Telone Centre for Learning

SOFTWARE PROJECT
MANAGEMENT

Diploma in SOFTWARE ENGINEERING 2.1

LECTURER: MS. J. CHIBHABHA

jchibhabha@hit.ac.zw
Project Time Management
Introduction

Project time management is based predominantly on

planning, and then it’s all control and execution.
Project time management involves the processes required
to ensure timely completion of a project.
 Time Management Process
Time management consist of following stages:
1. Activity definition
2. Activity sequencing
3. Activity duration estimation
4. Schedule development
5. Schedule control.
Time management follows after scope definition
Its successor is cost management
1. Activity definition

First task in time management, and it occurs right after

scope definition.
Activity definition involves developing a more detailed
WBS and supporting explanations to understand all the
work to be done
Activity definition breaks down the work of the project
into an activity list. It involves developing a more detailed
WBS and supporting explanations to understand all the
work to be done
2. Activity Sequencing

Identify dependencies between activities, and sequence

them so that each activity is performed only after the
activities that it depends on have been completed.
Dependencies help in use of critical path analysis.
NB: Software tasks have no intrinsic dependencies on
each other. But what often happens in activity sequencing
is that artificial dependencies are created between
activities.
Activity Sequencing – Cont.
Another issue is that each activity must produce an artifact
—a tangible product such as a specification, plan, or other
document—which will then be the input for the next
activity in the sequence.
Only the construction activity produces something that is
actually useful to the client, which is the working
software.
The analysis, architecture, and design activities each
produce a document that’s used exactly once, and then is
thrown away. This is an inefficient way to develop
software.
Activity sequencing: Network Diagrams

Project network diagrams are the preferred technique for

showing activity sequencing
A project network diagram is a schematic display of the
logical relationships among, or sequencing of, project
activities
Relationships (Activity Sequencing)

Finish-to-start (FS) This relationship means Task A must complete

before Task B can begin. This is the most common relationship.
Start-to-start (SS) This relationship means Task A must start
before Task B can start. This relationship allows both activities to
happen in tandem.
For example, a crew of painters is painting a house. Task A is to
scrape the flecking paint off the house and Task B is to prime the
house. The workers scraping the house must start before the other
workers can begin priming the house. All of the scraping doesn’t
have to be completed before the priming can start, just some of it.
Relationships (Activity Sequencing) – Cont.
Finish-to-finish (FF) This relationship means Task A must
complete before Task B does. Ideally, two tasks must finish at
exactly the same time, but this is not always the case.
For example, two teams of electricians may be working
together to install new telephone cables throughout a building
by Monday morning. Team A is pulling the cable to each
office. Team B is connecting the cables to wall jacks and
connecting the telephones. Team A must pull the cable to the
office so Team B can complete their activity. The activities
need to complete at nearly the same time, by Monday morning,
so the new phones are functional.
Relationships (Activity Sequencing) – Cont.
Start-to-finish (SF) This relationship is unusual and is rarely
used.
It requires that Task A start so that Task B may finish. Such
relationships may be encountered in construction and
manufacturing.
It is also known as just-in-time (JIT) scheduling.
An example is a construction of a shoe store. The end of the
construction is soon, but an exact date is not known. The
owner of the shoe store doesn’t want to order the shoe
inventory until the completion of the construction is nearly
complete. The start of the construction tasks dictates when the
inventory of the shoes is ordered.
Arrow Diagraming Method (ADM)

Also called activity-on-arrow (AOA) project network diagrams

Activities are represented by arrows
Nodes or circles are the starting and ending points of activities.
Can only show finish-to-start dependencies
ADM
Creating AOA Diagrams

Step 1:
Find all of the activities that start at node 1.
Draw their finish nodes and draw arrows between node 1
and those finish nodes.
Put the activity letter or name and duration estimate on the
associated arrow.
Creating AOA Diagrams – Cont.

Step 2:
Continuing drawing the network diagram, working from
left to right.
Look for bursts and merges.
Bursts occur when a single node is followed by two or
more activities.
A merge occurs when two or more nodes precede a single
node.
Creating AOA Diagrams – Cont.

Step 3:
. Continue drawing the project network diagram until all
activities are included on the diagram that have
dependencies.

