WHAT IS A FLOAT?

A float shows time available for delaying an activity without delaying Finish Date of the
Project.

In other words, delay in some activity would not increase the project duration. Please note
that Critical Activities cannot be delayed. However, Non-Critical Activities can start late or
finished late within the given limitation. Other names for float are: slack, cushion, margin,
excess time or flexibility.

For calculating floats, there are different Methods depending upon format of the Network
used. There are two types of Net Works: Activity-On-Node (AON) and Activity-on-Arrow
(AOA). Results are same in both cases.

Net Work # 2

 Arrow Diagram - ASQ

The arrow diagram shows the required order of tasks in a project or process, the best
schedule for the entire project, and potential scheduling and resource problems and their
solutions.

 Difference between AOA & AON

Method for constructing a unique AOA net with a node for each precedence constraint of
its corresponding AON network (yielding small number of dummy arcs).

TWO TYPES OF PRESENTATIONS

For better understanding, two versions of the same net work are given as per Network #1
and #2 and briefly described below:
AON ( see Net Work #1)

 A new format used by project management softwares.

 Better at showing different types of dependencies.
 Easy to understand. Can be constructed through
placing cards each with name of an activity. Good for
group discussion.
AOA (see Net Work # 2)
 Nodes or circles are the starting and ending points of activities.
 Activities are represented by arrows showing relationships between activities.
 Sometimes, dummy activities (dotted lines) are used for linking two activities.
 Can only show finish-to-start dependencies.

THREE TYPES OF FLOATS

INDEPENDENT FLOAT (IF)

 Shows the time available even if an activity has a Late Start and Early Finish.
 It is most adverse type of float and often results in a
negative figure.
FREE FLOAT (FF)
 Also called Normal Float, it shows time for which an
activity can be delayed without delaying the early start
of successor activity/activities.
 FF will always be less than or equal to TF and never
more.
 In all critical activities, FF is always zero.
TOTAL FLOAT (TF)
  It shows time for which an activity can be delayed from its ES without delay in
project completion. (In FF, when one activity was delayed, the succeeding activity
was started on time as per its ES and not delayed.)
 in TF, however, if one activity is delayed, the succeeding activity or activities would
be affected or re-scheduled.
 On Critical Activities, TF is always zero ( as well as FF)

SUB-SET OF AON

CALCULATIONS OF FLOATS UNDER AON

1. INDEPENDENT FLOAT (IF) : EF – LS = 10 -4 =6
2. FREE FLOAT (FF) : G(ES) –D(EF)= 10 – 4 =6
3. TOTAL FLOAT (TF): D (LF) – D(EF)= 13 – 4 = 9

In case of free float, the formula is: Early Start of Successor Activities (G) minus Early
Finish of Existing Activity (D). Naturally, if we can finish an activity early but the next will
start sometimes later, we have a free float to delay our activity.
  FLOATS

CALCULATION OF FLOAT UNDER AOA

1. INDEPENDENT FLOAT (IF) : EF – LS = 10 -4 =6
2. FREE FLOAT (FF) : G(ES) –D(EF)= 10 – 4 =6
3. TOTAL FLOAT (TF): D (LF) – D(EF)= 13 – 4 = 9

formulae are:

1. IF(i,j)=EF(j) -ES(i)-D(i,j)
2. FF(i,j) = EF(j) - ES(i) - D(i,j),
3. TF(i,j) = LF(j) - ES(i) - D(i,j)

DISPLAY OF CALCULATED FLOATS UNDER BOTH

FORMATS
Network # 3 and Table #1 show calculated floats in their respective places. AON is verstile
format and can accommodate all type of floats.  ( I have given only two types TF & FF but
it can be expanded.) In case of AOA, the floats are to be shown separately which makes it
rather inconvenient to follow.

NET WORK # 3

TABLE 1
  Gantt Chart

TABLE #2

CONFLICTS IN CALCULATION & COMMON SENSE

Sometimes, floats given by formulae do not appeal to the common sense. It happens in both
cases whether AON or AOA. The floats are, however, result of a natural flow and a
visionary project manager would easily spot a flaw in calculation.

For example, FF in case of activity 2-3 in AOA is different from the one shown under AON.
The reason is that in AOA, dummies are used which distort the straight calculation.

Here we can resort to Gantt Chart to reconcile the difference as shown in Table #2.

 CASE STUDY - Probability in PERT

Next article on PERT has been added.
WHY FLOAT IS IMPORTANT?
If every activity had a fixed start date and a fixed end date, it would be very difficult to
complete the project in time.

Problems do occur such as shortage of funds or workers or machines. If there are floats,
the manager can decide which activity to give priority and which one to re-schedule. In this
way, it is possible not to let the project suffer because of shortages. Some activities can be
slipped or splitted for a good cause.

In some other article, I would explain how these floats are used for a sound management.