Capstone: Chapter 6
Free Slack/Free FLoat
Amount of time an activity can be delayed without delaying the early start date of any immediately following activities
Slack or Float
Amount of time an activity may be delayed without delaying a succeeding activity or the project finish date
Theory of Constraints (TOC)
Any complex system at any point in time often has only one aspect or constraint that limits the ability to achieve more of the system's goal. For the system to attain any significant improvements, that constraint must be identified, and the whole system must be managed with it in mind.
Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT)
Can be used when there is a high degree of uncertainty about individual activity duration estimates. Applies the critical path method to a weighted average duration estimate
Feeding Buffers
Consist of time added before tasks on the critical chain if they are preceded by other tasks that are not on the critical path
Discretionary Dependencies
Defined by the project team. Soft Logic and should be used with care because they may limit later scheduling options
Forward Pass
Determines early start and early finish dates for each acitivity
Backward Pass
Determines the late start and finish dates for each activity
Early Finish Date
Earliest possible time an activity can finish based on the project network logic
Early Start Date
Earliest possible time an activity can start based on project network logic
Schedule Baseline
Entire approved planned schedule
Start to Start Dependency
From activity cannot start until to activity has started B cannot start until A starts
A project can have more than one critical path
True
Activities on the Gantt chart are driven by the deliverables on the WBS, and should coincide in turn with the activity list and milestone list
True
Calculating the critical path involves adding the durations for all activities on each path through the network diagram. The longest path is the critical path.
True
Defining activities involves identifying the specific actions that will produce the project deliverables in enough detail to determine resource and schedule estimates.
True
Even though the critical path is the longest path, it represents the shortest time required to complete a project.
True
Every activity on the network diagram must be completed in order to finish the project.
True
Ideally, the project team and key stakeholders first define the project scope, then the time or schedule for the project, and then the project's cost.
True
Individual work styles and cultural differences may also cause schedule conflicts.
True
It often takes several activities and a lot of work to complete a milestone, but the milestone itself is a marker to help in identifying necessary activities.
True
Managers often cite the need to deliver projects on time as one of their biggest challenges and the main cause of conflict. ** Project Schedule management is often cited as the main source of conflict on projects **
True
Milestones are the most important and visible events
True
Milestones are useful tools for setting schedule goals and monitoring progress
True
Not every item on the WBS needs to be shown on the Network diagram; only activities with dependencies
True
One of the most important considerations in making activity duration estimates is the availability of resources, especially human resources
True
Project schedule management processes often go through several iterations before a project schedule is finalized
True
Project schedules grow out of the basic documents that initiate a project.
True
The activity list and activity attributes should agree with the WBS and WBS dictionary
True
The critical path can change on a project
True
The first step in project schedule management is planning how the schedule will be managed throughout the life of the project.
True
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.
True
The project charter often mentions planned project start and end dates, which serve as the starting points for a more detailed schedule.
True
The project team should review the activity list and activity attributes with project stakeholders before moving on to the next step in project schedule management.
True
The schedule management plan can be informal and broad or formal and detailed, based on the needs of the project
True
The sequencing process involves evaluating the reasons for dependencies and the different types of dependencies.
True
The ultimate goal of developing a realistic project schedule is to provide a basis for monitoring project progress for the time dimension of the project
True
Time is the variable that has the least amount of flexibility.
True
You cannot determine activity sequencing, durations, develop the schedule, or control the schedule until you have a good understanding of project activities.
True
Activity-on-Arrow (AOA)/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
Critical Path Method (CPM)/Critical Path Analysis
a network diagramming technique used to predict total project duration. Helps you combat schedule overruns
Activity/Task
element of work normally found on the WBS that has an expected duration, cost, and resource requirements
Finish to Finish Dependency
from activity must be finished before to can be finished. B cannot finish until A finishes
Start to Finish Dependency
from activity must start before the to activity can be finished. Rarely used. B cannot finish until A starts EX: babysitter who wants to finish watching a young child but is dependent on the parent's arrival. The parent must show up or "start" before the babysitter can finish the task.
Murphy's law
if something can go wrong, it will
Three-point estimate
includes an optimistic, most likely and pessimistic estimate.
Mandatory Dependencies
inherent in the nature of the work being performed on a project, sometimes referred to as hard logic. Ex: You can not test code until code is written
External Dependencies
involve relationships between project and non-project activities. Ex: Installation of new operating system and other software may depend on delivery of new hardware from an external supplier.
Developing the Schedule
involves analyzing activity sequences, activity resource estimates, and activity duration estimates to create the project schedule.
