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Lecture 5 : PROJECT time management

Lecture 5 : PROJECT time management. IS 350T: Project Management. Objectives. What is a Project Time Management Understand the importance of project schedules and good project time management. Define activities as the basis for developing project schedules.

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Lecture 5 : PROJECT time management

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  1. Lecture 5:PROJECT time management IS 350T: Project Management Information Systems Department

  2. Objectives • What is a Project Time Management • Understand the importance of project schedules and good project time management. • Define activities as the basis for developing project schedules. • Describe how project managers use network diagrams and dependencies to assist in activity sequencing. • Understand the process of sequencing activities and the four types of activity dependencies. • Use Gantt chart, critical path method, and critical chain scheduling for planning schedule information. Information Systems Department

  3. Information Systems Department

  4. What is Project Time Management? • Project time managementdescribes the processes and methods required to create and manage appropriate schedules to complete the project. • Project time managementinvolves the processes required to ensure timely completion of a project. Information Systems Department

  5. Project Time Management Processes Information Systems Department

  6. Project Time Management Processes Information Systems Department

  7. Project Time Management Summary

  8. 1. Planning Schedule Management • Planning how the schedule will be managed throughout the life of the project • A schedule management plan includes: • Project schedule model development • Level of accuracy and units of measure • Control thresholds • Rules of performance measurement • Reporting formats • Process descriptions

  9. Schedule Management Plan

  10. 2. Defining Activities • An activity or taskis an element of work normally found on the work breakdown structure (WBS) that has an expected duration, cost, and resource requirements. • Activity definitioninvolves 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. • The goal of defining activities is to ensure that the project team completely understands all the work it must do as part of the project scope so they can start scheduling the work. Information Systems Department

  11. 2. Defining Activities • What are needed (inputs) to define the activities: • Schedule management plan • Scope baseline • Enterprise environmental factors • Include relevant government or industry standards, the organization’s infrastructure, and marketplace conditions • Organizational process assets • Include formal and informal plans, policies, procedures, guidelines, information systems, financial systems, management systems, lessons learned, and historical information Information Systems Department

  12. 2. Defining Activities • The main outputs of this process are: • Activity list: is a tabulation of activities to be included on a project schedule. The list should include the activity name, an activity number, and a brief description of the activity. • Activity attributes:provide more schedule-related information about each activity. • such as predecessors, successors, logical relationships, resource requirements, constraints, imposed (executed) dates, and assumptions related to the activity • example • Milestone list:Is a significant event that normally has no duration. Information Systems Department

  13. 3. SequencingActivities • Sequencing activitiesmeans determining the dependencies, or relationships between project activities or tasks. • A dependency or relationship pertains to the sequencing of project activities or tasks. • Does a certain activity have to be finished before another can start? • Can the project team do several activities in parallel? • Can some overlap? Information Systems Department

  14. 3. SequencingActivities • There are three basic reasons for creating dependencies: • Mandatory dependencies: (hard logic) inherent in the nature of the work being performed on a project. Eg.: You cannot test code until after the code is written. • Discretionary dependencies:(soft logic) defined by the project team, offer the most flexibility; Eg.: a project team might follow good practice and not start the detailed design of a new information system until the users sign off on all of the analysis work • External dependencies: involves the relationships between project and non-project activities. Eg.: the installation of a new operating system and other software may depend on delivery of new hardware from an external supplier. • You must determine correct dependencies to create a realistic schedule. Information Systems Department

  15. 3. SequencingActivities • Network diagrams are the preferred technique to show activity sequencing; • Network diagrams: is a schematic display of the logical relationships among, or sequencing of, project activities. • Network diagram represents activities that must be done to complete the project. • Network diagram has two main formats: • Arrow Diagramming Method (ADM) or Activity-On-Arrow(AOA) • Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM) Information Systems Department

  16. 3.1 Arrow Diagramming Method • Consists of : • Letters that represent activity with dependencies • Lines with arrows that represent sequencing or relationship between tasks . • Nodes or circles which represent the starting and ending points of activities. • Key Drawback: Can only show finish-to-start dependencies • Read the text book (Information Technology Project Management, Chapter 6, pages 230 – 231 for the other three types of dependency. Information Systems Department

