Week 6 Project Scheduling

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    Created by
    Fernando Villareal

    Cards (58)

    • Project Schedule Management

       Plan Schedule Management
      • Define Activities
      • Sequence Activities
      • Estimate Activity Durations
      • Develop Schedule
      • Control Schedule
    • The Smart Masque Project Example
      The Smart Masque project will design, develop and test a
      personal protective mask that is capable of absorbing the
      COVID19 virus, detecting the presence of the virus and
      alerting the user to the presence of the virus. Additionally,
      the mask will be capable of neutralizing the virus once
      captured. The Smart Masque project will not include the
      production of the mask, as SmartRunners intends to license
      the production upon completion of the development effort.
    • The Smart Masque Project Example
      SmartRunners is a small start-up that concentrates on the
      development of technologically innovative products for personal use.
      The Smart Masque Team
      Project Manager Jessica
      Lead Engineer Daniela
      Lab Technician Ira
      Contract Specialist Mario
      Technical Writer David
      Key Product Features
      Flexible Fit
      Washable without degradation
      Insertable filters
      absorbent
      embedded chemical sensors
      infused neutralizing agent
      chemical signal (color change)
    • Define Activities

      The process of identifying and documenting the specific actions to be performed to produce the project deliverables.
      Definition Tips: Focus on action steps; Retain link to WBS and work packages; Output is a comprehensive activity list; Project management tools build on activities.
    • Define Activities Masque Project Example
    • Sequence Activities

      The process of identifying and documenting relationships among the project activities. Three types of dependencies: Mandatory dependencies - "hard logic" - inherent in nature of work.
      Discretionary dependencies - "soft logic" defined by the project team External Dependencies - involve an external interface with other projects.
    • Sequence Activities (cont’d.)

      The network diagram that results from the table shows that A starts first (it has no
      predecessors), followed by B. When B is finished, both C and D start. Next, the diagram is
      interpreted to mean that both C and D must be finished before E can start. F follows E,
      and F also finishes the flow of activities.
    • Sequence Activities
      The Smart Masque Project Example
    • Estimate Activity Durations 

      The process of estimating the number of work periods needed to complete individual activities with the estimated resources. Duration Estimating tips: Remember there is difference between duration and effort (we must consider resource availability); Consider specific resource assigned (quantity and skilled levels); Don't forget about elapsed time (paint Drying); Research historical information; involve your team!
    • Estimate Activity Durations The Smart Masque Project Example 

      The Smart Masque project team met to discuss the activities, who will perform each and how long they estimate it will take. The team assumed that days was the most reasonable unit of time for this segment of the project. The results of their meeting are captured in the table below. 
    • Develop Schedule 

      The process of analyzing activity sequences, durations, resource requirements and schedule constraints to create the project schedule model for project execution and monitoring and control. When you finish developing your project schedule you should have a planned start date and an expected finish date for each activity!
    • Develop Schedule  Schedule Development builds on previous outputs
    • Develop Schedule The Smart Masque Project Example The Smart Masque project team has consolidated their schedule planning data in the table below: 
    • Control Schedule 

      The process of monitoring the status of the project to update the project schedule and manage changes to the schedule baseline. 
    • Project Schedule Management
      Plan Schedule Management
      Define Activities
      Sequence Activities
      Estimate Activity Durations 
      Develop Schedule 
      Control Schedule
    • Critical Path Method 

      A method used to estimate the minimum project duration and determine the amount of flexibility on the logical network paths within the schedule model (Guide to the PMBOK).
    • Critical Path Method (3) Schedule inputs can be used to build a network.
    • Critical Path Method (4)

