): Activity A must finish before activity B can start.
• Finish-to-Finish (FF): Activity A must finish before activity B can finish.
• Start-to-Start (SS): Activity A must start before activity B can start.
• Start-to-Finish (SF): Activity A must start before activity B can finish.

Lag and Lead

• Lag represents a delay in the start of a successor activity.
• Lead represents a change in a logical relationship and allows the successor activity to start before the predecessor activity ends in a finish-to-start (FS) relationship.
• Lead is implemented when a successor activity needs to be accelerated to shorten the project schedule.

Project Schedule Network Diagrams

• These diagrams are a graphical representation of the sequence of project activities and their dependencies.
• They are read from left to right or top to bottom.

The Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM)

• PDM produces a project schedule network diagram that uses rectangular boxes (nodes) to represent activities and arrows to represent precedence relationships between activities.
• PDM characteristics: Reads from left to right, shows duration in nodes, can be created manually or with software, reports related activities as an aggregate, and uses all precedence relationship types.

Summary Activities

• Summary Activities are a group of related schedule activities shown as a single aggregate activity in a bar chart or graph for reporting purposes.
• Summary activities are also called "hammock activities."

Conditional Diagramming Methods

• Conditional Diagramming Methods are a network diagramming method that allows for nonsequential activities, such as loops or conditional branches.

How to Create a Project Schedule Network Diagram

• Steps to create a PDM project schedule network diagram: Determine dependencies, identify predecessor and successor activities, create nodes, draw arrows and include lags/leads.
• The final step is to verify diagram accuracy.

Project Resources

• Project resources are useful material objects or people needed for project completion.
• These include labor, materials, facilities, equipment, consultants, services, supplies, and utilities.
• For example, resources for a health & wellness seminar project could be a conference room, brochures/pamphlets, visiting consultants and vendors.

Estimate Activity Resources Process

• It involves determining specific resources necessary for completing project activities.
• Inputs include activity list, activity attributes, resource calendars, enterprise environmental factors and organizational process assets.
• Methods and techniques include expert judgment, alternatives analysis, published estimating data, bottom-up estimating, and project management software.
• Resulting in activity resource requirements, resource breakdown structure, and project document updates .

How to Estimate Activity Resources

• Guidelines include determining what resources and quantity are necessary, generate alternatives for unavailable resources.
• Other guidelines include analyzing the scope statement, organizational policies, if needed identify expert judgement, and analyze the resources already available.
• For example, determining resources for a website design project include hiring a contractor, computer/printer/workstation, software, and commercial printing capabilities.

Estimate Activity Durations Process

• The activity involves estimating the quantity of work required to complete individual project activities using available resources.
• Inputs include activity list, activity attributes, resource requirements, resource calendars, project scope statement, enterprise environmental factors, and organizational process assets.
• Tools and Techniques include expert judgment, analogous estimating, parametric estimating, three-point estimates, and reserve analysis.
• Outputs include activity duration estimates and project document updates.

How to Estimate Duration for Project Activities

• Guidelines include involving work package owners, and consulting historical information.
• Other guidelines: Determine how to quantify work, consider resource requirements/capabilities, determine the appropriate estimation method, modify planning process constraints/assumptions, verify accuracy, and consider the need for reserve time.
• Including activity estimates such as resources, website design work , and units.