Introduction to schedule management

6. Project Schedule Management
“Mind Map”

3
• Essam Lotfi is ELV Projects Manager, Abu Dhabi, UAE, BSc. in
Electrical Engineering, Power Distribution through Zagazig
University, Egypt since 2001. Pursued and achieved his
certificates in Project Management (PMP®) from PMI-USA
since 2013, and certificate in Cost Management (CCP®) from
AACE International since june-2014.
• 16 years extensive hands on experience in various aspects of
projects and project management within maintenance, power
distribution networks monitoring and supervision and
construction projects as well.
• Authored, Co-Authored at PMWorld Library, PWLJ.
• Volunteered at PMI-Global Congress EMEA-2014 – Dubai, 5th
to 8th May 2014.
• Technical presentation at PMI-AGC 15th International
conference –Bahrain 19th to 21st January 2015.
• Technical presentation at 54th AACEi-SF Bay Annual Western
Winter Workshop, Lake Tahoe, Nevada, USA
• Technical presentation 55th AACEi-SF Bay Annual
Western Winter Workshop, Indian Wells, CA, USA
• Technical presentation 56th AACEi-SF Bay Annual
Western Winter Workshop, Indian Wells, CA, USA
• Independent Project Management and cost
engineering/Control Instructor.
ByEssamLotfy,PMP,CCP

6.1 Plan Schedule
management
Project management plan
Project Charter
Schedule Management plan
Expert Judgment
Tools & Techniques
Inputs
Outputs
OPA & EEF
Data Analysis
Project Schedule Management
Meetings
Who..? What..? When..? How..? How Much..?
XXXXXXX Management Plan
Scope Management Plan
Development Approach

6.1 Plan Schedule
management
Outputs
It is a component of the project management plan that establishes
the criteria and the activities for developing, Monitoring & 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. 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) provides the framework for the
schedule management plan, allowing for consistency with the estimates and resulting schedules.
Rules of performance measurement. Earned value management (EVM) rules or other physical
measurement rules of performance measurement are set.

6.2 Define Activities
Project Management Plan
Scope Baseline
Activity List
Activity Attribute
Expert Judgment
Tools & Techniques
Inputs
Outputs
Milestones list
Decomposition
Rolling Wave Planning
OPA & EEF
Meetings
PM plan Updates
Schedule Baseline
Cost Baseline
Change Requests

6.2 Define Activities
Activity List
Activity Attribute
Outputs
Milestones list
PM plan Updates
Schedule Baseline
Cost Baseline
Change Requests
Comprehensive list including all schedule activities to be performed
Significant point or event in the project:
- Mandatory which is required by the contract.
- Optional which is based upon project requirements.
Schedule baseline (sometimes referred to as a target baseline) is the
original approved project schedule, which is agreed by project
stakeholders before the project starts. ... It is a fixed measure which is
used as a planning yard mark against which the progress on the actual
project schedule can be measured.
Cost baseline is that part of the project baseline that handles the
amount of money the project is predicted to cost and on the other side
when that money will be spent. It is an approved budget usually in a
time distribution format used to estimate, monitor, and control the
overall cost performance of the project.

Activity (A) – Duration = XXS F
Activity (B) - Duration = YY
Activity (C) - Duration = ZZ
Summary Level – Rolling Up for Activities Duration & Logic
Activity (A) F
Activity (B)S
F S
Activity (A)S
Activity (B)S
S S
Activity (A) F
Activity (B) F
F F
Activity (A)S
Activity (B) F
S F
Successor
Predecessor

With the finish-to-start predecessor,
Activity A must be completed before
Activity B begins.
It is usually the default predecessor
type for modern project scheduling
software.
Activity (A) F
Activity (B)S
F S
Successor
Predecessor

With the finish-to-finish predecessor,
Activity B must finish by the time
Activity A is finished.
Use this predecessor when two or
more teams are developing
something, and all activity must finish
at the same time to be converged into
the total system.
Activity (A) F
Activity (B) F
F F
Successor
Predecessor

