Created by ejlp12@gmail.

com, June 2010

6 - Project Time Management

Project Management Training

Project Time Management

Monitoring &
Controlling Processes
Planning
Processes

Enter phase/
Start project

Initiating
Processes

Closing
Processes

Exit phase/
End project

Executing
Processes

Process

Knowledge
Area

Time

Initiating

Planning
Activity Definition
Activity Sequencing
Activity Resource Estimating
Activity Duration Estimating
Schedule Development

Executing

Monitoring &
Control

Schedule Control

Closing

Project Time Management

Theprocessrequiredtomanagetimelycompletionoftheproject
Projecttimemanagementstartwithplanningbytheproject
managementteam(notshownasadiscreteprocess)
Insmallproject,defining&sequencingactivities,estimatingactivity
resource&duration,developingscheduleareviewedasasingle
process.

6.1 Define Activities

Theprocessofidentifyingthespecificactionstobeperformedproducethe
projectdeliverables.
Workpackagedecomposedintoactivities(schedule activities)
Tools &
Techniques

Inputs
1. Scopebaseline
2. Enterprise
environmentalfactors
3. Organizationalprocess
assets

1.
2.
3.
4.

Decompositions
Rollingwaveplanning
Templates
Expertjudgment

Outputs
1. Activitylist
2. Activityattributes
3. Milestonelist

In the real word sometime we skip define activities since we take WBS down to the activity level.
This is not a wrong practice but not a PMBOK practice.

Define Activities

(Tools & Techniques)

Rolling Wave Planning:progressiveelaborationplanningwhereyoudo not to plan

activities until you starttheprojectmanagementprocessforthatphaseisintheprojectlife
cycle

Activity Attributes:
Useforscheduledevelopment,selecting,ordering,sortingtheplannedschedule
activities
Usedtoidentifye.g.responsibleperson,place,levelofeffort(LOE),apportionedeffort
(AE)

Milestone:asignificantpointoreventintheproject.

Notaworkactivity
Checkpointtohelpcontroltheproject
AdditionalmilestonecanbeaddinSequenceActivities&DevelopScheduleprocess
Thelistcanindicatesthelevelofmilestone(mandatory,optional,etc)

6.2 Sequence Activities

Processofidentifyinganddocumentingrelationshipamongtheproject
activities

Inputs
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Activitylist
Activityattributes
Milestonelist
Projectscopestatement
Organizationalprocess
assets

Tools &
Techniques
1. Precedence
diagrammingmethod
(PDM)
2. Dependency
determination
3. Applyingleadsandlags
4. Schedulenetwork
templates

Outputs
1. Projectschedule
networkdiagram
2. Projectdocument
updates

Precedence Diagramming Method

(PDM)
Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM) orActivity-on-Node(AON)
MethodusedinCriticalPathMethodology(CPM)
No dummy activities
Logicalrelationship:
Finish-to-Start(FS)
Finish-to-Finish(FF)
Start-to-Start(SS)
Start-to-Finish(SF)

Applying Leads & Lags

Useleadsandlagstosupportrealisticandachievableprojectschedule.
Eachactivityisconnectedatleasttoonepredecessorandonesuccessorexcept
thestartandtheend.
A

predecessor

C
Successor

Leads.

Maybeaddedtostartanactivitybefore the predecessor activity is complete.

Lags

Inserted waiting time between activities

Precedence Diagramming Method

(PDM)
ExampleofPDMwhichshowinglogicalrelationshipandleadsorlags

Othermethodtodrawnetworkdiagram:
ArrowDiagrammingMethod(ADM)
GERT:allowsloopsbetweenactivities

Dependency Determination
Todefinesequenceamongactivity,thesetypeofdependencyareused:
1. Mandatory (hard logic)
Inherentinthenatureofworkbeingdoneorrequiredbythecontract
E.g.Youmustdesignbeforeyoucandevelop
2. Discretionary (preferred, preferential, or soft logic)
Definebaseonknowledge
Canbechangedifneeded
Importantwhenhowtoshortenorre-sequencetheproject
3. External
Basedontheneedtofthepartyoutsidetheproject

Network diagram
PERTchart
Showsjustdependencies(logicalrelationship)
Couldshowthecriticalpathifactivitydurationestimatesadded

PERT

PMD

EF = ES + D -1
LS = LF D +1
Float (F) = LS ES = LF EF

ES=EarlyStart
LS=LatestStart
EF=EarlyFinish
LF=LateFinish

6.3 Estimate Activity Resources

Processofestimatingthetypeandquantitiesofmaterial,people,equipment
orsuppliesrequiredtoperformeachactivity.

