Chapter 7:
Project Time
Management
Information Technology
Project Management,
Seventh Edition
Note: See the text itself for full citations.
Learning Objectives
Understand the importance of project schedules and good project time
management
Discuss the process of planning schedule management
Define activities as the basis for developing project schedules
Describe how project managers use network diagrams and dependencies to
assist in activity sequencing
Understand the relationship between estimating resources and project
schedules
Explain how various tools and techniques help project managers perform
activity duration estimates
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Learning Objectives
Use a Gantt chart for planning and tracking schedule information, find the
critical path for a project, and describe how critical chain scheduling and
the Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) affect schedule
development
Discuss how reality checks and discipline are involved in controlling and
managing changes to the project schedule
Describe how project management software can assist in project time
management and review words of caution before using this software
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Importance of Project Schedules
Managers often cite delivering projects on time as one of their biggest
challenges
Time has the least amount of flexibility; it passes no matter what happens on a
project
Schedule issues are the main reason for conflicts on projects, especially during
the second half of projects
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Project Time Management Processes
Planning schedule management: determining the policies, procedures, and
documentation that will be used for planning, executing, and controlling the project
schedule. The main output of this process is a schedule management plan
Defining activities: identifying the specific activities that the project team members and
stakeholders must perform to produce the project deliverables. An activity or task is an
element of work normally found on the work breakdown structure (WBS) that has
expected duration, cost, and resource requirements. The main outputs of this process are an
activity list, activity attributes, a milestone list, and project management plan updates.
Sequencing activities: identifying and documenting the relationships between project
activities. The main outputs of this process include project
schedule network diagrams and project documents updates.
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Project Time Management Processes
Estimating activity resources involves estimating how many resources—
people, equipment, and materials—a project team should use to perform project
activities. The main outputs of this process are activity resource requirements,
a resource breakdown structure, and project documents updates.
Developing the schedule involves analyzing activity sequences, activity resource
estimates, and activity duration estimates to create the project schedule.
Outputs include a schedule baseline, project schedule, schedule data, project
calendars, project management plan updates, and project documents updates.
Controlling the schedule involves controlling and managing changes to the
project schedule. Outputs include work performance information, schedule
forecasts, change requests, project management plan updates, project
documents updates, and organizational process assets updates.
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Figure 6-1. Project Time Management
Summary
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Planning Schedule Management
The project team uses expert judgment, analytical techniques, and meetings
to develop the schedule management plan
A schedule management plan includes:
◦ Project schedule model development
◦ The scheduling methodology
◦ Level of accuracy and units of measure
◦ Control thresholds
◦ Rules of performance measurement
◦ Reporting formats
◦ Process descriptions
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Defining Activities
An activity or task is an element of work normally found on the work
breakdown structure (WBS) that has an expected duration, a cost, and resource
requirements
Activity definition involves developing a more detailed WBS and supporting
explanations to understand all the work to be done so you can develop realistic
cost and duration estimates.
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Activity Lists and Attributes
An activity list is a tabulation of activities to be included on a project
schedule that includes
◦ the activity name
◦ an activity identifier or number
◦ a brief description of the activity
Activity attributes provide more information such as predecessors,
successors, logical relationships, leads and lags, resource requirements,
constraints, imposed dates, and assumptions related to the activity
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Sequencing Activities
Involves reviewing activities and determining dependencies
A dependency or relationship is the sequencing of project activities or
tasks
You must determine dependencies in order to use critical path analysis
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Three types of Dependencies
Mandatory dependencies: inherent in the nature of the work being performed on
a project, sometimes referred to as hard logic. For example, you cannot test code
until after the code is written.
Discretionary dependencies are defined by the project team. For example,
a project team might follow good practice and not start the detailed design of
a new information system until the users sign off on all of the analysis work.
Discretionary dependencies are sometimes referred to as soft logic and should
be used with care because they may limit later scheduling options.
External dependencies involve relationships between project and non-project
activities. For example, the installation of a new operating system and other
software may depend on delivery of new hardware from an external supplier
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Network Diagrams
Network diagrams are the preferred technique for showing activity
sequencing.
A network diagram is a schematic display of the logical relationships
among project activities and their sequencing. Some people refer to
network diagrams as project schedule network diagrams or PERT charts.
PERT is described later in this chapter. Figure 6-2 shows a sample
network diagram for Project X.
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Figure 6-2. Network Diagram for Project X
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Note the main elements on this network diagram. The letters A through J
represent activities with dependencies that are required to complete the
project. These activities come from the WBS and activity definition
process described earlier. The arrows represent the activity sequencing or
relationships between tasks. For example, Activity A must be done before
Activity D, and Activity D must be done before Activity H.
The format of this network diagram uses the activity-on-arrow (AOA)
approach or the arrow diagramming method (ADM)—a network
diagramming technique in which activities are represented by arrows and
connected at points called nodes to illustrate the sequence of activities. A
node is simply the starting and ending point of an activity. The first node
signifies the start of a project, and the last node represents the end.
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Keep in mind that the network diagram represents activities that must be done to
complete the project.
It is not a race to get from the first node to the last node. Every activity on the
network diagram must be completed in order to finish the project. Note also that
not every item on the WBS needs to be shown on the network diagram; only
activities with dependencies need to be shown.
However, some people like to have start and end milestones and to list every
activity. It is a matter of preference. For large projects with hundreds of
activities, it might be simpler to include only activities with dependencies on a
network diagram. Sometimes it is enough to put summary tasks on a network
diagram or to break down the project into several smaller network diagrams
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Network Diagrams
Network diagrams are the preferred technique for showing activity
sequencing.
