3.The project planning

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di Project Management

3. The project planning

a. Project planning techniquesa. Time planningb. Resources planningc. Economic planning

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di Planning Techniques

• A good plan recalls a movie script…

• Scenes and their logical succession are described…

• Actors are defined; when they will enter in the scene andthe speech to tell…

• The plan is the tool we need to define the paths to theresult. It shows risks and weak areas; allows us to comparewhat is done with what we should have done and need todo; shows whether we have to take corrective orprecautionary actions

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i Planning Techniques

Having a good plan allows:

1. To define sub targets;2. To describe the activity sequence to achieve the target 3. To verify activity time and duration4. To define people in charge and responsibilities5. To have a complete project view6. To take actions to reduce the project total time7. To communicate with customers or internal/external shareholders8. To reduce risks and/or point them out to define corrective actions9. To have an analysis to understand and control project costs

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rdi Planning Techniques

Planning check list

1. Define final and intermediate targets in order to respect time, costs andresources;

2. Define the WBS;3. Build the Responsibility Matrix;4. Evaluate activities as for duration, costs and required resources;5. Define activity interactions, constraints and sequences;6. Define the project calendar;7. Define the max/min start/end dates, scrolls, critical paths (CPM);8. Build the bar diagram (GANTT);9. Analyze the resources charge and make the correct adjustments;10. Develop the project budget.

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Planning Techniques

Building the WBS

• The WBS is the technique through which you decompose

projects into smaller subprojects to get to an operativework package (a terminal element that is not further

subdivided), assigned and measurable (planned,

programmed and under control).

• Why is building the WBS so difficult? Because we need a

criteria to classify activities. This criteria must answer to

these questions :

– What kind of structure do I need?

– How do we break down complex activities?

– How do we describe the decomposed activity blok?

– What level of detail?

– What clustering method?

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Building the WBS – Which structure?

• The WBS structure is usually hierarchical-pyramid like• The structure shows a top-down structure: “from general

to particular”• Activities and targets located in a defined level depend on

those located at the lower level …

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Planning Techniques

Building the WBS – What criteria to break down activities?

The WBS must have all deliverable items (deliverables – project

products, or milestones – control point) and all the main

activities connected.

• OBJECTIVE CRITERIA – the project’s target is divided into sub targets. For

each sub target we describe processes and necessary activities.

PROJECT

Target 1 Traget 2 Target 3

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• WORK-PROCESS CRITERIA – the project’s break down in based on theprocesses we will have to do to reach the deliverables. The first WBSlevel will be a whole of processes. At the top of the diagram we will havethe macro-processes. The limit to this method is that assigning theprocess responsibility to only one person is not always possible. Thiscriteria is good for repetitive projects.

Flat refurbishment

Walls Electrical system Heating system

Demolitions Rebuilding

West wall demolition

East wall demolition

Kitchen wall building

Painting

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• LIFE-CYCLE OR PHASE CRITERIA – in this case, the WBS showsdeliverables or milestones at the lower level. This criteria is good forinternal organizational projects.

COMPANY PARTY PROJECT

EVENT DEFINITION PREPARATION EVENT MANAGEMENT

Screenplay Contracts

Events Choreography

Guests

Communication Activities prep

Advertising Invitations

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• LOCALIZATION CRITERIA – the WBS is divided into packages located inseveral space locations (ex: movie).

DOCUMENTARY

1.1 Filming in Africa 1.2 Filming in Italy 1.3 Editing in Rome

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• Description – each WBS element is identified with a description and anactivity code. The activity code is level structured

• Level of detail – going down, complexity and size are reduced. Thelowest level is a task not further subdivisible – a work package – havingthe following characteristics:– Planned as for time, costs and resources;– Assigned to just one person responsible;– With a defined duration compared to the whole project.

1.1 Filming in Africa

1.1.1 xxxxx 1.1.2 yyyy

1.1.2.1 nnn 1.1.2.2 kkkk

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• The work package – for each w-p we have to define:– Description of “Work to do”– Resource responsible– Time, cost and further required resources– Input requested from other w-p– Expected output

• Input and output represents the interface elements from and to otherw-p and must be correctly estimated by the Project Manager. The w-pare put together following the WBS structure.

