Module 5: Project Schedule Management Flashcards
Milestones
Major activities of the project
Documents in time management
- activity list and attributes
- milestone list
- netword diagram
- activity duration estimates
- project schedule
Schedule management plan
- methodology: how the schedule will be created, including tools used.
- level of accuracy needed to determine time estimates.
- Units of measure: staff (hours, days or weeks?); other resources (metres, litres, tonnes, yards?).
- Control threshold for monitoring schedule performance: typically represented as percentage deviations from acceptable performance, defined in the baseline schedule.
- Rules of performance measurement: earned value management (EVM) rules or other measurement rules.
- Reporting formats and frequency
AOA
Activity on Arrow diagram show activities as circles called nodes. Arrows are used to show dependencies between nodes.
Can only show finish-to-start.
Steps to AOA
1) List the activities and identify their start and finish nodes.
2) Find all activities that start at Node 1.
3) Draw the finish nodes and arrows between Node 1 and each of the subsequent nodes.
4) Continue drawing the networking diagram working from left to right.
5) Make all arrowheads face the right, with no arrows intersecting.
AON or PDM
Activity on node or Precedence diagram method. Network diagram technique where boxes represent dependencies.
Methods of creating estimates
- past projects
- provide a guide
- expert judgement of someone with similar experience.
Need to evaluate all alternatives presented.
Methods of estimating duration
- input from team
- estimate at first, as project progresses you can refine estimate to improve accuracy.
Duration includes the time it would take and the elapsed time.
PERT weighted average
Program Evaluation Review Technique
PERT weighted average
Collect time estimates for optimistic, most likely and pessimistic duration estimates for each project activity.
(optimistic time + 4 X most likely time + pessimistic time) / 6
Monte Carlo Simulation
quantitative risk analysis technique. Provides a probability distribution for outcome values for the whole project. Three-point estimate and probabilistic component, the probability of completing the activity between the optimistic estimate and the most likely time estimate. Use software to run the simulation.
Gantt chart
- easy to read at a glance
- see activities concurrently
- projects that have lag
project’s average duration - see what team member is busy during a given time period
Critical path method
Network diagramming technique used to predict total project duration
method is used to identify the minimum project duration based on a sequence of activities whose durations when added up are the longest path to the end of the project. To determine you need to calculate: early start, early finish, late start and late finish dates for all activities. If any activities on critical path delayed, whole project is delayed.
Calculating the critical path
Step 1. Create a network diagram.
Step 2. Calculate the earliest start, earliest finish, latest start, and latest finish for each activity.
Step 3. Identify each path through the network.
Step 4. The path with the longest duration and no slack is the critical path.
Trade-offs
Need to be ready to make trade-offs in time and resources. Increase time, reallocate resources?
Crashing
Compress the schedule in either cost or time. (Ask people to work overtime). Finish on time but costs more.
Fast-tracking
Doing tasks in parallel (or same time). Shorten time and free up staff later in teh proejct. Can increase risk if activities need to be redone.
Multi-tasking
May contribute partially to each task and may not end up completing all tasks. Should not be assigned to two tasks simultaneously.
Buffer
Safety net in case of interruptions, illness, etc. Time to cover unexpected delays before the project due date.
Timebox
Most valuable work you can complete within each iteration. Agile/hybrid projects. Agreed upon time period to complete goal. Spring = timebox of </= 30 days.
Product roadmap
Shows product strategy, shows a timeline at a high level. Gantt charts can be used but are updated after each sprint to reflect work customer needs. Usually has a couple sprints.
Kanban method
Visual board. Design, manage and improve flow systems for knowledge work. It also allows organizations to start with their existing workflow and drive evolutionary change by visualizing their flow of work, limit work in progress (WIP), and stop starting and start finishing.
Components of Kanban board
Card, column, swim lanes, and WIP limits
Time estimates in agile projects
Use relative estimates. Instead of estimating each story separately, stories are compared to one another and grouped by relative difficulty based on risk, complexity and required labor. Bucket system (Large, uncertain, or small). T-shirt sizing.
Finish to start dependency diagram
A over B but shifted to right
Start to start dependency diagram
A on top of B, arrow on left side
Finish to finish dependency diagram
A on top of B, arrow on right side
Start to Finish Dependency diagram
What is the most common type of dependency between activities?
Finish to start
Start to finish
Start to start
Finish to finish
Finish to start
