PROJECT COST MANAGEMENT (MBEM-202)

PROJECT SCHEDULING

Submitted by,
Sripadma Sanjiv. E
1190900017
2ND Semester
Master of Building Engineering & Management
PROJECT SCHEDULING
Project scheduling is a mechanism to communicate
what tasks need to get done and which organizational
resources will be allocated to complete those tasks in what
timeframe. It can also be defined as listing of a project
milestone activities, deliverables, and also intended start and
finish dates.
It is carried out with a view to estimate a realistic and
workable time frame for the project. Customer expectations,
legal issues, accuracy of cost estimates and sometime even
the viability of the project depends on the time taken for
completion of the project. It creates a model for the entire
project that acts as a guide to the stakeholders to check the
work being done and to measure progress against a fixed
timetable.
A schedule includes the planned start and finish date,
duration, and resources assigned to each activity. Effective
project scheduling is a critical component of successful time
management.

Types of Project Schedules

There are three main types of schedules:

 Master project schedule.

A master schedule tends to be a simplified list of tasks with a timeline or
project calendar. It can be considered as an early communication tool
among stakeholders which shows the major deliverables, key milestones,
and summary of work breakdown structure activities.

 Milestone schedule.
The milestone schedule is a summary level schedule that allows the project
team leader to review and identify all of the significant and major project
related milestones that may exist in the course of a project, and can be
proven helpful in making sure that nothing falls behind schedule of off the
radar entirely. This type of schedule tracks major milestones and key
deliverables, but not every task required to complete the project.

 Detailed project schedule.

This is the most thorough project schedule, as it identifies and tracks every
project activity. These are operational schedules intended to help front line
managers in directing hourly, daily, or weekly project work. The detailed
schedule is considered the execution playbook for the project. If you have
a complex, large, or lengthy project, it’s important to have a detailed project
schedule to help track everything.
PROJECT SCHEDULING PROCESS

Project planning and scheduling must be done in a manner which is strictly

based on project specific inputs and constraints and provides a time frame which is
workable within the frame work of budgeted cost and required quality. There are many
tools and techniques used to make the project schedule, but these requires precise and
accurate data at each stages of the project scheduling process. The project scheduling
process can be explained as:

i. Identification of project milestones

ii. Development of Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
iii. Definition and listing of activities
iv. Activity Sequencing
v. Activity Resource estimation
vi. Productivity determination and Duration estimation

Identification of Project Milestones

The first step in developing a schedule is identification of milestones and planning

dates for them as intermediate project targets. Milestones help upper management to
assess project status and take strategic decisions

A project milestone is a task of zero duration that shows an important achievement

in a project. A mile stone is defined as a point of time indicating the start or finish of an
important group of activities. It has zero duration but a definite completion time. The
milestones should represent a clear sequence of events that incrementally build up until
your project is complete.

Project milestones are a way of knowing how the project is advancing, especially
if you’re not familiar with the tasks being executed. They have zero duration because they
symbolize an achievement, or a point of time in a project. Since a milestone’s start and
end date depends on a task’s start and end date, task association is a major feature of a
milestone.

Representation of milestones
Development of Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

WBS is a hierarchical decomposition of the total scope of work of a project to be

executed in order to achieve the project objectives and create the required deliverables.
It breakdowns the entire scope of projects into packages which may be governed by
project stages, functional or technical disciples, organizational structure of location of the
work. WBS defines the “what” part of project work, while the schedule defines the “when”
and “how” parts of the project (The PMBOK Guide).

A WBS creates links between the deliverables and their numerous components at
all possible levels of project work. It serves as a foundation for planning and defining
100% of the work planned for completion.

The work breakdown structure gives a clear and efficient format to define the
volume of project work necessary for producing every deliverable and to track the
progress of project implementation. It makes sure that nothing is left out, no extra work is
done and there is no overlaps in the scope of different stakeholders.

Developing the work breakdown structure involves the following steps:

 Identify project deliverables based on stakeholder requirements (use the project
deliverables statement)
 Define the amount of work necessary for producing the deliverables.
 Create a high-level decomposition of work using the above information.
 Specify the high-level decomposition by smaller, more manageable pieces of work to
create separate work packages.

Considering these steps, the WBS development involves

creating a decomposition that consists of the three major levels:

 Level 1: This WBS level is dedicated to the scope of the project.

At this level you should describe the scope baseline. The first
level of the WBS also includes the information on the phases
of the implementation life cycle identified at the Project Setup.

 Level 2: The second level of the work breakdown structure

dedicated to the project deliverables. At this level you should
outline the deliverables, including product features and
functions, based on stakeholder requirements. All the project
deliverables should be divided into manageable, auditable and
measurable components. You should decompose or divide the
deliverables into smaller activities to determine timeframes,
assign team responsibilities, estimate resource needs and
assess work effort.

