Project Management

Techniques

Dr. Surya Prakash Singh

PhD(IIT Kanpur), PDF (NUS Sinagpore-MIT USA Alliance)

Department of Management Studies

Indian Institute of Technology Delhi
New Delhi-110016

Developing
Developing the
the Project
Project Plan
Plan
The Project Network
A flow chart that graphically depicts the sequence,
interdependencies, and start and finish times of the
project job plan of activities that is the critical path
through the network.
Provides the basis for scheduling labor and equipment.
Enhances communication among project participants.
Provides an estimate of the projects duration.
Provides a basis for budgeting cash flow.
Identifies activities that are critical.
Highlights activities that are critical and can not be
delayed.
Help managers get and stay on plan.
3

From
From Work
Work Package
Package to
to Network
Network
WBS/Work Packages to Network

FIGURE 1
4

From
From Work
Work Package
Package to
to Network
Network (contd)
(contd)
WBS/Work Packages to Network (contd)

FIGURE 1 (contd)
5

Constructing
Constructing aa Project
Project Network
Network
Terminology
Activity: an element of the
project that requires time.

Merge Activity: an activity that

has two or more preceding
activities on which it depends.

Parallel (Concurrent) Activities:

Activities that can occur
independently and, if desired, not
at the same time.

Constructing
Constructing aa Project
Project Network
Network (contd)
(contd)
Terminology
Path: a sequence of connected, dependent activities.
Critical path: the longest path through the activity
network that allows for the completion of all projectrelated activities; the shortest expected time in which
the entire project can be completed. Delays on the
critical path will delay completion of the entire project.
C

Constructing
Constructing aa Project
Project Network
Network (contd)
(contd)
Terminology
Event: a point in time when an activity is started or
completed. It does not consume time.
Burst Activity: an activity that has more than one
activity immediately following it (more than one
dependency arrow flowing from it).

Two Approaches

Activity-on-Node (AON)
Uses a node to depict an activity.

Activity-on-Arrow (AOA)
Uses an arrow to depict an activity.

D
8

Basic
Basic Rules
Rules to
to Follow
Follow in
in Developing
Developing
Project
Project Networks
Networks
Networks typically flow from left to right.
An activity cannot begin until all of its activities are
complete.
Arrows indicate precedence and flow and can cross over
each other.
Identify each activity with a unique number; this number
must be greater than its predecessors.
Looping is not allowed.
Conditional statements are not allowed.
Use common start and stop nodes.
9

Activity-on-Node
Activity-on-Node Fundamentals
Fundamentals

FIGURE 2
10

Activity-on-Node
Activity-on-Node Fundamentals
Fundamentals (contd)
(contd)

FIGURE 2 (contd)
11

Network
Network Information
Information

TABLE 1
12

Koll
Koll Business
Business Center
CenterPartial
Partial Network
Network

FIGURE 3
13

Koll
Koll Business
Business Center
CenterComplete
Complete Network
Network

FIGURE 4
14

Network
Network Computation
Computation Process
Process
Forward PassEarliest Times
How soon can the activity start? (early startES)
How soon can the activity finish? (early finishEF)
How soon can the project finish? (expected timeET)

Backward PassLatest Times

How late can the activity start? (late startLS)
How late can the activity finish? (late finishLF)
Which activities represent the critical path?
How long can it be delayed? (slack or floatSL)

15

Network
Network Information
Information

TABLE 2
16

Activity-on-Node
Activity-on-Node Network
Network

FIGURE 5
17

Activity-on-Node
Activity-on-Node Network
Network Forward
Forward Pass
Pass

FIGURE 6
18

Forward
Forward Pass
Pass Computation
Computation
Add activity times along each path in the
network (ES + Duration = EF).
Carry the early finish (EF) to the next activity
where it becomes its early start (ES) unless
The next succeeding activity is a merge activity,
in which case the largest EF of all preceding
activities is selected.

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Activity-on-Node
Activity-on-Node Network
Network Backward
Backward Pass
Pass

FIGURE 7
20

Backward
Backward Pass
Pass Computation
Computation
Subtract activity times along each path in the
network (LF - Duration = LS).
Carry the late start (LS) to the next activity
where it becomes its late finish (LF) unless
The next succeeding activity is a burst activity, in
which case the smallest LF of all preceding
activities is selected.

21

Determining
Determining Slack
Slack (or
(or Float)
Float)
Slack (or Float)
The amount of time an activity can be delayed after
the start of a longer parallel activity or activities.