Step 4:
As a rule of thumb, all arrowheads should face toward the
right, and no arrows should cross on an AOA network
diagram
Precedence Diagramming Method

Activities are represented by boxes

Arrows show relationships between activities
More popular than ADM method and used by project
management software.
Better at showing different types of dependencies
 D
A
S: 3/06/12 ID 4
S: 2/06/12 ID 1 H
F:2/06/12 D S: 9/06/12 ID 8
F:6/06/12 D
1 F:14/06/12 D 6
4

E
S: 4/06/12 ID 5
B
F:8/06/12 D 5
S: 2/06/12 ID 2
J
F:3/06/12 D 2
S: 15/06/12 ID 10
F F:17/08/12 D 3
S: 4/06/12 ID 6

F:9/06/12 D
C 4 I

S: 2/06/12 ID 3 S: 12/06/12 ID
G 9
F:4/06/12 D 3
S: 5/06/12 ID 7 F:13/06/12 D
F:11/06/12 D 6 2
3. Activity Duration Estimating

The individual activities are analyzed to estimate how long

they will take.
Duration includes the actual amount of time worked on an
activity plus elapsed time
People doing the work should help create estimates, and
an expert should review them
Laws in Schedule Estimation

1. Parkinson’s Law
It states: “Work expands so as to fill the time available for
its completion.”
The law is true in the sense that even if time is
overestimated, there are several factors that come into play
that will facilitate the expanding of the project activities.
Laws in Schedule Estimation – Cont.

Parkinson’s Law [cont.]

The following reasons facilitate the fulfilment of Parkinson’s
Law:
a) Hidden time : The “extra” time factored in by the project
team member, is secret. No one knows why it has been
factored into the activity. The team member can then
“enjoy” the extra time to complete the task at leisure.
Laws in Schedule Estimation – Cont.

Parkinson’s Law [cont.]

b) Procrastination
c) Demands : Project team members may be on multiple projects
with multiple demands. The requirement to move from project to
project can shift focus, result in loss of concentration, and require
additional ramp-up time as workers shift from activity to activity
thus taking advantage of hidden time
d) On schedule : Activities are typically completed on schedule
or late, but rarely early. Even if users finish their task ahead of
what they promised, they can withhold the results due to a belief
that future estimates may be based on actual work durations,
rather than estimates.
Activity Duration Estimation Techniques

1. Quantitatively Based Durations

Use mathematical formulas to predict how long an activity will
take based on the “quantities” of work to be completed. For
example, a commercial printer needs to print 100,000
brochures. The workers include two pressman and two bindery
experts to fold and package the brochures. Notice how long the
activity will take to complete, while the effort is the total
number of hours (labor) invested because of the resources
involved.
A Well known approach, when repetitive tasks are used, this
technique can produce the most accurate estimates.
 Quantitative based estimation

Workers Units per hour Duration for Effort

1000 copies

Pressman(2) 5000 20 hours 40 hours

Bindery(2) 4000 25 hours 50 hours
Totals 45 hours 90 hours

Duration is how long an activity takes, while effort is the

billable time for the labor to complete the activity.
Activity Duration Estimates (Inputs)

Activity lists: work elements necessary to create the deliverables.

Constraints: An identification of the project constraints is needed
since they may influence the estimates.
Assumptions: An identification of the assumptions is needed since
work estimates may be influenced by the assumptions. For example,
the team may be operating under an assumption that the project must
be completed within one calendar year.
Resource requirements: Activity durations may change based on the
number of resources assigned to the activity. For example, Task A
may take eight hours with one person assigned to the work, but Task
A may be completed in four hours with two team members assigned.
Activity Duration Estimation Techniques –
Cont.
2. Analogous Estimation
Uses the actual duration of previous, similar activities to
estimate the duration of activities in the project that’s being
planned.
It works best when there has been a number of projects that are
similar in type and approach, if not in detail.
For software development projects, neither of these conditions
is likely to be true.
If the previous software were sufficiently similar, then rather
than using it as an example for estimation, its components and
code would be reused directly in the current project.
Activity Duration Estimation Techniques –
Cont.
3. Expert judgement
The use of people that are more knowledgeable in related
projects
Care must be taken on choosing the experts so that there is
no bias.
4. Schedule Development
The PND is important during schedule creation because it allows the
project manager and the project team to evaluate the decisions,
constraints, and assumptions that were made earlier in the process to
determine why certain activities must occur in a particular order.
Ultimate goal is to create a realistic project schedule that provides a
basis for monitoring project progress for the time dimension of the
project
ASSUMPTION : The size of the project team does not affect the
development process.
Important tools and techniques include Gantt charts, PERT
analysis, critical path analysis, and critical chain scheduling
Some of the tools are outlined below
Program Evaluation and Review Technique
(PERT)
Gives better estimation by accounting for uncertainty
when predicting durations.
Worst, best and most probable duration time are estimated
to determine the average completion time.
This is done by assigning probabilities to the three
estimates and calculating an “expected value”
(PERT) – Cont.

