Outline

• Overview of project time management

• Project time management process
• Project management network diagrams

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Project Time Management

• Project time
management includes
the processes required
to ensure timely
completion of the
project

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 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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 Project Time Management Processes
• Project time management, involves the processes required to ensure
timely completion of a project.
• Project scheduling in a project refers to roadmap of all activities to be
done with specified order and within time slot assigned to each
activities.
• For scheduling a project ,it is necessary to:
Break down the project tasks into smaller , manageable form (WBS).
Find out various task and correlate them
Estimate time frame required for each task
Divide time into work units.
Assign adequate number of work units for each sub task.
Calculate total start to finish time.
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Cont’d…

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 Project Time Management
Processes
• Planning schedule management involves determining the
policies, procedures, and documentation that will be used for
planning, executing, and controlling the project schedule. The
main output of this process is a schedule management plan.
• 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
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 Planning Schedule Management
• It is about planning how the schedule will be managed
throughout the life of the project.
• This process helps in planning , developing ,managing
and controlling the project schedule.
• Provides guidance and direction on how the project
schedule will be handled throughout its entire cycle.

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 Where Do Schedules Come From?

• Basic document that initiate a project schedules:

• Project Scope and Objectives
• Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
• Resource Availability
• Project Management Tools
• Milestones and Deadlines

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 Cont’d…
schedule management plan includes the following information:
• Project schedule model development: Many projects
include a schedule model, which contains project activities
with estimated durations, dependencies, and other planning
information that can be used to produce a project schedule.
• The scheduling methodology and the scheduling tool to use
when developing the project. Some projects will use critical
path or critical chain methodologies.

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 Cont’d…
• Level of accuracy and units of measure: This section discusses how
accurate schedule estimates should be and determines whether time
is measured in hours, days, or another unit.
• Control thresholds: Variance thresholds, such as ±10%, are
established for monitoring schedule performance.

• Reporting formats: This section describes the format and frequency

of schedule reports required for the project.
• Process descriptions: The schedule management plan also describes
how all of the schedule management processes will be performed.

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 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
Defining activities involves identifying the specific actions that will
produce the project deliverables in enough detail to determine
resource and schedule estimates.
•It provides base for estimating ,scheduling ,executing , monitoring and
controlling the project work. It breaks down the work packages into
activities.
The project team reviews the schedule management plan, scope
baseline, enterprise environmental factors, and organizational process
assets to begin defining activities.

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 Defining Activities

Outputs of this process include an activity list, activity attributes, a

milestone list, and project management plan updates.
•The 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, and a brief description of the activity.
•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.
•milestone These milestones act as checkpoints to ensure progress aligns
with expectations.

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 Sequencing Activities
• Inputs to the activity sequencing process include the schedule management
plan, activity list and attributes, project scope statement, milestone list, and
organizational process assets.
• The sequencing process involves evaluating the reasons for dependencies and
the different types of dependencies.
• A dependency or relationship is the sequencing of project activities or tasks
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 For example, the installation of a new operating system and other
software may depend on delivery of new hardware from an external supplier.

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Task Dependency Types

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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
• Some people refer to network diagrams as project schedule
network diagrams or PERT charts.
• Two main formats are the arrow and precedence
diagramming methods

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 Arrow Diagramming Method
(ADM)
• Also called activity-on-arrow (AOA) or the arrow diagramming method (ADM)
a network diagramming technique in which activities are represented by
arrows and connected at points called nodes to illustrate the sequence of
activities.
• Activities are represented by arrows
• Nodes or circles are the starting and ending points of activities
• Can only show finish-to-start dependencies
Dependencies Represented: only supports Finish-to-Start (FS) dependencies.
This limits the types of relationships it can show
Flexibility: Less flexible due to its restriction to FS relationships.
Advantages: -Useful for simpler projects
-Helps identify critical paths and project flow easily.

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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 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 arrow heads should face toward the right, and
no arrows should cross on an AOA network diagram.