Controlling the Schedule
involves controlling and managing changes to the project schedule
Network Diagram
schematic display of the logical relationships among project activities and their sequencing. Preferred technique for showing activity sequencing. PERT: Project Schedule Network Diagram
Node
starting and ending point of an activity
Schedule Development
uses the results of all the preceding project schedule management processes to determine the start and end dates of the project and its activities
Main advantage of using Gantt charts:
1. Provide standard format for displaying planned and actual project schedule information. 2. Easy to create and Understand
Important concepts to critical chain scheduling
1. Scarce resources - pays attention and plans for scarce resources 2. Multitasking - Do not do, or minimize 3. Time Buffers - Remove all buffers from individual tasks and instead create a project buffer and feeding buffers
Techniques to Shorten Critical Path
1. Shorten duration of critical path activities by allocating more resources or changing scope 2. Crashing 3. Fast Tracking
Schedule Management Plan Includes:
1. project schedule model development 2. Level of Accuracy and Units of Measure 3. Control Thresholds 4. Rules of Performance Measurement 5. Reporting Formats 6. Process Descriptions
Tracking Gantt Chart
A Gantt chart that compares planned and actual project schedule information
Main Disadvantages of Gantt charts
1. Do not usually show relationship/dependencies between tasks
4 types of dependencies/relationships between activities
1. Finish-to-start 2. Start-to-Start 3. Finish-to-Finish 4. Start-to-Finish
4 Schedule development tools and techniques
1. Gantt chart 2. Critical Path analysis 3. Critical Chain Scheduling 4. PERT analysis
4 Types of Project Activity Dependencies
1. Mandatory Dependencies 2. Discretionary dependencies 3. External Dependencies 4. Internal Dependencies
Advantages of PDM over AOA
1. Most project management software uses PDM 2. No need for Dummy Activities 3. PDM shows different dependency types, AOA just shows finish-to-start dependencies
6 Main Processes of Project Schedule Management ***
1. Planning Schedule Management 2. Defining Activities 3. Sequencing Activities 4. Estimating Activity Durations 5. Developing the Schedule 6. Controlling the Schedule
Critical Chain Scheduling
A method that considers limited resources when creating a project schedule and includes buffers to protect the project completion date.
Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM)
A network diagramming technique in which boxes represent activities
Activity List
A tabulation of activities to be included on a project schedule
Crashing
A technique for making cost and schedule trade-offs to obtain the greatest amount of schedule compression for the least incremental cost Main Advantage: Shortening time needed to finish the project Main Disadvantage: Often increases total project costs
Outputs of Defining Activities
Activity list, Activity Attributes, Milestone List, Change Requests, and project management plan updates
Buffer
Additional time to complete a task
SMART criteria
Guidelines suggesting that a milestone should be: - Specific - Measurable - Assignable - Realistic - Time-framed
Dummy Activities
Have no duration and no resources, but are occasionally needed on AOA network diagrams to show logical relationships between activities
Internal Dependencies
Involve relationships between project activities that are generally inside the project team's control. Ex: Unit testing before system testing
Planning Schedule Management***
Involves determining the policies, procedures, and documentation that will be used for planning, executing, and controlling the project schedule. Main Output: Schedule Management Plan
Black Diamond on Gantt
Milestone
Slipped Milestone
Milestone activity was completed later than originally planned
Effort
Number of workdays or work hours required to complete the task.
Dependency/Relationship
Pertains to the sequencing of project activities or tasks
Baseline dates
Planned schedule dates for activities
Finish to Start Dependency
Predecessor must finish before successor can start. B cannot start until A finishes.
Main outputs of Developing the Schedule
Schedule baseline, project schedule, schedule data, project calendars, change requests, project management plan updates, project document updates
Activity Attributes
Schedule-related information about each activity, such as predecessors, successors, logical relationships, leads and lags, resource requirements, constraints, imposed dates and assumptions to the related activity
Milestone
Significant even that normally has no duration
White Diamond on Tracking Gantt
Slipped Milestone
Not having task buffers should mean fewer occurrences of Parkinson's Law
States that work expands to fill the time allowed
Duration
The actual amount of time worked on an activity PLUS the elapsed time
Total Slack/Total Float
The amount of time an activity can be delayed from its early start without delaying the planned project finish date
Critical Path
The series of activities that determine the earliest time by which the project can be completed; it is the longest path through the network diagram and has the least amount of slack or float.
Project Buffer
Time added before the project's due date
Fast Tracking
involves doing activities in parallel that you would normally do in sequence Main advantage: shorten the time needed to finish a project Main Disadvantage: Can increase costs and actually lengthen the project schedule because starting some tasks too soon increases project risk and results in rework
Estimating Activity Durations
involves estimating the number of work periods that are needed to complete individual activities.
Sequencing Activities***
involves identifying and documenting the relationships between project activities. * Must be done in order to use critical path analysis
Defining Activities ***
involves identifying the specific activities that the project team members and stakeholders must perform to produce the project deliverables. Output: More detailed WBS
Project Schedule Management
involves the processes required to ensure timely completion of a project.
Late finish date
latest possible time an activity can be completed without delaying the project finish date
Late start date
latest possible time an activity might begin without delaying the project finish date
Bursts
occur when 2+ activities follow a single node
Merge
occur when 2+ nodes precede a single node
Multitasking
occurs when a resource works on more than one task at a time - Can delay task completion - often involves wasted set up time, which increases total duration
Gantt Chart
provide a standard format for displaying project schedule information by listing project activities and their corresponding start and finish dates in calendar form.
