project planning scheduling

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Project Management Orientation Program Project Planning & Scheduling Basics

Sadhanandavel R

Dheenadayalan S

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Projects happen in two ways:

a)Planned and then executed or b) Executed, stopped, planned

and then executed.

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0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011• Develop Project Management Plan

• Define the Scope and Create the WBS

• Sequence the activities, Estimate the duration and Create the

Schedule

• Identify the Risks and Plan the Responses

• Estimate the Costs

• Plan the Human Resources, Purchases

• Plan the Communication

Planning

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0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011• Describes the Project Management Processes used by the Project

Team

• If the processes differ from Organization’s standards, the details of

Project Specific Processes

• Project Team Structure

• Roles and Responsibilities of Project Team

• Communication needs – Status Reports, Review Meetings,

Escalation Matrix

PLANNING > Project Management Plan

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0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011• Defines the Project Life Cycle

• Describes management of:

• Risk – Risk Dimensions, Approach to Risk Management

• Change Control – Change Control Process

• Configuration – Details of version control mechanisms

• Quality – Project Metrics; Quality Audits

PLANNING > Project Management Plan

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0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011• Integrates all the plans in one place

• Subsidiary plans are developed separately also

• PMP is different from Schedule

• Some plans include Earned Value Management

PLANNING > Project Management Plan

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0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011• Product Scope – The functions and features of the product

• Project Scope – The work associated in the delivery of the product

of the project with specified

• Methods for defining scope vary from industry to industry

• In Software, product scope is defined in SRS and Project Scope is

defined in Project Plan, WBS

• Document Assumptions/Constraints

Planning > Scope Definition

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0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011• Define the Deliverables of the Project – SRS, Project Plan, Design

Specs, Test Plans, Test Cases, User Documents, Tested Product

etc.

• Define the related work - Deployment on Client Servers, User

Training, Online Support etc.

• Document the Assumptions/Constraints

Planning > Scope Definition > Project Scope

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0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011• Define the Functional and Non-functional requirements – Use

Cases, Screen Shots, Process Flow Charts etc

• Define the Technical Requirements – Deployment Architecture,

Technology used, License, Bandwidth requirements, Disaster

Recovery Plan etc.

• A separate Technical Requirements Document may be prepared

• Document the assumptions, constraints

Planning > Scope Definition > Product Scope

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“Assumptions are important sources for Risk Identification!”

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0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011• Represents the scope of the project into smaller, manageable

hierarchy of components

• Enables allocation of resources and assignment of responsibilities at

granular levels

• Improves the accuracy of Cost Estimation

• Improves the Cost, Performance Measurement & Control

Planning > Work Breakdown Structure

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Planning > Work Breakdown Structure

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0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011• Start at the project goal, and keep breaking down activities until you

get to the smallest task

• Involve the team for identifying the tasks or

• The Sub team approach (agree on level 1 activities, then have sub

teams tackle each activity in detail; then check for duplication and

missed tasks)

Planning > WBS > Top-down Approach

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0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011• Agree on the top level activities using the top-down approach

• Then break into teams and brainstorm all the activities you think are

within that overall activity

• Organize the activities, and check for missed tasks and

redundancies

Planning > WBS > Bottom-up Approach

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The top-down approach is more effective for generating a detailed WBS

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0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011• The levels of hierarchy varies from project to project

• The division of levels can be based on Product Features (e.g. User

Module), Process (e.g. Requirements)

• The lowest level of the WBS contains items for which the cost can

be tracked

• The items at the lowest level are called Work Packages or Terminal

Elements

Planning > WBS > Levels of Hierarchy

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0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011• Do not make it too detailed – Results Micro-Management

• Do not make it less detailed too – Tasks too large to manage

• 8/80 Rule – Thumb Rule says Work Package should be more than 8

and less than 80 hours in duration

• Consider appropriate milestones as Control points as well as for

Status Reporting

• Maintain Standard WBS for the organization based on project types

Planning > WBS > Points To Ponder

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0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011• Decomposition – The process of arriving at components for WBS;

Division of project scope into manageable components/activities to

the level of work packages

• Rolling Wave Planning – The process of defining the tasks at a

higher level (due to lack of information) and elaborating them later

based on the clarification of details

Planning > WBS > Terminology

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0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011• Develop the list of project activities (WBS/Activity List)

• Sequence the list of project activities

• Determine the relationships between activities

• Estimate the resource requirements for each activity

• Estimate the duration for each activity

• Determine the project duration (start and completion dates)

Scheduling > Steps Involved

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Scheduling > Activity Sequencing

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The resource related dependencies and constraints should not be considered for sequencing the activities

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0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011• Identifying the relationships between activities involves the

sequencing plus dependencies between tasks

• There are 4 types of scheduling dependencies

Scheduling > Activity Relationships

Finish to Start

Start to Start Finish to Finish

Start to Finish

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0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011• Two widely used diagramming techniques

• Bar / Gantt Charts

• Schedule and progress graphically depicted on a single chart

• Simple and most used scheduling diagram

• Good for Status Reporting

• Network Diagrams

• Identifies activities that control the project length

• Clearly shows the task dependencies

• Shows available float for non-critical activities

Scheduling > Schedule Diagrams

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Scheduling > Gantt Charts

Status Date

Tasks

Plan

Progress

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0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011• Two types of network diagramming techniques

• Arrow Diagramming Method

• Precedence Diagramming Method

Scheduling > Network Diagrams

AB

C

D

EF

C E

FA

B D

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0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011• Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM)

• Boxes/Nodes represent the activities

• Arrows connect the boxes, show the dependencies

• Also called Activity On Node (AON) method

• PDM uses all the four dependencies (F-S,F-F,S-S,S-F)

