Understanding Project Management: Schedule Planning PDF

1 UNDERSTANDING PROJECT MANAGEMENT A PRACTICAL GUIDE SECOND EDITION Chapter 5 Schedule Planning...

1 UNDERSTANDING PROJECT MANAGEMENT A PRACTICAL GUIDE SECOND EDITION Chapter 5 Schedule Planning Professor: Term: © 2021 Dave C. Barrett  2 The Project Life Cycle (PLC) Initiating Planning Executing Closing Phase Phase Phase Phase Ch 3. Stakeholder Planning Ch 11. Executing, Monitoring, and Ch 4. Scope Planning Controlling the Plan Ch 5. Schedule Planning Ch 2. Ch 6. Budget Planning Ch 12. Ch 15. Starting the Managing Disruptions to the Closing the Project Ch 7. Project Team Planning Plan: Issues and Change Project Ch 8. Quality Planning Ch 13. Managing the Human Resources Ch 9. Risk Planning Aspects of the Project Ch 10. Communications Planning Ch 14. Project Procurement © 2018 Dave C. Barrett  3 Agenda What Are the Activities of the Project? When Will the Activities Be Performed? Critical Path Analysis © 2021 Dave C. Barrett  What Are the Activities of 4 the Project? Recall that during Scope Planning, the project was broken down into a number of deliverables, each representing a part of the project to be delivered The deliverables are broken down into smaller and smaller deliverables. The smallest are called work packages. Each deliverable (or work package) is a noun – that is, a thing that is produced During Schedule Planning, for each work package, the activities needed to create the work package are defined Each activity is a verb – that is, an action that is performed © 2021 Dave C. Barrett  5 Remember this relationship…. Projects are broken down into: Deliverables that are NOUNS Deliverables are broken down into: Smaller deliverables (work packages) that are NOUNS Work packages are broken down into: Activities that are VERBS © 2021 Dave C. Barrett  How Many Activities 6 Should Be Defined? When defining activities for a work package, the question is: “how many activities should there be?” - Create draft copy For example, for the work package Final - Create final report Report, should there be a smaller number of activities defined… - Perform research - Create draft copy … or a larger number? - Perform edits - Proofread report What are the factors that should be - Create final report considered? © 2021 Dave C. Barrett  7 Creating the Activity List © 2021 Dave C. Barrett  8 Link to YouTube © 2021 Dave C. Barrett  9 Creating the Activity List Sophie takes a low-tech approach to creating the activity list She writes each work package from the previously created Work Breakdown Structure on a piece of paper For each piece of paper (work package), she then thinks of the activities needed to produce the work package. She writes these on the paper. This approach helps her to focus on each work package individually Using the WBS as a starting point, create an Activity List consisting of one or more activities for each work package. © 2021 Dave C. Barrett  10 Estimating the Activity Duration For Discussion: Estimating the duration of an activity can be challenging. What are some reasons for this? What are some techniques that may be used to create duration estimates? Duration estimates are added to the Activity List Estimate the duration for each activity. © 2021 Dave C. Barrett  When Will the Activities 11 Be Performed? Once the activities of the project have been defined (in the Activity List), the timing of activities will be determined This is based on either: The required sequence of the work involved – which is also known as determining the dependencies between activities The completion of activities on a certain date © 2021 Dave C. Barrett  12 Determining When the Activities Will Be Performed © 2021 Dave C. Barrett  13 Link to YouTube © 2021 Dave C. Barrett  Determining When the 14 Activities will be Performed Sophie realizes that the Activity List is not in any particular order So she writes the name of each activity on a sticky note and places them all on her office whiteboard She then places them in order with arrows between the notes Here is an example: Create sign graphics/text Order banner stands © 2021 Dave C. Barrett  15 Here is the result… © 2021 Dave C. Barrett  16 The Network Diagram Useful tool for displaying the sequence of activities Each activity is