Under the start-to-start predecessor,
when Activity A starts, Activity B can
start.
Use this predecessor when multiple
activities can start simultaneously.
Activity (A)S
Activity (B)S
S S
Successor
Predecessor

Under the start-to-finish predecessor,
Activity B would start before Activity A
finishes.
You would use start-to-finish
predecessor in situations where the
new system must start before you
could finish (shutdown) the old
system.
One example that seems to be ideal
for this type predecessor is a project in
which you are creating a new system
to replace an existing system.
Activity (A)S
Activity (B) F
S F
Successor
Predecessor

Successor
Predecessor
Dependency Definition
Mandatory
(Hard Logic)
A constraint that must be completed before the subsequent items can start. You must
have the roof on before you can begin to apply shingles to it.
Discretionary
(Soft Logic)
A constraint that should be completed but is not absolutely required to be completed
before the subsequent items can start. You prefer but do not absolutely have to finish
System Testing before beginning User Acceptance Testing.
Internal
A mandatory or discretionary constraint that originates from within the project or
company. You have to wait for the power supply to complete the testing of the computer
you are designing.
External
A constraint put in place by something external to the project team or organization. The
city inspector must approve any construction before issuing a certification of occupancy
so the tenant can move in.

• The network diagram is a schematic of project activities.
• It shows how various activities are connected as a result of Sequence Activities.
• This diagram gives you a picture of how the work of the project will flow.
• It is also the tool used to evaluation schedule compression techniques such as crashing and fast
tracking.

B D
Start
CA
E
F
G Finish
• Sometimes called activity-on-node (AON), the precedence
diagramming method (PDM) is what most people use when they
use modern project management scheduling software. In this
method, the activity is in the box (sometimes called the node)
and the arrow connects the activities.

• Lead is an accelerant of an activity. You use a Lead when something
can begin before its predecessor is totally complete.
• Modification of logical relationship that allows an acceleration of
the successor activity. For example, in a Finish-to-Start dependency
with a ten day lead, the successor activity can start ten days before
the predecessor activity has finished.
• The negative lead is equal to positive lag.
• A Lag is a delay between activities. You use it where there is some
type of constraint in which something must wait before it can
continue.
• Modification of logical relationship that allows a delay of the
successor activity. For example, in a Finish-to-Start dependency with
a ten day lead, the successor activity can’t start until ten days after
the predecessor activity has finished.

6.3 Sequence Activities
Schedule Baseline
Project Schedule Network
Diagram
Project Document Update
Precedence diagramming method
Tools & Techniques
Inputs
Outputs
Activities list
Dependency Determination &
Integration
Project Documents
Activity attributes
Leads & Lags
Assumptions log
Milestone list
OPA & EEF
Project Management Information
system Activity Attributes
Activities list
Assumptions log
Milestone List

Example of CPM- Precedence diagram

6.4 Estimate Activities Durations
Project Team Assignment
Resource Breakdown Structure
Durations Estimates
Basis of Estimates
Expert Judgment
Tools & Techniques
Inputs
Outputs
Analogous Estimate
Parametric Estimate
Meetings
Resource Requirements
Risk Register
EEF & OPA
Resource calendars
3 – Point Estimate
Decision making
Schedule Baseline
Activities list
Project Documents
Activity attributes
Assumptions log
Lessons Learned Register
Milestone list
Bottom Up Estimate
Data Analysis
Alternative Analysis
Reserve Analysis
Project Documents Update
Activity Attributes
Assumptions Log

