Software Project Management

C6. Project Time Management

Truc Nguyen 10.2014

 Chapter 05 – Review

• What is Project Scope Management?

– Scope: all the work involved in creating the
products of the project and the processes used
to create them
– Project scope management includes the
processes involved in defining and controlling
what is or is not included in a project

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Project Scope Management

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 Chapter 06 - Contents

1. The Importance of Project Schedules

2. Defining Activities
3. Sequencing Activities
4. Estimating Activity Resources
5. Estimating Activity Durations
6. Developing the Schedule
7. Controlling the Schedule
8. Using Software to Assist in Time Management
9. Summary
4
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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Individual Work Styles and Cultural
Differences Cause Schedule Conflicts
• One dimension of the Meyers-Briggs Type
Indicator focuses on peoples’ attitudes toward
structure and deadline

– Some people prefer to follow schedules and meet

deadlines while others do not (J vs. P)

– Difference cultures and even entire countries have

different attitudes about schedules

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Project Time Management Processes

• Defining activities: identifying the specific activities that

the project team members and stakeholders must perform
to produce the project deliverables
• Sequencing activities: identifying and documenting the
relationships between project activities
• Estimating activity resources: estimating how many
resources a project team should use to perform project
activities
• Estimating activity durations: estimating the number of
work periods that are needed to complete individual
activities
• Developing the schedule: analyzing activity sequences,
activity resource estimates, and activity duration estimates
to create the project schedule
• Controlling the schedule: controlling and managing
changes to the project schedule 7
Project Time Management Summary

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 Chapter 06 - Contents

1. The Importance of Project Schedules

2. Defining Activities
3. Sequencing Activities
4. Estimating Activity Resources
5. Estimating Activity Durations
6. Developing the Schedule
7. Controlling the Schedule
8. Using Software to Assist in Time Management
9. Summary
9
 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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 Milestones

• A milestone is a significant event that normally

has no duration

• It often takes several activities and a lot of work to

complete a milestone

• They’re useful tools for setting schedule goals and

monitoring progress

• Examples:
– obtaining customer sign-off on key documents
– completion of specific products
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 Chapter 06 - Contents

1. The Importance of Project Schedules

2. Defining Activities
3. Sequencing Activities
4. Estimating Activity Resources
5. Estimating Activity Durations
6. Developing the Schedule
7. Controlling the Schedule
8. Using Software to Assist in Time Management
9. Summary
13
 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

• Discretionary dependencies
– defined by the project team; sometimes referred to as
soft logic and should be used with care since they may
limit later scheduling options

• External dependencies
– involve relationships between project and non-project
activities
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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, or sequencing of,
project activities

• Two main formats are the arrow and precedence

diagramming methods

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Sample Activity-on-Arrow (AOA)
Network Diagram for Project X

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 Arrow Diagramming Method (ADM)

• Also called activity-on-arrow (AOA) network

diagrams

• Activities are represented by arrows

• Nodes or circles are the starting and ending points

of activities

• Can only show finish-to-start dependencies

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 Process for Creating AOA Diagrams

1. Find all of the activities that start at node 1. Draw their

finish nodes and draw arrows between node 1 and those
finish nodes. Put the activity letter or name and duration
estimate on the associated arrow.
2. Continue drawing the network diagram, working from left
to right. Look for bursts and merges.
– Bursts occur when a single node is followed by 2+ activities.
– A merge occurs when 2+ nodes precede a single node
3. Continue drawing the project network diagram until all
activities are included on the diagram that have
dependencies.
4. As a rule of thumb, all arrowheads should face toward the
right, and no arrows should cross on an AOA network
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diagram.
 Precedence Diagramming Method
(PDM)
• Activities are represented by boxes

• Arrows show relationships between activities

• More popular than ADM method and used by

project management software

• Better at showing different types of dependencies

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Task Dependency Types

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Sample PDM Network Diagram

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 Chapter 06 - Contents

1. The Importance of Project Schedules

2. Defining Activities
3. Sequencing Activities
4. Estimating Activity Resources
5. Estimating Activity Durations
6. Developing the Schedule
7. Controlling the Schedule
8. Using Software to Assist in Time Management
9. Summary
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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 24
 Chapter 06 - Contents

1. The Importance of Project Schedules

2. Defining Activities
3. Sequencing Activities
4. Estimating Activity Resources
5. Estimating Activity Durations
6. Developing the Schedule
7. Controlling the Schedule
8. Using Software to Assist in Time Management
9. Summary
25
 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
• optimistic
• most likely
• and pessimistic estimate
– Ex: 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 27
 Chapter 06 - Contents

1. The Importance of Project Schedules

2. Defining Activities
3. Sequencing Activities
4. Estimating Activity Resources
5. Estimating Activity Durations
6. Developing the Schedule
7. Controlling the Schedule
8. Using Software to Assist in Time Management
9. Summary
28
 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

• Symbols include:
– Black diamonds: milestones
– Thick black bars: summary tasks
– Lighter horizontal bars: durations of tasks
– Arrows: dependencies between tasks

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 Gantt Chart for Project X

Note: Darker bars would be red in Project 2007 to represent critical tasks.

