Chapter 5 – Time Management Flashcards
Milestones
• Significant event - No duration • Takes: - Several activities - A lot of work ~ To complete a milestone • Useful tools for: - Setting schedule goals - Monitoring progress • Examples: - Obtaining customer sign-off on key documents - Completion of specific products • SMART: - S – Specific - M – Manageable, measurable - A – Actionable - R – Relevant, realistic - T – Timebound
Sequencing Activities
• Involves:
- Reviewing activities
- Determining dependencies
• Dependency/relationship:
- Sequencing of project activities or tasks
• MUST determine dependencies
- In order to use critical path analysis
Mandatory dependencies
• Nature of the work • Hard logic • Examples: - Writing codes - Testing codes
Discretionary dependencies
• Defined by the project team
• Soft logic
• Used with care
- May limit later scheduling options
External dependencies
• Involves relationship between: - Project activities - Non-project activities • Example: - Receiving permission from another organization
Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM)
• Activity on Node (AON) - Activities represented by boxes • Arrows - Relationship between activities • More popular than ADM
Activity Duration Estimating
• Duration: - Actual amount of time worked on activity + elapsed time • Effort: - Number of workdays or work hours ~ Required to complete a task - Does not normally equal duration • People doing the work: - Help create estimates ~ Reviewed by an expert
Critical Path Method (CPM)
• Network diagramming method - To predict total project duration • Critical path: • Slack / float: - Amount of time an activity may be delayed without delaying: ~Succeeding activity ~Project finish date
Critical path
• Determines the earliest time - Project can be completed • Longest path • Least amount of slack or float • Not the one with all the critical activities - Only accounts for time • Example: - Growing grass • If the lengths of two or more path are the same: - Can be more than 1 critical path • Critical path can change
Free slack / free float
• Amount of time an activity can be:
- Delayed without delaying the early start of any immediately following activities
• Formula:
- ES of next activity - EF of current activity
Total slack / total float
• Amount of time an activity can be:
- Delayed from its early start without delaying the planned project finish date
• Formula:
- LS of current activity - LF of next activity
Forward pass
• Determines:
- Early Start (ES) - Finish dates
Backward pass
• Determines:
- Late Start (LS) - Finish dates
Using the Critical Path to Shorten a Project Schedule
• Adding more resources / changing their scope
• Crashing:
- Obtaining the greatest amount of schedule compression
~ For the least incremental cost
• Fast tracking:
- Doing them in parallel
- Overlapping them
Importance of Updating Critical Path Date
• Meet time goals for a project • Critical path: - May change as you enter actual start and finish dates • If project completion date will slip: - Negotiate with the project sponsor
Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT)
• Network analysis technique • Used to: - Estimate project duration ~ When there is a high degree of uncertainty • Uses probabilistic time estimates: - Duration estimates based on using: ~ Optimistic ~ Most likely ~ Pessimistic estimates of activity durations ~ Three-point estimate
Schedule Control Suggestions
• Perform reality checks on schedule
• Allows for contingencies (incident, possibility)
• Don’t plan for everyone:
- To work at 100% capacity all the time
• Hold progress meetings with stakeholders
- Be clear and honest
~ In communicating schedule issues
Controlling the Schedule
• Goals: - Know the status of the schedule - Influence factors ~ That cause schedule changes - Determine that the schedule has changed - Manage changes when they occur • Tools and techniques: - Progress reports - Schedule change control system - Project management software ~ Tracking Gantt Chart - Variance analysis ~ Analyzing float or slack - Performance management ~ Earned value
Reality Checks on Scheduling
• Review: - Draft schedule - Estimated completion date in the project charter • Prepare: - More detailed schedule ~ With the project team • Make sure schedule is: - Realistic - Followed • Alert top management well in advance - If there are schedule problems
Working with People Issues
• Strong leadership: - Helps projects succeed more ~ Than good PERT charts • Project managers should use: - Empowerment ~ Ability to give orders ~ Ability to assign positions - Incentives ~ Benefits that motivate or encourages one to do something - Discipline ~ Practice of training people to obey rules - Negotiation