In many cases, the number of resources that are expected to be available
to accomplish an activity, along with the skill proficiency of those
resources, may determine the activity’s duration.
A change to a driving resource allocated to the activity will usually have
an effect on the duration, but this is not a simple “straight-line” or linear
relationship. Sometimes, the intrinsic nature of the work (i.e., constraints
imposed on the duration, effort involved, or number of resources) will
take a predetermined amount of time to complete regardless of the
resource allocation (e.g., a 24-hour stress test).
Law of diminishing returns. When one factor (e.g., resource) used
to determine the effort required to produce a unit of work is
increased while all other factors remain fixed, a point will
eventually be reached at which additions of that one factor start to
yield progressively smaller or diminishing increases in output.
Number of resources. Increasing the number of resources to twice the original number of the resources
does not always reduce the time by half, as it may increase extra duration due to risk, and at some
point adding too many resources to the activity may increase duration due to knowledge transfer,
learning curve, additional coordination, and other factors involved.
Advances in technology. This may also play an important role in determining duration estimates.
Motivation of staff. The project manager also needs to be aware of Student Syndrome—or
procrastination— when people start to apply themselves only at the last possible moment before the
deadline, and Parkinson’s Law where work expands to fill the time available for its completion.

Analogous Estimate
Tools &
Techniques
Parametric Estimate
3 – Point Estimate
Bottom Up Estimate
 Using the actual duration of a previous similar schedule activity as the
basis for estimating the duration of future activity.
 Generally less costly and less time consuming.
 Less accurate.
 Estimating the basis of activity durations can be quantitatively
determined by multiplying the quantity of the work to be performed
by the productivity rates.
• Parametric estimating uses a statistical relationship between historical
data and other variables (e.g., square footage in construction).
• higher levels of accuracy depending on the sophistication and
underlying data built into the model.
• 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)
• Optimistic (tO)
• Pessimistic (tP)
• tE = (tO + tM + tP) /3 Triangular Distribution
• A method of estimating project duration or cost by aggregating the
estimates of the lower level components of the WBS.
• These estimates are then aggregated into a total quantity for each of
the activity’s durations.
• Activities may or may not have dependencies between them that can
affect the application and use of resources. If there are dependencies,
this pattern of resource usage is reflected and documented in the
estimated requirements of the activity.

Durations Estimates
Basis of Estimates
Outputs
Duration estimates are quantitative assessments of the likely number of
time periods that are required to complete an activity, a phase, or a
project. Duration estimates do not include any lags as described in Section
6.3.2.3. Duration estimates may include some indication of the range of
possible results. For example:
• A range of 2 weeks ± 2 days, which indicates that the activity will take
at least 8 days and not more than 12 (assuming a 5-day work week); or
• A 15% probability of exceeding 3 weeks, which indicates a high
probability—85%—that the activity will take 3 weeks or less.
Supporting detail for duration estimates may include:
• Documentation of the basis of the estimate (i.e., how it was
developed),
• Documentation of all assumptions made,
• Documentation of any known constraints,
• Indication of the range of possible estimates (e.g., ±10%) to indicate
that the duration is estimated between a range of values),
• Indication of the confidence level of the final estimate, and
• Documentation of individual project risks influencing this estimate.

6.5 Develop Schedule
Project Schedule Network Diagrams
Project Team Assignments
Schedule Baseline
Project Schedule
Schedule Network Analysis
Tools & Techniques
Inputs
Outputs
Critical Path Method
Resource Optimization
AGILE RELEASE PLANNING
Risk Register
Agreements
Resource calendars
Data Analysis
System
Schedule Baseline
Activities list
Project Documents
Activity attributes
Assumptions log
Milestone list
What-If Scenario Analysis
Simulation
Leads & Lags
Schedule Compression
Schedule Data
Change Requests
Project Management Plan updates
Schedule Management Plan
Basis of Estimates
Duration Estimates
EEF & OPA
Cost Baseline
Assumptions Log
Project Documents
Updates
Activity attributes
Duration Estimates
Risk Register

Tools & Techniques
Data Analysis
System
Simulation
Leads & Lags
• It includes several techniques to project schedule model:
• Critical Path Method.
• Resource Optimization.
• Modeling Techniques.
• Additional Analysis, such as but not limited to; Divergence &
Convergence.
• Examine the Risk levels on Critical Path.
• Implementation of Risk Responses to reduce the risk on Critical
Path.
• Critical Path Method:
• Planning the Project so that it is completed as quickly as possible.
• Identifying the activities where a delay in their execution will
affect the overall end.
• Critical path is the longest sequence of dependent activities that
leads to completion of tasks.
• Critical Path is the longest path with minimum project
possible duration.
• Resource Optimization:
• Resource Leveling.
• Resource Smoothing.

