Project Scheduling /

Time Management
 Introduction
 Any project involves planning, scheduling and controlling a
number of interrelated activities with use of limited resources,
namely, men, machines, materials, money and time.

 The projects may be extremely large and complex such as

construction of a housing , a highway, a shopping complex
etc.
 introduction of new products and research and
development projects.

 It is required that managers must have a dynamic planning and

scheduling system to produce the best possible results and
also to react immediately to the changing conditions and make
necessary changes in the plan and schedule.
 Project Time Management Processes
• Activity definition: Identifying the specific activities that the
project team members and stakeholders must perform to
produce the project deliverables.
• Activity sequencing: Identifying and documenting the
relationships between project activities.
• Activity resource estimating: Estimating how many resources a
project team should use to perform project activities.
• Activity duration estimating: Estimating the number of work
periods that are needed to complete individual activities.
• Schedule development: Analyzing activity sequences, activity
resource estimates, and activity duration estimates to create the
project schedule.
• Schedule control: Controlling and managing changes to the
project schedule.
3
 Activity Definition
• An activity or task is an element of work normally found
on the WBS that has an expected duration, a cost, and
resource requirements.
• Project schedules grow out of the basic documents that
initiate a project.
• The project charter includes start and end dates and budget
information.
• The scope statement and WBS help define what will be done.
• 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.

4
Activity Lists and Attributes

• An activity list is a tabulation of activities to be included

on a project schedule. The list should include:
• The activity name
• An activity identifier or number
• A brief description of the activity
• Activity attributes provide more information about
each activity, such as predecessors, successors, logical
relationships, leads and lags, resource requirements,
constraints, imposed dates, and assumptions related
to the activity.

5
Milestones/Events
• 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.

• Milestones are useful tools for setting schedule goals and monitoring
progress.

• Examples include completion and customer sign-off on key documents

and completion of specific products.

6
 Activity Sequencing

• Involves reviewing activities and determining dependencies.

• A dependency or relationship relates to the sequencing of project

activities or tasks.

• You must determine dependencies in order to use critical path

analysis.

7
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.

8
Arrow Diagramming Method (ADM)

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

• Activities are represented by arrows.

• Nodes or circles are the starting and ending points of activities.

• Can only show finish-to-start dependencies.

9
Network Diagramming Techniques
A convenient analytical and visual technique of PERT and
CPM prove extremely valuable in assisting the managers
in managing the projects.

PERT stands for Project Evaluation and Review

Technique developed during 1950’s. The technique was developed and
used in conjunction with the planning and designing of the Polaris missile
project.

CPM stands for Critical Path Method which was developed by

DuPont Company and applied first to the construction projects in the
chemical industry.

Though both PERT and CPM techniques have similarity in terms of

concepts, the basic difference is; CPM has single time estimate and
PERT has three time estimates for activities and uses probability
theory to find the chance of reaching the scheduled time.
COMPONENTS of PERT/CPM NETWORK
PERT / CPM networks contain two major components
i. Activities, and
ii. Events
Activity: An activity represents an action and consumption of
resources (time, money, energy) required to complete a portion of a
project. Activity is represented by an arrow.

Event: An event (or node) will always occur at the beginning and end of an
activity. The event has no resources and is represented by a circle. The ith
event and jth event are the tail event and head event respectively.
Merge and Burst Events

One or more activities can start and end simultaneously at an event

Preceding and Succeeding

Activities
Activities performed before given events are known as preceding activities,
and activities performed after a given event are known as succeeding
activities.

Activities A and B precede activities C and D respectively.

Dummy Activity

An imaginary activity which does not consume any resource and time is
called a dummy activity. Dummy activities are simply used to
represent a connection between events in order to maintain a logic in
the network. It is represented by a dotted line in a network.
 ERRORS TO BE AVOIDED IN CONSTRUCTING A NETWORK

a. Two activities starting from a tail event

must not have a same end event. To ensure
this, it is absolutely necessary to introduce a
dummy activity.

b. In a network, there should be only one

start event and one ending event .

c. Looping error should not be formed in a

network, as it represents performance of
activities repeatedly in a cyclic manner.

d. The direction of arrows should

flow from left to right avoiding
mixing of direction.
 RULES IN CONSTRUCTING A NETWORK
1. No single activity can be represented more than once in a
network. The length of an arrow has no significance.

2. The event numbered 1 is the start event and an event with highest
number is the end event. Before an activity can be undertaken, all
activities preceding it must be completed. That is, the activities must
follow a logical sequence (or – interrelationship) between activities.

3. In assigning numbers to events, there should not be any

duplication of event numbers in a network.

4. Dummy activities must be used only if it is necessary to reduce the

complexity of a network.

