BUS 395 - Chapter 6

techniques for shortening schedules

1. shortening duration by adding more resources or changing scope 2. crashing 3. fast tracking

milestone list

A list identifying all project milestones and normally indicates whether the milestone is mandatory or optional. output of defining activities process.

Outputs of defining activities process

Activity list activity attributes milestone list

free slack/ free float

Amount of time an activity can be delayed without delaying the early start of any immediately following activities

total slack/ total float

Amount of time an activity may be delayed from its early start without delaying the planned project finish date

Critical Chain Scheduling

Considers limited resources when creating a project schedule and includes buffers to protect the project completion date • Uses the Theory of Constraints (TOC)

Planning Schedule Management:

Elements of a schedule management plan What Software should be used for scheduling What Schedule metrics should be used (Hours/Days/Week) Define Schedule Tolerance (Control thresholds): How Many Days are tolerable? Accuracy Level What methods are used to control schedule variance and manage schedule changes Which development method is used in the project (Predictive versus adaptive) Reports Format

Precedence diagramming method (PDM)

Network diagramming technique in which boxes represent activities

Critical Path Method (CPM)

Network diagramming technique used to predict total project duration by calculating the critical path

Processes

Planning schedule Management Defining activities Sequencing activities estimating activity durations Develop Schedule Control Schedule

Ganntt Chart

Provide a standard format for displaying project schedule information by listing project activities and corresponding start and finish dates in a calendar form

milestone

a significant event that normally has no duration usefule for setting coals and tracking progress

duration

actual amount of time worked on an activity(effort) plus elapsed time

feeding buffer

additional time added before tasks on the critical path

project buffer

additional time added before the project's due date

buffer

additional time to complete a task

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

Fast tracking

doing them in parallel or overlapping them

Mandatory dependencies

inherent in the nature of the work being performed on a project, sometimes referred to as hard logic

external dependencies

involve relationships between project and non-project activities

Defining Activities:

involves identifying the specific actions that will produce the project deliverables in enough detail to determine resource and schedule estimates

Theory of Constraints (TOC)

management philosophy which attempts to minimize multitasking when a resource works on more than one task at a time

3 point estimate

most likely, optimistic, and pessimistic time (there is also a 3 point estimate for cost, see cost management quizlet)

effort

number of workdays or work hours required to complete a task and does not normally equal duration

crashing

obtaining the greatest amount of schedule compression for the least incremental cost shortening activity time in a network to reduce time on the critical path so total completion time is reduced

Sequencing Activites:

process involves evaluating the reasons for dependencies and the different types of dependencies

Agile

schedule management is radically different; may not even need to estimate activity durations or project schedules at all; overall project completion time is not important

critical path

series of activities that determine the earliest time by which the project can be completed; the longest path through the network diagram

Networking diagrams (2 types)

show activity sequencing arrow and precedence

Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT)

takes the three point estimate and adds weighting to calculate project duration estimates. Network analysis technique used to estimate project duration when there is a HIGH DEGREE OF UNSCERTAINTY about the individual activity duration estimates • Uses probabilistic time estimates: duration estimates based on using optimistic, most likely, and pessimistic estimates of activity durations • By using the PERT weighted average for each activity duration estimate, total project duration estimate takes into account the risk or uncertainty in the individual activity estimates

Arrow diagramming method (ADM)

• Activities are represented by arrows • Nodes or circles are the starting and ending points of activities • Only show finish-to-start dependencies

tools and Techniques for the developing schedule process (4)

• Gantt charts • Critical path analysis • Critical chain scheduling • PERT analysis