Project Time Management

Importance of Project Schedules

 Managers often cite delivering projects on time as
one of their biggest challenges.
 Average time overrun from 1995 CHAOS report
was 222%; improved to 163% in 2001 study.
 Time has the least amount of flexibility; it passes
no matter what.
 Schedule issues are the main reason for conflicts
on projects, especially during the second half of
projects.
 Project Time Management
Processes
 Project time management involves the processes required to
ensure timely completion of a project. Processes include:
1. Define Activities. Identify and document all tasks.
2. Sequence Activities. Determine the order of tasks and their
dependencies.
3. Estimate Activity Duration. Assess how long each task will
take.
4. Develop Schedule. Create a timeline using tools like Gantt
charts.
5. Control Schedule. Monitor progress and make necessary
adjustments.
 Activity Definition
 Project schedules grow out of the basic document that
initiate a project
Project charter includes start and end dates and budget
information.
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 duration
estimates.
 Activity Sequencing
 Involves reviewing activities and determining dependencies
Mandatory dependencies: inherent in the nature of the
work; hard logic.
Discretionary dependencies: defined by the project team;
soft logic.
External dependencies: involve relationships between
project and non-project activities.
 You must determine dependencies in order to use critical
path analysis.
 Project Network Diagrams (PND)

 PND are the preferred technique for showing

activity sequencing.
 A project network diagram is a schematic display of
the logical relationships among, or sequencing of,
project activities.
Figure 6-2. Sample Activity-on-Arrow
(AOA) Network Diagram for Project X
 Arrow Diagramming Method
(ADM)
 Also called activity-on-arrow (AOA) project
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
 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. Continuing drawing the network diagram, working from left to right.
Look for bursts and merges. Bursts occur when a single node is
followed by two or more activities. A merge occurs when two or
more 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 diagram.
Sample PDM Network Diagram
 Activity Duration Estimating
 After defining activities and determining their sequence, the
next step in time management is 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 equal duration.
 People doing the work should help create estimates, and an
expert should review them.
 Schedule Development
 Schedule development uses results of the other time
management processes to determine the start and end date
of the project and its activities.
 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, PERT
analysis, critical path analysis, and critical chain scheduling.
 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:
A black diamond: milestones or significant events on a
project with zero duration
Thick black bars: summary tasks
Lighter horizontal bars: tasks
Arrows: dependencies between tasks
Figure 6-5. Gantt Chart for Project X
Gantt Chart for Software Launch Project
 Milestones
 Milestones are significant events on a project that
normally have zero duration.
 You can follow the SMART criteria in developing
milestones that are:
Specific
Measurable
Assignable
Realistic
Time-framed
Sample Tracking Gantt Chart
 Critical Path Method (CPM)
 CPM is a project network analysis 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.
 Finding the Critical Path
 First develop a good project network diagram
 Add the durations for all activities on each
path through the project network diagram
 The longest path is the critical path
 Simple Example of Determining
the Critical Path
 Consider the following project network diagram.
Assume all times are in days.
C=2 4 E=1
A=2 B=5
start 1 2 3 6 finish

D=7 5 F=2

a. How many paths are on this network diagram?

b. How long is each path?
c. Which is the critical path?
d. What is the shortest amount of time needed to complete this project?
Figure 6-8. Determining the
Critical Path for Project X
Project 2002 Schedule Table View
Showing Free and Total Slack
 Controlling Changes to the
Project Schedule
 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.
 Working with People Issues
 Strong leadership helps projects succeed more
than good PERT charts
 Project managers should use
empowerment
incentives
discipline
negotiation