Detailed WBS for painting

 Level 3: The third level of the WBS should present scheduled tasks and jobs. You
should define elements of activities (tasks and jobs) and identify dependencies
between them (how one element of a particular activity depends on the completion of
another one). The level includes separate work packages necessary for producing the
desired deliverables.

The WBS can be further divided into more levels but this involves additional risks.
As more levels are added to the WBS as higher risk it brings to the project. Usually the
three-level development process is adequate for most projects.

Definition and listing of activities

In Project Management, 'activities' characterize the measure of work that changes

over a plan for appropriate outcomes. Activities in a project are the method to identify and
document the activities that are accessible to produce the project deliverables. These are
generally the lowest level of the WBS and form fundamental units of project scheduling.
Each activity should have defined deliverables or scope of work, duration, resources and
cost.

Activities can be broadly classified as:

 Non-work activities: These are the activities that do not produce an outcome directly
related to the project. Obtaining permits or right-of-ways, submitting and reviewing
information, delivery of job materials etc. can be considered as non-work activities.
These should be included in the schedule when the subsequent work activity can only
start after the completion of this non work activity

 Typical activities: These are sub activities that have same amount of work and
duration in each repetitive units.

 Non Typical activities: These are sub activities that have different amount of work and
thus different duration.

 Repetitive Activities: These are activities that need to perform in every unit of work.
Excavation can be considered as a non-repetitive activity in the construction of high
rise buildings as the excavation need to be done only before the construction of 1 st
unit or the immediate floor

 Non repetitive activities: These are activities that do not exist in every unit of work.
The activities related to structure for all the floor can be considered as repetitive
activities.

The purpose of defining activities in a project is to distinguish the particular task

that has to be done with a specific objective to produce the project deliverables. The
process should be done in adequate detail to estimate the resources and time that is
required to complete.
 Activity Sequencing

Activity Sequencing is assignment of logical relationships for sequencing of

activities. It involves identifying and documenting interactivity dependencies. An accurate
sequencing of activities are required in order to support later development of a realistic
and achievable schedule.

Activity sequencing may depend upon:

i. Hard Logic Dependency: These are dependencies driven by technical constraints and
are not flexible. It can also be called as mandatory dependencies. A typical example
can be taken as RCC columns; the shuttering for columns can only be done after
reinforcement and concreting can be done only after shuttering, there is no alternative
ways of doing it

ii. Soft Logic Dependency: These are dependencies driven by preference of executing
team and these have flexibility. It can also be called as Discretionary dependencies or
Preferential Logics. These are usually defined based on best practices within a
particular application area or, in some cases, some unusual aspects of the project where
a specific sequence is desired. An example of is after electrical wiring the team can
decide whether to install Distribution board first of the electrical fixture. Here they have
the flexibility to decide which activity can be done first and be able to complete the work
package in allotted time.

iii. External Dependency: These are the relation between project and non-project activities
that are outside the control of project team. Example of this is the availability of materials
in the market.

iv. Internal Dependency: These are the relationship between project activities.

Apart from logical dependencies managerial decisions and availability resources

also have implications on activity sequencing.

In terms of logical sequencing there are four types of relationships between

activities according to logical sequencing.

 Finish to Start (F-S): Successor activity start after predecessor activity finishes.
 Start to Start (S-S): Successor activity start after predecessor activity has started and
is partially completed, resulting in both activities to happen simultaneously for
sometimes.
 Finish to Finish (F-F): Successor activity finishes only after predecessor activity has
finished, resulting in both activities to happen simultaneously for sometimes.
 Start to Finish (S-F): Successor Activity cannot finish until a Predecessor Activity has
started.
 Graphical representation of relationship between activities

In addition to logical sequencing, Leads or Lags may be applied to Activity

sequencing. A lead is the amount of time by which a successor activity can be advanced
with respect to predecessor activity. A lag is the amount of time by which a successor
activity can be delayed with respect to predecessor activity.

The output of activity sequencing is a network diagram which is a schematic

representation of the project’s schedule. This can be manually produced or can be
obtained using software.

Activity Resource Estimation

It is the process of estimating the type and quantity of material, manpower or

machinery required to perform each activity. It involves identification of the types and
quantities of resources required for each activity in a work package and determination of
the estimated resources for each work package by aggregating their requirements like
the types and the quantities.

There are six inputs that are to be used in the process of activity resource
estimating. Those six inputs are the activity list, the activity attributes, the organizational
process assets, the enterprise environmental factors, and project management plan, and
the resource availability.