A network diagram is a schematic display of the logical relationships
among project activities and their sequencing. Some people refer to
network diagrams as project schedule network diagrams or PERT charts.
PERT is described later in this chapter. Figure 6-2 shows a sample
network diagram for Project X.
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Figure 6-3. Task Dependency Types
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Estimating Activity Resources
Before estimating activity durations, you must have a good idea of the quantity
and type of resources that will be assigned to each activity; resources are
people, equipment, and materials
Consider important issues in estimating resources
◦ How difficult will it be to do specific activities on this project?
◦ What is the organization’s history in doing similar activities?
◦ Are the required resources available?
A resource breakdown structure is a hierarchical structure that identifies the
project’s resources by category and type
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Activity Duration Estimating
Duration includes the actual amount of time worked on an activity plus
elapsed time
Effort is the number of workdays or work hours required to complete a
task
Effort does not normally equal duration
People doing the work should help create estimates, and an expert should
review them
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Three-Point Estimates
Instead of providing activity estimates as a discrete number, such as four
weeks, it’s often helpful to create a three-point estimate
◦ an estimate that includes an optimistic, most likely, and pessimistic estimate, such as
three weeks for the optimistic, four weeks for the most likely, and five weeks for the
pessimistic estimate
Three-point estimates are needed for PERT and Monte Carlo simulations
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Developing the Schedule
Uses results of the other time management processes to determine the start
and end date of the project
Ultimate goal is to create a realistic project schedule that provides a basis
for monitoring project progress for the time dimension of the project
Important tools and techniques include Gantt charts, critical path analysis,
and critical chain scheduling, and PERT analysis
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Gantt Charts
Gantt charts provide a standard format for displaying project schedule
information by listing project activities and their corresponding start and
finish dates in a calendar format
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Figure 6-5. Gantt Chart for Project X
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Figure 6-6. Gantt Chart for Software
Launch Project
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SMART Criteria
Milestones should be
◦ Specific
◦ Measurable
◦ Assignable
◦ Realistic
◦ Time-framed
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Critical Path Method (CPM)
CPM is a network diagramming technique used to predict total project
duration
A critical path for a project is the series of activities that determines the
earliest time by which the project can be completed
The critical path is the longest path through the network diagram and
has the least amount of slack or float
Slack or float is the amount of time an activity may be delayed without
delaying a succeeding activity or the project finish date
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Calculating the Critical Path
First develop a good network diagram
Add the duration estimates for all activities on each path through the
network diagram
The longest path is the critical path
If one or more of the activities on the critical path takes longer than
planned, the whole project schedule will slip unless the project manager
takes corrective action
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Figure 6-8. Determining the Critical Path
for Project X
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Calculating the Critical Path Example 2
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Calculating the Critical Path
1. Construct the network diagram.
2. Identify all paths. Which path is the critical
path?
3. Calculate the slack for each activity.
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Calculating the Critical Path
1. Construct the network diagram.
Information Technology Project Management,
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Calculating the Critical Path
2. Identify all paths. Which path is the critical path?
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Calculating the Critical Path
2. Identify all paths. Which path is the critical path?
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Calculating the Critical Path
3. Calculate the slack for each activity.
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3. Calculate the slack for each activity.
ES, EF Network
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3. Calculate the slack for each activity.
LS, LF Network:
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3. Calculate the slack for each activity.
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Using the Critical Path to Shorten a Project Schedule
Three main techniques for shortening schedules
◦ Shortening durations of critical activities/tasks by adding more resources or changing
their scope
◦ Crashing activities by obtaining the greatest amount of schedule compression for the
least incremental cost
◦ Fast tracking activities by doing them in parallel or overlapping them
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Importance of Updating Critical Path Data
It is important to update project schedule information to meet time goals
for a project
The critical path may change as you enter actual start and finish dates
If you know the project completion date will slip, negotiate with the project
sponsor
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PERT Formula and Example
PERT weighted average =
optimistic time + 4X most likely time + pessimistic time
6
Example:
PERT weighted average =
8 workdays + 4 X 10 workdays + 24 workdays = 12 days
6
where optimistic time= 8 days
most likely time = 10 days, and
pessimistic time = 24 days
Therefore, you’d use 12 days on the network diagram instead of 10 when using PERT
for the above example
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Schedule Control Suggestions
Perform reality checks on schedules
Allow for contingencies
Don’t plan for everyone to work at 100% capacity all the time
Hold progress meetings with stakeholders and be clear and honest in
communicating schedule issues
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Controlling the Schedule
Goals are to know the status of the schedule, influence factors that cause
schedule changes, determine that the schedule has changed, and manage
changes when they occur.
Tools and techniques include
◦ Progress reports
◦ A schedule change control system
◦ Project management software, including schedule comparison charts like the tracking
Gantt chart
◦ Variance analysis, such as analyzing float or slack
◦ Performance management, such as earned value (chapter 7)
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Working with People Issues
Strong leadership helps projects succeed more than good PERT charts
Project managers should use
◦ empowerment
◦ incentives
◦ discipline
◦ negotiation
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Exercises
1. Construct the network diagram.
2. Identify all paths. Which path is the
critical path?
3. Calculate the slack for each activity.
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Exercises
1. Calculate the duration of each activity.
2. Construct the network diagram.
3. Identify all paths. Which path is the
critical path?
4. Calculate the slack for each activity.
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Chapter Summary
Project time management is often cited as the main source of conflict on
projects, and most IT projects exceed time estimates
Main processes include
◦ Plan schedule management
◦ Define activities
◦ Sequence activities
◦ Estimate activity resources
◦ Estimate activity durations
◦ Develop schedule
◦ Control schedule
Information Technology Project Management,
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Information Technology Project Management,
Seventh Edition