1.1 – Layout definition

5gg Op Mngr

Input: Material flow and volumes

Output: Layout (drawings and file .dwg)

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THE PLAN – THE GANTT

• The GANTT diagram (also called bar chart) was the first modern graphicplanning tool. It is a graphic project view with all the time and planninginformation. It was invented by Henry Gantt (1861-1919), an industrialengineer and Taylor’s disciple that was also consultant for the WarMinistry in the first years of the XX century.

• It is a view of the project’s development in a time scale. Every barrepresents an activity; the bar length is proportional to the activityduration.

• Limits: the logical connections between activities are not represented.At the same time, resources responsible or needed for each activity arenot shown.

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THE PLAN – THE GANTT

A

B

C

D

JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL

ACTIVITIES

TIME

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THE PLAN – PERT / CPM

• The Network Planning (or Project Grid Planning) is a graphic activityrepresentation; it shows the time sequence of all the tasks to do in orderto achieve the project’s target.

• The PERT (Program Evaluation and Review Technique), was the firstreticular plan tool. It was born in 1958-59 from a little consultant societyof Washington (ORS) for the US Navy Special Projects Office to developthe first nuclear submersible rocket: the Polaris. The Navy problem wasthat every project with sub-contractors was full of delay risks, so it waslooking for a planning system allowing it to have more control

• The Navy used PERT to coordinate the efforts of some 3,000 contractorsinvolved with the project.

• Experts credited PERT with shortening the project duration by two years.Since then, all government contractors have been required to use PERTor a similar project analysis technique for all major governmentcontracts.

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iPlanning Techniques


• With the PERT all the WBS’s activities must be represented in a logicalsequence in a network (grid).

• The evaluation of the activity’s duration (D) is done through aprobabilistic function that can follow three criteria (scenarios): optimistic(A), pessimistic (B) and probable (M) using the following formula:

D = (A+B+4M)/6

• Within the sequence we can calculate the Critical Path and the probabletime and duration.

• The method allows to describe very complex activities in a rational way,it has a probabilistic soul, it allows to calculate the risk ratio but it is verycomplex to use.

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• The CPM (Critical Path Method), is an easier modification of the PERT

• In the CPM, the way to define activities duration is deterministic,therefore exact. The probabilistic function disappears.

• The CPM makes it easier to calculate the progress percentage of eachactivity rather than the PERT.

• With the CPM we can easily obtain parameters like Early Start, LateStart and End, it is also easy to identify the most rigid activities in theCritical Path.

• PERT is good in case of a very variable timing (ex: R&D projects), whileCPM is more suitable when we are able to define time with moreaccuracy.

• To make the project grid we need to start from the WBS where all theactivities were described with their duration.

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THE PLAN – PERT / CPMLogical activities sequences • After we have identified all the project activities with their durations,

we need to define the logical constrains, i.e. the sequentialconnections between activities.

• For each activity we need to understand what activity must becompleted before, for the activity to be able to start, and what activitiescannot start before the end of the activity under exam.

1.1 – Material Flow def

2 daysResp Log

1.2 – Volumes definition

5 daysResp Prd

1.4 –Layout definition

5 daysDir Op

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THE PLAN – PERT / CPMLogical activities sequences• The logical sequence above-mentioned tells us that the activity 1.4 can

start only if the 1.1 and 1.2 have finished. This condition is described with“FS” (Finish to Start) and is formalized in the following way:

1.1 – Material flow def

2daysResp Log

1.2 – Volumes def

5daysResp Prd

1.4 – Layout def

5daysDir Op

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THE PLAN – PERT / CPMLogical activities sequences• There are four logical connection types:

– FS – Finish to Start: the B activity cannot start if the A activity is not ended

– SF – Start to Finish: the B activity cannot end if the A activity is not started

– SS – Start to Start: the B activity cannot start if the A activity is not started

– FF – Finish to Finish: the B activity cannot end if the A activity is not ended

A

B

A

B

A

B

A

B

FS SF SS FF

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THE PLAN – PERT / CPMMilestones and activities duration• After the logical connection definition, we need to estimate the duration

and define the project calendar.• Defining the project calendar means that we have to define the project

start date by defining the working days (we first define non-workingdays and then the standard number of hours for each working day) foreach resource of the project.