  17. 3.1Arrow Diagramming Method (ADM) Information Systems Department

  18. Process for Creating ADM/AOA Diagrams • 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. • 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 • Continue drawing the project network diagram until all activities are included on the diagram that have dependencies. • As a rule of thumb, all arrowheads should face toward the right, and no arrows should cross on an AOA network diagram. Information Systems Department

  19. Example 1 Draw a network diagram (ADM) for a project with the following activities and immediate predecessors: Information Systems Department

  20. Solution for Example 1 2 D(5) A(3) C(6) 1 4 G(7) B(4) 5 E(1) F(6) 3 Information Systems Department

  21. AOA with Dummy Activities • Dummy activities have no duration and no resources, but are occasionally needed on AOA network diagrams to show logical relationships between activities. • These activities are represented with dashed arrow lines. Information Systems Department

  22. Example 2 Draw a network diagram (ADM) for a project with the following activities and immediate predecessors: Information Systems Department

  23. Solution for Example 2 Activities A and B both start at the same event and need to end at the same event, since D depends on them both. The dummy activity is introduced to ensure unique numbering. 2 A(2) G(4) B(3) D(6) 1 3 5 6 C(5) E(8) F(2) 4 Information Systems Department

  24. Example 3 Draw a network diagram (ADM) for a project with the following activities and immediate predecessors: Information Systems Department

  25. Solution for Example 3 C(5) 2 4 E(6) A(2) F(3) H(2) 1 6 7 B(4) G(8) D(3) 3 5 A dummy activity is needed here as C depends on both A and B but D depends on B only A dummy activity is needed here as G depends on D only but H depends on both F and D Information Systems Department

  26. 3.2 Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM) • Sample PDM Network Diagram Information Systems Department

  27. 3.2 Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM) • Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM) consists of: • Boxes that represent activities. • Arrows that show relationships between activities. • More popular than ADM method and used by project management software • Better at showing different types of dependencies. Information Systems Department

  28. PDM VS. AOA • First, most project management software uses the precedence diagramming method. • Second, using PDM avoids the need to use dummy activities. • Third, the precedence diagramming method shows different dependencies among tasks, whereas AOA network diagrams use only finish-to-start dependencies. Information Systems Department

  29. 4. Estimating Activity Resources • Consider important issues in estimating resources: • How difficult/complex will it be to complete specific activities on this project? • What is the organization’s history in doing similar activities? • In the other word, has the organization's history done similar tasks before? • Are the required resources available? Internal or External • Very important to match the right person with the right task! Information Systems Department

  30. 4. Estimating Activity Resources • The main outputs of the resource estimating process: • List of activity resource requirements. • Project document updates. • A resource breakdown structure. Information Systems Department

  31. 4. Estimating Activity Resources • A resource breakdown structure:is a hierarchical structure that identifies the project’s resources by category and type. • Resource categories may include: • analysts • programmers • testers • Programmers type may include: • COBOL programmers • Java programmers Information Systems Department

  32. 5. Estimating Activity Durations • After defining activities, determining their sequence, assigning appropriate resources, the next step in time management is duration estimating. • During this process, the effort, duration, and elapsed time are determined for the schedule activities. Information Systems Department

  33. Effort vs. Duration vs. Elapsed Time • Effortis the number of work units required to complete the activity. Effort may also be referred to as staff-hours, days, or weeks. In order to determine the activity duration, the effort required to complete the activity must be determined first. • Duration is the total time to complete the activities based on the resources available to the project. Duration does not include holidays or non-working days and may be referred to work days or weeks. Information Systems Department

  34. Effort vs. Duration vs. Elapsed Time • Elapsed time is the calendar time or span required to complete the activities based on the resources available. Elapsed time does include holidays and non-working days. Information Systems Department

