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Developing
a Project Plan:
Preparing Schedule

WHERE WE ARE NOW

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DEVELOPING THE PROJECT PLAN

The Project Network
A flow chart that graphically depicts the sequence, interdependencies,
and start and finish times of project activities
o Provides the basis for scheduling labor and equipment.
o Enhances communication among project participants.
o Provides an estimate of the project’s duration.
o Provides a basis for budgeting cash flow.
o Identifies activities that are critical.
o Highlights activities that are “critical” and can not be delayed.
o Help managers get and stay on plan.

Network Analyses:
Critical Path Method (CPM) Analysis: It is used for the activities
having deterministic or Certain completion times (One time
estimate)
Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) Analysis: It is
used for the activities having probabilistic or Uncertain completion
times (Three time estimate)
Graphical Evaluation and Review Technique(GERT) Analysis: It
is used in probabilistic network where there can be many
alternative paths and loops.

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Steps for CPM Analysis:

STEP 1: Draw the Network Diagram.
STEP 2: Forward Pass Calculations:
 Compute Early Start Time (EST) and Early Finish Time (EFT) for each activity.
STEP 3: Backward Pass Calculations:
 Compute Late Start Time (LST) and Late Finish Time (LFT) for each activity.
STEP 4: Compute Total Float for each activity
STEP 5: Find out the Critical Activities.
STEP 6: Find out the Critical Path
STEP 7: Compute the Project Duration.

Practice Problem: GREENDALE STADIUM CASE

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EXTENDED NETWORK TECHNIQUES

TO COME CLOSE TO REALITY
Laddering
Activities are broken into segments so the following
activity can begin sooner and not delay the work.
Lags
The minimum amount of time a dependent activity
must be delayed to begin or end.
o Lengthy activities are broken down to reduce the delay
in the start of successor activities.
o Lags can be used to constrain finish-to-start, start-to-start,
finish-to-finish, start-to-finish, or combination relationships.

EXAMPLE OF LADDERING USING

FINISH-TO-START RELATIONSHIP

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USE OF LAGS
Finish-to-Start Relationship

Start-to-Start Relationship

USE OF LAGS
(CONT’D)

Use of Lags to Reduce

Project Duration

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USE OF LAGS
(CONT’D)

Finish-to-Finish
Relationship

Start-to-Finish
Relationship

Combination
Relationship

NETWORK USING LAGS

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HAMMOCK ACTIVITIES
Hammock Activity
Spans over a segment of a project.
Has a duration that is determined after the network plan is drawn.
Is used to aggregate sections of the project to facilitate getting the right
amount of detail for specific sections of a project.
Is very useful in assigning and controlling indirect project costs.

HAMMOCK ACTIVITY EXAMPLE

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PERT Analysis
PERT stands for Program Evaluation Review Technique
It was used in designing and producing major weapons
systems for the U.S. Military Establishment.
It is helpful in the projects where activities are subjected to
higher degree of Uncertainty in completion time thus It is
difficult to find the reasonable estimate for activity time due
to such uncertainty.
PERT estimates the expected activity time using three time
estimates using Beta Probability distribution.

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PERT—PROGRAM EVALUATION
REVIEW TECHNIQUE

Assumes each activity duration has a range

that statistically follows a beta distribution.
Uses three time estimates for each activity:
optimistic, pessimistic, and most likely to
represent activity durations.
Knowing the weighted average and variances for
each activity allows the project planner to compute
the probability of meeting different project durations.

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ACTIVITY AND PROJECT

FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTIONS

ACTIVITY TIME CALCULATIONS

The weighted average activity time is computed by
the following formula:

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ACTIVITY TIME CALCULATIONS

(CONT’D)

The variability in the activity time estimates is

approximated by the following equations:
The standard deviation for the activity:

The standard deviation for the project:

Note the standard deviation of the activity is squared in this equation;

this is also called variance. This sum includes only activities on the
critical path(s) or path being reviewed.

Example

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ACTIVITY TIMES AND VARIANCES

PROBABILITY OF COMPLETING THE

PROJECT
The equation below is used to compute the “Z” value found in
statistical tables (Z = number of standard deviations from the
mean), which, in turn, tells the probability of completing the
project in the time specified.

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HYPOTHETICAL NETWORK

HYPOTHETICAL NETWORK
(CONT’D)

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POSSIBLE PROJECT DURATION

Probability project is completed before scheduled time (TS) of 67 days

Z VALUES AND PROBABILITIES

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Practice Problem: Consolidation Project

Compute the expected project duration and its variance.

Practice Problem: Consolidation Project

What is the probability of completing the project in 116 days ?

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Practice Problem: Consolidation Project

What is the probability of completing “Negotiate with Unions” by day 90?

GERT : Motivation

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GERT : Motivation

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GERT: Output Side Symbols

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GERT: Input Side Symbols

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GERT: Few Examples

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GERT: Few Examples

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GERT: Few Examples

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GERT: Few Examples

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GERT : Space Company Example

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KEY TERMS
Activity Gantt chart
Activity-on-arrow (AOA) Hammock activity
Activity-on-node (AON) Lag relationship
Burst activity Merge activity
Concurrent engineering Parallel activity
Critical path Sensitivity
Early and late times Total slack
Free slack

Questions?
hasmukh@iimidr.ac.in

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