PERT uses a weighted average formula to predict the

length of activities and the project.
Specifically, PERT uses a “pessimistic,” “optimistic,” and
“most likely” estimate to predict when the project will be
completed.

O+4M+P
6
 (PERT) – Example
PERT weighted average =
optimistic time + 4X most likely time + pessimistic time
6
Example:
PERT weighted average =
8 workdays + 4 X 10 workdays + 24 workdays = 12 days
6
where optimistic time= 8 days,
most likely time = 10 days, and
pessimistic time = 24 days
Therefore, you’d use 12 days on the network diagram instead of 10 when using PERT
for the above example
PERT AND CPM

Question : Analyze the two methods, CPM and PERT. In

what way are they similar and in what way are they different.
Activity Bar Charts (Gantt Chart)

A Gantt Chart provides a different way of illustrating a

group of activities.
It illustrates the start and finish times of each activity and
provides an easy method of seeing which activities should
be taking place at any point and time.
It is particularly useful in project management and
resource scheduling.
Gantt Chart

Research Task: How do you calculate critical path using

Gantt chart?
Critical Path Method (CPM)

CPM is a project network analysis technique used to predict

total project duration.
It uses a “forward” and “backward” pass to reveal which
activities are considered critical.
A critical path for a project is the series of activities that
determines the earliest time by which the project can be
completed.
The critical path is the longest path through the network
diagram and has the least amount of slack or float. Activities
on the critical path may not be delayed; otherwise, the project
end date will be delayed.
The following illustration is an example of the critical path.
Finding the critical path

First develop a good project network diagram

Add the durations for all activities on each path through
the project network diagram
The longest path is the critical path.
 CPM
5
D=4
2
A=1 H=6
E=5

B=2
F=4 J=3
1 8
3 6

I=2
C=3
7
4

G=6
CPM

Critical path is B-E-H-J = 16 days.

Free slack or free float is the amount of time an activity
can be delayed without delaying the early start of any
immediately following activities
Total slack or total float is the amount of time an activity
may be delayed from its early start without delaying the
planned project finish date
Illustration of both forward and backward passes to be
done using the above network diagram.
Forward Pass

The Early Start (ES) and Early Finish (EF) dates are
calculated first by completing the “forward pass.” The ES
of the first task is one. The EF for the first task is its ES+
the task duration, minus one.
The ES of the next task(s) will be the EF for the previous
activity, plus one.
Backward Pass

After the forward pass is completed, the backward pass

starts at the end of the PND.
The backward pass is concerned with the Late Finish (LF)
and the Late Start (LS) of each activity.
The LF for the last activity in the PND equals its EF value.
The LS is calculated by subtracting the duration of the
activity from its LF, plus one.
The one is added to accommodate the full day’s work;
Backward Pass – Cont.

The next predecessor activity’s LF equals the LS of the

successor activity minus one.
Float=LS -ES /LF – EF.
Recall the total float is the amount of time a task can be
delayed without delaying the project completion date.
CPM Analysis

Knowing the critical path helps you make schedule trade-offs

Free slack or free float is the amount of time an activity can be
delayed without delaying the early start of any immediately
following activities
Total slack or total float is the amount of time an activity may
be delayed from its early start without delaying the planned
project finish date
A forward pass through the network diagram determines the
early start and finish dates
A backward pass determines the late start and finish dates
Example: Calculating ES, EF, LS, LF
CPM Examples

Activity Duration (Days) Immediate Predecessor Activities

A 2 -
B 3 -
C 4 A
D 5 A,B
E 8 C,D
F 3 D
G 2 F
H 3 G
CPM Examples

Question: Draw the activity on arrow diagram for the above

information and highlight critical path.