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19
A.Network Diagram Activity-on-Arrow (AOA)

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B.Determining the Critical Path for Project X

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 Precedence Diagramming
PDMMethod (PDM)
uses boxes or rectangles (nodes) to represent activities and arrows to show
dependencies between them. It is also known as the Activity-on-Node (AON)
method.
•Arrows show relationships between activities
•More popular than ADM method and used by project management software
•Better at showing different types of dependencies(FS,SS,SF,FF)

Flexibility: Offers greater flexibility and is widely used in modern project

management tools (e.g., MS Project, Primavera).
Advantages:-Easier to show complex relationships.
-More visually intuitive for overlapping tasks.

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 Precedence Diagramming
Method (PDM)
• The four types of dependencies or relationships between activities include:
Finish-to-Start (FS)
• Finish-to-Start (FS): Task A must finish before Task B starts.
Eg. Predecessor: Prepare App_Dev; Dependant: Design system
- Start-to-Start (SS)
• Start-to-Start (SS): Task A must start before Task B starts.
Eg. Predecessor : Prepare Test Plan; Dependant: Test system
- Finish-to-Finish (FF)
• Finish-to-Finish (FF): Task A must finish before Task B finishes
Eg. Predecessor : Implement system; Dependant: Test system
- Start-to-Finish (SF)
• Start-to-Finish (SF): Task A must start before Task B finishes (rarely used).
Eg. Predecessor : run new system; Dependant: run legacy system

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Sample PDM Network Diagram

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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?
• Answering these questions requires important inputs such as a project’s
schedule management plan, activity list, activity attributes, resource
calendars, risk register, activity cost estimates, enterprise environmental
factors, and organizational process assets such as policies regarding
staffing and outsourcing.

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 Estimating Activity Resources
• The main outputs of the resource estimating process include a list of
activity resource requirements, a resource breakdown structure, and
project documents updates.

• A resource breakdown structure is a hierarchical structure that identifies

the project’s resources by category and type
• Expert judgment, an analysis of alternatives, estimating data, and project
management software are tools that can assist in resource estimating.

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 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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 Activity Duration Estimating

• There are several inputs to activity duration estimates, including the

schedule management plan, activity list, activity attributes, activity
resource requirements, resource calendars, project scope statement,
risk register, resource breakdown structure, enterprise environmental
factors, and organizational process assets.

• The outputs of activity duration estimates include the estimates

themselves and project documents updates.
• Duration estimates are often provided as a discrete number, such as
four weeks; as a range, such as three to five weeks; or as a three-point
estimate.

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 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
• The main outputs of this process are the project schedule, a schedule
baseline, schedule data, project calendars, project management plan
updates, and project documents updates.
• Important tools and techniques include Gantt charts, critical path
analysis, and critical chain scheduling, and PERT analysis

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Cont’d…
• Several tools and techniques assist in schedule development:

1.A Gantt chart is a common tool for displaying project schedule

information.
2.Critical path analysis is a very important tool for developing and
controlling project schedules.
3.Critical chain scheduling is a technique that focuses on limited
resources when creating a project schedule.
4.PERT analysis is a means for considering schedule risk on projects.

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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
• Gantt charts are sometimes referred to as bar charts because the
activities’ start and end dates of Milestones Activities are shown as
horizontal bars.
• Milestones in project management are significant points or events in a
project's timeline that mark key stages of progress or achievement.
They are often used as checkpoints to assess progress.
Examples of Milestones:
• Project initiation approval.
• Completion of project design.
• Start of the development phase.
• Final product delivery or project closure.

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Gantt Chart for Software Launch
Project

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 Critical path method
• CP is the set of sequential tasks upon which the project completion date
depends
• By keeping track of the critical path, the PM takes a proactive role in
managing the schedule.
• A project can’t be finished until all tasks are finished.
• There can be more than one critical paths or the critical path can change
• The process of determining and optimizing the critical path is known as
CPM(Critical Path Method)
• Slack or float is the amount of time an activity may be delayed without
delaying a succeeding activity or the project finish date

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 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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 Earliest start & Earliest finish
time
• We are interested in the longest path through
the network, i.e., the critical path.
A forward pass through the network diagram determines
the early start and finish dates
To find the critical path we need forward pass
calculation.
1. Calculate forward passes (ES & EF):
To determine early start(ES) and early finish(EF)
times for each task
o work from left to right starting from node 1
o ES of node 1 is zero
EF = ES + duration
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o the ES for the next task is the largest of
preceding EF times
 Latest start & latest finish time
A backward pass determines the late start and finish date
To find the critical path we need backward pass calculation.
2. Calculate backward passes(LF &LS):
To determine late finish(LF) and Late start(LS) for
each task
o Start at the end node and work backward
o Set LF = EF; LS = ES for the last node
LS =LF-Duration