5. A network should have only one start event and one end event.
Some conventions of network diagram are shown in Figure (a),
(b), (c), (d) below:
Example1: Sequence of activities of a house building
project
Solution :
The network diagram shows the procedure
relationship between the activities. Activity A
(preparation of house plan), has a start event 1 as
well as an ending event 2. Activity B (Construction
of house) begins at event 2 and ends at event 3. The
activity B cannot start until activity A has been
completed. Activities C and D cannot begin until
activity B has been completed, but they can be
performed simultaneously. Similarly, activities E
and F can start only after completion of
activities C and D respectively. Both activities E
and F finish at the end of event 6.
Example 2: Consider the project given in Table
and construct a network diagram: Sequence
of Activities for Building Construction Project
Solution:
The activities C and D have a common predecessor A. The network
representation shown in Figure (a), (b) violates the rule that no two activities can
begin and end at the same events. It appears as if activity B is a predecessor of
activity C, which is not the case. To construct the network in a logical order, it is
necessary to introduce a dummy activity.
 EXAMPLES OF THE USE OF DUMMYACTIVITY
Network concurrent activities
a
a 2

1 2 1 Dummy

b 3
b
WRONG!!! RIGHT ✓

Activity c not WRONG !

required for e
a
a e
d
1
b 1 b
e
d
c
2
c
WRONG
RIGHT
!!!
✓
RIGHT ✓

Chapter 8 Scheduling, PERT, Critical Path Analysis 23

 EXERCISE

a precedes d.
a and b precede e,
b and c precede f (a does not precede f)
 WRONG!!! RIGHT!!!

a d a 1 d
1

b e b 2
2 4 e

c f c 3 f
3

a precedes d.
a and b precede e,
b and c precede f (a does not precede f)

Chapter 8 Scheduling, PERT, Critical Path Analysis 25

 CRITICAL PATH ANALYSIS

The critical path for any network is the longest path through the entire
network.

Since all activities must be completed to complete the entire project,

the length of the critical path is also the shortest time allowable for
completion of the project.

Thus if the project is to be completed in that shortest time, all activities

on the critical path must be started as soon as possible.

These activities are called critical activities.

If the project has to be completed ahead of the schedule, then the time
required for at least one of the critical activity must be reduced.

Further, any delay in completing the critical activities will increase the
project duration.
The activity, which does not lie on the critical path, is called
non-critical activity.

These non-critical activities may have some slack time.

The slack is the amount of time by which the start of an

activity may be delayed without affecting the overall
completion time of the project.

But a critical activity has no slack.

To reduce the overall project time, it would require more

resources (at extra cost) to reduce the time taken by the
critical activities to complete.
 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).

Chapter 8 Scheduling, PERT, Critical Path Analysis 28

 Earliest start & earliest finish time
• We are interested in the longest path through the
network, i.e., the critical path.

• Starting at the network’s origin (node 1) and using a

starting time of 0, we compute an earliest start (ES) and
earliest finish (EF) time for each activity in the network.

• The expression EF = ES + t can be used to find the

earliest finish time for a given activity.
For example, for activity A, ES = 0 and t = 5; thus the
earliest finish time for activity A is
EF = 0 + 5 = 5

Chapter 8 Scheduling, PERT, Critical Path Analysis 29

 Arc with ES & EF time
EF = earliest finish time

ES = earliest start time

Activity

1
t = expected activity
time

Chapter 8 Scheduling, PERT, Critical Path Analysis 30

 Network with ES & EF time
D[5,8] 5
2 3

7
4

1 6

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.

Chapter 8 Scheduling, PERT, Critical Path Analysis 31

 Activity, duration, ES, EF, LS, LF
EF = earliest finish time

ES = earliest start time

Activity

2
LF = latest finish time
LS = latest start time

Chapter 8 Scheduling, PERT, Critical Path Analysis 32

 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

Chapter 8 Scheduling, PERT, Critical Path Analysis 33

 Network with LS & LF time

D[5,8] 5
2 3[7,10]

7
4

1 6

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.

Chapter 8 Scheduling, PERT, Critical Path Analysis 34

 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

2
ES LS EF EF
5 8 9 12

LF-EF = 12 –9 =3

LS-ES = 8 – 5 = 3

LF-ES-t = 12-5-4 = 3

Chapter 8 Scheduling, PERT, Critical Path Analysis 35

ACTIVITY Predecessor Duration
(Days)
A - 23
B - 8
C - 20
D A 16
E A 24
F B.D 18
G C 19
H B, D, G 4
I F,G 10
ACTIVITY Predecess Duration
or (Days)

A - 23
Earliest Event Time
B - 8

C - 20

D A 16

E A 24

F B.D 18

G C 19

H B, D, G 4 E G(19) E

I F,G 10 2 5
L L H(4)
C(20)
D1
D2
0
B(8) E F(18) E
1 E I(10)
0 4 6 7
L L
L
A(23)
D(16)
E(24)
E

3
L
 E G(19) E
2 L
5 L H(4)
C(20)
D1
D2
0 B(8) E F(18) E I(10) E
1 0 4 L 6 7 L
L
A(23)
D(16)
E(24)
E
3 L
Determination of Earliest Event Time of Event
Start from the 1st Event i.e. Start of the Project. The Earliest Event time for it = 0
Consider the next event 2.
Consider all activities terminating at that event i.e. C. C starts at event 1 and
requires 20 days. For event 2 occur activity C has to be completed. Hence event 2
can occur only after the time event 1 has occurred and after C is completed
i.e after 0 + 20 days = 20 days
Similarly event 3 will occur after event 1 has occurred and activity A is completed
i.e. after 0 +23 days = 23 days
For event 4 to occur we need to complete activities B and D. The earliest that
event 4 can occur is after the completion of activity B and D. i.e. Maximum of (0 +
8), (23 + 16) = 39 days
 20 39, 39

20 G(19) 39

2 5
L L H(4)
C(20)
D1
8,39 D2
43, 67, 47
0 39, 57
B(8) F(18)
39 67
57 I(10)
1
0 4 6 7
L L
L
A(23)
D(16)
E(24)
23
23
3
L
Hence earliest completion of Project time
is 67 days