• CPM Pointers:
– Used with scheduling environments where a:
• Forward Pass is used to establish the earliest the activities can start (ES) and finish (EF)
• Backward Pass is used to establish the latest the activities can start (LS) and finish (LF)
– Allows the calculation of the critical path and the amount of slack on each activity
– Any activity on the critical path typically has zero slack
– A negative slack is possible if the project is behind schedule
– Activities on the critical path are the ones the Project Manager should put more focus on
• Slack (Also Known as Float)
– Slack is the amount of time that an activity can slip or be delayed without delaying the finish
date of the project .
– If an activity has no slack, it is on the critical path Negative or positive float can also exist.
This float is a scenario in which the project’s actual finish date extends past a targeted finish
date, or the project’s actual finish date comes before the targeted finish date.
– Free Slack: The amount of time that an activity can be delayed without delaying the
successor activity. This is calculated by subtracting EF+1 of the current activity from the ES of
the successor activity.
– Total Slack: It is the latest an activity can start without delaying the project finish date or
violating a schedule constraint. Total Slack (Float) does not get added together for the path,
but float is shared across the path.
– Project Slack: The amount of time something can be delayed without delaying the published
finish date. Note that it could be different from what the project is privately anticipating.

Start
A
B
C
D
E
F
G Finish
4
5
4
2 1
6
5
Activity Preceding Duration
in Days
A Start 4
B Start 5
C A 4
D B 2
E C, D 6
F D 1
G E, F 5
• What are the different paths and time?
• Path A,C,E,G Duration of 19
• Path B,D,E,G Duration of 18
• Path B,D,F,G Duration of 13
• What is the critical path?
• Path A,C,E,G Duration of 19

Tools & Techniques
Data Analysis
System
Simulation
Leads & Lags
• What-if scenario analysis is the process of evaluating scenarios in
order to predict their effect, positive or negative, on project
objectives.
• This is an analysis of the question, “What if the situation represented
by scenario X happens?” A schedule network analysis is performed
using the schedule to compute the different scenarios, such as
delaying a major component delivery, extending specific engineering
durations, or introducing external factors, such as a strike or a change
in the permit process.
• The outcome of the what-if scenario analysis can be used to assess the
feasibility of the project schedule under different conditions, and in
preparing schedule reserves and response plans to address the impact
of unexpected situations.
• Simulation models the combined effects of individual project risks and
other sources of uncertainty to evaluate their potential impact on
achieving project objectives.
• The most common simulation technique is Monte Carlo analysis ,in
which risks and other sources of uncertainty are used to calculate
possible schedule outcomes for the total project.
• Simulation involves calculating multiple work package durations with
different sets of activity assumptions, constraints, risks, issues, or
scenarios using probability distributions and other representations of
uncertainty.

Tools & Techniques
Data Analysis
System
Simulation
Leads & Lags
• Lead is an accelerant of an activity. You use a Lead when something
can begin before its predecessor is totally complete.
• Modification of logical relationship that allows an acceleration of the
successor activity. For example, in a Finish-to-Start dependency with a
ten day lead, the successor activity can start ten days before the
predecessor activity has finished.
• The negative lead is equal to positive lag.
• A Lag is a delay between activities. You use it where there is some type
of constraint in which something must wait before it can continue.
• Modification of logical relationship that allows a delay of the successor
activity. For example, in a Finish-to-Start dependency with a ten day
lead, the successor activity can’t start until ten days after the
predecessor activity has finished.
Technique
Characteristics
Key Cost Quality Additional
Crashing
Putting more
resources on
Critical Path
activities
Usually
increases
Cost
Minimal risk
exposure
(compared to
fast tracking)
Think of this as crashing a party. You
have more people than originally
planned.
Fast
Tracking
Do activities
in parallel that
would
normally be in
sequence
Flexible, but
increase cost
from
potential
rework
Additional risk
exposure
because of
possible rework
Can require additional communication
to coordinate activities

Tools & Techniques
Data Analysis
System
Simulation
Leads & Lags
• Agile release planning provides a high-level summary timeline of the
release schedule (typically 3 to 6 months) based on the product
roadmap and the product vision for the product’s evolution.
• Agile release planning also determines the number of iterations or
sprints in the release, and allows the product owner and team to
decide how much needs to be developed and how long it will take to
have a releasable product based on business goals, dependencies, and
impediments.
• Since features represent value to the customer, the timeline provides a
more easily understood project schedule as it defines which feature
will be available at the end of each iteration, which is exactly the
depth of information the customer is looking for.

