Project Management:

A Managerial Approach 4/e

By Jack R. Meredith and Samuel J. Mantel, Jr.
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Presentation prepared by RTBM WebGroup

Project Management
A Managerial Approach

Chapter 8
Scheduling

Scheduling
A schedule is the conversion of a
project action plan into an operating
timetable
It serves as the basis for monitoring
and controlling project activity
Taken together with the plan and
budget, it is probably the major tool
for the management of projects
Chapter 8-1

Scheduling
In a project environment, the
scheduling function is more
important than it would be in an
ongoing operation
Projects lack the continuity of dayto-day operations and often
present much more complex
problems of coordination
Chapter 8-2

Scheduling
The basic approach of all scheduling
techniques is to form a network of
activity and event relationships
This network should graphically
portray the sequential relations
between the tasks in a project
Tasks that must precede or follow
other tasks are then clearly
identified, in time as well as function
Chapter 8-3

Scheduling
Such networks are a powerful tool for
planning and controlling a project and
have the following benefits:
It is a consistent framework for planning,
scheduling, monitoring, and controlling the
project
It illustrates the interdependence of all
tasks, work packages, and work elements
It denotes the times when specific
individuals must be available for work on a
given task
Chapter 8-4

Scheduling
Network benefits (cont.):
It aids in ensuring that the proper
communications take place between
departments and functions
It determines an expected project completion
date
It identifies so-called critical activities that, if
delayed, will delay the project completion
time
It identifies activities with slack that can be
delayed for specific periods without penalty
Chapter 8-5

Scheduling
Network benefits (cont.):
It determines the dates on which tasks may be
started - or must be started if the project is to
stay on schedule
It illustrates which tasks must be coordinated
to avoid resource timing conflicts
It illustrates which tasks may run, or must be
run, in parallel to achieve the predetermined
project completion date
It relieves some interpersonal conflict by
clearly showing task dependencies
Chapter 8-6

Network Techniques:
PERT and CPM
With the exception of Gantt charts, the
most common approach to scheduling is
the use of network techniques such as
PERT and CPM
The Program Evaluation and Review
Technique was developed by the U.S.
Navy in 1958
The Critical Path Method was developed
by DuPont, Inc during the same time
period
Chapter 8-7

Network Techniques:
PERT and CPM
PERT has been primarily used for
research and development projects
CPM was designed for construction
projects and has been generally
embraced by the construction
industry
The two methods are quite similar
and are often combined for
educational presentation
Chapter 8-8

Terminology
Activity - A specific task or set of tasks
that are required by the project, use up
resources, and take time to complete
Event - The result of completing one or
more activities. An identifiable end
state occurring at a particular time.
Events use no resources.
Network - The combination of all
activities and events define the project
and the activity precedence
Chapter 8-9
relationships

Terminology
Path - The series of connected
activities (or intermediate events)
between any two events in a network
Critical - Activities, events, or paths
which, if delayed, will delay the
completion of the project. A projects
critical path is understood to mean that
sequence of critical activities that
connect the projects start event to its
finish event
Chapter 8-10

Terminology
An activity can be in any of these
conditions:
It may have a successor(s) but no
predecessor(s) - starts a network
It may have a predecessor(s) but no
successor(s) - ends a network
It may have both predecessor(s) and
successor(s) - in the middle of a network

The interconnections depend on the

technological relationships described in
Chapter 8-11
the action plan

Drawing Networks
Activity-on-Arrow (AOA) networks use
arrows to represent activities while
nodes stand for events
Activity-on-Node (AON) networks use
nodes to represent activities with arrows
to show precedence relationships
The choice between AOA and AON
representation is largely a matter of
personal preference
Chapter 8-12

Drawing Networks

Chapter 8-13

Gantt Charts
The Gantt chart shows planned and actual
progress for a number of tasks displayed
against a horizontal time scale
It is an effective and easy-to-read method of
indicating the actual current status for each
set of tasks compared to the planned progress
for each item of the set
It can be helpful in expediting, sequencing,
and reallocating resources among tasks
Gantt charts usually do not show technical
dependencies
Chapter 8-14

Scheduling

Chapter 8-15

Gantt Charts
There are several advantages to the
use of Gantt charts:
Even though they may contain a great
deal of information, they are easily
understood
While they may require frequent updating,
they are easy to maintain
Gantt charts provide a clear picture of the
current state of a project
They are easy to construct
Chapter 8-16

Summary
Scheduling is particularly important to
projects because of the complex
coordination problems
The network approach to scheduling
offers a number of specific advantages
of special value for projects
Critical project tasks typically
constitute fewer than 10 percent of all
the project tasks
Chapter 8-17

Summary
Although research indicates
technological performance is not
significantly affected by the use of
PERT/CPM, there did seem to be a
significantly lower probability of cost
and schedule overruns
Network techniques can adopt either an
activity-on-node or activity-on-arc
framework without significantly altering
the analysis
Chapter 8-18

Summary
Networks are usually constructed
from left to right, indicating activity
precedence and event times as the
network is constructed
Gantt charts are closely related to
network diagrams, but are more
easily understood and provide a
clearer picture of the current state
of the project
Chapter 8-19

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Questions?

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Picture Files

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Table Files

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