PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Learning Outcomes
• After studying this chapter, students should be able to:
• Define what a project is
• List and discuss the attributes of a project
• Explain what is meant by project objective
• Define what is meant by project deliverable
• Provide examples of projects
• Discuss project constraints
• Describe the phases of the project life cycle
• Define and apply project management
• Discuss the steps of the planning process
• Identify the three elements of the executing process

Project Attributes
A project is an endeavor to accomplish a specific objective through a unique set of interrelated tasks and
the effective utilization of resources. The following attributes help define a project:
• A project has a clear objective that establishes what is to be accomplished. It is the tangible end
product that the project team must produce and deliver. The project objective is usually defined
in terms of end product or deliverable, schedule, and budget. Furthermore, it is expected that
the work scope will be accomplished in a quality manner and to the customer’s satisfaction.
• A project is carried out through a series of interdependent tasks in a certain sequence in order
to achieve the project objective.
• A project utilizes various resources to carry out the tasks.
• A project has a specific time frame, or finite life span - a start time and a date by which the
objective must be accomplished.
• A project may be a unique or one-time endeavor such as developing a new product, building a
house, or planning a wedding.
• A project has a sponsor or customer that provides the funds necessary to accomplish the
project. In a business setting, the customer can be internal or external to your organization.
• Finally, a project involves a degree of uncertainty and is based on certain assumptions and
estimates for the project budget, schedule, and work scope.

Balancing Project Constraints

• The successful accomplishment of the project objective is usually constrained by many factors,
including scope, quality, schedule, budget, resources, risks, and customer satisfaction.
• Various resources are needed to perform the project tasks and accomplish the project
objective. Resources include people, materials, equipment, facilities, and so on.
• Risks adversely affect accomplishing the project objective.
• Customer satisfaction goes beyond just completing the project scope within budget and
on schedule or asking if the customer is satisfied at the end of the project. It means not
only meeting the customer’s expectations but also developing and maintaining an
excellent working relationship throughout the project.
• Project scope is all the work that must be done in order to produce the project
deliverables (the tangible product or items to be provided), satisfy the customer that
the deliverables meet the requirements or acceptance criteria, and accomplish the
project objective.
 • Quality expectations must be defined from the onset of the project. The project work
scope must be accomplished in a quality manner and meet specifications.
• The schedule for a project is the timetable that specifies when each task or activity
should start and finish. The project objective usually states the time by which the
project scope must be completed in terms of a specific date agreed upon by the sponsor
and the organization performing the project.
• The budget of a project is the amount the sponsor or customer has agreed to pay for
acceptable project deliverables. The project budget is based on estimated costs
associated with the quantities of various resources that will be used to perform the
project.
• During the project, it is sometimes challenging to balance these factors, which often constrain
one another and can jeopardize accomplishing the project objective. To help assure the
achievement of the project objective, it is important to develop a plan before starting the
project work rather than starting without a plan. Lack of a plan decreases the chances of
successfully accomplishing the full project scope within budget and on schedule.

Project Manager Actions

The project manager must perform a number of actions throughout the duration of a project.
• Prevent, anticipate, and/or overcome problems and limitations in order to complete the project
scope on schedule, within budget, and to the customer’s satisfaction.
• Have good planning and communication – they are essential to preventing problems from
occurring and to minimize their impact.
• Be responsible to make sure the customer is satisfied. This goes beyond merely completing the
project within budget and on schedule. It requires ongoing communication with the customer.

The Project Life Cycle

• The project life cycle has four general phases: initiating, planning, performing, and closing the
project, which you can see in the figure on this slide.
• The time span of each phase and the associated level of effort will vary depending on the
specific project.
• Project life cycles can vary in length from a few weeks to several years, depending on the
content, complexity, and magnitude of the project in question.
Initiating Phase
• In the initiating phase, projects are identified and selected and then authorized using a
document referred to as a project charter.
• The first phase of the project life cycle:
• Involves the identification of a need, problem, or opportunity and can result in the
sponsor authorizing a project to address the identified need or solve the problem
• May take several months to identify the need, gather data, and define the project
objective
• It is very important to define the right need. Needs are often defined as part of an organization's
strategic planning process.
• Organizations must have a project selection process to determine what projects to pursue
• The project charter includes:
• Rationale, or justification, for the project
• Project objective and expected benefits
• General requirements and conditions such as amount of funds authorized, required
completion date, major deliverables, and required reviews and approvals; and key
assumptions
• If it decides to use external resources, an organization develops a request for proposals, or RFP,
asking contractors to submit proposals describing how to address the need, associated costs,
and schedule.

Planning Phase
 • The planning phase is the second phase of the project life cycle, It includes defining the project
scope, identifying resources, developing a schedule and budget, and identifying risks, all of
which make up the baseline plan for doing the project work.
• Shows how the project scope will be accomplished within budget and on schedule
• Plan the work and work the plan
• The detailed plan results in a baseline plan
• What needs to be done— scope, deliverable
• How it will get done– activities, sequence
• Who will do it– resources, responsibilities
• How long it will take– durations, schedule
• How much it will cost— budget
• What the risks are
• Benchmark the baseline plan to allow for comparison with actual progress.
• Include the people that will actually do the work in the planning process.
• They have knowledge of detailed activities to be done.
• Participation also builds commitment.