Sol: Critical path is B-D-E-H

Monte Carlo Analysis

Predicts how scenarios may work out given any number of

variables.
The process doesn’t actually churn out a specific answer,
but a range of possible answers.
When Monte Carlo is applied to a schedule it can
examine, for example, the optimistic completion date, the
pessimistic completion date, and the most likely
completion date for each activity in the project.
5. Schedule Control

Schedule Control is a formal approach to managing

changes to the project schedule. It considers the
conditions, reasons, requests, costs, and risks of making
changes.
It includes methods of tracking changes, approval levels
based on thresholds, and documentation of approved or
declined changes.
The Schedule Control process is part of integrated change
management.
Schedule Control – Cont.

Schedule control is concerned with three processes:

1. The project manager works with the factors that can cause
schedule change in an effort to confirm that the changes are
agreed upon. Factors can include project team members,
stakeholders, management, customers, and project conditions.
2. The project manager examines the work results, conditions,
and demands to know the schedule has changed.
3. The project manager manages the actual change in the
schedule
Schedule Control – Cont.

The project manager must ensure that the project schedule is

updated to reflect the change, document the change, and follow
the guidelines within the schedule management plan.
Any formal processes, such as notifying stakeholders or
management, should be followed.
Revisions are a special type of project schedule change, which
cause the project start date, and more likely, the project end
date to be changed.
They typically stem from project scope changes.
Because of the additional work the new scope requires,
additional time is needed to complete the project.
Network Diagrams Details
Symbols used in a Network Diagram
Arrow
-Represents an activity
-Activities are tasks that have a time duration
-At the start and finish of each activity there is an event
Node
Represents an event, events occur instantaneously and state that
the preceding activities are now complete and other activities
that depend on their completion can now start
Broken Arrow
-it represents a dummy activity
-Dummy activities do not consume resources and time.
When constructing a network diagram, the
following steps should be followed:

Planning
List all activities necessary to complete a project. Establish
dependencies amongst activities and draw a rough sketch of the
diagram noting the following:
1. All activities start and end with an event
2. An activity is a time consuming task
3. An event is an instantaneous i.e. its occurrence means all
activities entering that event sign have now been completed
and all activities leaving that sign can now be started.
4. Any number of activities can go into and out of an event
Steps – Cont.

5. Activities should go from left to right

6. Activities occurring on the same path are sequential and
are thus directly dependent on each other
7. Activities on different paths are parallel and are
independent of other set of parallel activities which means
they take place at the same time.
8. Two or more activities cannot leave one event sign and
enter the same event sign. A dummy activity should be
introduced to avoid such a situation
Scheduling

It involves applying limiting factors such as time and cost

to the network.
Points to note:
Activity descriptions often abbreviated are written above
the line of the arrow symbol
The time duration of the activity is written below the line
of the arrow
Event signs provide additional information ( EST, LFT,
Event number)
Earliest Start Time (EST)

Expresses the earliest time by which any activity leaving a

particular event can start.
-It is calculated by using the forward pass rule which starts
from the start node up to the finish / end node.
-If D₀ is the duration of activity I, j, the earliest start time
of j is given by
ESTj = max { ESTi + D₀} for all i, j
Latest Finish Time (LFT)

It expresses the latest time by which any activity entering

a particular event can finish.
It is calculated using the backward pass rule which starts
from the end node back to the start node
If D₀ is the duration of activity i, j then the LFT is given
by:
LFTi = min { LFTj - D₀} for all i, j
Critical Path

It is the longest path through a network diagram and

comprise activity nodes in which
EST = LFT
Each task on the critical path is called a critical activity
because delay to these activities will increase the overall
length of a project.
Slack

The slack time for an activity refers to the length of time

that can be tolerated without incurring a delay in the
scheduled project completion time.
The slack time per activity needs to be calculated first to
identify the critical path(s), by considering the start times
and the finish times. Hence, for each of the activities in the
project network, the slack time can be calculated as
follows:
Slack =LFT - EST
THE END