Inputs
1.
2.
3.
4.

Activitylist
Activityattributes
ResourceCalendars
Enterprise
environmentalfactors
5. Organizationalprocess
assets

Tools &
Techniques
1. Expertjudgment
2. Alternativesanalysis
3. Publishedestimating
data
4. Bottom-upestimating
5. Projectmanagement
software

Outputs
1. Activityresource
requirements
2. Resourcebreakdown
structure
3. Projectdocument
updates

Estimate Activity Resource

(Tools &

Techniques)

Resource Calendar:
Information(skill,location,etc)inwhichresource(people,equipment,material,
etc)arepotentiallyavailable.

Published estimating data:

Usecompanysrates

Bottom up estimating:
Activityisdecomposedtobemoreconfidenceinestimating

6.4 Estimate Activity Durations

Processofapproximatingthenumberofwork periods tocomplete
individualactivitieswith estimated resources.

Scheduleshallbeasbelievable and realisticaspossible(donotallowpadding)

Tools &
Techniques

Inputs
1. Activitylist
2. Activityattributes
3. Activityresource
4.
5.
6.
7.

requirements
ResourceCalendars
Projectscopestatement
Enterprise
environmentalfactors
Organizationalprocess
assets

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Expertjudgment
Analogousestimating
Parametricestimating
Three-pointestimates
Reserveanalysis

Outputs
1. Activityduration
estimates
2. Projectdocument
updates

Estimate Activity Durations

(Tools &

Techniques)

Analogous Estimating(Top down):

useactualdurationofpreviousactivity(historical)thathassimilarity

Parametric Estimating:
usestatisticalrelationshipbetweenhistoricaldataandothervariables(e.g.
learningcurve)
Theresultcanbecomeheuristics(experiencebasedtechnique/ruleofthumb)

Reserve analysis (buffer): includescontingencyreserves

A Buffer Isnt Padding. Padding is extra time added to a schedule that you
dont really think you need but that you add just to feel confident in the estimate.
Padding is when I take a conventional approach to building a Gantt chart, come
up with three months, but tell my boss four months.
Mike Cohn Agile Software Development

3-Points Estimate (PERT)

AlsocalledProgramEvaluationandReviewtechnique(PERT)
Usefortimeandcostestimation
ExpectedcalculatedfromMost-likely,Optimistic,Pessimistic
Range of estimate=EAD(ExpectedActivityDuration)+/-SD(StandardDeviation)
Expected

P 4
6

Standard
Deviation

Variance

P
6

P 2

Standarddeviationcannotbesum.

VarianceusedtocalculatetotalSDoftheproject

SD

variance

Exercise: Tree-point estimates

(PERT)
Duration
Activity

A
B
C
D
Project (Total)

3
8
15
20

5
4
8
10

1
2
5
5

Expected Activity
Duration Standard
(PERT) Deviation

Variance
range

Range of
the estimate

Exercise: PERT - Most tricky

question
Togetherwithyourteam,youappliedthree-pointestimationonaCriticalpath
whichconsistsoftwoactivities.
Thefollowingdurationuncertaintiesareallcalculatedassuminga3sigma
Confidenceinterval.

Thedurationuncertaintydefinedaspessimisticminusoptimisticestimateofthe
firstactivityis18days;thesecondestimatehasanuncertaintyof24days.
ApplyingthePERTformulaforpaths,whatisthedurationuncertaintyoftheentire
path?
A.
B.
C.
D.

21days
30days
42days
Nostatementispossiblefromtheinformationgiven.

Exercise: PERT - Most tricky question

(Answer)

SeethatthequestionsaysthatDurationUncertaintyisPessimisticminusOptimisticinother
wordsP-O.WeknowthatSDis(P-O)/6,thusSDis"durationCertainty"/6
Thus
For Path 1:SD=18/6=3
Variance=3*3=9
For path 2:SD=24/6=4
Variance=4*4=16
TotalPathVariance=16+9=25
Sqrt(25)=5
Meaning(P-O)/6=5
(p-O)=5*6
DURATIONUNCERTAINTY=30

6.5 Develop Schedule

Processofanalyzingactivitysequences,durations,resourcerequirements,
andscheduleconstraintstocreatetheprojectschedule.
Tools &
Techniques

Inputs
1. Activitylist
2. Activityattributes
3. Projectschedule
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

networkdiagram
Activityresource
requirements
ResourceCalendars
Activityduration
estimates
Projectscopestatement
Enterprise
environmentalfactors
Organizationalprocess
assets

1. Schedulenetwork
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

analysis
Criticalpathmethod
Criticalchainmethod
Resourceleveling
What-ifscenario
analysis
Applyingleadsandlags
Schedulecompression
Schedulingtool

Outputs
1.
2.
3.
4.