Total slack
The amount of time an activity can be delayed without
delaying the entire project.

The critical path is the network path(s) that has

(have) the least slack in common.

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Activity-on-Node
Activity-on-Node Network
Network with
with Slack
Slack

FIGURE 8
23

Practical
Practical Considerations
Considerations
Network Logic Errors
Activity Numbering
Use of Computers to Develop Networks
Calendar Dates
Multiple Starts and Multiple Projects

24

Illogical
Illogical Loop
Loop

FIGURE 9
25

Air
Air Control
Control Project
Project

FIGURE 10
26

Air
Air Control
Control Project
Project (contd)
(contd)

FIGURE 11
27

Extended
Extended Network
Network Techniques
Techniques
to
to Come
Come Close
Close to
to Reality
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.
Lengthy activities are broken down to reduce the
delay in the start of successor activities.

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Example
Example of
of Laddering
Laddering Using
Using
Finish-to-Start
Finish-to-Start Relationship
Relationship

FIGURE 12
29

New
NewProduct
ProductDevelopment
Development
Process
Process
FIGURE 16
30

Network
Network Using
Using Lags
Lags

FIGURE 20
31

Hammock
Hammock Activities
Activities
Hammock Activity
An activity that spans over a segment of a project.
Duration of hammock activities is determined after the
network plan is drawn.
Hammock activities are used to aggregate sections of
the project to facilitate getting the right amount of
detail for specific sections of a project.

32

Hammock
Hammock Activity
Activity Example
Example

FIGURE 21
33

Activity-on-Arrow
Activity-on-Arrow Network
Network Building
Building Blocks
Blocks

FIGURE 22
34

Activity-on-Arrow
Activity-on-Arrow Network
Network Fundamentals
Fundamentals

FIGURE 23
35

Activity-on-Arrow
Activity-on-Arrow Network
Network Fundamentals
Fundamentals

FIGURE 23 (contd)
36

Koll
Koll Center
Center Project:
Project: Network
Network Information
Information

TABLE 3
37

Partial
Partial Koll
Koll Business
Business Center
Center AOA
AOANetwork
Network

FIGURE 24
38

Partial
Partial AOA
AOAKoll
Koll Network
Network

FIGURE 25
39

Partial
Partial AOA
AOAKoll
Koll Network
Network (contd)
(contd)

FIGURE 25 (contd)
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Activity-on-Arrow
Activity-on-Arrow Network
Network

FIGURE 26
41

Activity-on-Arrow
Activity-on-Arrow Network
Network Forward
Forward Pass
Pass

FIGURE 26
42

Activity-on-Arrow
Activity-on-Arrow Network
Network Backward
Backward Pass
Pass

FIGURE 27
43

Activity-on-Arrow
Activity-on-Arrow Network
Network Backward
Backward Pass,
Pass,
Forward
Forward Pass,
Pass, and
and Slack
Slack

FIGURE 28
44

Air
Air Control
Control Inc.
Inc. Custom
Custom Order
Order Project
Project

AOA
AOA Network
Network Diagram
Diagram

FIGURE 29
45

Comparison
Comparisonof
ofAON
AONand
andAOA
AOA
Methods
Methods

TABLE 4
46

PERTPROGRAM
PERTPROGRAM EVALUATION
EVALUATION REVIEW
REVIEW
TECHNIQUE
TECHNIQUE
Assumes each activity duration has a range that
statistically follows a beta distribution.
PERT uses three time estimates for each
activity: optimistic, pessimistic, and a weighted
average 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
Activity and
and Project
Project Frequency
Frequency Distributions
Distributions

FIGURE 30
48

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

(1)

49

Activity
Activity Time
Time Calculations
Calculations (contd)
(contd)
The variability in the activity time estimates is
approximated by the following equations:
The standard deviation for the activity:
(2)

The standard deviation for the project:

(3)

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.
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Activity
Activity Times
Times and
and Variances
Variances

TABLE 5
51

Probability
Probability of
of Completing
Completing the
the Project
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.

(4)

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Hypothetical
Hypothetical Network
Network

FIGURE 31
53

Hypothetical
Hypothetical Network
Network (contd)
(contd)

FIGURE 31 (contd)
54

Possible
Possible Project
Project Duration
Duration

FIGURE 32
55

ZZ Values
Values

TABLE 6
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