Performing Phase
• In the performing phase, the project plan is executed and work tasks are carried out to produce
all the project deliverables and to accomplish the project objective.
• The project progress is monitored and controlled to assure the work remains on
schedule and within budget, the scope is fully completed according to specifications,
and all deliverables meet acceptance criteria.
• Any changes need to be documented, approved, and may be incorporated into an updated
baseline plan.
• This is the third phase of the project life cycle.
• The project manager leads the project team to complete the project.
• The pace of the project increases as more and various resources are involved in the
project.
• It is necessary to monitor and control the project's progress by comparing
accomplishments to the baseline plan.
• Corrective actions are taken if a project is off track.
• Changes are managed and controlled through documentation, approval, and
communication with agreement between the sponsor and the contractor.
• Some change is trivial
• The end of the phase, customer satisfaction, is achieved when the work and deliverables
are accepted by the customer and the project objective is accomplished.
• Several alternative actions may be evaluated to determine the best approach to bring the
project back within the scope, schedule, and budget constraints of the project.
• Determine if any sacrifices to scope, budget, schedule, or quality are necessary to accomplish
the project.
• The costs of changes vary with the timing in the project– generally, the later in the project that
changes are identified, the greater their effect on accomplishing the project objective.

Closing Phase
In the closing phase, project evaluations are conducted, lessons learned are identified and documented
to help improve performance on future projects, and project documents are organized and archived.
• This is the final phase of the project life cycle
 • It includes a variety of actions such as:
• Collecting and making final payments
• Staff recognition and evaluation
• Conducting a post project evaluation
• Documenting lessons learned
• Archiving project documents
• Using a knowledge base to record lessons learned and post-project evaluation
• A knowledge base is helpful to retrieve the lessons and information that can help with
doing business with the customer or other customers in the future.

Project Planning Process

Project management is planning, organizing, coordinating, leading, and controlling resources to
accomplish the project objective. The project management process involves planning the work
(establishing the plan) and then working the plan (executing that plan).
There are many steps in the project planning process, as you can see on this slide.
• Establish project objective– agreed upon by sponsor and contractor
• Define scope– includes customer requirements, defines major work tasks, lists deliverables and
associated acceptance criteria
• Create a work breakdown structure, or WBS– a hierarchical decomposition of the project scope
into work elements to be executed by the project team and produce the project deliverables
• Assign responsibility–the person or organization responsible for each work item is identified
• Define specific activities– develop a list of detailed activities needed to perform each work
package and produce any required documents
• Sequence activities–create a network diagram that shows the necessary sequence and
dependent relationships
• Estimate activity resources–determine the types of resources needed for each activity. These
may include people, materials, or equipment that are internal or external to the contractor.
• Estimate activity durations– time estimates for how long each activity will take to be completed
based on the estimate of resources available applied to each activity
• Develop project schedule– determine the start and finish times for each activity to complete the
project by its required completion date
• Estimate activity costs– use the appropriate labor cost or unit cost rate for each type of resource
to determine the cost of each activity
• Determine budget– aggregate the costs associated with each activity and each work package
and add indirect costs and profits to determine the costs of completing the project. Allocate the
costs over time to determine the time-phased budget.

Create WBS and Assign Responsibility

• A work breakdown structure, or WBS, is a hierarchical decomposition of the project scope into
work elements to be executed by the project team and produce the project deliverables.
• You can see a WBS in this slide.
• Assigning responsibility involves determining who will be the person or organization responsible
for each work item in the WBS.
Sequence Activities
• The figure on this slide shows a network diagram that reveals the sequence of activities for a
project.
• Sequencing activities involves creating a network diagram that shows the necessary sequence
and dependent relationships in a project.

Develop the Project Schedule

• This table shows the project schedule for a consumer market study project.
• Developing project schedule involves determining the start and finish times for each activity in
order to complete the project by its required completion date.
Determine Budget
• Here we see a time-phased project budget.
• Determining the budget involves aggregating all the costs associated with each activity and each
work package and adding indirect costs and profits to determine the costs of completing the
project.
• Allocate the costs over time to determine the time-phased project budget.

Execute the Project Plan

Once a baseline plan has been established, the plan must be executed. The executing process involves
performing the work according to the plan, monitoring and controlling the work, and controlling for
changes so that the project scope is achieved within the budget and schedule, to the customer’s
satisfaction.
• Perform the work— all activities are performed to produce the deliverables and meet their
acceptance criteria with regular communication with stakeholders and the customers
• Monitor and control progress– regularly monitor the project to see if progress is going according
to plan, measure the actual progress, and take corrective action if activities are behind schedule
• Control changes— change to the work activities and to the project scope will occur for a variety
of reasons. Changes need to be agreed upon by the sponsor and the contractor.

