Creating the ProjectSchedule

Haroon ul RashidRef: Project Management Professional Exam STUDY GUIDE (Kim Heldman)

Defining ActivitiesThe Define Activities process is a further breakdown of the work package elements of the WBS.

Activity list Activity attributes Milestone list

Understanding the Sequence Activities Process

The interactivity of logical relationships must be sequenced correctly in order to facilitate the development of a realistic, achievable project schedule in a later process

Scheduling

The process of calculating start and finish dates of activities according to its relationship is called scheduling

Sequence Activities Tools and Techniques

Precedence diagramming method (PDM) Dependency determination Applying leads and lags Schedule network templates

Dependency Dependencies are relationships between the

activities in which one activity is dependent on another to complete an action, or perhaps an activity is dependent on another to start an action before It can proceed.

Type of dependencies Mandatory dependencies:

Inherent in the nature of the work being performed on a project; sometimes referred to as hard logic.

Discretionary dependencies:

Defined by the project team; sometimes referred to as soft logic and should be used with care because they may limit later scheduling options.

External dependencies:

Involve relationships between project and non-project activities.

Dependencies PresentationPredecessor

An activity that control the start or finish of another activity

Successor

An activity whose start or finish depends on another activity.

Concept Design Develop

Dependencies relationship A connection type between two activities is known

as relationship. There are four types of relationships.

Start to Start (SS)

Finish to Start (FS)

Finish to Finish (FF)

Start to Finish (SF)

Relationship- FS

A

B

Relationship- SS

A

B

Relationship- SF

A

B

Relationship- FF

A

B

Driving relationship In case of more then one predecessor /

successors, the relationship which can drive is called driving relationship.

A(3)

B(5)

C(5)

Activity lag Delay of an activity from its successor is

known as lag. Example: In the case of SS, activity B is

lagging activity A by 2-days A(4)

B(5)

+ 2day

Milestone A milestone is a significant event that normally

has no duration.

It often takes several activities and a lot of work to complete a milestone.

Milestones are useful tools for setting schedule goals and monitoring progress.

Examples include completion and customer sign-off on key documents and completion of specific products.

Network diagramBurst

Occurs when a single node is followed by two or more activities

MergeOccurs when two or more nodes precede a single node

Burst

Burst

Both

Marge

Merge

End

PDM network It is a method of constructing a project

schedule network diagram that uses boxes, referred to as nodes, to represent activities and connects them with arrows that show the dependencies.

ID Duration

ES LS

ID Activity Dependency duration

A Shower - 3

B Dry hair A 8

C Fetch car - 7

D Iron clothes - 12

E Dress and make-up B,D 10

F Drive to interview C,E 20

Draw activity network diagram with the following:

Network exercise

April 18, 202320 National Institute of Design and Analysis

0 3

A (3)

0 12

D (12)

3 11

B (8)

0 7

C (7) 12 22

E (10)

22 42

F (20)

ID Duration

ES LS

Exercise

Critical path is a procedure for using network analysis to

identify those tasks which are on the critical path;

where any delay in the completion of these tasks will lengthen the project timescale, unless action is taken.

Critical path is based on two factors:

Longest path

Path with zero float

Critical path importance How long will the entire project take to

complete?

Which activities determine total project time?

Which activity times should be shortened, if possible, or in other words, how many resources should be allocated to each activity?

CPM application

The CPM formally identifies tasks which must be completed on time for the whole project to be completed on time

Identifies which tasks can be delayed for a while if resource needs to be reallocated to catch up on missed tasks

It helps you to identify the minimum length of time needed to complete a project

Float or SlackAmount of time that a task can be delayed

without causing a delay to:

i. subsequent tasks (free float)

ii. project completion date (total float)

Forward and Backward passForward pass is a technique to move forward through a diagram to calculate activity duration.

Backward pass is its opposite.These are used to find floats

Forward and Backward passTwo formula's:

ES (Current) + Duration (Current) = ES (successor)

LS (Current) - Duration (Predecessor) = LS ( Predecessor)

Two Rules:

Forward Pass: Use the highest value on a join

Backward Pass: Use the lowest value on a join

April 18, 202327 National Institute of Design and Analysis

3 LS

B (8)

0 LS

A (3)

0 LS

D (12)

0 LS

C (7) 12 LS

E (10)

22 LS

F (20)

ES (Current) + Dur (Current) = ES (successor)

Use the highest value on a join

Forward pass

April 18, 202328 National Institute of Design and Analysis

LS (Current) - Dur (Predecessor) = LS ( Predecessor)

Use the lowest value on a join

You tube videos

0 1

A 3

0 0

D 12

3 4

B 8

0 15

C 7 12 12

E 10

22 22

F 20

Backward pass