chapter 6
sequencing activities
Involves reviewing activities and determining dependencies
SMART criteria
Milestones should be: ~Specific ~Measurable ~Assignable ~Realistic ~Time-framed
Three main techniques for shortening schedules
Shortening durations of critical activities/tasks by adding more resources or changing their scope, Crashing activities by obtaining the greatest amount of schedule compression for the least incremental cost, Fast tracking activities by doing them in parallel or overlapping them
Gantt Chart symbols
Symbols include: ~Black diamonds: milestones ~Thick black bars: summary tasks ~Lighter horizontal bars: durations of tasks ~Arrows: dependencies between tasks
description of task dependency: finish-to-start
Task B cannot start until task A finishes
T/F You must determine dependencies in order to use critical path analysis
True
two main formats of network diagrams
Two main formats are the arrow and precedence diagramming methods
Precedence diagramming model
a network diagramming technique in which boxes represent activities
critical path method
a network diagramming technique used to predict total project duration
network diagram
a schematic display of the logical relationships among, or sequencing of, project activities
milestone
a significant event that normally has no duration
feeding buffers
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
activity or task
an element of work normally found on the work breakdown structure (WBS) that has an expected duration, a cost, and resource requirements
Project Time Management Processes: Developing the schedule
analyzing activity sequences, activity resource estimates, and activity duration estimates to create the project schedule
Project Time Management Processes: Controlling the schedule
controlling and managing changes to the project schedule
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
Project Time Management Processes: Estimating activity resources
estimating how many resources a project team should use to perform project activities
Project Time Management Processes: Estimating activity durations
estimating the number of work periods that are needed to complete individual activities
T/F Effort does normally equal duration
false!
critical path
for a project is the series of activities that determines the earliest time by which the project can be completed; the longest path through the network diagram and has the least amount of slack or float
Project Time Management Processes: Sequencing Activities
identifying and documenting the relationships between project activities
Project Time Management Processes: Defining activities
identifying the specific activities that the project team members and stakeholders must perform to produce the project deliverables
Murphy's law
if something can go wrong, it will
Milestones emphasize ?
important events or accomplishments on projects
example of a milestone
include obtaining customer sign-off on key documents or completion of specific products
duration
includes the actual amount of time worked on an activity plus elapsed time
mandatory dependencies
inherent in the nature of the work being performed on a project, sometimes referred to as hard logic; you must complete it, no flexibility;
external dependencies
involve relationships between project and non-project activities
critical path analysis
longest sequence (duration) of activities
bursts
occur when a single node is followed by two or more activities
merge
occurs when two or more nodes precede a single node
Gantt Chart
provide a standard format for displaying project schedule information by listing project activities and their corresponding start and finish dates in a calendar format
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
Critical chain scheduling
A method of scheduling that considers limited resources when creating a project schedule and includes buffers to protect the project completion date
activity list
A tabulation of activities to be included on a project schedule that includes:The activity name,An activity identifier or number,A brief description of the activity
Activity-on-arrow (AOA) or Arrow Diagramming Method (ADM)
Activities are represented by arrows; Nodes or circles are the starting and ending points of activities; Can only show finish-to-start dependencies
three point estimate
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
T/F Normally create milestone by entering tasks with a one day duration, or you can mark any task as a milestone
False. zero duration
description of task dependency: finish-to-finish
task B cannot finish until task A finishes
description of task dependency: start-to-finish
task B cannot finish until task A starts
description of task dependency: start-to-start
task B cannot start unit task A starts
slack or float
the amount of time an activity may be delayed without delaying a succeeding activity or the projec`t finish date
effort
the number of workdays or work hours required to complete a task
dependency or relationship
the sequencing of project activities or tasks
Instead of providing activity estimates as a discrete number, such as four weeks, it's often helpful to create a ________________________.
three point estimate
T/F Three-point estimates are needed for PERT and Monte Carlo simulations
true
Parkinson's law
work expands to fill the time allowed
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