Schedule Baseline
Project Schedule
Outputs
 A schedule baseline is the approved version of a schedule model that
can be changed only through formal change control procedures and is
used as a basis for comparison to actual results.
• The project schedule is an output of a schedule model that presents
linked activities with planned dates, durations, milestones, and
resources. At a minimum, the project schedule includes a planned
start date and planned finish date for each activity.

6.6 Control Schedule
Project Schedule
Resource calendars
Work Performance Information's
Schedule Forecast
Data Analysis
Tools & Techniques
Inputs
Outputs
Earned Value Analysis
Iteration Burn Down Chart
Leads & Lags
Work Performance Data
Schedule Data
Trend Analysis
System
Schedule Baseline
Project Documents
Scope Baseline
Performance Measurement Baseline
Project Calendars
Variance Analysis
What If Scenario
Change Requests
Project Management Plan updates
Schedule Management Plan
Schedule Baseline
OPA
Cost Baseline
Basis of Estimates
Project Documents
Updates
Assumptions Log
Project Schedule
Resource Calendars
Risk Register
Recourse Optimization
Performance Measurements
Baseline
Schedule Data

• Control Schedule Considered as a part of Perform Integrated Change Control Process to:
– Determining the current status of the project schedule
– Influencing the factors that create schedule changes
– Reconsidering necessary schedule reserves
– Determining if the project schedule has changed
– Managing the actual changes if they occur
Control Schedule
• Determining the current status of the project schedule by comparing the total amount of work
delivered and accepted against the estimates of work completed for the elapsed time cycle
• Conducting retrospectives (scheduled reviews to record lessons learned) for correcting processes
and improving, if required
• Reprioritizing the remaining work plan (backlog)
• Determining the rate at which the deliverables are produced, validated, and accepted (velocity)
in the given time per iteration (agreed-upon work cycle duration, typically 2 weeks or 1 month)
• Determining that the project schedule has changed
• Managing the actual changes as they occur
If Agile Approach is used, Control schedule is concerned with:

Earned Value Analysis
Earned Value Analysis Provides organizations with the methodology needed to integrate
the management of project Scope, Schedule & cost, EVM can play a critical role in
answering management questions that are critical to the success of every project
Are we Ahead or behind schedule..?
How efficiency are we using our time ..?
When is the project likely to be completed ..?
Are we currently under or over our budget..?
How efficient are we using our resources..?
What is the remaining work likely to cost..?
What is the entire project likely to cost..?
How much the project will be under or over budget
at the end ..?
If the application of EVM to a
project reveals that the project is
behind schedule or over budget,
the project manager can use the
EVM methodology to help
identify
Where the problems are
occurring..?
Whether the problems are critical or
not..?
What it will take to get the project
back on track..?
Tools & Techniques

Iteration Burn down Chart
A burn down chart is a graphical representation of work left to do versus time. The outstanding work
(or backlog) is often on the vertical axis, with time along the horizontal. That is, it is a run chart of
outstanding work. It is useful for predicting when all of the work will be completed.
Analyze the variance with respect to an ideal burn down based on the work committed from iteration planning
Forecast trend line can be used to predict the likely variance at iteration completion and take appropriate actions
Trend line is then calculated to forecast completion based on remaining work
Tools & Techniques
Diagonal line representing the ideal burn down and daily actual remaining work is then plotted

WE COMPLETED SCHEDULE
MANAGEMENT
IT IS TIME TO REST…….

Introduction to schedule management

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