Project Planning

Class outline
❖ Project Planning
✔ Scope Planning
✔ Project Schedule Planning
✔ Resource Planning
✔ Budget Planning
✔ Procurement Planning & Management
✔ Quality Planning
✔ Communications Planning
✔ Risk Management Planning

❖ Project Evaluation and Monitoring

❖ Project Implementation

❖ Project Completion

❖ Celebrate! 2
 What Is Scheduling in Project Management?
Scheduling in project management is the listing of activities,
deliverables, and milestones within a project. A schedule also usually
includes a planned start and finish date, duration, and resources
assigned to each activity. Effective project scheduling is a critical
component of successful time management.
Steps to Develop a Project Schedule
•Plan Schedule Management
•Define Activities
•Sequence Activities
•Estimate Activity Resources
•Estimate Activity Durations
•Develop Schedule
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 Steps to Develop a Project Schedule
Step 1: Plan Schedule Management
The first step is to define the policies, procedures, and documentation which will govern
the production of the project schedule

PMBOK, 6th Edition, Section 6.1, “Plan Schedule Management”

Plan Schedule Management is the process of establishing the policies,
procedures, and documentation for planning, developing, managing, executing
and controlling the project schedule. The key benefit of this process is that it
provides guidance and direction on how the project schedule will be managed
throughout the project.
Although optional for small projects, the PMBOK specifies the production of a Schedule
Management Plan, which is a component of the overall Project Management Plan. The
following items could be addressed in this plan.:
• Contingencies. How big will they be, and how will they be calculated?
• Resources. Are there any resources whose availability has a major effect on the
schedule?
• Task Dependencies. Are there any major task dependencies the project depends on,
such as completing the foundation before the framing can start?
• Organizational Procedures. Maybe there is a certain software that must be used or
standard procedures for updating the schedule.
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• Stakeholders. Who must approve the schedule, or to whom must it be distributed?
 Steps to Develop a Project Schedule
Step 2: Define Activities
In the field, the activity list is also known as a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS).

PMBOK, 6th Edition, Section 6.2, “Define Activities”

Define Activities is the process of identifying and documenting the specific actions to be
performed to produce the project deliverables. The key benefit of this process is to
break down work packages into activities that provide a basis for estimating, scheduling,
executing, monitoring and controlling the project work.

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Steps to Develop a Project Schedule

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 Steps to Develop a Project Schedule
Step 3: Sequence Activities
After the project has been divided into tasks the relationships between them must be
determined. Most of the time a task starts when the previous one finishes, but not all the
time.
PMBOK, 6th Edition, Section 6.3, “Sequence Activities”
Sequence Activities is the process of identifying and documenting relationships
among the project activities. The key benefit of this process is that it defines the
logical sequence of work to obtain the greatest efficiency given all project
constraints.

Task Dependencies
There are, in fact, four types of dependencies:
• Finish to Start (FS): This is the most common dependency. When tasks A and B
have an “FS relationship,” task B cannot start until task A finishes.
• Finish to Finish (FF): When tasks A and B have an FF relationship, task B cannot
finish until task A finishes.
• Start to Start (SS): When tasks A and B have an SS relationship, task B cannot start
until task A starts.
• Start to Finish (SF): When tasks A and B have an SF relationship, task B cannot
finish until task A starts. 7
 Steps to Develop a Project Schedule
Dependencies Example

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 Steps to Develop a Project Schedule
Step 4: Estimate Activity Resources
PMBOK, 6th Edition, Section 6.4, “Estimate Activity Resources”
Estimate Activity Resources is the process of estimating the type and quantities
of material, human resources, equipment, or supplies required to perform each
activity. The key benefit of this process is that it identifies the type, quantity,
and characteristics of resources required to complete the activity which allows
more accurate cost and duration estimates.

There are four major types of resources:

1.Labor
2.Tools and equipment
3.Facilities
4.Fixed cost items like subcontractors, etc.
Other resources include financing costs, contingencies, overtime pay, and so
forth.

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 Steps to Develop a Project Schedule
In our example, to build our log house we need to look at each individual task and determine
the resources that are required. We would build a table that looks something like this

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 Steps to Develop a Project Schedule
Step 5: Estimate Activity Durations
PMBOK, 6th Edition, Section 6.5, “Estimate Activity Durations”
Estimate Activity Durations is the process of estimating the number of work
periods needed to complete individual activities with estimated resources. The
key benefit of this process is that it provides the amount of time each activity
will take to complete, which is a major input into the Develop Schedule process.
There are three methods we can utilize to determine activity durations:
• Analogous Estimating: In this method you consult the actual data from a previous or
related project. Even if it has some differences to the current project, you can analyze
those differences and apply a correction factor.
• Parametric Estimating: In this method you break down the project into
its foundational units that have well known and understood unit rates. For example, the
square footage of a house.
• Three Point Estimating: When you have no real good data to go from, you
can estimate the highest possible number (optimistic), and the lowest (pessimistic) as
well as the most likely. Then you can use a triangular distribution (average them) or use
a beta distribution.
• Normal Distribution: Estimate = (Optimistic + Most Likely + Pessimistic) / 3
• Beta Distribution: Estimate = (Optimistic + 4 x Most Likely + Pessimistic) 11
/6
 Steps to Develop a Project Schedule
Step 5: Estimate Activity Durations

Example

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 Steps to Develop a Project Schedule
Step 6: Develop Schedule
In this step we will develop the most efficient schedule for the project. This is defined as
producing the official start and end dates for each task. This step also uses the critical
path method to determine the shortest possible project completion date and which tasks
directly affect it.
PMBOK, 6th Edition, Section 6.6, “Develop Schedule”
Develop Schedule is the process of analyzing activity sequences, durations, resource
requirements, and schedule constraints to create the project schedule model. The key
benefit of this process is that by entering schedule activities, durations, resources,
resource availabilities, and logical relationships into the scheduling tool, it generates a
schedule model with planned dates for completing project activities.

