Project Management:

A Managerial Approach 4/e

By Jack R. Meredith and Samuel J. Mantel, Jr.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Presentation prepared by RTBM WebGroup

Project Management
A Managerial Approach

Chapter 8

Scheduling
Scheduling
A schedule is the conversion of a
project action plan into an operating
timetable
It serves as the basis for monitoring
and controlling project activity
Taken together with the plan and
budget, it is probably the major tool
for the management of projects
Chapter 8-1
Scheduling
In a project environment, the
scheduling function is more important
than it would be in an ongoing
operation
Projects lack the continuity of day-to-
day operations and often present much
more complex problems of
coordination
Chapter 8-2
Scheduling
The basic approach of all scheduling
techniques is to form a network of
activity and event relationships
This network should graphically portray
the sequential relations between the
tasks in a project
Tasks that must precede or follow
other tasks are then clearly identified,
in time as well as function
Chapter 8-3
Scheduling
Such networks are a powerful tool for
planning and controlling a project and
have the following benefits:
It is a consistent framework for planning,
scheduling, monitoring, and controlling the
project
It illustrates the interdependence of all
tasks, work packages, and work elements
It denotes the times when specific
individuals must be available for work on a
given task Chapter 8-4
Scheduling
Network benefits (cont.):
It aids in ensuring that the proper
communications take place between
departments and functions
It determines an expected project completion
date
It identifies so-called critical activities that, if
delayed, will delay the project completion time
It identifies activities with slack that can be
delayed for specific periods without penalty
Chapter 8-5
Scheduling
Network benefits (cont.):
It determines the dates on which tasks may be
started - or must be started if the project is to
stay on schedule
It illustrates which tasks must be coordinated
to avoid resource timing conflicts
It illustrates which tasks may run, or must be
run, in parallel to achieve the predetermined
project completion date
It relieves some interpersonal conflict by clearly
showing task dependencies Chapter 8-6
Network Techniques:
PERT and CPM
With the exception of Gantt charts, the most
common approach to scheduling is the use of
network techniques such as PERT and CPM
The Program Evaluation and Review
Technique was developed by the U.S. Navy in
1958
The Critical Path Method was developed by
DuPont, Inc during the same time period

Chapter 8-7
Network Techniques:
PERT and CPM
PERT has been primarily used for
research and development projects
CPM was designed for construction
projects and has been generally
embraced by the construction industry
The two methods are quite similar and
are often combined for educational
presentation
Chapter 8-8
Terminology
 Activity - A specific task or set of tasks that
are required by the project, use up resources,
and take time to complete
 Event - The result of completing one or more
activities. An identifiable end state occurring
at a particular time. Events use no resources.
 Network - The combination of all activities
and events define the project and the activity
precedence relationships

Chapter 8-9
Terminology
Path - The series of connected activities
(or intermediate events) between any two
events in a network
Critical - Activities, events, or paths
which, if delayed, will delay the
completion of the project. A project’s
critical path is understood to mean that
sequence of critical activities that connect
the project’s start event to its finish event
Chapter 8-10
Terminology
An activity can be in any of these conditions:
It may have a successor(s) but no
predecessor(s) - starts a network
It may have a predecessor(s) but no
successor(s) - ends a network
It may have both predecessor(s) and
successor(s) - in the middle of a network
The interconnections depend on the
technological relationships described in the
action plan Chapter 8-11
Drawing Networks
Activity-on-Arrow (AOA) networks use arrows
to represent activities while nodes stand for
events
Activity-on-Node (AON) networks use nodes
to represent activities with arrows to show
precedence relationships
The choice between AOA and AON
representation is largely a matter of personal
preference

Chapter 8-12
Drawing Networks

Chapter 8-13
Gantt Charts

 The Gantt chart shows planned and actual progress

for a number of tasks displayed against a horizontal
time scale
 It is an effective and easy-to-read method of
indicating the actual current status for each set of
tasks compared to the planned progress for each
item of the set
 It can be helpful in expediting, sequencing, and
reallocating resources among tasks
 Gantt charts usually do not show technical
dependencies
Chapter 8-14
Scheduling

Chapter 8-15
Gantt Charts
There are several advantages to the use of
Gantt charts:
Even though they may contain a great deal of
information, they are easily understood
While they may require frequent updating, they
are easy to maintain
Gantt charts provide a clear picture of the
current state of a project
They are easy to construct
Chapter 8-16
Summary

Scheduling is particularly important to

projects because of the complex
coordination problems
The network approach to scheduling offers
a number of specific advantages of special
value for projects
Critical project tasks typically constitute
fewer than 10 percent of all the project
tasks
Chapter 8-17
Summary
Although research indicates technological
performance is not significantly affected by
the use of PERT/CPM, there did seem to be a
significantly lower probability of cost and
schedule overruns
Network techniques can adopt either an
activity-on-node or activity-on-arc framework
without significantly altering the analysis

Chapter 8-18
Summary
Networks are usually constructed from
left to right, indicating activity
precedence and event times as the
network is constructed
Gantt charts are closely related to
network diagrams, but are more easily
understood and provide a clearer
picture of the current state of the
project
Chapter 8-19
Scheduling

Questions?
Scheduling

Picture Files
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Figure 8-1
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Figure 8-2
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Figure 8-3
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Figure 8-5
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Figure 8-6
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Figure 8-7
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Figure 8-8
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Figure 8-9
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Figure 8-10
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Figure 8-11
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Figure 8-12
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Figure 8-13
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Figure 8-14
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Figure 8-15
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Figure 8-16
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Figure 8-17
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Figure 8-20
Scheduling

Figure 8-21
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Figure 8-22
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Figure 8-23
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Figure 8-24
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Figure 8-25
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Figure 8-26
Scheduling

Figure 8-27
Scheduling

Figure 8-28
Scheduling

Figure 8-30
Scheduling

Table Files
Scheduling
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