CHAPTER 6

ACTIVITY PLANNING
In this CHAPTER you will be introduced to software project activity planning.
Please ensure that you understand and produce an activity plan for a project.

Objectives:
The aim of Chapter 6 of the textbook is to introduce the following concepts:
 the objectives of activity planning;
 when to plan;
 project schedules;
 sequencing and scheduling;
 network planning models including:
o formulation of network models,
o precedence networks,
o lagged and hammock activities,
o time dimensions,
o forward and backward pass, and
o critical path identification;
 activity float;
 shortening project duration;
 identification of critical activities; and
 activity-on-arrow networks. (CPM)
 activity-on-node networks. (Precedence)

Outcomes:
After studying Chapter 6 of the textbook, you should be able to:
 produce an activity plan for a project;
 estimate the overall duration of a project; and
 create a critical path and a precedence network for a project.

In this chapter the use of the critical path method (CPM) and precedence
networks are discussed as methods to obtain an ideal activity plan. This is
an important part of the software project management process and you must
study it in detail and ensure that you understand, and can apply, the
techniques as discussed in Chapter 6.

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The network planning model is explained in detail in the textbook, utilising the
two case studies.

PLEASE DOWNLOAD 3 VERY IMPORTANT FILES THAT WILL BE ABLE

TO ASSIST YOU IN PRODUCING ACTIVITY PLANS.

 CHAPTER 6.1. How to draw a CPM Diagram (also known as activity-

on-arrow networks)
 CHAPTER 6.2. Converting a CPM Diagram into Precedence
Network Diagram
 CHAPTER 6.3. How to draw a Precedence network diagram (also
known as activity-on-node networks.)