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 Steps to Develop a Project Schedule
To develop the schedule, the critical path method uses a five step process:
1.Draw the network diagram. This can be done in MS Excel in the absence of dedicated project management
software. Here is the network for the log house.

2. Enter the durations of each task in the top, center box.

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 Steps to Develop a Project Schedule
3. Perform a Forward Pass, which determines the Earliest Start (ES) and Latest Start (LS) of each
task.Start by entering a “1” in the top left box of the first task. This is the Earliest Start (ES) date.
1.Determine the Latest Start (LS) of the first task and enter it into the top right box. LS = ES +
Duration – 1. Note that the ES and LS dates are both inclusive of the task duration, therefore a one
needs to be subtracted.
2.Proceed to the ES of the second task. ES2 = LS1 + 1. The Early Start (ES) of each task is simply
one day after the Late Start (LS) of the previous task.
3.Proceed through each task by entering the ES and then the LS. When you have two LS’s to
choose from, as you do with task 330, Finishing, choose the higher one.

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 Steps to Develop a Project Schedule
4. Perform a Backward Pass, which determines the Early Finish (EF) and Late Finish (LF) date of
each task.Start by choosing the highest LS of the final tasks and enter it into the bottom right box
for each final task. In this case, 330 – Finishing, and 410 – Landscaping are both final tasks. The
higher LS is 58. Therefore, this value goes into the LF for both.
1.Determine the earliest finish (EF) and enter it into the bottom left box. EF = LF – Duration + 1.
2.Proceed to the LF of the previous task. EF1 = LF2 – 1.
3.Proceed through each task by entering the LF and then the EF. When you have two LF’s to
choose from, as you do with task 210 – Wood work, choose the lower one.

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 Steps to Develop a Project Schedule
5. Enter the float for each task in the bottom, center box. Float = EF – ES.

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 Steps to Develop a Project Schedule
Once the forward and backward pass are completed, the ES and float of each task are
known. These are the two variables which are carried forward into the final step of drawing the
graphical bar chart, also known as a Gantt Chart. Each task is drawn on it’s ES date. The float of
each task is usually drawn with a solid line underneath the task’s bar chart.

Here is the final project schedule.

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 RESOURCE PLANNING: HOW TO BUILD A RESOURCE PLAN
• Resource planning is a strategic approach to ensuring resources are used in the most
effective way, across a single project or a portfolio of work. When executed properly,
organizations achieve maximum efficiency and optimization in their use of resources,
without under- or over-utilizing any one resource. They also achieve visibility into current
projects, future resource requirements and shortages to inform capacity allocations, and
potential project bottlenecks.

• Resource planning allows organizations to respond with greater flexibility as markets evolve
and projects change. As new disruptive technologies enter the market at ever increasing
speeds, the ability of organizations to turn on a dime becomes paramount. Business goals
that were important yesterday, may have little to no value tomorrow. Companies must do
everything possible to achieve the flexibility necessary to pivot as goals and strategies shift
 RESOURCE PLANNING: HOW TO BUILD A RESOURCE PLAN
What is a Resource Plan?
A resource plan identifies, organizes, and lists the resources required to complete a
project. Because most organizational expenses are resource related, it’s essential that
they’re used as efficiently as possible.

A resource plan maps out how and when company resources will be used.
A resource plan acts as a blueprint to help ensure projects and work are executed on
time and on budget. But that’s no easy task – especially when resources are numerous
and various projects requiring an assortment of skillsets are in progress across an
enterprise.

Many project and program managers use resource planning capabilities within project
portfolio management (PPM) solutions. These tools assist them in aggregating the
resources available within the organization, classifying them into categories, and
adding specific attributes like skillsets, experience, and availability. This data allows
them to assign tasks to individuals and teams based on those attributes, while
maintaining and monitoring the utilization of the resources and ensuring they are
contributing to the highest value work.
 RESOURCE PLANNING: HOW TO BUILD A RESOURCE PLAN

Importance of Resource Planning

Effective use of resources is among the most important (and often challenging) activities
companies undertake. Resource planning that’s executed properly and managed carefully will
help improve the overall health of the organization by ensuring:

⮚Maximum resource utilization

⮚On-time delivery
⮚On-budget delivery
⮚Predictable project timelines
⮚Improved project flow
⮚Bridged capacity gap
⮚More accurate estimates
 RESOURCE PLANNING: HOW TO BUILD A RESOURCE PLAN

Core Elements of a Resource Plan

The goal of a resource plan is to identify and assign the resources necessary to execute the
work. While largely focused on human resources and time, it may also involve equipment, tools,
supplies, production materials and so on, depending on the nature of the project or program.

The following five components are a part of virtually any comprehensive resource plan:

1.People
2.Skillsets, capacity, availability, and utilization
3.Time
4.Data
5.Accurate forecasting

Time and budget management

The resource plan should include the following:
•The rates of the people scheduled to work on the project
•The estimated time required to perform each task (or group of tasks)
•The overall budget
 RESOURCE PLANNING: HOW TO BUILD A RESOURCE PLAN

Stages of a Resource Plan

A resource plan can be split into five stages, though these should not be viewed as
stand-alone or purely consecutive activities. In fact, many of the following stages
should be managed and updated through a continuous planning process.

1. Identify resources
2. Procure resources
3. Visualize resources
4. Manage resources
5. Monitor resources