Week 5 - Project Scheduling
5.1. Introduction
This week focuses on scheduling, which is a fundamental aspect of PM paired with planning. Scheduling, as part
of planning, is part of the second phase of PM aiming, amongst others, at defining the project objectives and
requirements as well as calculating the cost; scheduling the activities and identifying the deliverables. Critical
path analysis and precedence network analysis are fundamental tenets of project scheduling.
5.2. Learning Outcomes
Upon the completion of this week of study you will be able to:
1. Understand and apply critical path and precedence network analysis in project scheduling
2. Schedule project deliverables with the use of the appropriate methodologies.
3. Account for team diversity and considerations in project scheduling unique to international projects.
UEL-SG7004 Global Project Management in Practice 1|Page
5.3 Project Scheduling
Scheduling a project ensures that the deadline for the project delivery can be met. The most popular methods for
project scheduling in the 1950s were the PERT and CPM methods. Throughout the years two other methods
were developed. These are the activity-on-arrow (AOA) and activity-on-node (AON) networks. AON is the most
popular method as they are found easier to draw compared to the precedence counterparts. The AON method is
alternatively named as precedence diagramming method (PDM).
The first schedule of a project is drafted upon the completion of the WBS. According to the PMI, there are seven
activities in project scheduling, i.e., define activities; sequence activities; estimate activity resources; estimate
activity durations; schedule development; schedule control. Project schedules require a logical order of activities;
the duration of each activity; the availability of resources; dates and deadlines and cash flow.
Activities are the outcomes of the work packages of the WBS (lowest level). In small projects activities are
frequently defined at the same time as the WBS. The difference between a work package and an activity is that a
work package is a deliverable that requires more than one activity to produce.
5.4 Critical Path Analysis
Source: Lock (2014)
▪ All network diagrams are drawn from left to right.
▪ Each circle represents a project event, i.e., the completion of an activity.
• Each circle has a number that labels the event.
• The arrow connecting two events represents an activity or a task that must take place before the completion of
the second event. As such, the arrow from event 1 to event 2 is the activity 1-2.
• The dotted arrow in the diagram represents a dummy variable.
UEL-SG7004 Global Project Management in Practice 2|Page
• A dummy activity represents a constraint or line of dependence between different events and not an activity. The
start of activity 7-9 is dependent not only upon completion of activity 4-7, but also upon completion of activity 2-
5. Alternatively, activities 7-9 starts upon the completion of events 5 and 7.
• The logical significance of the diagram is that each event cannot be considered complete until all the activities into
it have been finished.
• The most common types of activities of logical dependency are:
1. Finish-to-start (FS), i.e., “a logical relationship in which a successor activity cannot start until a predecessor
activity has finished”.
2. Finish-to-finish (FF), i.e., “a logical relationship in which a successor activity cannot finish until a predecessor
activity has finished”.
3. Start-to-start (SS), i.e., “a logical relationship in which a successor activity cannot start until a predecessor
activity has started”.
4. Start-to-finish (SF), i.e., “a logical relationship in which a successor activity cannot finish until a predecessor
activity has started”.
5.5 Precedence network analysis
The precedence network analysis differs from the critical network analysis
The initial activity is the predecessor activity, i.e., “an activity that logically comes before a dependent activity
in a schedule”. The subsequent activity is the successor activity, which is “a dependent activity that logically
comes after another activity in a schedule”. (PMBOK)
Each node box in the schedule has the notations ES (Early Start), LS (Late Start), EF (Early Finish), LF (Late
Finish), and DU (DUration of the task). Float is calculated by the equation Float = Late start – Early start (Float
= LS – ES). Total float is the amount of time an activity can be delayed without delaying the overall project,
whereas free float refers to the amount of time an activity can be delayed without delaying its successor
activity(ies).
UEL-SG7004 Global Project Management in Practice 3|Page
Exercise
For the network below, calculate the early and late times as well as the float available on non-critical activities.
Which activities form the critical path?
Source: Heagney (2012, p. 91)
UEL-SG7004 Global Project Management in Practice 4|Page
Solution
For more examples, please, see Heagney (2011), Chapter 7.
Case Study on Geebold Manufacturing
Five months ago, the board of directors of Geebold Manufacturing approved the building of a new facility to
manufacture a new line of clothing. The company has already selected the project manager and the project team.
Ann, the project manager, has spent the past five months planning the project. She carefully defined the project
in terms of cost, time, and scope, and obtained the approval of the board of directors on the statement of work.
Working diligently, she created a work breakdown structure to the best of her knowledge. The diagram contains
over one hundred boxes in eight levels. Some of the work packages represent two to three hours of work and a
few represent 150 hours work. She then estimated each of the activities using an analogous approach, drawing on
plans she discovered of a similar facility the company planned three years ago but never completed. Ann then
drew a graphical network diagram including each oft the work packages from the work breakdown structure. The
dia gram showed the sequence of activities and their interrelationships. Ann is now ready to select the project
team and get the project rolling.
What has Ann done correctly? If you were the project manager, what would you do differently?
Case Study: Richman, (2002, p. 259)
UEL-SG7004 Global Project Management in Practice 5|Page
References
A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge. 7th Edition, (2021). PMI Institute.
Heagney, J. (2011). Fundamentals of Project Management, AMACOM.
Lewis, J. Project Planning, Scheduling, and Control. 5th Edition, (2011). McGraw Hill.
Lock, D. (2014). The Essentials of Project Management. Taylor & Francis.
Richman, L. (2002). Project Management: Step-by-Step. AMACOM, 2002.
UEL-SG7004 Global Project Management in Practice 6|Page