Global Project Management

• Globalization adds a unique dimension to managing projects.
 • It changes the dynamics of the project and adds a layer of complexity that can adversely
affect the project outcome if the project participants are not aware of what they might
encounter regarding cultural differences and multinational economic transactions.
• Different factors can create a dynamic, and even unstable environment, over the life of a project
and include:
• Cultural differences
• Currency fluctuations and exchange rates
• Country-specific work codes and regulations, such as hours per day, holidays, and
religious observances
• Corporate joint ventures and partnerships create entities with a presence and facilities
in multiple countries and can make international business more complication
• Political relations between countries
• Availability of high-demand workforce skills
• Some competencies can be helpful, even required, for global project management success:
• Foreign language skills
• Knowledge and understanding of other countries and cultures, geography, world history
and contemporary events, and international economics
• Awareness and understanding of cultures, customs, and etiquette and of the geopolitical
environment are also very important to international project success.
• Finally, technology adoption to international environments and use of good language translation
software is also very important for international project management.
DEFINING SCOPE, QUALITY, RESPONSIBILITY, AND ACITIVITY SEQUENCE

Learning Outcomes
After studying this chapter, students should be able to:
• Establish a clear project objective
• Prepare a project scope document
• Discuss the importance and elements of a project quality plan
• Develop a work breakdown structure
• Prepare a responsibility assignment matrix
• Describe how to define specific activities
• Create a network diagram

Establish Project Objective

• The planning process is based on the project objective.
• The project objective establishes what is to be accomplished.
• Often the project objective is stated in the project charter or RFP.
• It is the tangible end product that the project team or contractor must produce and
deliver in order for the sponsor or customer to achieve the expected benefits from
implementing the project.
• The project objective should include the following elements:
• Expected benefits that will result from implementation of the project and define success
• Primary project end product or deliverable
• Date by which the project is required to be completed
• Budget within which the project must be completed
• Situations can arise where the project objective needs to be modified as the project proceeds
because of extenuating circumstances or new information. The project manager and the
customer must agree on all changes to the project objective. Any such changes might affect the
remaining work scope, deliverables, completion date, and final cost.

Define Project Scope

• The project scope defines what needs to be done.
• A project scope document includes many of the items contained in the project charter,
RFP, or contractor’s proposal, but in much greater detail. The document is valuable for
establishing a common understanding among project stakeholders regarding the scope
of the project.
• The project scope document usually contains the following sections:
• Customer requirements define the functional or performance specifications for the
project’s end product and other project deliverables.
• It should also include or reference applicable technical specifications, standards,
and codes that must be used and met regarding quality and performance of the
project work and deliverables.
• Statement of Work (SOW) defines the major tasks or work elements that will need to be
performed to accomplish the work that needs to be done and produce all the project
deliverables.
• Deliverables are the products or outputs that the project team or contractor will
produce and provide to the customer during and at the completion of the performance
of the project.
 • Acceptance criteria for all project deliverables must be described in greater detail than
what is stated in the project charter or request for proposal
• Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is a hierarchical decomposition of the project work
scope into work packages that produce the project deliverables.
• The agreed-upon project scope document establishes the baseline for any changes that may be
made to the scope during the performance of the project.
• A change control system needs to be established to define how changes will be documented,
approved, and communicated. The project team or contractor must avoid scope creep, which is
informally making changes to the project scope without appropriate approval.

Plan for Quality

• Planning for quality is a necessary, yet often forgotten or dismissed, function on a project. It is
essential to have a plan for assuring the quality of project deliverables and results, rather than
waiting until the end of the project to check if the sponsor/customer requirements and
expectations on project deliverables have been met.
• It is important to plan for quality in performing the project. This helps assure that the work is
done according to specifications and applicable standards and that deliverables meet
acceptance criteria.
• A project quality plan includes or references:
• Project specifications and standards
• Industry or government standards (for design, testing, safety, construction, etc.)
• Codes that must be used and met during the performance of the project work
• Written procedures for using various quality tools and techniques
• The key to quality control is to:
• Monitor the quality of the work early and regularly throughout the performance of the
project
• Compare results with quality standards
• Make any necessary corrective actions immediately, rather than waiting until all the
work is completed before checking or inspecting for quality
• To ensure that a project is done right the first time, a project should focus on doing the work in
accordance with quality standards, and therefore preventing quality problems.

Create Work Breakdown Structure

Once the project scope document has been agreed on and prepared, the next step in the planning phase
is to create a detailed work breakdown structure (WBS)
• This is a deliverable-oriented hierarchical decomposition of the project work scope into work
packages, or activity groupings, that produce the project deliverables.
• Creating a WBS is a structured approach for organizing all the project work and deliverables into
logical groupings. This helps to subdivide the deliverables into more manageable components
called work items, to help ensure that all tasks required to complete the project are identified
and included in the baseline project plan.
• The WBS should be deconstructed to a level that identifies individual work packages for each
specific deliverable listed in the project scope document.
• Dividing a project into work packages and work items helps a contractor increase the level of
confidence that:
• All the activities that need to be performed to produce the deliverable can be defined
• The types and quantities of resources can be determined
• The associated activity durations and costs can be reasonably estimated.
 • Work items should be broken down to the level at which a single organization (marketing
communications, materials engineering, human resources, a subcontractor, etc.) or individual
can be assigned responsibility and accountability for accomplishing the work package.
• The WBS can be created using a graphic chart format or as a list.