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Gantt Chart for Software Launch
Project

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 Adding Milestones to Gantt Charts

• Many people like to focus on meeting milestones,

especially for large projects

• Milestones emphasize important events or

accomplishments on projects

• Normally create milestone by entering tasks with a

zero duration, or you can mark any task as a
milestone

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 SMART Criteria

• Milestones should be:

– Specific
– Measurable
– Assignable
– Realistic
– Time-framed

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 Best Practice

• Schedule risk is inherent in the development of complex

systems. Luc Richard, the founder of
www.projectmangler.com, suggests that project managers
can reduce schedule risk through project milestones, a best
practice that involves identifying and tracking significant
points or achievements in the project. The five key points
of using project milestones include the following:
1. Define milestones early in the project and include them in the Gantt
chart to provide a visual guide.
2. Keep milestones small and frequent.
3. The set of milestones must be all-encompassing.
4. Each milestone must be binary, meaning it is either complete or
incomplete.
5. Carefully monitor the critical path.
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Sample Tracking Gantt Chart

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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 37
 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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Determining the Critical Path for
Project X

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 More on the Critical Path

• The critical path is not the one with all the critical
activities; it only accounts for time

• There can be more than one critical path if the

lengths of two or more paths are the same

• The critical path can change as the project

progresses

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Using Critical Path Analysis to Make
Schedule Trade-offs
• Free slack or free float is the amount of time an
activity can be delayed without delaying the early
start of any immediately following activities
• Total slack or total float is the amount of time an
activity may be delayed from its early start
without delaying the planned project finish date
• A forward pass through the network diagram
determines the early start and finish dates
• A backward pass determines the late start and
finish dates
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Calculating Early and Late Start and
Finish Dates

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Free and Total Float or Slack for
Project X

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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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 Critical Chain Scheduling

• Critical chain scheduling

– A method of scheduling that considers limited
resources when creating a project schedule and includes
buffers to protect the project completion date

• Uses the Theory of Constraints (TOC)

– A management philosophy developed by Eliyahu M.
Goldratt and introduced in his book The Goal

• Attempts to minimize multitasking

– When a resource works on more than one task at a time

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Multitasking Example

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 Buffers and Critical Chain

• A buffer is additional time to complete a task

• Murphy’s Law states that if something can go
wrong, it will
• Parkinson’s Law states that work expands to fill
the time allowed
• In traditional estimates, people often add a buffer
to each task and use it if it’s needed or not
• Critical chain scheduling removes buffers from
individual tasks and instead creates:
– Project buffers or additional time added before the
project’s due date
– Feeding buffers or additional time added before tasks
on the critical path 48
Example of Critical Chain Scheduling

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 Program Evaluation and Review
Technique (PERT)
• PERT is a network analysis technique used to
estimate project duration when there is a high
degree of uncertainty about the individual activity
duration estimates

• PERT uses probabilistic time estimates

– Duration estimates based on using optimistic, most
likely, and pessimistic estimates of activity durations,
or a three-point estimate

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 PERT Formula and Example

• PERT weighted average =

optimistic time + 4X most likely time + pessimistic time
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• 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

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instead of 10 when using PERT for the above example
 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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 Chapter 06 - Contents

1. The Importance of Project Schedules

2. Defining Activities
3. Sequencing Activities
4. Estimating Activity Resources
5. Estimating Activity Durations
6. Developing the Schedule
7. Controlling the Schedule
8. Using Software to Assist in Time Management
9. Summary
53
 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) 54
 Reality Checks on Scheduling

• First review the draft schedule or estimated

completion date in the project charter

• Prepare a more detailed schedule with the project

team

• Make sure the schedule is realistic and followed

• Alert top management well in advance if there are

schedule problems
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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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 Chapter 06 - Contents

1. The Importance of Project Schedules

2. Defining Activities
3. Sequencing Activities
4. Estimating Activity Resources
5. Estimating Activity Durations
6. Developing the Schedule
7. Controlling the Schedule
8. Using Software to Assist in Time Management
9. Summary
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 Using Software to Assist in Time
Management
• Software for facilitating communications helps
people exchange schedule-related information

• Decision support models help analyze trade-offs

that can be made

• Project management software can help in various

time management areas

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 Words of Caution on Using Project
Management Software
• Many people misuse project management software
because they don’t understand important concepts
and have not had training

• You must enter dependencies to have dates adjust

automatically and to determine the critical path

• You must enter actual schedule information to

compare planned and actual progress

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 Chapter 06 - Contents

1. The Importance of Project Schedules

2. Defining Activities
3. Sequencing Activities
4. Estimating Activity Resources
5. Estimating Activity Durations
6. Developing the Schedule
7. Controlling the Schedule
8. Using Software to Assist in Time Management
9. Summary
60
 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:

– Define activities
– Sequence activities
– Estimate activity resources
– Estimate activity durations
– Develop schedule
– Control schedule

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