      There are two common models to develop a schedule network. The first is Activity-on-Arc (AOA). The second is Activity-on-Node (AON). We are going to demonstrate the Activity on Node model (used in the Precedence Diagraming Format for network diagrams). The fundamental building block of an AON schedule network is the Node. Each activity in the project is represented as a node. We can track important scheduling information by adopting a standard node structure like the node below:
    • Critical Path Method (5) The Smart Masque Project Example
    • Critical path

      the sequence of activities that represents the longest path through a project, which determines the shortest possible duration. Identified the critical path; determined earliest possible end date of project; Used to determine amount of slack each activity has
    • Forward pass

      a critical path method technique for calculating the
      early start and early finish dates by working forward through the
      schedule model from the project start date or a given point in
      time.” Make 2 logical passes through constructed network: the forward pass and backward pass.
    • Forward pass: During the forward pass you will determine the early start date and the early finish date for each activity. Early start date (ES)– “In the critical path method, the earliest possible point in time when the uncompleted portions of a schedule activity can start, based on the schedule network logic, the data date, and any schedule constraints.” Early finish date (EF)– “In the critical path method, the earliest possible point in time when uncompleted portions of a schedule activity can finish, based on the schedule network logic, the data date,
      and any schedule constraints.” 
    • The Forward Pass
    • The Forward Pass
    • The Forward Pass
    • The Forward Pass (5)
    • The Forward Pass (6)
    • The Forward Pass (7)
    • Backward pass 

      “ A critical path method technique for
      calculating the late start and late finish dates by working
      backward through the schedule model from the project end date.”
    • The Backward Pass (2)
      During the backward pass you will determine the late finish date and the late start date for each activity. Late start date (LS)– “In the critical path method, the latest possible point in time when the uncompleted portions of a schedule activity can start based on the schedule network logic, the scheduled completion date, and any schedule constraints.”
    • The Backward Pass (2)
      During the backward pass you will determine the late finish date and the late start date for each activity. Late finish date (LF)– “In the critical path method, the latest possible point in time when the uncompleted portions of a schedule activity can finish based on the schedule network logic, the project completion date, and any schedule constraints.”
    • The Backward Pass (3)

      As we begin the backward pass, we know the
      estimated project duration is 28 days. Now we
      ask…what is the latest we can finish Write Test
      Report without delaying the project completion?
      Any date later than 28 days will delay the project.
      So the latest finish time (LF) for Write Test Report is
      28. What is the latest start time (LS)? Because it
      takes 5 days to Write Test Report, starting any time
      later than 23 will delay the project [LS = 28 – 5 = 23]
    • The Backward Pass (4)
      Now we analyze our next activity working
      backward…Conduct Test. And we ask …what is
      the latest we can finish Conduct Test without
      delaying the start of Write Test Report? Any date
      later than 23 days will delay the start of Write Test
      Report. So the latest finish time (LF) for Conduct
      Test is 28. What is the latest start time (LS) of
      Conduct Test? Because it takes 9 days to Conduct
      Test, starting any time later than 14 will delay the
      start of Write Test Report [LS = 23 – 9 = 14]
    • The Backward Pass (5)
      As we continue our backward
      pass we now encounter a
      situation in which two nodes
      enter the node we just analyzed.
      If either of these activities finish
      later than 14, they will delay the
      start of Conduct Test. So the
      latest finish time (LF) for both
      Fabricate Masks and Calibrate
      Sensor = 14. The latest start time
      for both is calculated using LS =
      LF – Duration
    • The Backward Pass (7)
    • Completing the Two Pass Method (1)

      Compute the critical path based on slack; activities with no slack or very little slack need to be scheduled very carefully; soak = Late Start - Early Start (LS-ES); Project managers watch the critical path activities closely.
      Slack– “the total amount of time a schedule activity may be delayed from its early start date without delaying the project finish date. Also known as total float.”
    • Completing the Two Pass Method (2)
      Slack– “the total amount of time a schedule activity may be delayed from its early start date without delaying the project finish date. Also known as total float.”
    • The Critical Path
    • We have identified that the critical path in our example project includes: Plan Test, Procure Masks, Fabricate Masks, Conduct Test, and Write Test Report. But do we have a project schedule yet? The answer is no. We will not have a project schedule until we have the planned start date and the planned finish date for each activity. We can not establish these dates without considering the specific resources we will assign to complete the project work. Let’s take a closer look at our resources!
    • Resource Implications (2)
      In the previous episode, we calculated the early start and the late start date for each activity. These values have practical implications as we develop our schedule. No activity can start earlier than the early start date. No activity can start later than the late start date (without delaying the project)!