There are a number of tools that can also be utilized in most effectively estimating
the required activity resources. Those tools include expert judgment, a complete
alternatives analysis, and the use of published estimating data, project management
software, and the use of bottom-up estimating.

Outputs of Activity Resource estimation are activity resource requirements and

resource breakdown structure. The successful utilization of activity resource estimates
will help assure that enough resources are acquired without waste and excessive
expenditure.
Productivity determination and Duration estimation

Activity duration estimation is a process of estimating the time duration needed to

complete individual activities with estimated resources and using information on the
activity scope of work, relationship between activities, required resource types, estimated
resource quantities and resource calendar as well as historical data.

Methods used for duration estimation may be listed as

 Single Point Estimation: It used productivity data to calculate the duration.

 Expert Judgment: It uses information from three sources: project files, commercial
duration estimating database and team members past experience.

 Analogous estimation: This method uses the parameters from previous and similar
projects as the basis for estimating the same parameters for a future project.

 Parametric estimation: This method used an algorithm for calculating cost or duration
based on historical data and project parameters.

 Three point estimate: This method has the high accuracy rate over other methods
since it considers uncertainty and risks. Tis originated with the program evaluation and
review technique (PERT). This method used three estimates (most likely, optimistic
and pessimistic) to define an approximate range for an activities’ duration.

The output of Productivity determination and Duration estimation gives us the total
duration of work and the breakdown of resources required.

TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES FOR PROJECT SCHEDULING

As the title suggests there are some tools and techniques that are widely adopted
for doing project scheduling. These helps us to:

 Chart out the activities in the projects

 Mark the relationships or dependencies among activities
 Apply leads, lags, schedule compression and resource leveling techniques
 Specify duration with which the tool calculates automatically the schedule of the
project
 Automatic updates to the project schedule when any of these parameters change or
adjust.

Some of these tools and techniques are discussed below

Critical Path Method (CPM)

Critical path is the longest duration path in the project schedule network diagram.
And the method to find the critical path is called critical path method (CPM). It is a
mathematically based algorithm for scheduling a set of project activities. If any of the
activities in the critical path delays, that will delay the whole project. Critical path is mainly
used to find out

 Activities which are at high risk in the project

 Float of each activity, which is not on critical path
 What is the project’s end date

It is an important tool for effective project management. Any project with

interdependent activities can apply this method of scheduling. Development of CPM
includes:

 A list of all activities required to complete the project (also known as Work Breakdown
Structure)
 The time (duration) that each activity will take to completion
 The dependencies between the activities.

The process of Critical path method are as

follows

 Create a network diagram

 Figure out all the paths in the project network
diagram
 Calculate the length of each path.
 Find out the critical path, which is the longest path
in the project.

The terminologies used for CPM are mentioned

below:

 Activity: An activity carries the arrow symbol .This represent a task or subproject that
uses time or resources

 Event: A node (an event), denoted by a circle, marks the start and completion of an
activity, which contain a number that helps to identify its location. For example activity
A can be drawn as:
 Dummy Activity: An activity, which is used to maintain the pre-defined precedence
relationship only during the construction of the project network, is called a dummy
activity.

 Parallel activity: There are two activity which being at same event and end at same
event. These activities are called parallel activity.

 Path: A path is a series of adjacent activities leading from one event to another.

 Critical path: A critical path is the sequence of critical activities that forms a continuous
path between the start of a project and its completion.

 Earliest Start Time (EST): The earliest time an activity can start one previous
dependent activity is over.

 Earliest Finish Time (EFT): The earliest time the activity can be finished. (EST+
Duration)

 Latest Finish Time (LFT): The latest time an activity can finish without delaying the
project

 Latest start time (LST): The latest time an activity can start without delaying the
project.

 Total Float: The total time that a schedule activity may be delayed.

TF= LFT-EST or LST-EST

 Free Float: Free Float is the time by which the completion of an activity can be delayed
beyond EFT without affecting the EST of succeeding activity.

FF= EST (Succeeding)-EFT (Present)

 Interfering Float: Part of total float that causes reduction in the total float of Successor
activity
IF=LFT (present)-EST (succeeding)

 Independent Float: Amount of float that can be used without affecting either of the
succeeding or preceding activity

IF=EST (Succeeding)-LFT (Preceding) - Duration (present)

 Example for Critical Path Method

Program Evaluation Review Technique (PERT)

Program (Project) Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT): is a project

management tool used to schedule, organize, and coordinate tasks within a project. It is
basically a method to analyze the tasks involved in completing a given project, especially
the time needed to complete each task, and to identify the minimum time needed to
complete the total project. PERT is used when activity times are uncertain.

