IT project management

Chapter 3
Project Time Management
Content
s
1. Time Management
1. Importance of Project Schedules
2. Schedules and Activities
3.Sequencing and
Scheduling Activity
3.2. Project Network Diagrams

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 Importance of Project Schedules
Often cite delivering projects on time as one of their
biggest challenges.

Managers Schedule issues are the main reason for conflicts

on projects, especially during the second half of projects.

Time has the least amount of flexibility; it passes no matter

what happens on a project.

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 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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 Conti….
Three Types of Dependencies

1. Mandatory dependencies: Inherent in the nature of the work

being performed on a project; sometimes referred to as hard
logic.

2. Discretionary dependencies: Defined by the project team;

sometimes referred to as soft logic and should be used with care
because they may limit later scheduling options.

3. 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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 Cont…

Figure 6-2. 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 diagram.

Activities are represented by arrows.

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

Can only show finish-to-start dependencies.

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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 Cont….

Figure 2: Sample PDM Network Diagram

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 Activity Resource Estimating
Before estimating activity durations, you must have a
good idea of the quantity and type of resources that will
be assigned to each activity.
Consider important issues in estimating resources:
 How difficult will it be to complete specific
activities on this project?
 What is the organization’s history in doing similar
activities?
 Are the required resources available?

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 Activity Duration Estimating
Duration includes the actual amount of time worked on
an activity plus the 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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 Schedule Development
Uses results of the other time management processes
to determine the start and end dates 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, critical chain scheduling, and
PERT(Program Evaluation And Review Technique)
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.

Figure 3: Gantt Chart for Project

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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 can be
delayed without delaying a succeeding activity or the
project finish date.

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 Calculating the Critical Path
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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 Con…

Figure 4: Determining the Critical Path for Project

X

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 Buffers and Critical Chain
A buffer is additional time to complete a task.

In traditional estimates, people often add a buffer to each task

and use the additional time whether it’s needed or not.

Critical chain scheduling removes buffers from individual tasks

and instead creates:
 A project buffer 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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 Schedule Control
Perform reality checks on schedules.
Allow for contingencies.
Don’t plan for everyone to work at 100 percent capacity all the
time.
Hold progress meetings with stakeholders and be clear and
honest in communicating schedule issues.
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.

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 Cont…
Tools and techniques include:
 Progress reports.

 A schedule change control system.

 Project management software, including schedule

comparison charts, such as 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
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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 Using Software to Assist in Time
Management
Software for facilitating communication 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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 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:
 Activity definition
 Activity sequencing
 Activity resource estimating
 Activity duration estimating
 Schedule development
 Schedule control

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