WBS
• The top figure depicts the WBS for the consumer market study project example. This project is
also the example used in the Microsoft Project appendices.
• Have students examine the relationship between this figure and the entries in the
Microsoft Project task list.
• The bottom figure depicts an indentured list for the work breakdown structure.
• For each of the work packages, the deliverable is listed.
• This format is helpful for large projects where a diagram would become too large and
unwieldy.
Assign Responsibility
• A responsibility assignment matrix (RAM) defines who will be responsible for the work. It is a
tool used to designate the individuals responsible for accomplishing the different work items in
the work breakdown structure (WBS).
• This figure depicts the RAM for the WBS in Figure 4.1, the community festival project.
• The RAM often uses a P to designate primary responsibility and an S to indicate support
responsibility for a specific work item.
• The RAM shows all the individuals associated with each work item in the WBS, as well as all the
work items associated with each individual.
• Only one individual should be designated as the lead, or primary, person responsible for each
work item.
Define Activities
• Using the WBS, the individual or team responsible for each work package must next define all
the specific activities that need to be performed to produce the end item, or deliverable.
• Breaking down each work package into its component activities reveals the level at
which each activity must be performed to produce the deliverable.
• Some activities may not be easily definable.
 • When all the specific activities have been defined for all of the work packages, they should be
consolidated into a comprehensive activity list.
• Because of the allocation of resources, there may be wait time between the end of one
activity and the start of another one.
• This figure shows the work breakdown structure for a consumer market study project. It depicts
the specific activities that need to be performed for each work package.
• Have the students compare this list to the entries for the tasks in the Microsoft Project
appendix.

Sequence Activities
• A network diagram defines the sequence of how the activities will get done. It is a tool for
arranging the specific activities in the best sequence and defining their dependent relationships.
• The three most common techniques of network diagramming are program evaluation and
review technique (PERT), the critical path method (CPM), and the precedence diagramming
method (PDM).
• In the past, there were distinguishable methodological differences between PERT and
CPM. Today, however, when most people refer to a CPM diagram or PERT chart, they
mean a generic network diagram.
• The top figure shows a complete network diagram for a consumer market study project, with
the person responsible for each activity included on the diagram.
• The bottom figure shows a network diagram for a web-based reporting system project.
Network Principles
• Each activity is represented by a box in the network diagram and the description of the activity
is written within the box, as shown in this figure.
• Activities consume time, and their description usually begins with a verb (such as get, wash, and
dry in this example).
• Activities have a dependent relationship—that is, they are linked in a logical sequence in a
network diagram to show which activities must be finished before others can start.
• Certain activities have to be done in serial sequence.
• Some activities may be done concurrently.
Loops
• An illogical relationship among activities is known as a loop.
• In preparing a network diagram, drawing activities in a loop is not acceptable because it portrays
a path of activities that perpetually repeats itself.

Laddering
• Some projects have a set of activities that are repeated several times.
• The top figure shows a series of activities that must be done in serial sequence, which means
that, for an activity with three people, at any one time only one person is working while two
other people are waiting.
• The middle figure shows a set of activities that can be performed concurrently. However, it is
often not practical to perform the activities in this way because the organization would need
triple the experts– one for each room.
• The bottom figure shows a technique known as laddering. This approach allows the project to
be completed in the shortest possible time, while making the best use of available resources.
Create Network Diagram
• A network diagram is a drawing of the activities for a project, displayed in boxes in their logical
sequence and connected by arrows to indicate dependent relationships. The network diagram
shows how the project should be performed from start to completion.
• Three questions need to be answered regarding each activity. The network is based upon the
answers:
1. Which activities must be finished immediately before this activity can be started?
2. Which activities can be done concurrently with this activity?
3. Which activities cannot be started until immediately after this activity is finished?
• Guidelines for the level of detail in the network diagram are:
1. Based on the work breakdown structure for a project; specific activities should be
defined for each work package.
2. It may be preferable to draw a summary-level network first that depicts a small number
of higher level activities and then expand to a more detailed network.
3. The level of detail may be determined by certain obvious interface or transfer points
such as a change in responsibility or if there is a tangible output or product or
deliverable as a result of an activity.
4. Activities should not be longer in estimated duration than the project progress review.
• It is not unusual to progressively elaborate the network diagram as the project progresses and
more information becomes clear.
• Sub-networks can be used to represent similar projects for different customers. Certain portions
of projects may include the same types of activities in the same sequence and with the same
dependent relationships.
DEVELOPING THE SCHEDULE

Learning Outcomes
After studying this chapter, students should be able to:
• Estimate the resources required for activities
• Estimate the duration for an activity
• Determine the earliest start and finish times for activities
• Determine the latest start and finish times for activities
• Explain and determine total slack
• Prepare a project schedule
• Identify and explain the critical path
• Discuss the project control process
• Develop updated schedules based on actual progress and changes
• Discuss and apply approaches to control the project schedule

Estimate Activity Resources

• It is necessary to estimate the types and quantities of resources that will be required to perform
each specific activity in a project.
• Resources include people, materials, equipment, facilities, and so forth.
• Having this information is essential in estimating how long it will take to perform each
activity and the project as a whole.
• A number of factors influence the duration of an activity:
• Availability of the resources
• Types of resources
• Sufficient quantities of resources for the durations of the activities
• Potential conflicts with other projects that may cause a delay
• When estimating the types and quantities of resources required for each specific activity, it is
valuable to involve a person who has expertise or experience with the activity.
• Estimated activity resources will also be used later for estimating activity costs and determining
the project budget.

