Planning_and_scheduling.pptx

Project
Planning and Scheduling
November 22, 2004

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 Definition of scheduling and its relationship to the
project management process
 Scheduling uses and benefits
 Schedule types
 Characteristics of a good schedule
 Schedule preparation, reports and control
 Network scheduling including analysis techniques
and relationships
Scheduling Topics Covered
Project Planning and Scheduling
http://www.maxwideman.com/issacons/index.htm

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PM Process Summary
Launch Plan
 Recruit and organize project team
 Establish team operating rules
 Level project resources
 Assign work
Monitor & Control Progress
 Establish progress reporting system
 Set up change control process
 Define problem escalation process
 Monitor progress vs. plan
 Revise project plan
Close Out Project
 Obtain client acceptance
 Install project deliverables
 Complete project documentation
 Complete post-implementation audit
 Issue final project report
Develop Detailed Plan
 Identify project activities
 Estimate activity duration
 Determine resource requirements
 Construct / analyze project network
 Prepare project schedule
Define Project
 State need, problem or opportunity
 Define project objectives
 Identify success criteria
 List assumptions, risks and obstacles
 Define project scope and work
breakdown structure
Feedback
Adapted from Project Management, 1987 Kepner-Tregoe, Inc.
and Effective Project Management by R.K. Wysocki, R. Beck Jr.
& D.B. Crane (Wiley, 1995)
We are here

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The process of converting a general or
outline plan for a project into a time-based
graphic presentation using information on
available resources and time constraints.
Scheduling

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 Scheduling is a management tool
 It can be used to satisfy a number of objectives
– Coordination
– Analysis and forecasting
– Reporting against a baseline
 Scheduling enables you to
– Integrate the activities of the various project
participants
– Show interface responsibilities particularly with
respect to timing
– Secure, record and communicate commitment to
tasks by the various contributors to the project
effort
Scheduling

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 Scheduling also enables you to
– Identify the key activity sequence (critical path)
determining the length of the project
– Display departmental work loading and hence
facilitate departmental planning
– Provide the basis for more detailed scheduling
Scheduling

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 Scheduling enables analysis and forecasting
 You can
– Show priorities for procuring equipment, material,
labor and services
– Analyze complex work areas with many interrelated
activities through network analysis
– Facilitate long range planning and future resource
allocation
– Measure progress
– Measure performance
– Maintain control over time and cost of the project
– Produce a cash flow forecast
Scheduling

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 Use scheduling for reporting
– Provide a visible summary of important or
major activities
– Report planned completion dates
– Report deviations from plan
– Provide an early warning system for delays
– Monitor cash flow
– Record actual dates
– For forecasting
– For estimating on future projects
Scheduling

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Three Basic Steps to a Project Schedule

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 There are many ways of presenting similar
information, each with different objectives
 Gantt Chart is another name for Bar Chart
 Milestone Chart
 Progress Chart
 Networks
 Earned Value or Trend lines
 Line of Balance
 And several others
Types of Schedules

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 Graphical
representation
shows horizontal
bars against a
time scale
 At summary or
detailed levels
Gantt or Simple Bar Chart

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 Graphical
representation
shows milestone
dates
 Identifies key
points in the
project's life span
 The bars are not
necessarily visible
Milestone Chart

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 Graphical
representation
shows progress
relative to plan
 In this case, behind
schedule
 No indication of
final completion
Progress Bar Chart

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 Graphical
representation shows
original baseline
schedule (red bars)
and actual progress
relative to current
plan
 No indication of final
completion
Bar Chart Status Report

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Advantages
 Good communication tool
 Easy to prepare (minimal cost)
 Easy to update
 Good for small projects
Disadvantages
 Do not show relationships between
activities without a lot of extra lines
 Limited help for project control
Bar Charts Pros and Cons

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 A good schedule will be
– Logical
– Simple and easy to work with
– Easy to monitor
– Flexible, easy to revise
– Specific and timely
 It will also
– Anticipate problems
– Promote effective communication
Characteristics of a Good Schedule

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 The highest summary level schedule for a project
showing the overall phasing and all major
interfaces, key milestones and significant work
elements
 Also known as an Executive Summary Level
Schedule
 Usually prepared manually as an outline of intent
very early in the project's life span
Master Schedule

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 Developed as early as possible in the project life span
 Maintained by the project manager
 For the project owner/sponsor
 Preferably developed through negotiation with the
project sponsor
 Should show all major activities at a summary level
 Include key milestones or events relating to each
major activity at critical points in time
Master Schedule

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 Original version is the baseline or target schedule
 Provides a yardstick for the overall project status
against which overall progress is measured
 Because of its simplicity, it can be used throughout
the project as the reporting base
Master Schedule

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 The Baseline Master Schedule should not be
changed unless
– A formal and agreed re-scheduling takes place for
the entire project or a major part of it
– The current actual progress and the target
schedule become so far apart that recovery is
impossible and target objectives have become
meaningless
– Such changes are recognized by senior
management and approved by the sponsor/client
Master Schedule

