5.time MGMT

Project time management
Chapter 8
An old joke when it comes to project
time management
“The first 90 percent of a project

schedule takes 90 percent of the time.
The last 10 percent takes the other 90
percent of the time.”
Components of project time management
Creating activity list
• Creating the activity list relies on several
completed documents, knowledge, and actions.
Uses the following as inputs to the process:
• WBS
• Scope statement (description of the required work, and only
the required work, to complete the project)
• Historical information
• Constraints ( deadline, cost)
• Assumptions ( resources availability, weather condition)
• Expert judgment
Mapping the activities
• Once the activity list has been created, the
activities must be arranged in a logical sequence
• This process calls on the project manager and the
project team to identify the logical relationships
between activities
In practice:
“Sticky notes” can help sequence events. Put your
activities on sticky notes and then plot them out on a
white board. Draw arrows to show the relationship
between activities. Want to make a change? It’s easy to
rearrange the notes and the relationships
Scheduling
• Schedule is the conversion of a project action
plan into an operating timetable
• Basis for monitoring a project
• One of the major project management tools
• Work changes daily, so a detailed plan is
essential
• Not all project activities need to be scheduled at
the same level of detail
Scheduling
• Most of the scheduling is at the WBS level,
not the work package level
• Only the most critical work packages may be
shown on the schedule
• Most of the scheduling is based on network
drawings
The project network
A flow chart that graphically depicts the sequence,
interdependencies, and start and finish times of
the project job plan of activities
• Provides the basis for scheduling labor and equipment
• Enhances communication among project participants
• Provides an estimate of the project’s duration
• Provides a basis for budgeting cash flow
• Highlights “critical” activities and that can not be delayed
• Help managers get and stay on plan
Network scheduling advantage
• Consistent framework
• Shows interdependences
• Shows when resources are needed
• Ensures proper communication
• Determines expected completion date
• Identifies critical activities
Network scheduling advantage
• Shows which of the activities can be delayed
• Determines start dates
• Shows which task must be coordinated
• Shows which task can be run parallel
• Relieves some conflict
• Allows probabilistic estimates
Network scheduling techniques:
PERT and CPM
• The program evaluation and review technique

(PERT), was developed for the Polaris
missile/submarine project in 1958
• Critical path method (CPM), developed by DuPont
during the same time
Terminology
• Activity: an element of the project
that requires time A
• Merge activity: an activity that has

two or more preceding activities on B D
which it depends
• Parallel activities: activities that can
occur independently and, if desired, C
not at the same time
• Sequential activities: one activity must
be completed before the next one can
begin
Terminology
• Immediate predecessor: an activity that must be
completed just before a particular activity can begin
• Event: the result of completing one or more activities
• Network: the combination of all activities and events
that define a project
• drawn left-to-right
• connections represent predecessors
• Path: a series of connected activities
• Critical: an activity, event, or path which, if delayed,
will delay the completion of the project
Terminology
• Critical path: the path through the project where, if
any activity is delayed, the project is delayed
• There is always a critical path
• There can be more than one critical path
• Burst activity: an activity that has more than one
activity immediately following it (more than one B
dependency arrow flowing from it)
A C
D
Terminology
• Activity on Arrow - Arrows represent
activities while nodes stand for events
• Activity on Node - Nodes stand for
events and arrows show precedence
AON and AOA Format
Activity network, AON

format
Activity network, AOA

format
Constructing the network
• Begin with START activity
• Add activities without precedences as
nodes
• There will always be one
• May be more
• Add activities that have those activities
as precedences
• Continue
Constructing the critical path
• Forward pass – an additive move
through the network from start to finish
• Backward pass – a subtractive move
through the network from finish to start
• Critical path – the longest path from end
to end which determines the shortest
project length
Rules for forward/backward pass
Forward Pass Rules (ES & EF)
• ES + Duration = EF
• EF of predecessor = ES of successor
• Largest preceding EF at a merge point
becomes ES for successor
Backward Pass Rules (LS & LF)