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Task Predecessors Duration ES EF LS LF Free slack Total slack

A - 1 0 1 2 3 1 2

B - 2 0 2 `0 2 0 0

C - 3 0 3 2 5 2 2

D A 4 1 5 3 7 2 2

E B 5 2 7 2 7 0 0

F B 4 2 7 9 13 5 6

G C 6 3 9 5 11 2 2

H D,E 6 7 13 7 13 0 0

I G 2 9 11 11 13 2 2

J F,H,I 3 13 13 13 13 0 0

N.B.
EF = ES + duration ES Tas EF -Positive slack shows ahead of
schedule
LS =LF-Duration k -Negative slack shows behind

FFloat =LS-ES LS Time LF schedule

-Zero slack indicates on
TFloat = LF-EF schedule
Importance of Updating Critical
Path Data
It is important to update project schedule information because
•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
• Technique that addresses the challenge of meeting or beating
project finish dates
• Critical chain scheduling is a method of scheduling that takes
limited resources into account when creating a project schedule
and includes buffers to protect the project completion date
• Critical chain scheduling assumes resources do not multitask
because it often delays task completions and increases total
durations

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Multitasking Example

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 Simpl-Example
Scenario: Preparing for a Dinner Party
•You have three tasks to prepare for the party:
1.Cooking Food
2.Decorating the Venue
3.Setting the Table
•Without Multitasking (Sequential Execution)
•Step 1: You fully finish cooking the food (10 hours).
•Step 2: After the cooking is done, you start and finish decorating the venue (10 hours).
•Step 3: After the decoration is done, you start and finish setting the table (10 hours).
•Total Time Taken: 30 hours to complete all three tasks because you work on them one after another.
•With Multitasking (Parallel Execution)
•You split your time into 2-hour intervals, working a little bit on each task every 2 hours.
•For example:
• First 2 hours: Cook food.
• Next 2 hours: Decorate the venue.
• Next 2 hours: Set the table.
• Repeat until all tasks are done.
•Completion Time:
• You finish all three tasks together after 25 hours, even though none of the tasks are completed early.
•Time Saved: You save 5 hours by overlapping tasks.
-Focus is on one task at a time and Efficient in terms of resource focus but time-consuming.
-Multitasking may cause inefficiencies due to context switching.

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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

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Example of project buffer

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 Siple_Example
Scenario: Submitting a School Project
•You have three tasks to complete before submitting your school project:
1.Research (2 days)
2.Writing the Report (3 days)
3.Creating a Presentation (2 days)
•Your teacher gives you 7 days total to finish the project.
•Critical Chain Scheduling (Using Buffers Strategically):
•In this method, you remove buffers from each task and instead add:
• Project Buffer: Extra time before the project’s due date.
• Feeding Buffers: Extra time for non-critical tasks that feed into the critical path.
•Time Allocation:
• Research: 2 days (no buffer added here).
• Writing the Report: 3 days (no buffer added here).
• Creating a Presentation: 2 days (no buffer added here).
-Add a project buffer of 2 days at the end (in case any task delays the project).
•Total Allocated Time = 7 days (critical tasks) + 2 days (buffer) = 9 days
you add extra time (buffer feeding ) to each task individually to ensure you finish on time.
Research: Instead of 2 days, you allocate 3 days (1-day buffer).
Writing the Report: Instead of 3 days, you allocate 5 days (2-day buffer).
Creating a Presentation: Instead of 2 days, you allocate 3 days (1-day buffer).
Total Allocated Time = 11 days, even though the project is due in 7 days.
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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 three-point estimates activity durations.

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 PERT Formula and Example
PERT weighted average formula:

Example
optimistic time = 8 days
most likely time = 10 days, and
pessimistic time = 24 days

PERT weighted average = 8 workdays + 4 X 10 workdays + 24 workdays = 12 days

6

Therefore, you’d use 12 days on the given.

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 Schedule Control
It is Monitoring and managing changes to the 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

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 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

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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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End
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