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 Project scheduling can be very sophisticated
 Refer to some of the many books on the subject
for an in-depth understanding
 For our purposes there are ten general steps in
preparing a reliable schedule
Preparing a Schedule

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 Before you start preparing a serious detailed
schedule, you must first have
– A Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
– A list of tasks derived from each Work Package
– Staffing and resources required, or available,
for each task

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 Do you really need all of that information?
– Yes. And also assemble any other information
that will affect schedule calculations
 You can of course start developing a schedule long
before you have all of that information, but
– Such a schedule will be "High-level"
– And correspondingly less reliable
 In fact, your detailed schedule should only come
after several schedule iterations earlier in the
project life span

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 There are a number of recommended steps,
depending on your particular project
 But first
– Assemble key team members who will be
responsible for conducting the project
– Brief them on the purpose of the meeting
 Inevitably there will be some preliminary discussion

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 Establish and agree the scheduling assumptions,
especially a clear set of scheduling objectives
– For example, product quality grade, time and
cost limitations that will affect activities
 Overall strategy for the project
 Methodology or technology to be used and how it
will be applied
 Sources of resources and their competence, or
training needs
 Working hours, holidays, other interruptions
Step 1

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 Identify each logical work area as reflected
in the WBS and the activities associated
with each
 Make sure that all the necessary major
activities and tasks have been included to
create the required intermediate and final
deliverables
 If you have too many activities consider
using "hammocks” to group discrete tasks
as one activity
Step 2
Hammock - An aggregate or summary
activity. All related activities are tied as
one summary activity and reported at
the summary level.

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 Establish the project's natural or "inherent" logic
 Some projects have very clear logic while others
provide more options depending on resources or
the nature of the project or other circumstances
 Nevertheless, there is almost always a preferred
way of doing things
 It is worth spending time to look for it
 Work the activities from the beginning to the end
 Then work from the end back to the beginning!
Step 3

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 Develop a flow chart or logic diagram – AKA a network
diagram – paint a picture of the schedule
 Use the work breakdown structure as a “To do” list
 Which of these items must be done first?
– Label that item “A”
 What must follow next?
– Label those B, C, D, etc
 Now ask what can be done concurrently with A, B or C?
 Assemble a simple logic diagram arranged from left to right
Step 3,
continued Preparing a Schedule

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Logic Diagram
 Use large sheets of paper, cards on the wall or sticky notes
 More than 30 activities, separate project into two phases
Step 3,
continued

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 Incorporate any "Management Choice" logic, i.e.,
dates or sequence mandated by management
 These may or may not make sense
 Make sure that management understands the
implications of imposed management decisions
 Adjust the logic accordingly
 Always double check that the schedule logic is sound
 Steps 3 and 4 establish the schedule network
configuration
Step 4

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 Estimate the duration of each activity or task
 Pay particular attention to this step since the whole
schedule will depend upon it
 Use all available sources of information
 Be careful with published information since the
circumstances of your project may be different
 Some tasks will still be difficult to estimate, seek expert
help, use ranges
 Document areas of high uncertainty (risk)
 Always aim for the “most likely" duration – don't build in
contingency at every step, or the project will not fly
 Always be realistic – you can refine on the second pass
and make appropriate contingency allowances later
Step 5

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 Calculate the Forward Pass by adding the durations
along each path in your network to establish the
earliest start (ES) and finish (EF) dates for each activity
 Calculate the Backward Pass by repeat this operation
but working backwards from the last date established in
the Forward Pass or from a specified Required
Completion date to establish the latest start (LS) and
finish (LF) dates for each activity
 This is much easier using scheduling software
Step 6

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 If you examine the values of (ES-LS) and (EF-LF)
you will note that
– The string of activities where these values are
zero is the longest path through the network
– This is known as the Critical Path
– Where the values are positive indicates that
there is Float for those activities
Step 6,
continued

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 A negative ES-LS value implies that you must start an
activity before you are logically able to do so, that is,
you don't have enough time to do all of the work as
planned
 This usually only happens when you are given a
mandated finish date which is inadequate or too tight
(senior management's favorite pastime)
 If you have negative values the schedule doesn't
work, and you need to go to Step 7
Step 6,
continued

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 There are a number of things you can do to fix an
unworkable schedule
 To meet a predetermined end date
– Check whether all activities are really necessary
– Move activities off the critical path or eliminate
them altogether
– Accelerate critical activities
– Using overtime or more resources
– Work some activities in parallel (concurrently) or
increase the amount of overlap
 Insist that management provides faster feedback on
decision-making
Step 7

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 Make sure the resulting schedule chart makes sense
and looks good
 A well-presented bar chart will show the grouped
activities in a progressive cascade making it clear and
easy to read
 Use the calendar dates and create an ideal master
schedule of milestone dates identifying the completion
of major or key activities
Step 8

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 Finally, when everyone is satisfied, follow up
with these last two steps
 Chart or print the results and distribute for
final team review and acceptance before
issuing it to management
 Abstract or summarize schedule data for
different levels of management
Step 9
Step 10