• LF – Duration = LS
• LS of successor = LF of predecessor
• Smallest succeeding LS at a burst point
becomes LF for predecessor
Node labels
Early start ID number Early finish
Activity float Activity descriptor
Activity
Late start Late finish
duration
Duration estimation methods
• Past experience
• Expert opinion
• Mathematical derivation – Beta distribution
• Most likely (m)
• Most pessimistic (b)
• Most optimistic (a)
TE: Estimated time for activity

σ: variance for activity duration
Solving the network
AON network
Calculating activity times
TE =
( a + 4m + b )
6
 ( b − a) 
2
σ =
2

 6 
σ= σ 2
The results
Critical path and time
AON network, showing activation duration and variance

The longest of the paths through the network is a-d-j using

43 days, which means that 43 days is the shortest time in
which the entire network can be completed. This is called
the critical
AON time of theshowing
network, network, and and
earliest a-d-jlatest
is the critical
start path,
and finish
usually shown as a heavy line
times, and critical path
Slack
• Free slack (or Float)
• Is the amount of time an activity can be delayed after
the start of a longer parallel activity or activities
• Is how long an activity can exceed its early finish date
without affecting early start dates of any successor(s)
• Allows flexibility in scheduling scarce resources
• Sensitivity
• The likelihood the original critical path(s) will change
once the project is initiated
Slack
Slack
The project has a critical time of 43

days. Activity i must be finished by
day 43. Also activity i requires 18
days to be accomplished. i must be
started not later than day 25 ( 43-
18 = 25) if the project is to be
complete on day 43. Because i
cannot begin until activities g and h
have finished, the latest time (LF)
for each of these is also day 25.
Slack
The difference between the LS and the ES for an activity is

called its float or slack. In the case of activity i, it must be
started no later than day 25, but could be started as early as
day 24, so it has one day of slack. It should be immediately
obvious that all activities on the critical path have zero slack.
Zero slack activities cannot be delayed without making the
Slack
Another example,
consider activity f. Its
ES is day 20, which is
equal to the EF of its
predecessor activity b.
The LS for activity f is
43 -14=29.
If f is started later than

To find the slack for any activity, we day 29, it will delay the
make a backward pass (right to left) entire project.
through the network just as we made a Activity f has slack of
forward pass (left to right) to find the LS – ES = 29 – 20 = 9
critical path and time days
Slack values
Precedence diagramming
• Finish to start
• Start to start
• Finish to finish
• Start to finish
Precedence diagramming
• Finish to
Finish-to-finish (FF) : Task A must complete before Task B does.
start
Ideally, two tasks must finish at exactly the same time.
• Start to start
Start-to-finish (SF): It requires that Task A start so that Task B may
• Finish
finish. to finish in construction and manufacturing.
Maybe encountered
• Start to (FS):
Finish-to-start finish
Task A must complete before Task B can
begin. Example: The foundation must be set before the framing
can begin.
Start-to-start (SS): Task A must start before Task B can start.

Example: A crew of painters is painting a house. Task A is to
scrape the flecking paint off the house and Task B is to prime the
house. The workers scraping the house must start before the other
workers can begin priming the house. All of the scraping doesn’t
Chances of meeting the deadline
Assignment:
• Consider the following project ( time given in days)
Calculate:
1. The network.
2. All expected activity
times, variances, and
slacks.
3. The critical path and
expected completion time.
4. The probability the
project will be done in 23
days.

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Project time management

“The first 90 percent of a project

• The program evaluation and review technique

• Merge activity: an activity that has

Activity network, AON

Activity network, AOA

Backward Pass Rules (LS & LF)

Early start ID number Early finish

Activity float Activity descriptor

TE: Estimated time for activity

AON network, showing activation duration and variance

The longest of the paths through the network is a-d-j using

The project has a critical time of 43

The difference between the LS and the ES for an activity is

If f is started later than

Start-to-start (SS): Task A must start before Task B can start.

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