  35. Effort vs. Duration vs. Elapsed Time • Example: • Implementing the new Student Registration System is estimated to take 80 hours of effort. • If there is one programmer committed to 40 hours per week, the duration would be 10 workdays.(Effort = 80 hours, Duration = 10 workdays, Elapsed time = 2 weeks) • However, if there are two programmers each committed to 40 hours per week, the duration would be 5 workdays.(Effort = 80 hours, Duration = 5 workdays, Elapsed time = 1 week) • Or if there are two programmers committed to 10 hours per week each, the duration would be 20 workdays.(Effort = 80 hours, Duration = 20 workdays, Elapsed time = 4 weeks) Information Systems Department

  36. 5. Estimating Activity Durations • People doing the work should help create estimates, and an expert should review them. • Duration estimate may be given as: • Discrete numbers (2 weeks). • Ranges (3 to 5 weeks). • Three-point estimate. Information Systems Department

  37. 5. Estimating Activity Durations • Three-point estimateis an estimate that includes an optimistic, most likely, and pessimistic estimate, such as: • three weeks for the optimistic, • four weeks for the most likely, • and five weeks for the pessimistic estimate. Information Systems Department

  38. 6. Developing The Schedule • Uses results of the other time management processes (activity definition, sequencing, estimating) to determine the start and end date of the project. • Also determines the planned start and completion dates for each activity listed on the WBS. The deliverable from this process is the Project Schedule. Information Systems Department

  39. 6. Developing The Schedule • Tools used for schedule development: • Gantt chart. • Critical path method. • Critical Chain scheduling. Information Systems Department

  40. 6.1Gantt Charts Gantt Chartsprovide 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: • Black diamonds: milestones. • Thick black bars: summary tasks. • Lighter horizontal bars: durations of tasks. • Arrows: dependencies between tasks. Information Systems Department

  41. 6.1 Gantt Charts • Sample of Gantt Chart Information Systems Department

  42. 6.1 Gantt Charts Information Systems Department

  43. 6.2 Critical Path Method • Critical Path Method (CPM)is a network diagramming technique used to predict total project duration. • CPM uses the sequence and duration of activities to determine the total project duration. • A critical pathfor a project is the series of activities that determines the earliest time by which the project can be completed. Information Systems Department

  44. 6.2 Critical Path Method • The critical path is the longest path through the network diagram. • The longest path through the schedule or said in another way the shortest time the project can be completed referred to as the critical path. • All activities that fall on this path are referred to as critical path activities. Information Systems Department

  45. 6.2 Critical Path Method Calculating the Critical Path: • Find the longest path through the network diagram. Information Systems Department

  46. 6.2 Critical Path Method Example: 2 D(5) A(3) C(6) 1 4 G(7) B(4) 5 E(1) F(6) 3 Information Systems Department

  47. 6.2 Critical Path Method • Find the Longest Path: Path 1 = A, D, G = 15 days Path 2 = C, G = 13 days Path 3 = B, E, G = 12 days Path 4 = B, F = 10 days • Path 1 [ A, D, G ] is the critical path, because it is the longest path. Information Systems Department

  48. 6.2 Critical Path Method • Techniques for Shortening a Project Schedule(Schedule Analysis) knowing the critical path helps project manager to make schedule trade-offs: • Shortening durations of critical tasks by adding more resources or changing their scope. • Crashing tasksby obtaining the greatest amount of schedule compression for the least incremental cost. • Fast tracking tasksby doing them in parallel or overlapping them. Find the example of each technique, the main advantage and disadvantage of the technique. Information Systems Department

  49. 6.3 Critical Chain Scheduling • Availability of scarce (rare/limited) resources: • Two tasks are planned to occur simultaneously. • Only a single piece of equipment is available. • Equipment is needed full time to complete each task. • Critical chain scheduling suggests: • Delay one task until the equipment is available (Sequential). • Find another piece of equipment in order to meet the schedule (Parallel). Information Systems Department

  50. 6.3 Critical Chain Scheduling • Multitasking occurs when a resource works on more than one task at a time. • Critical chain scheduling attempts to minimize multitasking. • Multitasking disadvantages: • can delay task completions. • often involves wasted setup time, which increases total duration. Information Systems Department

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