4.2 Schedule Management Flashcards
Definition of a schedule
Timetable showing start and finish dates for project activities
Definition of scheduling
Identify activities and durations, accounting for requirements and resource availability to determine the overall project duration
Definition of scope
Totality of outputs, outcomes, and benefits
Definition of outputs
Tangible or intangible products produced by the project
Definition of outcomes
The change following transition and adoption of outputs
Definition of benefits
Positive measurable and quantifiable impact of the outcomes
Definition and features of a product breakdown structure
- Structured method to identify output deliverables (using nouns)
- Each entry has a unique identifier
- Generated through workshop or individual sessions
- Aligns specification with actual products
- Forms part of the agreement and control of scope
Definition and features of work breakdown structure
- Structured method to identify work required to deliver all the products (using verbs)
- Lowest levels define work packages
- Defines baseline scope of work
- Defines part of overall success criteria (along with schedule and budget)
- Each lower level is a breakdown of the level above
- WBS includes everything that is in scope
Definition and features of work packages
- Level of definition or unit of work for which budget is estimated
- Discrete estimates associated with each package
- Allocated to an accountable individual
- Should be discrete, self-contained, without overlap
- Should have unique numbering or ID
- Should be short enough so activities can be measured
Definition and features of cost breakdown structure
- Hierarchically structured method to identify all project costs expected
- Categories include labour, equipment, materials, expenses, consumables
- Aligned with the WBS and OBS to assign budgets to work packages
Definition and considerations of BAU Relationships
- Acknowledge and manage interactions
- Ensure project is not impacted by BAU activities
- Stakeholders
- Scope definition
- Business change
- Dependencies
- Schedules
- Costs
- Quality
- Risks
Definition and features of precedence diagram
- Map of the logical dependencies between activities based on WBS
- Lowest level work packages become nodes
- Forward pass fills in the early start and finish of each task
- Backward pass fills in the late start and finish of each task to establish float
- Calculate total float
Definition and features of critical path
- Shortest sequence of activities from start to finish
- Defines overall duration of the schedule
- Identifies all activities that if delayed would affect the end date
- Need to identify all dependencies, activity duration, and float
Definition and features of Gantt chart
- Visual representation of the precedence diagram
- Communication tool for portraying progress
- Relate the relative timings of the precedence diagram
- Shows relationships and critical activities
Definition and features of critical chain
- Resource based approach to scheduling
- Protects critical path activities with addition of buffers
- Real world factors influence work rate
- Add a buffer at the end of a chain of activities to half the duration of each activity
- Reduce the estimated duration of each activity in the chain by half
- Buffer averages the impact of tasks finishing earlier or later than planned
- Provides allowances for estimates being different to the probability of actual duration