• The duration may be expressed in every time unit (hours, days, weeks,quarters).

• It is necessary to identify some important events, called milestones ordeliverables, when something important happens (like kick offs, checks,approvals, deliveries, etc). Milestones have duration 0 by definition.

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THE PLAN – PERT / CPM• The project grid planning with the CPM method is made up through a

sequential algorithm that combines the activities respecting existing timesand succession constraints.

• With the CPM algorithm we can get the following information:– Minimum Dates of start/end concerning each activity– Maximum Dates of start/end concerning each activity– The project’s End Date– The project Critical Paths (activity sequences that cannot delay without

causing the entire project to delay)– The potential admitted delay for activities that are outside critical paths (in

other words, how much an activity can delay without causing the entireproject to delay) – Slack Activities.

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• The project start date – EST = Early Start Time

• The minimum start date – ES = Early Start Date – it represents thecalendar date when an activity CAN start (as early as possible).

• The minimum end date – EF = Early Finish Date – it represents thecalendar date when an activity CAN be completed (as early as possible).

• The maximum start date – LS = Late Start Date – it represents thecalendar date when an activity MUST start (late) without compromisingthe total project’s duration (the end project date).

• The maximum end date – LF = Late Finish Date – it represents thecalendar date when an activity MUST end.

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THE PLAN – PERT / CPM – example

Project network

CODE DESCRIPTION DURATION PREC. ACT. PREC TYPE1 Start 0 - -2 A 7 1 FS3 B 5 2 FS4 C 2 1 FS5 D 17 4 FS6 E 12 2,4 FS7 End 0 3,5,6 FS

Start

1 0days

A

2 7days

C

4 2days

B

3 5days

E

6 12days

D

5 17days

End

7 0days

Code Duration

Description

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THE PLAN – PERT / CPM – example• To calculate the minimum activity start/end dates, we start from the

project’s start date (EST = day 1), we go forward following the activitysequences as shown in the network and then we add each duration (atthe earliest).

• EFA = ESA + DuA = 1+7 (-1*) = 7 (* we start counting from the start day)

• EFc = ESC + DuC = 1+2 (-1*) = 2• Following the network, we can see that the minimum start date of

activity B depends on the minimum end date of the previous activity (A).

Start

1 0days

A

2 7days

C

4 2days

B

3 5d

E

6 12d

D

5 17d

End

7 0d1

712

19

219

201

1

1

8

8

3

20

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THE PLAN – PERT / CPM – example

Project’s end date

Start

1 0d

A

2 7d

C

4 2d

B

3 5d

E

6 12d

D

5 17d

End

7 0d1

7

19

219

201

1

1

8

3

20

128

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THE PLAN – PERT / CPM – Relation between dates• For the start activity (the first activity of a project), the minimum start

date is equal to the minimum end date (duration is 0)Early Start Time EST = ESstart= EFstart

• For the generic activity, the minimum start date is equal to themaximum of minimum end dates of the previous activities

ESi = max (EFP) = max (ESP + DuP) • For the generic activity, the minimum end date is equal to the minimum

start date plus durationEFi = (ESi + Dui) = max (EFP) + Dui

• For the project’s end activity, the minimum start date is equal to theminimum end date of the network and corresponds to the maximum ofthe minimum end dates of the final activities

Early Finish Time EFT = ESend= EFend = max (EFP) (attention to the” change day” effect)

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THE PLAN – PERT / CPM – Relation between dates

If we start on day 1, the example is:• Minimum Start Date – start – = 1

• Minimum start date of a generic activity = max (minimum end dates ofthe previous activity)

• Minimum end date = minimum start date + activity duration

• Final activity minimum start date = max (minimum end date of the finalactivity)

Start (1 – 1)

1 0d

A (1 – 7)

2 7d

C (1 – 2)

4 2d

B (8 – 12)

3 5d

E (8 – 19)

6 12d

D (3 – 19)

5 17d

End (20 – 20)

7 0d

ES EF

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• To calculate the maximum dates, we have to go back, starting from thelast activity, with the end date located exactly at the project’s target enddate. In this example, we consider the project’s maximum end date asthe minimum end date. For activities B,D,E:

LSB = LFB – DuB = 19-5(+1*) = 15 (* we start counting from the start day)

LSD=LFD – DuD = 19-17(+1*) = 3 (* we start counting from the start day)

LSE=LFE – DuE = 19-12(+1*) = 8 (* we start counting from the start day)

Going back, the activity A must end on day 7 in order to allow B and E to start

on day 15 and day 8,

• Therefore, the maximum end date of an activity depends on theshortest maximum start date activities that follow.

