SCHEDULING
SCHEDULE DEVELOPMENT The primary advantage of using a bar chart is that it is simple
Tools for Developing Schedules
Computer software for developing, progressing, and updat-
ing schedules is affordable and readily available. Although
computers are the tools, and software provides the means for
developing schedules, the individual user must understand
what the computer is performing.
While numerous scheduling methodologies exist for develop-
ing project schedules, two of the most common are bar charts
and critical path. A third method, project evaluation review
technique (PERT), is mostly used by government agencies for
calculating the most likely duration for networks.
Bar Chart (Gantt Chart) Method
The bar chart, also called a Gantt chart, is primarily meant to
control only time elements of a program or project. However,
since there are no relationships between the activities, it is
not possible to assess the impact of one activity on another
nor on the time of completion of the project.
When preparing a bar chart, the work effort must be divided
into components, which are then scheduled against time.
Preparing a bar chart involves several steps:
1. Analyze the program or project and specify the basic
approach to be used in its execution.
2. Segment the program or project into a reasonable num-
ber of activities that can be scheduled.
3. Estimate the time required to perform each activity.
4. Place the activities in time order, considering both
sequential and parallel performance.
5. Adjust the diagram until the specified completion date,
if one exists, is satisfied.
Figure 13.1 below depicts a typical bar chart.
Figure 13.1—Typical Bar Chart.
13.2
AACE INTERNATIONAL
to read. The plan, schedule, and progress of the program or
project can be depicted graphically on a single chart. Figure
13.1 shows the six-activity plan, 15-week schedule, and cur-
rent status. The current status shows that Activity B has not
started and is behind schedule (by 5 weeks), Activity C is
slightly ahead of schedule (by 1 week), Activity E is slightly
behind schedule (by 2 weeks), and all other activities are on
schedule. However, it cannot be determined if Activity B or
Activity E will have an impact on another activity or on the
project completion. This graphical representation of work
versus time is easy to read and provides a simple, under-
standable way to schedule small undertakings.
Bar charts have not been used successfully for large-scope,
one-time-through projects primarily due to the following
reasons:
• The inherent simplicity precludes including sufficient
detail to enable timely detection of schedule slippages
on activities of relatively long duration.
• The dependent relationships between activities cannot
adequately be shown; thus, it is difficult to determine
how progress delays in individual activities affect proj-
ect completion.
• Developing bar charts is essentially a manual, graphical
procedure, which makes them difficult to establish and
maintain for large projects; they also tend to become
quickly outdated, thus diminishing their usefulness.
Many large and technically demanding undertakings, such
as developing weapons systems or constructing power
plants, require schedules showing thousands of activities
that take place in widely dispersed locations. Manually
developed bar charts cannot adequately display this data,
and are thus unsuitable for anything other than a summary
display of information.
With today’s computer technology, however, if a network