Estimate Activity Durations

• Once the types and quantities of resources are estimated for each activity, estimates can be
made for how long it will take to perform the activities.
• The estimated duration for each activity must be the total elapsed time—the time for the work
to be done plus any associated waiting time.
• The figure above depicts the activity estimated duration for varnishing floors.
• It is a good practice to have the person who will be responsible for performing a specific activity
estimate the duration for that activity.
• Builds buy-in from the person and generates commitments
• Avoids bias that may be introduced by having one person estimate the durations for all
of the activities
• It is important to designate an experienced individual to estimate the durations for all the
activities for which the organization or subcontractor is responsible in large projects.
• Historical data can be used as a guide in estimating the durations of similar activities.
• Estimated duration should be aggressive yet realistic.
• Inflating estimated durations in anticipation of the project manager negotiating shorter
durations is not a good practice.
 • Throughout the performance of the project, some activities will take longer than their estimated
duration, others will take less time than estimated, and a very few may conform to the
estimated duration exactly.
• At the beginning of the project, it may not be possible to estimate the durations for all activities
with a high level of confidence.
• The project team can progressively elaborate the estimated durations as more information is
becomes available to allow for more accurate estimated durations.

This figure depicts the network diagram for a consumer market study, with the estimated durations in
days for each activity.
• What are the realistic estimates for the activities shown?
• What happens if an activity is delayed and will be its impact on the project?
• What happens if an activity finishes early?

Establish Project Start and Finish Times

It is necessary to select an estimated start time and a required completion time for the overall project.
This is important in order to establish a basis from which to calculate a schedule using the estimated
durations for the activities.
• Define the overall window, or envelope, of time in which the project must be completed.
• The contractor may not want to commit to completing the project by a specific date
until the customer has approved the contract.
• A delay in signing will likely impact the start date of the project.
• The finish time should be stated as a number of days from the start of the project.

Develop Project Schedule

Once you have an estimated duration for each activity in the network must determine (based on
durations and sequence) whether the project can be realistically finished by the required completion
time.
• In order to do this, the contractor should estimate the duration of each activity.
• He or she should establish an overall window of time for the project.
Develop a project schedule that provides a timetable for each activity and shows:
• The earliest times (or dates) at which each activity can start and finish, based on the project
estimated start time (or date)
• The latest times (or dates) by which each activity must start and finish in order to complete the
project by its required completion time (or date)

A. Earliest Start and Finish Times

Earliest start time (ES) is the earliest time at which a specific activity can begin
• It is calculated on the basis of the project estimated start time and the estimated durations of
preceding activities.
Earliest finish time (EF) is the earliest time by which a specific activity can be completed
• It is calculated by adding the activity’s estimated duration to the activity’s earliest start time
EF = ES + Estimated Duration
• Calculate forward through the network diagram from the beginning of the project to the end of
the project.

Earliest Start and Finish Time Calculation

• This figures depicts the three activities that go into the production of a “Dress Rehearsal” for a
play. You will note that “Practice Skit” has an EF of day 5; “Make Costumes” has an EF of day 10;
and “Make Props” has an EF of day 4.
• “Dress Rehearsal” cannot start until all three of these activities are finished, so the latest of the
EFs for these three activities determines the ES for “Dress Rehearsal.”
• The latest of the three EFs is day 10—the earliest finish time for “Make Costumes.”
• Therefore, “Dress Rehearsal” cannot start any earlier than day 10. That is, its ES must be day 10
or later.
• Even though “Practice Skit” and “Make Props” may finish sooner than “Make Costumes,” “Dress
Rehearsal” cannot start because the network dependent relationships indicate that all three
activities must be finished before “Dress Rehearsal” can start.
“Identify Target Consumers”
• In the following slides we will see the different activities and forward calculations that go into a
consumer market study project.
• The project estimated start date is 0 and the duration is three days.
• Therefore, the earliest “Identify Target Consumers” can start is time 0, and the earliest it can
finish is 3 days later (because its estimated duration is 3 days).
“Develop Draft Questionnaire”
• When “Identify Target Consumers” is finished on day 3, “Develop Draft Questionnaire” can start.
It has an estimated duration of 10 days, so its ES is day 3 and its EF is day 13.

“Pilot-Test Questionnaire”
• When “Develop Draft Questionnaire” is finished on day 13, “Pilot-Test Questionnaire” can start.
It has an estimated duration of 20 days, so its ES is day 13 and its EF is day 33.
“Review Comments & Finalize Questionnaire”
• When “Pilot-Test Questionnaire” is finished on day 33, “Review Comments & Finalize
Questionnaire” can start. It has an estimated duration of 5 days, so its ES is day 33 and its EF is
day 38.
“Prepare Mailing Labels,” "Print Questionnaire," "Develop Data Analysis Software," and "Develop
Software Test Data"
• When “Review Comments & Finalize Questionnaire” is finished on day 38, “Prepare Mailing
Labels,” "Print Questionnaire," "Develop Data Analysis Software," and "Develop Software Test
Data" can all start.
• The ES for each activity is 38, but they each have different EFs.
• “Prepare Mailing Labels,” has an estimated duration of 2 days, so its EF is day 40.
• "Develop Data Analysis Software" has an estimated duration of 10 days, so its EF is day 48.
• "Develop Data Analysis Software" has an estimated duration of 12 days, so its EF is day 50.
• "Develop Software Test Data" has an estimated duration of 2 days, so its EF is day 40.