* ATTENZIONE, per semplicità e convenzione d’aula, utilizzando i giorni come unità di tempo, l’attività successiva inizia sempre il giorno dopo la fine dell’attività precedente, quindi nel calcolo matematico si aggiunge 1 per raccordarsi ai giorni di calendario. Questa convenzione cade utilizzando altre

unità di misura.

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Planning Techniques


• For the final activity, the maximum end date is the maximum date of for

the project to end. If the END activity has duration = 0, LF=LS

Late Finish Time LFT = LFend= LSend• For the generic activity, the maximum end date is equal to the minimum

of maximum start dates of activities that follow

LFi = min (LSq) = min (LFq - Duq) • For the generic activity, the maximum start date is equal to the

difference between maximum end date and duration

LSi = (LFi - Dui) = min (LSq) - Dui• The project’s total duration (TD) is the difference between the minimum

start date and the maximum end date

TD = LFT - EST

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THE PLAN – PERT / CPM – Relation between dates• The project grid with maximum and minimum dates

• For each activity, the difference between maximum and minimum datesdefines its flexibility, i.e. how much time we may delay the the startwithout delaying the project’s end date. This is called SCROLLING. Theactivities with scrolling are defined Slack Activities

Start (1-1 / 1-1)

1 0d

A (1–7 / 1-7)

2 7days

C (1–2 / 1-2)

4 2days

B (8–12 / 15-19)

3 5d

E (8–19 / 8-19)

6 12d

D (3–19 / 3-19)

5 17d

End (20–20 / 20-20)

7 0days

ES EF LS LF

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THE PLAN – PERT / CPM – Critical Path• We call critical activity every activity with no scrolling.

• We call critical path a sequence of critical activities from the start to the end of the project grid.

Start (1-1 / 1-1)

1 0days

A (1–7 / 1-7)

2 7days

C (1–2 / 1-2)

4 2days

B (8–12 / 15-19)

3 5d

E (8–19 / 8-19)

6 12d

D (3–19 / 3-19)

5 17d

End (20–20 / 20-20)

7 0d

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THE PLAN – PERT / CPM – Critical Path• Example – Building a house

Each activity has start time and duration• Determination of total project time• Determination of the critical path• Determination of slack times

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Test:

34

LegendES ID EF

Slack Slack

LS Durat LF

A

2

B

15

C

10

D

13

E

18

F

15

G

10

H

5

1 2

3

3

3

3

17

12

15

20

13 16

16 30

18 31

31 40

41 21

41 45

4541

4031

3016

4023

3016

15

156

3

22

2

5

15

21

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 0

20 20

3 3

13 13

CPM= ADFGH

Planning Techniques

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THE PLAN – PERT / CPM – Critical Path

• If the minimum project end date is equal to the maximum project enddate, then there is almost one critical path

• Critical paths have the longest duration

• A critical activity can belong to several critical paths, not just one

• If a critical activity is late, this becomes a delay of all the followingactivities within the same critical path, and at the end, also the projectend will be delayed.

• If we have several delays within a critical path, the total path’s delay willequal to the sum of every single delay.

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THE PLAN – GANTT • The GANTT diagram, added with logical constraints and resources

allocation, is today the best and easiest tool to build project plans• The grid has the same meaning as the CPM• In this way the Gantt is very effective and it overcomes the PERT/CPM

representation

FS

FS

FS

FS

FSFS

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THE PLAN – From WBS to GANTT – example

FLAT REFURBISHMENT

Wall actions Electric system Heating system

Demolitions Building

West wall demolition

East wall demolition

Kitchen wall

Trace closing

Tracing

Wiring

Finishing

Cords Devices

Tracing

Painting

Water traces closure

Tracing Installation

Pipes

Boiler

Devices

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LA PIANIFICAZIONE – GANTT

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Documents

3.The project planning