CHAPTER TEN

Project Scheduling

Lagging, Crashing, and Activity Networks

TRANSPARENCIES

10.1 NETWORK INCOPORATING FINISH TO START LAG OF 4 DAYS

0 A 6 6 B 11 Lag 4 15 C 22
Spec Design Design Check Blueprinting

6 5 7
10.2 FINISH TO FINISH NETWORK RELATIONSHIP

30 R 36
Wiring

31 S 33 33 T 36 36 U 42
Plumbing HVAC Interior Const.

2 3 6
10.3 START TO START NETWORK RELATIONSHIP

30 R 36
Wiring

33 T 36 36 U 42
3 days HVAC Interior Const.

3 6
31 S 33
Plumbing

2
10.4 START TO FINISH NETWORK RELATIONSHIP

20 W 26

6
3 days

20 Y 23 23 Z 29

3 6
18 X 20

2
10.5 BENEFITS OF GANTT CHARTS

1. They are very easy to read and comprehend.

2. They identify the project network coupled with its schedule

baseline.

3. They allow for updating and project control.

4. They are useful for identifying resource needs and assigning

resources to tasks.

5. They are easy to create.

10.6 SAMPLE GANTT CHART

Microsoft product screen shot(s) reprinted with permission from Microsoft Corporation.
10.7 SAMPLE TRACKING GANTT CHART WITH CRITICAL PATH A-C-D-F-H

Microsoft product screen shot(s) reprinted with permission from Microsoft Corporation.
10.8 GANTT CHART WITH RESOURCES IDENTIFIED FOR EACH TASK

Microsoft product screen shot(s) reprinted with permission from Microsoft Corporation.
10.9 CRASHING PROJECTS – UNDER WHAT
CONDITIONS?

1. The initial schedule may be too aggressive.

2. Market needs change and the project is in demand earlier than

anticipated.

3. The project has slipped considerably behind schedule.

4. The contractual situation provides even more incentive to avoid

schedule slippage.
10.10 OPTIONS FOR ACCELERATING PROJECTS

1. Improving the productivity of existing project resources

d) Changing the working method employed for the activity

e) Compromise quality and/or reduce project scope

f) Fast-tracking by:

i. Shorten the longest critical activities

ii. Partially overlap activities

iii. Employ start-to-start lag relationships

g) Overtime

h) Adding resources to the project team

10.11 TIME-COST TRADEOFFS FOR CRASHING
ACTIVITIES

Crash
Point

Crashed

Cost

Normal
Point

Normal

Crashed Normal

Activity Duration
10.12 CRASHING ACTIVITIES – AN EXAMPLE

Formula Slope = crash cost – normal cost

normal time – crash time

Example – Calculating the Cost of Crashing

SUPPOSE:

NORMAL ACTIVITY DURATION = 8 WEEKS

NORMAL COST = $14,000

CRASHED ACTIVITY DURATION = 5 WEEKS

CRASHED COST = $23,000

THE ACTIVITY COST SLOPE =

23,000 – 14,000 or $9,000 = $3,000 per week

8–5 3
10.13 SAMPLE AOA NETWORK DIAGRAM

A
1 2

4
10.14 PARTIAL AOA NETWORK ILLUSTRATING DUMMY ACTIVITIES

3
B

A
1 2
C

4
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

10.1 Explain what the term “lag” means by explaining the differences between the four
logical relationships presented in this chapter:
a. Finish to start
b. Finish to finish
c. Start to start
d. Start to finish

A ‘lag’ represents a relationship between the start and finish of one activity to another.
They allow project managers to demonstrate some flexibility within the network diagram
(for example, if task A [5 day duration] was a predecessor task to task B, and it was
noted that task B could start 2 days after task A had started, a lag would be use to
highlight this within the network diagram). The following demonstrates the different
relationships and lag can be added to these.
a. Finish to start activities – Task does not start until a previous task has finished.
b. Finish to finish activities – Requires two linked activities to share a similar finish
point.
c. Start to start activities – Two activities can start at the same time or later task does
not start until a previous task has started.
d. Start to finish – Successors finish is dependent upon a predecessors start.