“Mail Questionnaire & Get Responses”

• When “Prepare Mailing Labels” and "Print Questionnaire" are finished, “Mail Questionnaire &
Get Responses” can start.
• The later of the two EF times for “Prepare Mailing Labels” and "Print Questionnaire" is 48,
therefore this is the ES.
• “Mail Questionnaire & Get Responses” has an estimated duration of 65 days, so its ES is day 48
and its EF is day 113.
“Test Software”
• When "Develop Data Analysis Software" and "Develop Software Test Data" are finished, “Test
Software” can start.
• The later of the two EF times for “Develop Data Analysis Software" and "Develop Software Test
Data" is 50.
• "Test Software" has an estimated duration of 5 days, so its ES is day 50 and its EF is day 55.
“Input Response Data”
• When “Mail Questionnaire & Get Responses” and "Test Software" are finished, “Input Response
Data” can start.
• The later of the two EF times for “Mail Questionnaire & Get Responses” and "Test Software" is
113.
• "Input Response Data" has an estimated duration of 7 days, so its ES is day 113 and its EF is day
120.
“Analyze Results”
• When “Input Response Data” is finished on day 120, “Analyze Results” can start.
• It has an estimated duration of 8 days, so its ES is day 120 and its EF is day 128.

“Prepare Report”
• When “Analyze Results” is finished on day 128, “Prepare Report” can start.
• It has an estimated duration of 10 days, so its ES is day 128 and its EF is day 138.
 • The required completion time for this entire project is 130 days. 138 days is 8 days beyond the
required completion time, therefore the project was not completed in the required time.

Schedule Table ES and EF

This figure depicts the ES and EF times for the consumer market study project we just analyzed, in a
schedule table format.
Latest Start and Finish Times
Latest start time (LS) is the latest time by which a specific activity must be started in order for the entire
project to be finished by its required completion time.
• It is calculated by subtracting the activity’s estimated duration from the activity’s latest finish
time.
Latest finish time (LF) is the latest time by which a specific activity must be completed in order for the
entire project to be finished by its required completion time.
• It is calculated on the basis of the project required completion time and the estimated durations
of succeeding activities.
LS = LF– Estimated Duration
• Calculate backward through the network diagram from the end of the project to the beginning
of the project.

Latest Start and Finish Times Calculation

These figures show two activities that emerge directly from an activity labeled, “Print Posters &
Brochures.”
• This project is required to be completed by day 30. Therefore, “Distribute Posters” must be
started by day 20 because it has an estimated duration of 10 days, and “Mail Brochures” must
be started by day 25 because it has an estimated duration of 5 days.
• The earlier of these two LSs is day 20. Therefore, the latest that “Print Posters & Brochures” can
finish is day 20, so that “Distribute Posters” can start by day 20.
• Even though “Mail Brochures” does not have to start until day 25, “Print Posters & Brochures”
must finish by day 20, or else the entire project will be delayed.
• If “Print Posters & Brochures” does not finish until day 25, then “Distribute Brochures” will not
be able to start until day 25.
• Because “Distribute Brochures” has an estimated duration of 10 days, it will not finish until day
35, which is 5 days beyond the project required completion time.

“Prepare Report”
Now let us look at how to set up the backward calculations for the consumer market study project we
just analyzed.
• The required completion time for the project is 130 working days.
• Therefore, the latest that “Prepare Report,” the last activity, can finish is day 130, and
the latest that it can start is day 120 because its estimated duration is 10 days.
• In order for “Prepare Report” to start on day 120, the latest that “Analyze Results” can finish is
day 120. If the LF for “Analyze Results” is day 120, then its LS is day 112 because its estimated
duration is 8 days.
“Analyze Results”
• In order for “Prepare Report” to start on day 120, the latest that “Analyze Results” can finish is
day 120.
If the LF for “Analyze Results” is day 120, then its LS is day 112 because its estimated duration is 8 days.
• In order for “Analyze Results” to start on day 112, the latest that “Input Response Data” can
finish is day 112.

“Input Response Data”

• If the LF for “Input Response Data” is day 112, then its LS is day 105 because its
estimated duration is 7 days.
• In order for “Analyze Results” to start on day 112, the latest that “Input Response Data” can
finish is day 112.
• If the LF for “Input Response Data” is day 112, then its LS is day 105 because its
estimated duration is 7 days.
“Test Software” and “Mail Questionnaire & Get Responses”
• In order for “Input Response Data” to start on day 105, the latest that “Mail Questionnaire &
Get Responses” and "Test Software" can finish is day 105.
If the LF for “Mail Questionnaire & Get Responses” is day 105, then its LS is day 40 because its estimated
duration is 65 days. If the LF for "Test Software"” is day 105, then its LS is day 100 because its estimated
duration is 5 days.