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Schedule Reports

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 Strictly speaking, you cannot control the schedule
 What you can do is
– Create a schedule
– Have it distributed for action
– Observe what is actually going on
– Compare and update the schedule
– Report your findings to those in charge
– Conduct review meetings with your team
Schedule Control

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 The agenda should include
– Significant variances
– Impact on future milestones
– Impact on activities of others
– Proposed actions to catch up
– Summary of expected future key milestone dates
Planning and Schedule Review Meetings

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 If there is a severe problem with the schedule,
recovery actions may well depend on the
technology that you are dealing with
 However, management steps that you might
consider include
– Closer control
– Crashing – reduce time by increasing resources
– Working overtime or double shifts
– Fast tracking – overlap serial activities
– Trade-offs between scope, quality, time and cost
– Change methods, materials or equipment
– Negotiate a revised schedule
Changing the Schedule

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 If the schedule gets really out of whack you may need
to do more than just negotiate a revised schedule
 You may need to obtain approval for
– A major revision of the timeline
– Major revisions of the methodology or resources
– Revision of the project scope with all appropriate
approvals, of course
– In other words, a major re-planning effort
 A suggested flow chart for a schedule change process
is shown on the next slide
Changing the Schedule

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Schedule Change Process

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 A graphical display of the logical order of activities
that defines the sequence of work in a project where
activities are represented by boxes
 Networks are usually drawn from left to right with
lines drawn between the boxes to show the
precedence relationships between them
 Arrow heads are sometimes placed on the lines to
indicate the direction of the flow through time
Network Scheduling

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 Precedence diagram format is the most common (see
next slide)
 Shows logical inter-relationships between activities,
that is, their interdependence
 Enables easy calculation of critical path either
manually or with software
 Critical Path activities have zero float and constitutes
the longest path in the project
 Shows how much float other activities have
Network Advantages

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Precedence Network Diagram

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 The critical path determines length of project according
to the project logic and the critical activities for that
particular scenario
 Easy to assign leads and lags between activities to
solve a deadline problem
 Easy to apply resources and determine resource or
time trade-offs
 Facilitates “what if" scenarios
 By running the same network with actuals it is fairly
easy to assess project progress and performance
Network Advantages

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 If you have more than a few activities you need to
use software
 The network itself is not a good presentation
communication tool
 Good software will present the same information as a
bar chart
 The network itself is really only a means to an end
Network Disadvantages

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 Activity – An item of work that consumes time and
resources to produce some result
 Critical Path –
– The series of activities all of which must finish on
time for the whole project to finish on time
– Sometimes described as the longest path through a
network, hence the shortest project time
– A critical path has zero float
– A critical path assumes that the network logic is
sound
Network Terminology

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 Event or Milestone –
– A point in time when certain conditions have been
fulfilled, such as the start or completion of one or
more activities
– Unlike an activity, does not consume time or
resources
– Hence, expresses a state of being
– Activities take place between events
 Float or Slack Time – The additional time available
to complete a non-critical activity
Network Terminology

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 Leads and Lags – An imposed modification of the
logical relationship between activities to accelerate
or delay the apparent natural order
 Scheduling Network – Graphical representation of
activities or nodes and the dependencies between
them
 Time Estimate – The prediction of the most likely
duration of an activity
Network Terminology

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 Essentially there are three different approaches
– Activity-oriented systems,
– Event-oriented systems
– Event-oriented systems plus probability
 Activity-oriented systems use either activities as
connectors or Activities as nodes
 Event-based approach focuses on start and finish
times and may involve PERT
 Shown graphically on the next slide
Approaches to Network Analysis

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Network Analysis Techniques
PERT –
Project
Evaluation
and Review
Technique
Calculation produces an "Expected time" Te,
where Te = (To+4Tm+Tp)/6, that is to say,
the mean value of the three estimates

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 Networks depend on relationships
 Relationships between activities are central to the
concept of network analysis
 Several relationships, including lag factors, are shown
graphically on the next several slides
 Note that with Arrow Diagramming you have to use
dummy activities to correctly display certain
relationships – not intuitive, but it works
Network Relationships

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Arrow Diagramming

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Precedence Diagramming

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Lag Factor Notation

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Start is dependent, but not completion

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Completion is dependent, but not start

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B depends on A after a specified lag

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Precedence Network Activity Data Boxes
Suggested display of key data

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Precedence Network Diagram

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 You'll probably want to make your first cut at a
complicated network schedule on paper
 Start with a large sheet of paper
 Fill it with blank data boxes (previous slides) all neatly
lined up in rows and columns with space between
them all
 Use sticky notes for the boxes so you can move them
around
 Display as many activities as you can think of
 Now draw in the dependency lines
 Enter any other data you have – this all makes it
easier to computerize later
 Larry’s note – It’s easier said than done
First Cut at a Complex Schedule

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 We’ve covered the essentials of project scheduling
– Definition of scheduling
– Uses and benefits
– Types of schedules
– Schedule preparation
– Schedule reports and control
– Network scheduling and analysis techniques
Summary

Planning_and_scheduling.pptx

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