10.2 Explain how Gantt charts are used. What are the benefits of using this planning
tool?

Gantt charts are used as an alternative tool for project managers to create the project
network and organize tasks. Project tasks feature down the left hand side of the chart,
with the time displayed across the top. Each task is represented by a bar and
dependencies represented by arrows. Project managers are also able to illustrate
milestones on the Gantt chart. An additional feature of Gantt charts is the ability to use it
as a tracking tool.
The main benefits of using Gantt charts are that they are easy to create, they act as a live
document and can be easily updated to show the progress of tasks. Another benefit of
Gantt charts is the ability for project managers to create a ‘baseline’ so it is clear for team
members to identify when tasks should start and finish, with their current status
illustrated. Resources can also be easily allocated to the Gantt chart and therefore it
enables the Project Manager to create, allocate and load/level resources as part of the
planning process.

10.3 What are the advantages in the use of Gantt charts over PERT diagrams? In what
ways might PERT diagrams be advantageous?

Gantt charts display the project baseline. Each activity can then easily be referenced at
any point during the project to see if progress is on target. Gantt charts are also more
useful because the use of resources can be added to the charts. Finally, Gantt Charts are
visually appealing and easily understandable. PERT diagrams offer a means to convey
complex network relationships more completely and make the identification of
predecessor and successor relationships easy to recognize.

10.4 How do concepts such as Brook’s Law and the effects of sustained overtime cause
us to rethink the best ways to accelerate a project? Is it particularly ironic that these
“acceleration” efforts can actually lead to serious delays?

Adding resources to a project in order to speed up activity completion is a natural

response to the desire for project acceleration. However, Brook’s Law suggests that this
response is not always the best one because it does not take into consideration learning
curve effects, as new project team resources struggle to get caught up with the current
team members. These effects can be somewhat dampened, provided enough time is
allowed for new resources to learn their duties, or if they are assigned to tasks further
downstream in the schedule. Likewise, a common approach to project acceleration is to
require overtime work from project staff. Research, however, suggests that it is important
 10-19

not to rely too heavily on overtime, as the more hours of sustained overtime required per
week of resources, the lower their overall productivity, due to fatigue and fatigue-induced
errors requiring rework. The irony is that some of the most widely-used methods to
accelerate a project are actually common causes of project delays.

10.5 Under what circumstances might you wish to crash a project?

Crashing may be desirable if initial time estimates are inaccurate, the project falls behind
schedule, or the project completion date is moved up. n these cases, the project cannot be
completed on time given the original schedule. Crashing would expedite the
project/activities to meet new completion dates. Another scenario occurs when late fees
or penalties may be incurred. It may be more cost effect to crash activities than to pay the
additional fees.

10.6 In crashing a project, we routinely focus on those activities that lie on the critical
path, not activities with slack time. Explain why this is the case.

The critical path is the longest path through the network. Crashing activities on the
critical path reduces the overall project duration time. Crashing activities outside of the
CP (those with slack time) will increase overall costs, but only reduce the time to
complete that single activity, not the overall time of the project. Therefore, it is more
efficient, when trying to expedite the entire project, to crash activities that lie on the CP.

10.7 What are some of the advantages in the use of AOA notation as opposed to AON?
Under what circumstances does it seem better to apply AON methodology in network
development?

Advantages of the AOA notation include: its prevalence in some specialized business
fields; its clearer depiction of complex projects; and event nodes/milestones in AOA are
easier to identify. The AON methodology is more suitable when there are several merge
points within the network. Merges make AOA notation convoluted (requiring the use of
dummy activities) due to tasks being listed on arrows connecting activities in the
diagram. AON is also more applicable when computer scheduling is desired because
AON notation is used in most PM computer software packages.

10.8 Explain the concept of the forward and backward pass calculations in AON. Why
does the calculation need to be done in this way?

The calculation for determining the critical path and any float or slack using AON is the
forward and backward pass. The forward pass is the process of moving forward through
the network to calculate the total expected duration of the project. Moving backward
through the network allows the project manager to identify slack or float associated with
project tasks and the critical path. Trying to go back to the start of the network diagram to
calculate slack or float will result in an inaccurate critical path and calculation.
10-21

10.9 “Networks can become too large and complex to be meaningful.” Do you agree or
disagree with this statement? Justify your answer.