represented by a rectangle Each arrow represents a dependency between two activities Create a network diagram that demonstrates the dependencies between activities. © 2021 Dave C. Barrett  17 Adding Human Resources To the Schedule © 2021 Dave C. Barrett  18 Link to YouTube © 2021 Dave C. Barrett  Adding Human Resources 19 to the Schedule As activities will start as soon as possible, the addition of human resources causes some problems For example, the network diagram requires six Graphic Designers to all start at the same time – and Sophie will have one only assigned to her project This can be solved by either asking the person to multi-task or to introduce additional dependencies based on resource availability This is known as resource leveling Add human resources requirements to the project schedule and use © 2021 Dave C. Barrett resource leveling as required to resolve resource overallocations.  20 Here is the resulting network diagram after resource leveling… © 2021 Dave C. Barrett  21 The Project Schedule In addition to the Network Diagram, there are many different types of project schedules that may be used There is no “one way” to create a schedule - the amount of detail and complexity required in a schedule depends on the characteristics of the project The three main types to be discussed are: Milestone-based Activity-based Dependency-based © 2021 Dave C. Barrett  22 The Milestone-Based Schedule © 2021 Dave C. Barrett  23 The Activity-Based Schedule © 2021 Dave C. Barrett  The Dependency-Based Schedule 24 (Gantt Chart) © 2021 Dave C. Barrett  25 Project Schedules For discussion: what are the pros and cons of each type of schedule: Network diagram Milestone-based schedule Activity-based schedule Dependency-based schedule There are many formats of project schedules, including network diagrams, milestone-based schedules, activity-based schedules, and dependency-based schedules. © 2021 Dave C. Barrett  26 More About Dependencies Finish-to-Start Activity A Activity B Activity C Start-to-Start Activity D © 2021 Dave C. Barrett  27 More About Dependencies Activity E Finish-to-Finish Activity F There are four dependency types: Finish-to-Start, Start-to-Start, Finish-to-Finish, and Start-to-Finish. Start-to-Finish dependency types are rare and are not covered in detail in this course. © 2021 Dave C. Barrett  28 Dependency Leads and Lags Activity A Lead (2 days) 2 days Activity B © 2021 Dave C. Barrett  29 Dependency Leads and Lags Lag (1 day) Activity C Activity D 1 day Activity time may be affected by the amount of lead or lag defined by the Project Manager. © 2021 Dave C. Barrett  Critical Path Analysis 30 An Overview The longest sequence of activities in a project schedule – this sequence then represents the earliest planned completion time for the project For the following network diagram, what is the longest sequence of activities (or path)? Apply for passport (10 days) Select vacation Depart for destination vacation (2 days) (1 day) Book vacation Pack for vacation (1 day) (1 day) © 2021 Dave C. Barrett  Critical Path Analysis 31 Calculating Total Float Total float is the amount of time an activity may be delayed before it delays the project end date How much total float is contained in each of the activities below? Apply for passport (10 days) Select vacation Depart for destination vacation (2 days) (1 day) Book vacation Pack for vacation (1 day) (1 day) © 2021 Dave C. Barrett  What is the Critical Path for the Case 32 Study Project? What is the Total Float for each activity? Understanding the critical path allows the Project Manager to determine the total project duration and the impact of © 2021 Dave C. Barrett activity delays on the project’s completion date.  33 Key Terminology Activity-Based Schedule Lag Activity List Lead Critical Path Milestone Dependency Milestone-Based Schedule Dependency-Based Schedule Network Diagram Duration Resource Leveling Finish-to Finish Dependency Start-to-Finish Dependency Finish-to-Start Dependency Start-to-Start Dependency Gantt Chart Total Float © 2021 Dave Barrett  34 References “Agenda” Slide Image: “CheckList” by DaKo is licensed under CC0 1.0 Image: “Calendar” by hypocore is licensed under CC0 1.0 Image: “Project Schedule” by jabernal is licensed under CC0 1.0 © 2021 Dave C. Barrett