• The dependency – Start to Finish – is seldom used

Scheduling > Network Diagrams

C E

FA

B D

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0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011• Arrow Diagramming Method (ADM)

• Arrows represent activities

• Arrows connect the nodes for showing dependencies

• Also called Activity on Arrow (AOA) method

• Uses only Finish to Start dependency

• Uses Dummy activities to show logical relationships

Scheduling > Network Diagrams

AB

C

D

EF

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0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011• Estimate the resource requirement for each activity

• The information from previous projects will be helpful

• The dependency between tasks should be considered for estimating

the resources

Scheduling > Resource Estimation

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0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011• People who are familiar with the work can estimate better

• Organizational Process Assets (Historical Info, Productivity Data etc.)

will be helpful as a reference

• Estimation will be more accurate if it is obtained from more than one

source and averaged

• Consider the availability of a resource for a task. If the resource is

available only 50%, the task will take twice the duration

Scheduling > Duration Estimation

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0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011• Two estimating methods : PERT and CPM

• Three time estimates

• Optimistic (O) No risk impacts considered

• Pessimistic (P) Some amount of risk impacts considered

• Most Likely (M) All risk impacts considered

• PERT uses the distribution’s mean to determine individual activity

duration (P + 4M + O) / 6

• CPM uses only one time estimate – Most Likely estimate

Scheduling > Duration Estimation

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0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011• A Milestone is an event specifically designated to represent

some meaningful or specified goal that shows progress

• Good Reference for Management Reporting

• Types of Milestones

• Key Milestones – Phase Gates

• Schedule Milestones – Any significant event in the schedule

Scheduling > Milestones

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0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011• Lead – A lead in dependency that allows acceleration of successor

activity

• Lag – A lag in dependency directs a delay in the successor activity

Scheduling > Leads & Lags

-5

B

Lag – 3 days delay after A Lead – D accelerated for 5 days

+3

A

C

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0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011• The path in a project with the longest duration. The duration of the

Critical Path is earliest completion date for the project

• Critical Path Method (CPM)

• Forward Pass calculates Early Start and Early Finish dates

• Backward Pass calculates Late Start and Late Finish dates

Scheduling > Critical Path

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0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011• Early Start (ES)- The earliest date a task can start

• Early Finish (EF)- The earliest date a task can be completed

• Late Start (LS)- The latest date a task can start without delaying the

projects end date

• Late Finish (LF)- The latest date a task can finish without delaying

the projects end date

Scheduling > Early & Late Dates

A 2ES EF

ES EF

LS LF

LS LF

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0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011Calculation of Early & Late Dates

•Early Start = EF predecessor + 1

•Early Finish = ES + duration - 1

•Late Start = LF - duration + 1

•Late Finish = LS successor - 1

Scheduling > Early & Late Dates

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0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011Forward pass calculates an activity’s early dates

•ES start + duration – 1 = EF

•Purpose of forward pass is to find the Critical Path

Backward pass calculates an activity’s late dates

•LF – duration + 1 = LS

•Purpose of the Backward Pass is to find the slack/float

Scheduling > Forward/Backward Pass

10 A 14

15 5 19

ES EF

LS LF

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0011 0010 1010 1101 0001 0100 1011The amount of time an activity can be delayed or lengthened. Also

called slack.

•Total float - The amount of time an activity can be delayed without

extending the overall project completion time. TF = LS – ES or TF = LF –

EF

•Free Float - The amount of time that an activity can be delayed without

delaying the start or occurrence of any other activity in the schedule

Scheduling > Float

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My Sample Project

Scheduling > Sample Project

Tasks  Duration Start End Predecessor

12 days 6-Oct-08 21-Oct-08  

Task A 1 day 6-Oct-08 6-Oct-08  

Task B 3 days 7-Oct-08 9-Oct-08 A

Task C 2 days 7-Oct-08 8-Oct-08 A

Task D 5 days 10-Oct-08 16-Oct-08 B,C

Task E 3 days 9-Oct-08 13-Oct-08 C

Task F 3 days 17-Oct-08 21-Oct-08 D,E

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My Sample Project

Method

ES of task with no predecessor = 1

EF of task with one predecessor = EF of predecessor + 1

EF of task with multiple predecessors = Max (EF of predecessors) +

1

EF = ES + Task Duration – 1

Critical Path = A-B-D-F

Scheduling > Forward Pass

2 3

C 2

4 6

E 3

10 12

F 3

1 1

A 1

2 4

B 3

5 9

D 5

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My Sample Project

•LF of the last task = EF of the last task

•LS = LF - Duration +1

Scheduling > Backward Pass

2 3

C 2

4 6

E 3

10 12

F 3

1 1

A 1

2 4

B 3

5 9

D 5

LS

1210

LF

ES EF

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My Sample Project

LF of a predecessor = Min (LS of all successors) - 1

Scheduling > Backward Pass

9743

1 1

A 1

2 4

B 3

5 9

D 5

2 3

C 2

4 6

E 3

10 12

F 310 12

9542

11

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Scheduling > Calculating Float

A

B

C D

E F

  Early StartEarly

Finish Late Start Late Finish Free Slack Total Slack

Task A 1 1 1 1 0 0

Task B 2 4 2 4 0 0

Task C 2 3 3 4 0 1

Task D 5 9 5 9 0 0

Task E 4 6 7 9 3 3

Task F 10 12 10 12 0 0

Total Float = LS – ES or LF – EF

Free float = ES (Earliest successor) - EF – 1

or

Free float = Min (ES of successors) – ES - Duration

My Sample Project

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Questions…?

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Thank You