This question should encourage debate amongst students in relation to the size and
complexity of projects and how they are illustrated within a project network. For larger
projects, there are actions a project manager can take to try and reduce the level of
complexity associated with network diagrams. Scaling the time associated with particular
components of the project will help team members to follow network diagrams more
easily. For example, if working on a four year project, you may detail the network
diagram in terms of days or weeks for the first 6/7 months (or according to the first
milestone), with the remainder of the project represented as months. It is debatable as to
whether a project manager can plan in a specific level of detail for a four year project
(especially in dynamic project environments where change in scope is a likely factor).
PROBLEMS

10.1 Suppose you are a project manager and have been asked to develop the network
activity diagram and identify the critical path for a project based on the following
information. Draw the activity network as a Gantt chart. What is the expected
duration of the project?

Activity Expected Duration Predecessors

1. Design 3 days --
2. Specification 5 days 1
3. Draw up contract 2 days 1, 2
4. Client meeting 1 day 2, 3
5. Project launch 1 day 4
6. Software development 15 days 3
7. Testing 11 days 6
8. Refine 5 days 7
9. Present to client 1 day 8
10.2 Develop a Gantt chart for the following activities. Identify all paths through the
network. What is the critical path? Optional. How does clicking on “Tracking
Gantt” view demonstrate the critical path?

Activity Expected Duration Predecessors

A 2 days —
B 3 days A
C 4 days A
D 4 days B, C
E 5 days B
F 6 days D
G 4 days C, E, F

10.3 Reconfigure the Gantt chart in problem 2 to include some different predecessor
relationships.
a. Assume that activities B and C are linked with a “finish to finish” relationship.
Does that change the expected completion date for the project?
b. For activity F, add a lag of three days to its predecessor relationship with
activity D. By adding the 3-day lag to F, what is the new expected duration for
the project?
c. Suppose you now added a start to start relationship between activities F and G
to the new Gantt chart. How does this additional relationship change the
expected completion date for the project?
10.4 Consider a project with the following information. Construct the project activity
network using AOA methodology and label each node and arrow appropriately.
Identify all dummy activities required to complete the network.

Activity Duration Predecessors

A 3 --
B 5 A
C 7 A
D 3 B, C
E 5 B
F 4 D
G 2 C
H 5 E, F, G

Activity Duration ES EF LS LF Slack

A 3 0 3 0 3 --
B 5 3 8 5 10 2
C 7 3 10 3 10 --
D 3 10 13 10 13 --
E 5 8 13 12 17 4
F 4 13 17 13 17 --
G 2 10 12 15 17 5
H 5 17 22 17 22 --
 10.5 You are considering the decision of whether or not to crash your
project. After asking your operations manager to conduct an
analysis, you have highlighted the “precrash” and “postcrash”
activity durations and costs of a project, shown in the following
table. Assuming all activities are on the critical path, calculate
the slope of crashing each activity. Which activities would you
crash? Why? Show your work.

Normal Crashed
Activity Duration Cost Duration Cost
A 6 days $150 3 days $350

B 9 days $640 4 days $1000

C 2 days $750 1 day $1000

D 11 days $3,500 9 days $5,000

E 6 days $700 3 days $900

F 5 days $1000 4 days $1500

G 10 days $6000 6 days $8000

10.6.Suppose you were trying to decide whether or not it made sense to crash your
project. You know that normal project duration and direct costs are 60 days and
$125,000. You are worried, though, because you have a very tight delivery schedule
and the customer has placed a severe penalty into the contract in the form of $5,000
in liquidated damages for every day the project is late after 50 days. After working
with the cost accountant, you have generated the following table of project costs at
different completion durations:

Project Direct Costs Overhead Penalty Total Costs

Duration (in Costs Charges
days)
60 $125,000 $15,500 $50,000
57 140,000 13,000 35,000
54 175,000 10,500 20,000
51 210,000 8,000 5,000

a. Complete the table. How many days would you advise the project should be
crashed? Why?

b. Suppose direct costs of crashing the project only increased $5,000 per day
crashed at a steady rate (starting with $125,000 on day 60). How many days
would you advise that the project be crashed? Show your work.