Projectschedule
Schedulebaseline
Scheduledata
Projectdocument
updates

Critical Path

CriticalPathisthelongestdurationpath
Identifytheshortesttimeneededtocompleteaproject
Therecanbemorethanonecriticalpath
Wedontwantcriticalpath,itincreaserisk
Dontleaveaprojectwithanegativefloat,youwouldcompresstheschedule
Near-criticalpathisthepaththathascloseindurationtocriticalpath

Float (Slack)
Total float:theamountoftimeanactivitycanbedelayedwithoutdelayingthe
projectenddateorintermediarymilestone.
Free float:theamountoftimeanactivitycanbedelayedwithoutdelayingthe
earlystartdateofitssuccessor(s).
Project float:theamountoftimeanactivitycanbedelayedwithoutdelayingthe
externallyimposedprojectcompletiondaterequiredbycustomer/management.

Critical Path Method Basic

Activity

Precedence

Duration

D,F

Dummyactivity=0resource&0duration
H
E
I
H
Critical activities
J
G,I
- allactivitiesinthecriticalpath
- Delayinthecompletionoftheseactivitieswilllengthentheproject
timescale
- Hasfloat=0

2
2
0

Critical Path using PDM

ForwardPass

Calculation
ForwardPass:
ES+D=ES(successor)
usehighestvalueonjoin
BackwardPass:
LSD(predecessor)=LS(predecessor)
Uselowestvalueonjoin

BackwardPass

Exercise

Questions:
Whatisthecriticalpath?
Whatiscriticalpathduration?
Whatisfloat(slack)durationofactivityA30?
Answers:
-

Critical Chain (Buffer Management)

Method
Thelongestdurationpaththroughtheprojectconsideringbothactivity
dependenciesandresourceconstraints.
Networkdiagramandcriticalpathareidentifiedfirst
Typeofbuffers
Projectbuffer
Feedingbuffer
Resourcebuffer

What-if Scenario Analysis

Analysisoneffectofchangesonaparticularthing(assumption)onthe
projectwhichmakeactivitydurationchange.
Monte Carlo Simulation
Usedwhenthereispossibility that the critical path will be different
foragivensetofprojectconditions.

Usingprobabilitydistributionforeachactivityorgroupofactivities
Usingcomputersoftware
Usingthree-pointestimatesandnetworkdiagram
Helpdealwithpath convergence
Multiplepathsconvergeintooneormoreactivities(butaddingrisk)

Schedule Compression
Fast Tracking

Performingcriticalpathactivitiesinparallel.
Usuallyincrease risk andrequiresmore attention to communication.
Mayneedarework.
E.g.Designishalffinishedandstartcoding.

Crashing

Analyzecostandscheduletrade-offs.
Determinemostcompressionforleastcost.
Crashthetasksthatcosttheleastfirst,focusingonminimizingprojectcost.
Alwaysresultsinincreased cost.

Project Schedule
Schedulecanbeshownwithorwithoutdependencies(logical
relationship).
Presentedas
Summaryforme.g.MasterSchedule,Milestoneschedule
Detailedform

Format:
Networkdiagram
Milestonechart
Barchart(Ganttchart)

Schedule Data
Includesatleast:

Schedulemilestone
Scheduleactivities
Activityattributes
Assumptions&Constraints

Additionalinformationcanbeadded,suchas

Resourcehistograms
Cash-flowprojections
Order&deliveryschedules
Alternativeschedules

6.6 Control Schedule

Processofanalyzingactivitysequences,durations,resourcerequirements,
andscheduleconstraintstocreatetheprojectschedule.
Tools &
Techniques

Inputs
1. ProjectManagement
Plan
2. ProjectSchedule
3. Workperformance
information
4. Organizationalprocess
assets

Outputs

1. Performancereviews
2. VarianceAnalysis
3. ProjectManagement

1. Workperformance

4.
5.

3.
4.

6.
7.
8.

Software
Resourceleveling
What-ifscenario
analysis
Adjustingleads&lags
Schedulecompression
Scheduletooling

2.

5.

measurements
Organizationalprocess
assetsupdates
Changerequests
Projectmanagement
planupdates
Projectdocument
updates

Next topic:
Project Cost Management

Thank You