Schedule

Steps of Project Scheduling Develop A Schedule Management Plan Activity Dependency

Plan Project Scheduling To develop an effective schedule Activity dependency indicates whether
Establishing the policies and management plan, we review the following the start of an activity is dependent on
Schedule Management creating procedures for components: an event or input from outside the
A schedule is a timeline creating and managing the • Project management plan (for information to activity. Activity dependencies
or plan that outlines the project schedule. develop the schedule). determine the precedence
tasks, activities, and Determine Activities • Project charter (for a summary, high-level relationships. There are four different
milestones required to Analyse the project scope and milestone schedule). kinds of precedence relationships.
complete a project. The stakeholder requirements to • EEFS Predecessor: This term refers to an
schedule typically determine the activities. • OPAs earlier activity.
includes start and end Determine Resources • Use tools and techniques such as expert Successor: The activity that follows it.
dates for each task, as Estimate the type and judgment and historical information. 1.Finish to Start activity: A logical
well as dependencies quantities of material, human relationship in which a successor
resources, equipment, or
• Use meetings to develop the schedule
between tasks and the activity cannot start until a
management plan.
resources required to supplies required to perform predecessor activity has finished.
complete them. each activity. 2.Start-to-Start Relationship: a logical
WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE (WBS)
The schedule ensures Determine the Activity relationship in which a successor
A work breakdown structure (WBS) is a
that the project is Durations. activity cannot start until a
scheduling tool that takes a step-by-step
completed on time and Estimate the number of work predecessor activity has started.
approach to complete large projects by
within budget. periods needed to complete 3. Finish-to-finish relationship: A
breaking down the project into smaller
The schedule is typically the individual activities with logical relationship in which a
components.
created during the estimated resources. successor activity cannot finish until a
Work Package: A work package is the lowest
planning phase of the Determine Dependencies predecessor activity has finished.
level of the WBS. The work package will be
project and is identify and document 4. Start-to-Finish Relationship: A
further broken down into three parts.
continuously updated relationships of all the project logical relationship in which a
Activity list: An activity is a component of a
throughout the project activities. predecessor activity cannot finish until
decomposed work package. It depends on
lifecycle. Analyze. a successor activity has started.
how many of those activities you define.
It is used to track Analyze activity sequences, Categories of Dependencies.
Activity attributes: It contains all the
progress, identify durations, resource Internal: Within the company
information about such activities, including
potential delays or requirements, and schedule External: outside the organization
their dependencies, relationships, and
issues, and adjust the Estimate the type and Mandatory: are contractually required
duration.
project plan as needed. quantities of constraints to or inherent for the work. These types
Milestone List: A milestone list identifies all
The schedule is also create the project schedule of dependencies usually cannot be
project milestones and indicates.
used to communicate model. modified and are sometimes referred
Gantt Chart: A Gantt chart shows the tasks in
project timelines and Monitor & Control to as hard logic or hard dependencies.
a sequential order and displays task
milestones to Monitoring and controlling Discretionary: It is often referred to as
dependencies. It identifies task relationships
stakeholders, including require the comparison of soft logic preferred practices. You can
and decides on the completion date sequence
the project team, clients, planned and actual dates, choose whatever one you want to
for each task, showing the expected time
and other interested durations, resource quantities, follow without restriction.
duration of the whole project and the sub-
parties. and performance
tasks.
measurements.
 Project Estimates Precedence Diagramming Method: is a technique Schedule Compression Techniques
A project estimate gives us a general used for constructing a schedule model in which 1- Crashing: It is one of the techniques used to
idea of how much time, effort, and activities are represented by nodes and are compress the schedule when the schedule model
money it will take to get the job done. graphically linked by one or more logical does not meet the initial desired end date. Crashing
That makes it easier to build a feasible relationships to show the sequence in which the can include adding people to activities, working
project budget and plan so you can set activities are to be performed. PDM helps project overtime, or paying to expedite deliveries. It
your team and organization up for managers identify critical paths and potential shortens the time, but the cost goes up as a
success. There are numerous methods delays, allowing them to focus their efforts on drawback. If price is not a concern, we always do
to estimate the project schedule. completing activities on time and within budget. crashing.
1, Analogous Estimation: is a technique Project Schedule Network Diagram: is a 2- Fast tracking: a schedule compression technique
for estimating the duration or cost of an graphical representation of the logical relationships
in which activities or phases normally done in
activity or a project using historical data between the activities or tasks in a project. It
sequence are performed in parallel for at least a
from a similar activity or project. visually depicts the sequence and dependencies of
portion of their duration. This technique is often
2. Parametric Estimation: A technique these activities, allowing project managers to
understand the flow and interdependencies of the used to shorten the project schedule without
for estimating the duration or cost of an
project schedule. changing the project scope.
activity or a project using statistical data
Critical Path: The critical path is the project's The risk is increased while parallelizing series
and mathematical models based on
longest path. It estimates the minimum project action. If crashing is a possibility, we do not want to
historical data and project parameters.
3. Three-point Estimation: In a three- duration and determines the amount of schedule use fast-tracking.
point estimation, 3 points of estimate flexibility on the logical network paths within the Resource Optimization Techniques
are used instead of a single point. schedule model. If any activity on the critical path is Resource Optimization Techniques are methods
Optimistic- Best Case Scenario delayed, the overall project duration will be delayed. used to ensure that project teams are able to meet
Assuming everything goes as planned. Float: is a term used in project management to scheduled milestones despite limited resources.
Pessimistic - Worst Case Scenario If all refer to the amount of time that an activity can be Resource Levelling: A technique that aims to
things work against you. delayed without delaying the project completion balance the demand for resources with the
Most Likely - How long would it typically date. There are two types of floats. available supply by adjusting activity start and finish
take? Free Float (FF): Free float is the amount of time an dates. There is the possibility that the timetable will
Triangular distribution activity can be delayed without delaying the early raise the baseline.
=
Optimistic + pessimistic + most likely start date of any successor activities. Resource Smoothing: A technique that uses free
3 Total Float (TF): the amount of time an activity can and total float without affecting the critical path to
Beta Distribution be delayed without delaying the project completion
=
Optimistic + 4 most likely+pessimistic optimize resource allocation.
6 date.
Bottom-up estimation; involves breaking
down the project into smaller, more Schedule Baseline
manageable tasks and estimating the Schedule Baseline is the approved version of a schedule model that can be changed only through formal
resources needed for each task change control procedures and is used as the basis for comparison to actual results. It is accepted and
individually. These individual task approved by the appropriate stakeholders as the schedule baseline with baseline start dates and baseline
estimates are then aggregated to finish dates. During monitoring and controlling, the approved baseline dates are compared to the actual
determine the overall project estimate. start and finish dates to determine if variances have occurred. The schedule baseline is a component of
the project management plan.