Project Initiation, Planning and Execution

MBA642

Project Initiation,

Planning and Execution

Workshop Week 2

Project Scheduling:

Developing a Network

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Week 1 Review

Differences between PM managers

and PM leaders

Project champions

International PM

• Understand and apply key scheduling terminology

• Apply the logic used to create activity networks,

including predecessor and successor tasks

• Develop an activity network using the Activity-on-Node

(AON) technique

Week 2 Learning Objectives

What is Project Scheduling?

• Project scheduling – a complex undertaking involving a

number of related steps.

• Consider the analogy of a jigsaw puzzle

• Firstly, create the border and then think about how the

pieces should fit together.

• Clues would be patches of light/dark, distinctive

shapes/colours.

• Add more and more pieces until complete.

Project Scheduling

• Similarly, the methodologies in project scheduling build

upon each other.

• Project scheduling requires us to follow some carefully

laid-out steps, in order, for the schedule to take shape.

• Project scheduling techniques are fundamental to a project

• One of the most common is IPECC:

Initiation. Planning. Execution. Control. Closure.

Project Scheduling

• Project scheduling allows for project goals to be completed

through a specific methodology.

• A timetable is developed that shows the network logic that

relating project activities to each other.

• Because project management relies on completing a finite

set of goals in a specified timeframe, development of the

project schedule is vitally important to success.

Project Scheduling

• This week and next week, we will be looking at a number

of project scheduling components and demonstrating

how the project plan is developed from a simple set of

identified project activities into a graphical set of

sequential relationships.

• PMBOK Definition of Project Scheduling:

“An output of a schedule model that presents linked

activities with planned dates, durations, milestones, and

resources.”

Project Management Institute (2013). Project Management Body of Knowledge, 4th ed. Newtown Square, PA:PMI

Workshop Activity

• Suppose you and your fellow classmates were given an

assignment on project management. At the end of the

semester, you are expected to submit a paper and

deliver a presentation.

• In small groups of 3 or 4, consider what steps you may

identify in completing the task. Then make a concise list

of the 10 main steps.

• Share your findings with the rest of the class.

Project Scheduling

• Defining all the steps necessary to complete the

assignment is a vital first step in project scheduling.

• Why? Because it adds a sequential logic to the tasks

and enables you to create a coherent project plan from

start to finish.

• To ensure the best use of time and availability, you

should create a network of the activities listed above,

that is, the most likely order in which they must occur to

be done correctly.

Project Scheduling

• Once you have identified a possible sequential

logic for the network, you can construct a network

diagram.

• This is defined as a “schematic display of the

project’s sequential activities and the logical

relationships between them”.

• The following slides show two examples of a

network diagram for the project.

Network Diagram

Source: Pinto, JK 2016, Project Management, Achieving Competitive Advantage, 4th Edition, Pearson Education Inc., p300

Network Diagram

Source: Pinto, JK 2016, Project Management, Achieving Competitive Advantage, 4th Edition, Pearson Education Inc., p300

Workshop Activity

Scheduling Terminology

• Project Scheduling has its own nomenclature

(language peculiar to a particular specialist field) so

it is important that you understand and become

familiar with the terms used.

• Form 4 small groups.

• Using a mobile / laptop / tablet, search for definitions

for the terms that appear on the next slide.

• Be prepared to share the definitions with the rest of

the class.

• Complete the definitions table on the next slide

Workshop Activity

Group A

Path

Event

CPM

Group B

Predecessors

Successors

Merge Activity

Group C

Project Network Diagram

PERT

Node

Group D

Forward Pass

Backward Pass

Burst Activity

Scheduling Terminology

• The two most common methods for constructing activity networks involve

Activity-on-Arrow (AOA) and Activity-on-Node (AON) logic.

• AOA method – the arrow represents the task, or activity, and the node

signifies an event marker that marks the completion of one activity and

the potential start of the next.

• AON method – the node represents the task, or activity and the path

arrows demonstrate the logical sequencing from node to node through

the network.

AOA vs AOA

Source: https://www.slideshare.net/DrMahmoudAlNaimi1/aoa-and-aon-networks-69802018,

accessed 27th October 2020

Developing a Network

• Network diagramming – a logical, sequential process that requires

consideration of the order in which activities should occur so that

projects can be scheduled as efficiently as possible.

• There are two primary methods for developing activity networks, PERT

and CPM.

• PERT (Program Evaluation and Review Technique) was developed in

the late 1950s for the creation of the Polaris missile program.

• PERT was originally used in research and development (R&D), a field in

which activity duration estimates can be difficult to make, and resulted

from probability analysis.

Developing a Network

• CPM (Critical Path Method) – developed independently at the same

time as PERT (Program Evaluation and Review Technique) by DuPont,

Inc.