PERT gives three time estimate for a project

 Optimistic time: Best time if everything goes perfectly (To)

 Realistic time: Most likely time(Tm)
 Pessimistic time: A worst-case situation(Tp)
 Expected Time: Estimated Duration in days [ Te= (To+4Tm+Tp ) / 6]

In order to calculate the probability of completion of project within stipulated time

we used
 Standard deviation: It gives average deviation from the estimated time. Higher the SD
is the greater amount of uncertainty exists
SD= (TP-T0)/6
 Variance: It reflects the spread of a value over a normal distribution. A large variance
indicates great uncertainty, a small variance indicates a more accurate estimate

V=SD2

With PERT’s three time-estimates, we get a mean (average) time and a variance
for each activity and each path. We also get a project mean time and variance
Gantt chart

A Gantt chart is a graphical representation of a Project that shows each task as a

horizontal bar whose length is proportional to its time for completion. It is a horizontal bar
chart that illustrates a Project schedule.

In the Gantt Chart Time is displayed on the horizontal axis and the Tasks/ Activities
are arranged vertically from top to bottom, in order of their start dates. A detailed Gantt
chart for a large project might be quite complex and hard to understand. To simplify the
chart Project manager can combine related activities into one Task.

Gantt chart do not show how tasks must be ordered (precedence) but simply show
when a task should begin and should end

Example of a Gantt chart

Schedule Compression Techniques

In cases where your project activities, especially the activities on the critical path
are getting delayed or has chances of getting delayed, generally project managers uses
the schedule compression techniques to save your project schedule time and keep the
project on track.

The following are some of the common reasons (but not limited to) to apply the
schedule compression techniques such as fast tracking or crashing.

 Your project is getting delayed. And the project manager want to get the project back
on track.
 Project schedule has become un-realistic due to some reasons.
 Due to some natural calamities, you miss the schedule.
 Customer requests for early delivery because of some dependency which customer
also did not expected earlier.
 You see lot of uncertainties in the project, and to manage them you would need
enough time in the project
 There are primarily two schedule compression techniques. They are

i. Fast tracking

As per the PMBOK guide, fast tracking is one of the schedule compression
techniques in which activities or phases, which are normally planned to do in sequence,
are performed in parallel for at least a portion of their duration. Most of the time, the
activities cannot be done in parallel completely due to the dependency that exists
between the project activities.

Although fast tracking is very useful technique for the project manager, it comes
with a price, if not used carefully. Meaning that overusing fast tracking may result in lot
of rework. Hence the necessary analysis should be done before applying the fast tracking
techniques on the project activities.

Example showing Fast tracking Method

ii. Crashing

Crashing is another schedule compression techniques, in which you add extra

resources to the project activities, with no or minimum increase in the cost of the project.
So by adding extra resources to the activities which are at risk, the project manager would
try to shorten the schedule of the activities. So always extra resources come with their
price. It is to be analyzed whether this cost is manageable to the extent that the whole
project is not at risk, before crashing the schedule

Crashing may not work in all circumstances. Sometimes adding extra resources
may not help in compressing the schedule of the activities. Compared to fast tracking,
crashing is expensive. Because additional resources add additional cost to the project.

Example showing Crashing Method

IT Tools for Project Scheduling
With the present development in technology many IT tool have been developed to
assist in Project Scheduling. Two of the most commonly used software are PRIMAVERA
and MS Project.

Primavera

Primavera is an enterprise project portfolio management

software. It includes project management, scheduling, risk
analysis, opportunity management, resource management, and
collaboration and control capabilities. Primavera is a tool for
planner, project managers and any person needs to plan -control
a project.

It is a product of primavera system in since 1982-oracle corporation -2008(p6).

Oracle's Primavera P6 Enterprise Project Management is the most powerful and easy-to-
use solution for globally prioritizing, planning, managing, and executing projects,
programs.

Primavera is specified in managing all types of projects: small, medium & large .It
uses critical path method (CPM) in calculating project duration and floats of the activities.
It has types of charts (view/display): Gantt Bar chart. The components that may be
measured and controlled using planning and scheduling software
 Time
 Resource
 Cost

User Interface of Primavera

Microsoft Project

Microsoft Project is a project management software product,

developed and sold by Microsoft. It is designed to assist a project
manager in developing a schedule, assigning resources to tasks,
tracking progress, managing the budget, and analyzing workloads.

Project creates budgets based on assignment work and

resource rates. The Project Map outlines the three phases of the
project life cycle:
 Build a plan
 Track and manage a project
 Close a project

Microsoft Project’s capabilities were extended with the introduction of:

 Microsoft Office Project Server
 Microsoft Project Web Access

Also, newer versions provide for cross-functionality with products like: PowerPoint
and Visio.

User Interface of MS Project

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