"Develop Data Analysis Software" and "Develop Software Test Data"

 • In order for “Test Software” to start on day 100, the latest that "Develop Data Analysis
Software" and "Develop Software Test Data" can finish is day 100.
• If the LF for “Develop Data Analysis Software” is day 100, then its LS is day 88 because
its estimated duration is 12 days.
• If the LF for “Develop Software Test Data” is day 100, then its LS is day 98 because its
estimated duration is 2 days.

“Prepare Mailing Labels” and "Print Questionnaire”

• In order for “Mail Questionnaire & Get Responses” to start on day 40, the latest that “Prepare
Mailing Labels” and "Print Questionnaire" can finish is day 40.
• If the LF for “Prepare Mailing Labels” is day 40, then its LS is day 38 because its
estimated duration is 2 days.
• If the LF for “Print Questionnaire” is day 40, then its LS is day 30 because its estimated
duration is 10 days.
“Review Comments & Finalize Questionnaire”
• Look at “Review Comments & Finalize Questionnaire.”
In order for the four activities emerging from this activity to start by their LS times (so that the project
can finish by its required completion time of 130 days), “Review Comments & Finalize Questionnaire”
must be finished by the earliest LS of all four activities, according to Rule 2.
The earliest of the four LSs is day 30, the latest time by which “Print Questionnaire” must start.
Therefore, the latest that “Review Comments & Finalize Questionnaire” can finish is day 30.
If the LF for “Review Comments & Finalize Questionnaire” is day 30, then its LS is day 25 because its
estimated duration is 5 days.
“Pilot-Test Questionnaire”
• In order for “Review Comments & Finalize Questionnaire” to start on day 25, the latest that
“Pilot-Test Questionnaire” can finish is day 25.
• If the LF for “Pilot-Test Questionnaire” is day 25, then its LS is day 5 because its
estimated duration is 20 days.
“Develop Draft Questionnaire”
• In order for “Pilot-Test Questionnaire” to start on day 5, the latest that “Develop Draft
Questionnaire” can finish is day 5.
• If the LF for “Develop Draft Questionnaire” is day 5, then its LS is day -5 because its
estimated duration is10 days.

“Identify Target Consumers”

• In order for “Develop Draft Questionnaire” to start on day -5, the latest that “Identify Target
Consumers” can finish is day -5.
• If the LF for “Input Response Data” is day -5, then its LS is day -8 because its estimated
duration is 3 days.
• Therefore, the consumer market study project must start 8 days earlier than the planned start
date in order to finish in the required 130 days.
Schedule Table LS and LF
Here you see a figure that depicts the schedule table with the LS and LF values added.

Total Slack
• Total slack is sometimes called float.
• It is the difference between EF time of last activity and the project required completion
time.
• Total slack is calculated for each of the activities by finding the difference between the EF time
of the activity and the LF of the activity.
• You also look at the difference between the ES and LS of the activity.
• Negative slack indicates:
 • A lack of slack over the entire project
• The amount of time an activity must be accelerated to complete the project by the
required completion time
• Positive slack indicates the maximum amount of time that the activities on a particular path can
be delayed without jeopardizing completion of the project by the required completion time.
• If the total slack is zero, the activities on the path do not need to be accelerated, but
cannot be delayed.

Critical Path
• The critical path is this longest path in the overall network diagram.
• One way to determine which activities make up the critical path is to find which ones have the
least amount of slack.
•
Critical Path Through a Project
• This table shows slack values for each activity in the consumer market study project we just
analyzed.
• Those with -8 as the total slack are the activities on the critical path.
• The figure on the bottom of the slide depicts the critical path through the network diagram for
the consumer market study project.
Change in Slack for Critical Path
This figure depicts the change in the critical path if the estimated duration of the Mail Questionnaire &
Get Responses task is reduced from 65 days to 55 days.
• Note that the tasks on the critical path now have a total slack of 2, the least amount slack in the
project.
Free Slack
Free slack is the amount of time a specific activity can be postponed without delaying the earliest start
time of its immediately succeeding activities.
Free slack is calculated by:
• Finding the lowest of the values of total slack for all the activities entering into a specific activity
• Then subtracting that value from the values of total slack for the other activities also entering
into that same activity

Total Slack compared to Free Slack

Let’s look at an example of free slack.
• Activities 7 and 8 are predecessors for Activity 10 in the figure above.
• The values of total slack for activities 7 and 8 are 50 and 60 days, respectively.
• The lesser of these two values is 50 days.
• Therefore, activity 8, “Develop Software Test Data,” has a free slack of 10 days (60 – 50 = 10)
and can slip by up to that amount without delaying the earliest start time of activity 10, “Test
Software.”

