Developing a Project Plan

I keep six honest serving-men (they

taught me all I knew); their names are Week 5
What and Why and When and How and
Where and Who.
Rudyard Kipling

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 Learning Outcome
 Developing the Project Network
 From Work Package to Network
 Constructing a Project Network
 Activity-on-Node (AON) Fundamentals
 Network Computation Process
 Using the Forward and Backward Pass Information
 Level of Detail for Activities
 Practical Considerations
 Extended Network Techniques to Come Closer to Reality

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 Developing the Project Plan
 The Project Network
◦ A flow chart that graphically depicts the sequence, interdependencies,
and start and finish times of the project job plan of activities that is
the critical path through the network.
 Provides the basis for scheduling labor and equipment.
 Enhances communication among project participants.
 Provides an estimate of the project’s duration.
 Provides a basis for budgeting cash flow.
 Identifies activities that are critical.
 Highlights activities that are “critical” and can not be delayed.
 Help managers get and stay on plan.

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 Constructing a Project Network
 Terminology
◦ Activity: an element of the project that
A
requires time.
◦ Merge Activity: an activity that has two
or more preceding activities on which it B D
depends.
◦ Parallel (Concurrent) Activities: Activities
that can occur independently and, if
desired, C
not at the same time.

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 Constructing a Project Network…
 Terminology
◦ Path: a sequence of connected, dependent activities.
◦ Critical path: the longest path through the activity network
that allows for the completion of all project-related
activities; the shortest expected time in which the entire
project can be completed. Delays on the critical path will
delay completion of the entire project.

A B D

(Assumes that minimum of A + B > minimum of C in length of times to complete activities.)

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 Constructing a Project Network…
 Terminology
◦ Event: a point in time when an activity is started
or completed. It does not consume time.
◦ Burst Activity: an activity that has more than one activity
immediately following it (more than one dependency arrow
flowing from it).
 Two Approaches B
◦ Activity-on-Node (AON)
 Uses a node to depict an activity.
A C
◦ Activity-on-Arrow (AOA)
 Uses an arrow to depict an activity.

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Basic Rules to Follow in Developing Project Networks
 Networks typically flow from left to right.
 An activity cannot begin until all preceding connected activities are
complete.
 Arrows indicate precedence and flow and can cross over each other.
 Each activity must have a unique identify number that is greater
than any of its predecessor activities.
 Looping is not allowed.
 Conditional statements are not allowed.
 Use common start and stop nodes.

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Activity-on-Node Fundamentals

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Activity-on-Node Fundamentals…

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Network Information

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Koll Business Center—Complete Network

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 Network Computation Process

 Forward Pass—Earliest Times

◦ How soon can the activity start? (early start—ES)
◦ How soon can the activity finish? (early finish—EF)
◦ How soon can the project finish? (expected time—ET)
 Backward Pass—Latest Times
◦ How late can the activity start? (late start—LS)
◦ How late can the activity finish? (late finish—LF)
◦ Which activities represent the critical path?
◦ How long can activity be delayed? (slack or float—SL)

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Network Information

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Activity-on-Node Network

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Activity-on-Node Network Forward Pass

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 Forward Pass Computation
 Add activity times along each path in the network
(ES + Duration = EF).
 Carry the early finish (EF) to the next activity where
it becomes its early start (ES) unless…
 The next succeeding activity is a merge activity, in
which case the largest EF of all preceding activities
is selected.

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Activity-on-Node Network Backward Pass

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 Backward Pass Computation
 Subtract activity times along each path in the network (LF -
Duration = LS).
 Carry the late start (LS) to the next activity where it becomes
its late finish (LF) unless
 The next succeeding activity is a burst activity, in which case
the smallest LF of all preceding activities is selected.

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 Determining Free Slack (or Float)
 Free Slack (or Float)
◦ Is the amount of time an activity can be delayed after the start of a
longer parallel activity or activities.
◦ Is how long an activity can exceed its early finish date without affecting
early start dates of any successor(s).
◦ Allows flexibility in scheduling scarce resources.
 Sensitivity
◦ The likelihood the original critical path(s) will change once the project
is initiated.
◦ The critical path is the network path(s) that has (have) the least slack in
common.

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Activity-on-Node Network with Slack

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Free Slack Example

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Illogical Loop

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Extended Network Techniques to Come Close to Reality

 Laddering
◦ Activities are broken into segments so the following activity can begin
sooner and not delay the work.

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Example of Laddering Using Finish-to-Start Relationship

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Activity-on-Arrow Network Building Blocks

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Activity-on-Arrow Network Fundamentals

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