• CPM used commonly in the construction industry, differs from PERT

primarily in the assumptions it makes about estimating activity

durations.

• CPM – assumes that durations are easier to ascertain and can be

assigned to activities with greater confidence.

• CPM also was designed to better link and control project activity time

and costs, particularly the time/cost trade-offs that lead to crashing

decisions (speeding up the project).

Developing a Network

1. Determination of activity precedence – i.e. All activities must be

logically linked to each other –those that precede others, as well

as successor activities (those that must follow others).

2. Network diagrams normally flow from left to right.

3. An activity cannot usually begin until all preceding connected

activities have been completed.

4. Arrows on networks indicate precedence and logical flow. Arrows

can cross over each other, although it is helpful to limit this effect

when possible.

Developing a Network

2. Each activity should have a unique identifier associated with it

(code, number, letter etc.). For simplicity, these identifiers should

occur in ascending order; each one should be larger than the

identifiers of preceding activities.

3. Looping, or recycling through activities, is not permitted.

4. Although not required, it is common to start a project from a single

beginning node, even when multiple start points are possible. A

single node point is typically used as a project start and end

indicator.

Labeling Nodes Nodes representing project activities should be clearly labeled with different information. It is useful if the nodes contain the following:

1. Identifier

2. Descriptive label

3. Activity duration

4. Early start time

5. Early finish time

6. Late start time

7. Late finish time

8. Activity float

Labels for Activity Node

Source: Pinto, JK 2016, Project Management, Achieving Competitive Advantage, 4th Edition, Pearson Education Inc., p303

Activity Node Labels Using MS Project 2013

Source: Pinto, JK 2016, Project Management, Achieving Competitive Advantage, 4th Edition, Pearson Education Inc., p303

Serial Activities • Serial activities are those that flow from

one to the next in sequence.

• Following the logic of the diagram below,

we cannot begin work on Activity B until

Activity A has been completed. Activity C

cannot begin until both Activities A and B

are finished.

Source: Pinto, JK 2016, Project Management, Achieving Competitive Advantage, 4th Edition, Pearson Education Inc., p303

Concurrent Activities • Often it is possible to begin work on more than

one activity simultaneously.

• The diagram below shows an example of how

concurrent project paths are represented in an

activity network.

Source: Pinto, JK 2016, Project Management, Achieving Competitive Advantage, 4th Edition, Pearson Education Inc., p304

Merge Activities • Merge activities are those with two or more immediate

predecessors (see diagram below).

• Merge activities – often at critical junction points (places

where two or more parallel project paths converge).

Source: Pinto, JK 2016, Project Management, Achieving Competitive Advantage, 4th Edition, Pearson Education Inc., p304

Burst Activities

• Burst activities are those with two or more immediate

successor activities.

• The diagram below graphically depicts a burst activity, with

Activities B, C, and D scheduled to follow the completion

of Activity A.

Source: Pinto, JK 2016, Project Management, Achieving Competitive Advantage, 4th Edition, Pearson Education Inc., p304

Merge and Burst Example

Source: http://facultyweb.kennesaw.edu/fwarner/chapter_student_handouts/mgmt_4135_chapter6.pd

f, slide 7, accessed 27th October 2020

Workshop Activity

Activity Predecessors

A -

B A

C B

D B

E C,D

F C

G E,F

H D,G

Assuming the following information, create an activity network that

shows the sequential logic between the project tasks. Where are

the merge and burst activities?

Worked Example Constructing a Basic Activity Network

The table below identifies eight activities and their

predecessors in a simple example project:

Source: Pinto, JK 2016, Project Management, Achieving Competitive Advantage, 4th Edition, Pearson Education Inc., p305

Worked Example Constructing a Basic Activity Network

• The diagram below shows a partial network diagram

based on the information we have compiled to this point.

• Based on our definitions, Activity A is a burst activity and

Activity D is a merge activity.

Source: Pinto, JK 2016, Project Management, Achieving Competitive Advantage,

4th Edition, Pearson Education Inc., p306

contract survey

Worked Example Constructing a Basic Activity Network

• We can continue to create the network iteratively as we

add additional activity nodes to the diagram. The

diagram below shows the completed activity network.

Source: Pinto, JK 2016, Project Management, Achieving Competitive Advantage, 4th Edition, Pearson Education Inc., p306

Activity Networks Using

Software Applications • It should be noted that software applications are commonly

used to construct Activity Networks.

• We will be covering such applications in Week 7.

Summary

• Covered some of the key scheduling

terminology.

• Applied the logic used to create activity

networks.

• Developed an activity network using Activity-

on-Node (AON) techniques.

Next Week

Project scheduling:

duration estimation and critical path.