Schedule Management Flashcards
Schedule Management Plan
The schedule management plan is a component of the project management plan that establishes the criteria and the activities for developing, monitoring, and controlling the schedule. The schedule management plan may be formal or informal, highly detailed, or broadly framed based on the needs of the project, and includes appropriate control thresholds.
Project schedule model development. The scheduling methodology and the scheduling tool to be used in the development of the project schedule model are specified.
Release and iteration length. When using an adaptive life cycle, the time-boxed periods for releases, waves, and iterations are specified. Time-boxed periods are durations during which the team works steadily toward completion of a goal. Time-boxing helps to minimize scope creep as it forces the teams to process essential features first, then other features when time permits.
Level of accuracy. The level of accuracy specifies the acceptable range used in determining realistic activity duration estimates and may include an amount for contingencies.
Units of measure. Each unit of measurement (such as staff hours, staff days, or weeks for time measures, or meters, liters, tons, kilometers, or cubic yards for quantity measures) is defined for each of the resources.
Organizational procedures links. The work breakdown structure (WBS) (Section 5.4) provides the framework for the schedule management plan, allowing for consistency with the estimates and resulting schedules.
Project schedule model maintenance. The process used to update the status and record progress of the project in the schedule model during the execution of the project is defined.
Control thresholds. Variance thresholds for monitoring schedule performance may be specified to indicate an agreed-upon amount of variation to be allowed before some action needs to be taken. Thresholds are typically expressed as percentage deviations from the parameters established in the baseline plan.
Rules of performance measurement. Earned value management (EVM) rules or other physical measurement rules of performance measurement are set. For example, the schedule management plan may specify:
- Rules for establishing percent complete
- EVM techniques (e.g., baselines, fixed-formula, percent complete, etc.) to be employed (for more specific information, refer to the Practice Standard for Earned Value Management [17])
- Schedule performance measurements such as schedule variance (SV) and schedule performance index (SPI) used to assess the magnitude of variation to the original schedule baseline.
Reporting formats. The formats and frequency for the various schedule reports are defined.
Activity List
The activity list includes the schedule activities required on the project. For projects that use rolling wave planning or agile techniques, the activity list will be updated periodically as the project progresses. The activity list includes an activity identifier and a scope of work description for each activity in sufficient detail to ensure that project team members understand what work is required to be completed.
Activity Attributes
Activity attributes extend the description of the activity by identifying multiple components associated with each activity. The components for each activity evolve over time. During the initial stages of the project, they include the unique activity identifier (ID), WBS ID, and activity label or name. When completed, they may include activity descriptions, predecessor activities, successor activities, logical relationships, leads and lags, resource requirements, imposed dates, constraints, and assumptions.
Sequence Activities
Every activity except the first and last should be connected to at least one predecessor and at least one successor activity with an appropriate logical relationship. Logical relationships should be designed to create a realistic project schedule. It may be necessary to use lead or lag time between activities to support a realistic and achievable project schedule.
Precedence Diagramming Method
The precedence diagramming method (PDM) is a technique used for constructing a schedule model in which activities are represented by nodes and are graphically linked by one or more logical relationships to show the sequence in which the activities are to be performed.
Finish-to-start (FS). A logical relationship in which a successor activity cannot start until a predecessor activity has finished. For example, installing the operating system on a PC (successor) cannot start until the PC hardware is assembled (predecessor).
Finish-to-finish (FF). A logical relationship in which a successor activity cannot finish until a predecessor activity has finished. For example, writing a document (predecessor) is required to finish before editing the document (successor) can finish.
Start-to-start (SS). A logical relationship in which a successor activity cannot start until a predecessor activity has started. For example, level concrete (successor) cannot begin until pour foundation (predecessor) begins.
Start-to-finish (SF). A logical relationship in which a successor activity cannot finish until a predecessor activity has started. For example, a new accounts payable system (successor) has to start before the old accounts payable system can be shut down (predecessor).
4 Dependency Determination and Integration
MD. Mandatory dependencies are those that are legally or contractually required or inherent in the nature of the work. Mandatory dependencies often involve physical limitations, such as on a construction project, where it is impossible to erect the superstructure until after the foundation has been built, or on an electronics project, where a prototype has to be built before it can be tested.
DD. Discretionary dependencies are sometimes referred to as preferred logic, preferential logic, or soft logic. Discretionary dependencies are established based on knowledge of best practices within a particular application area or some unusual aspect of the project where a specific sequence is desired, even though there may be other acceptable sequences.
ED. External dependencies involve a relationship between project activities and nonproject activities. These dependencies are usually outside of the project team’s control.
ID. Internal dependencies involve a precedence relationship between project activities and are generally inside the project team’s control. For example, if the team cannot test a machine until they assemble it, there is an internal mandatory dependency.
Leads and Lags
A lead is the amount of time a successor activity can be advanced with respect to a predecessor activity.
A lag is the amount of time a successor activity will be delayed with respect to a predecessor activity.
Project schedule network diagram
A project schedule network diagram is a graphical representation of the logical relationships, also referred to as dependencies, among the project schedule activities.
Analogous estimating
Analogous estimating is a technique for estimating the duration or cost of an activity or a project using historical data from a similar activity or project. Analogous estimating uses parameters from a previous, similar project, such as duration, budget, size, weight, and complexity, as the basis for estimating the same parameter or measure for a future project. Also known as top-down estimating.
Analogous estimating is the quickest estimating technique, but it is also the least accurate.
Parametric estimating
Parametric estimating is an estimating technique in which an algorithm is used to calculate cost or duration based on historical data and project parameters. This technique can produce higher levels of accuracy depending on the sophistication and underlying data built into the model.
Three-point estimating
The accuracy of single-point duration estimates may be improved by considering estimation uncertainty and risk. Using three-point estimates helps define an approximate range for an activity’s duration:
Most likely (tM). This estimate is based on the duration of the activity, given the resources likely to be assigned, their productivity, realistic expectations of availability for the activity, dependencies on other participants, and interruptions.
Optimistic (tO). The activity duration based on analysis of the best-case scenario for the activity.
Pessimistic (tP). The duration based on analysis of the worst-case scenario for the activity.
Triangular distribution formula
tE = (tO + tM + tP) / 3
Triangular distribution is used when there is insufficient historical data or when using judgmental data. Duration estimates based on three points with an assumed distribution provide an expected duration and clarify the range of uncertainty around the expected duration.
Bottom-up estimating
Bottom-up estimating is a method of estimating project duration or cost by aggregating the estimates of the lowerlevel components of the WBS. When an activity’s duration cannot be estimated with a reasonable degree of confidence, the work within the activity is decomposed into more detail. The detail durations are estimated.
Critical path method
The critical path method is used to estimate the minimum project duration and determine the amount of schedule flexibility on the logical network paths within the schedule model. This schedule network analysis technique calculates the early start, early finish, late start, and late finish dates for all activities without regard for any resource limitations by performing a forward and backward pass analysis through the schedule network
Resource optimization
Resource optimization is used to adjust the start and finish dates of activities to adjust planned resource use to be equal to or less than resource availability.
Resource leveling. A technique in which start and finish dates are adjusted based on resource constraints with the goal of balancing the demand for resources with the available supply.
Resource smoothing. A technique that adjusts the activities of a schedule model such that the requirements for resources on the project do not exceed certain predefined resource limits.