Bar Chart Format

• A Gantt chart is the name commonly used for the type of bar chart tool employed in planning
and scheduling.
• As you can see in the Gantt chart on this slide, the activities are listed on the left-hand
side and there is a time scale along the bottom or the top.
• The estimated duration for each activity is indicated by a bar spanning the period during
which the activity is expected to be accomplished.
• Gantt charts often also have a column that indicates who is responsible for each task.
• This Gantt chart depicts the consumer market study project that we have been analyzing.
• You can probably see how this is an easy way to visually represent when activities are
scheduled to occur during a project.
• A Gantt chart is a traditional bar chart in that it does not graphically display the dependent
relationships of activities.
• Be sure to create the network diagram and connect the bars in the Gantt chart with arrows to
show relationships.
 • Project management software can automatically generate a time-scaled bar chart from the
schedule table that is based on the network diagram.

Project Control Process

Here you see a figure that illustrates the steps in the project control process.
• The project control process starts with establishing a baseline plan that shows how the project
scope will be accomplished on schedule and within budget.
• Once this baseline plan is agreed upon by the customer and the contractor or project team, the
project work can be performed.
• It is necessary to monitor the progress to ensure that everything is going according to the plan.
• The project control process involves regularly gathering data on project performance,
comparing actual performance to planned performance, and taking corrective action
immediately if actual performance lags behind planned performance.
• This process must occur regularly throughout the project.
• Establish regular reporting meetings to compare actual to planned progress.
• Gather data on actual performance.
• Record information on changes to the project scope, schedule, and budget.
• The key to effective project control is measuring actual progress and comparing it to planned
progress on a timely and regular basis and taking any needed corrective action immediately.
• Project management is a proactive approach to controlling a project to ensure that the project
objective is accomplished, even when things do not go according to plan.
Effects of Actual Schedule Performance
As you probably know from real-life experience, some activities get completed on time, some are
finished ahead of schedule, and others are completed later than scheduled.
• The actual finish times (AFs) of completed activities will determine the earliest start and earliest
finish times for the remaining activities in the network diagram, as well as the total slack.
• This figure depicts the planned and actual performance of a project to remove old wallpaper
and install new wallpaper.
• Part (a) of the figure is a network diagram for a simple project. It shows that the earliest the
project can finish is day 15 (the sum of the estimated durations of the three activities, 7 + 5 + 3).
 • Since the required completion time is day 20, the project has a total slack of +5 days.
• Suppose that activity 1, “Remove Old Wallpaper,” is actually finished on day 10, rather
than on day 7 as planned, because it turns out to be more difficult than anticipated.
• Part (b) of the figure depicts this deviation from the original plan.
• The earliest start and finish times for activities 2 and 3 will be 3 days later than on the
original schedule.
• Because “Remove Old Wallpaper” is actually finished on day 10, the ES for “Patch Walls”
will be day 10 and its EF will be day 15.
• Following through with the forward calculations, we find that “Put Up New Wallpaper” will have
an ES of day 15 and an EF of day 18.
• Comparing this new EF of the last activity to the required completion time of day 20, we
find a difference of 2 days. The total slack got worse—it changed in a negative direction,
from +5 days to +2 days.
• This example illustrates how the actual finish times of activities have a ripple effect, altering the
remaining activities’ earliest start and finish times and the total slack.

Incorporate Changes into Schedule

Throughout a project, changes may occur that impact the schedule.
• Changes might be initiated by the customer or the project team, or they might be the result of
an unanticipated occurrence.
• Changes requested early in the project may have less of an impact on schedule and budget than
those requested later in the project.
• When the customer requests a change, the contractor or project team should estimate the
impact on the project schedule and budget and then obtain customer approval before
proceeding.
• If the customer approves the proposed revisions to the project schedule and budget,
then any additional activities, revised estimated durations, and revised estimated
resources and associated costs should be incorporated into the project schedule and
budget.
 • With respect to the project schedule, changes can result in the addition or deletion of activities,
re-sequencing of activities, changes to estimated durations for specific activities, or a new
required completion time for the project.

Update Project Schedule

An updated project schedule should be generated regularly that forecasts whether the project will finish
ahead of or behind its required completion time, or on time.
• Once data have been collected on the actual finish times of completed activities and the effects
of any project changes, an updated project schedule can be calculated.
• Earliest start and finish times for the remaining, uncompleted, activities are calculated by
working forward through the network.
• They are based on the actual finish times of completed activities and the estimated
durations of the uncompleted activities.
• The latest start and finish times for the uncompleted activities are calculated by working
backward through the network.
• An important part of updating project schedules is determining if any changes have occurred on
the critical path.

Control Schedule
Schedule control involves four steps:
1. Analyzing the schedule to determine which areas may need corrective action
2. Deciding what specific corrective actions should be taken
3. Revising the plan to incorporate the chosen corrective actions
4. Recalculating the schedule to evaluate the effects of the planned corrective actions
• If the planned corrective actions do not result in an acceptable schedule, these steps need to be
repeated.
• A concentrated effort to accelerate project progress must be applied to the paths with negative
slack.
• Activities that are near term (that is, that are in progress or to be started in the
immediate future)
• Activities that have long estimated durations
• The amount of slack should determine the priority with which these concentrated efforts are
applied.
• A change in the estimated duration of any activity on that path will cause a corresponding
change in the slack for that path and may shift the critical path.
• Eliminating negative slack by reducing durations of activities will involve a trade-off in the form
of an increase in costs or a reduction in the scope of the project.