Management of Research

Project
Outline
 Project Work Structure
 Project Planning
 General Project Management Model
 Project Planning Techniques
 Activity Network Diagram
Student Project Work Structure
Do MSc Project

Select a Make a Perform Gather & Write up

topic plan literature analyse data
search

Produce Plan Create

Decide Develop
estimates resources Gantt
objectives Work Struct.
chart
General Project Management
Model
 Define
 Why are you doing this project?
 Who is involved? What are the objectives and constraints?
 What are the alternatives? Write it down, discuss and agree

 Plan
 Establish objective
 Formulate basic strategy, Develop work breakdown structure,
 Resource requirements planning including;
 HR, resources, schedules, budget, etc.

 Implement,
 Control and Complete
Project Planning
 The major purposes of planning are:
 clarify aims and objectives of researcher;
 define activities required to achieve these aims;
 define the order in which activities should take place;
 identify critical points (milestones) at which progress
can be reviewed;
 produce estimates of time at which milestones will be
reached so that progress can be assessed;
 refine priorities once research is underway;
Project Planning Techniques
 Work breakdown structure includes;
 Identifies activities and interrelationships
 Start to examine the three parameters:
 What, who, when
 Helpful to those less familiar with project details
 Analysis
 Critical Path Diagram (CPM) & Program Evaluation Review
Technique (PERT)
 Gantt Charts
 horizontal bar chart
 displays time relationship of project steps
 sequence and concurrency shown
 actual and planned progress may be charted
 Computer-based tools
Definitions
 Activity Network Diagram
 Also known as the Program Evaluation Review Technique (PERT) or
Critical Path Diagram (CPD)
 Tool used to control the length of projects
 Takes into account many aspects of projects:
 task times, slack times,
 critical tasks, etc.
 Network Analysis
 Network analysis has the following steps:
 determine the objectives;
 identify and list the activities;
 order the activities; identify the milestones;
 estimate the activity durations;
 draw the network; analyse the network using the start times;
 check the resources and draw up the schedule;
 Re-plan as necessary at milestones.
Basic Terms #1
Terms:
 Activity A(D)
N
Parallel
• part of the project represented Activity ES LS
Activities

by an arrow or line A(D) = name(duration)

Time Point
 Best Estimate (B) N = number
• earliest completion time N
Dummy ES = earliest start time

 Critical path (CP) Activity LS = latest start time

ES LS
• the most time consuming path Float = LS - ES
through the diagram with no Milestone
slack time
 Earliest Start Time (ES)
• earliest possible time for an
activity to begin
 Network
• the project shown graphically
Basic Terms #2
 Most likely estimate (M)
• length of time probably needed
 Expected Time (ET)
• the average duration time
 Event
• represents the start or finish of one or more events (shown as a
circle, square, or other symbol)
 Latest Start Time (LST)
• latest time an activity can begin and still be completed before the
next activity
 Slack Time
• latest start time minus earliest start time for an activity
 Worst estimate (W)
• pessimistic time estimate
How the diagram works
 Basic Rules:
 All preceding activities must be completed before the
project can begin
 The arrows represent the logical precedence of the
project
 Procedure for development:
 Identify all activities and relationships among them
 Sketch the diagram
 Estimate the times for each activity, or node, in the
diagram.
 Determine the critical path.
 Evaluate the diagram for milestones and target dates in
the overall project
Example 1- A simple network
Consider the list of four activities for making a simple product:

Activity Description Immediate

predecessors
A Buy Plastic Body -
B Design Component -
C Make Component B
D Assemble product A,C

Immediate predecessors for a particular activity are the activities that,

when completed, enable the start of the activity in question.
Sequence of activities
 Can start work on activities A and B anytime, since
neither of these activities depends upon the completion
of prior activities.
 Activity C cannot be started until activity B has been
completed
 Activity D cannot be started until both activities A and C
have been completed.
 The graphical representation (next slide) is referred to as
the PERT/CPM network
Network of Four Activities

Arcs indicate project activities

A D
1 3 4

B C

Nodes correspond to the beginning

and ending of activities
Example 2
Develop the network for a project with following activities and immediate
predecessors:
Activity Immediate
predecessors
A -
B -
C B
D A, C
E C
F C
G D,E,F

Try to do for the first five (A,B,C,D,E) activities

Scheduling with activity time
Activity Immediate Completion
predecessors Time (week)
A - 5
B - 6
C A 4
D A 3
E A 1
F E 4
G D,F 14
H B,C 12
I G,H 2
Total ……51

This information indicates that the total time required to complete activities is
51 weeks. However, we can see from the network that several of the activities
can be conducted simultaneously (A and B, for example).
Arc with ES & EF time
EF = earliest finish time

ES = earliest start time

Activity

2
[0 , 5]
A
5
1
t = expected activity
time
Network with ES & EF time
D[5,8] 5
2 3 ]
E[5 ,10

24] 14
1 6]
, F[6 4

G[1
5 ,5]

7
0

0,
A[

]
4,26
C[5,9]

4
I[2
4

2
1 6
B[0 21]
,6] H [9 ,
6 12
3

Earliest start time rule:

The earliest start time for an activity leaving a particular node is equal to
the largest of the earliest finish times for all activities entering the node.
Activity, duration, ES, EF, LS, LF

EF = earliest finish time

ES = earliest start time

Activity

3
[5 , 9]
C 2 ]
4 [8 , 1
2
LF = latest finish time
LS = latest start time
Latest start & latest finish time
 To find the critical path we need a backward pass calculation.

 Starting at the completion point (node 7) and using a latest

finish time (LF) of 26 for activity I, we trace back through the
network computing a latest start (LS) and latest finish time
for each activity

 The expression LS = LF – t can be used to calculate latest start

time for each activity. For example, for activity I, LF = 26 and t
= 2, thus the latest start time for activity I is
LS = 26 – 2 = 24
Network with LS & LF time
D[5,8] 5
2 3[7,10] ]

24] 10,24
E[5 0
,1 0]

14[

G[1
1[5 ,6] 6
F [6,1
[
5[ 0,5]

,6]

0,
5]

4 7
0,
A[

4 4 ,2 6]
I[2 ,26]
C[5,9]
4[8,12]

]
1 6 2[24
B[0 1]
6[6 ,6] 9 ,2
H[ 2,24]
,12 12[1
]
3

Latest finish time rule:

The latest finish time for an activity entering a particular node is equal to the
smallest of the latest start times for all activities leaving the node.
Slack or Free Time or Float
Slack is the length of time an activity can be delayed without affecting the
completion date for the entire project.
For example, slack for C = 3 weeks, i.e Activity C can be delayed up to 3 weeks
(start anywhere between weeks 5 and 8). 3
]
9
C [5, 2]
ES LS EF LF
2 4 [8 , 1
5 8 9 12

LF-EF = 12 –9 =3

LS-ES = 8 – 5 = 3

LF-ES-t = 12-5-4 = 3
Activity schedule for our example
Activity Earliest Latest Earliest Latest Slack Critical
start (ES) start (LS) finish (EF) finish (LF) (LS-ES) path

A 0 0 5 5 0 Yes
B 0 6 6 12 6
C 5 8 9 12 3
D 5 7 8 10 2
E 5 5 6 6 0 Yes
F 6 6 10 10 0 Yes
G 10 10 24 24 0 Yes
H 9 12 21 24 3
I 24 24 26 26 0 Yes