Project Management for IT

Critical Path Method (CPM)

Project Management for IT

Objectives and outcomes of the Lecture:

Upon successful completion of this class, you will be able to:

1. Construct activity networks;
2. Find earliest and latest starting times;
3. Identify the critical path;
4. Translate appropriate real problems into a suitable form for the use of critical path
analysis.
Project Management for IT

Introduction
• Operational researchers developed a method of scheduling complex projects shortly
after the Second World War. It is sometimes called network analysis, but is more
usually known as critical path analysis (CPA).
• Its virtue is that it can be used in a wide variety of projects, and was, for example,
employed in such diverse projects as the Apollo moon-shot, the development of
Concorde, the Polaris missile project and the privatisation of the electricity and water
boards.
• Essentially, CPA can be used for any multi-task complex project to ensure that the
complete scheme is completed in the minimum time.
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Definition :
• The term critical path refers to an important concept in project management, and
some project managers believe that it deserves the most attention during the project
life cycle.
• The critical path refers to the sequence or order of schedule activities that will make
up the entire duration of a project.
• It represents the longest path through the entirety of the project and typically this
path consists of every single activity that must be concluded from the kickoff to the
ultimate conclusion of the project.
• Being the longest path, it is also the shortest possible duration of the project.
Project Management for IT

Activity networks
In order to be able to use CPA, you first need to be able to form what is called an activity network. This is essentially a way of
illustrating the given project data concerning the tasks to be completed, how long each task takes and the constraints on the order in
which the tasks are to be completed. As an example, consider the activities shown below for the construction of a garage
Project Management for IT

Activity networks
Clearly, some of these activities cannot be started until other activities have been
completed.
For example
activity G - erect roof cannot begin until
activity E - erect walls has been completed. The following table shows which activities
must precede which.
D must follow E E must follow A and B
F must follow D and G G must follow E
H must follow I must follow C and F
J must follow I.
We call these the precedence relations.
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Activity networks
All this information can be represented by the network shown below.
Project Management for IT

Activity networks
Sometimes we can easily form the activity network, but not always, so we need to have a formal method. First try
the following activity.
Task 1
A furniture maker is going to produce a new wooden framed settee with cloth-covered foam cushions. These are the
tasks that have to be done by the furniture maker and his assistants and the times they will take :
Project Management for IT

Activity networks
Each activity can only be undertaken by one individual.
The following list gives the order in which the jobs must be done:
B must be after C
D must be after B and C
E must be after D
F must be after E
G must be after A, B, C, D, E and F
Construct an appropriate activity network to illustrate this
information.
Project Management for IT

Activity networks
In this network
1. Each activity is represented by a vertex;
2. Joining vertex X to vertex Y shows that
3. Activity X must be completed before Y can be started;
4. The number marked on each arc shows the duration of the activity from which the
arc starts.
Note the use of 'arc' here to mean a directed edge.
Project Management for IT

Example:
Let’s look at your project.
• A workshop is being built, and windows and electricity are installed at the same
time. Installing windows takes 1 day, installing electricity takes 3 days.
• If installing the windows takes 2 days, it will not affect the project duration. If
installing electricity takes longer than 3 days, it does affect the project schedule. The
electricity deliverable thus is on the critical path since a delay here will delay the
entire project.
Project Management for IT

Example:
Let’s look at your project.
• At the same time, this activity cannot be bypassed so that this is the shortest possible
sequence in the project.
• Obviously, the critical path can change: If installing the windows takes 4 days due to
difficulties, then the electricity activity will not be on the critical path anymore but
the windows activity will be. As a consequence, focussing on the critical path alone
may not be the ultimate solution. Work packages that are of high risk in terms of
schedule delays should be under attention, too.
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Procedure:

• First of all, the activities comprised in a project are identified along with their
importance, (i.e. the dependency of activities on each other. For each activity, it is
identified that which other activities are required to be completed before it starts and
how long the activities takes to get finished).
• Once the critical activities are identified, the network is drawn connecting all the
crucial activities and depicting which activity to be carried first, so that successor
activities could be performed effectively.
Project Management for IT

Procedure:

• For each activity the following parameters need to be determined:

1. Earliest start time (ES): How early, the successor activity begins once the
predecessor activity finishes.
2. Earliest Finish Time (EF): Earliest Start Time + duration of each activity.
3. Latest Finish Time (LF): The latest time within which the activity finishes without
delaying the project.
4. Latest Start Time (LS): Latest Finish Time – Activity duration
Project Management for IT

What is Project Evaluation Review Technique (PERT)?

• In project management, Project Evaluation Review Technique or PERT is used to
identify the time it takes to finish a particular task or activity. It is a system that helps
in proper scheduling and coordination of all tasks throughout the project.
• It also helps in keeping track of the progress, or lack thereof, of the project. In the
1950s, Project Evaluation Review Technique was developed by the US Navy to
manage the Polaris submarine missile program of their Special Projects Office.
• Knowing the time it would take to execute a project is crucial as it helps project
managers decide on other factors such as the budget and task delegation. No matter
how big or small a project is, estimates can be too optimistic or pessimistic, but
using a PERT chart will help determine more realistic estimates.
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What is Project Evaluation Review Technique (PERT)?

Chart for a project with five milestones (10 through 50) and six activities (A through F).
The project has two critical paths: activities B and C, or A, D, and F – giving a
minimum project time of 7 months with fast tracking. Activity E is sub-critical, and has
a float of 1 month.
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Creating a PERT Chart

A flowchart is used to depict the Project Evaluation Review Technique. Nodes represent
the events, indicating the start or end of the activities. The directorial lines indicate the
tasks that need to be completed, and the arrows show the sequence of the activities.
There are four definitions of time needed to finish an activity:
1. Optimistic time – The least amount of time to complete a task
2. Pessimistic time – The maximum amount of time to complete a task
3. Most likely time – Assuming there are no problems, it is the best estimate of how
long it would take to complete a task.
4. Expected time – Assuming there are problems, it is the best estimate of how long it
would take to complete a task.
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Terms used in a PERT chart:

Float/Slack – Refers to the amount of time a task can be delayed without resulting in an
overall delay to other tasks or the project
Critical Path – Indicates the longest possible continuous path from the start to the end
of a task or event
Critical Path Activity – Refers to an activity without slack
Lead Time – Refers to the time taken between the start and completion of an operation
or project. The term is commonly used in supply chain management, – Refers to the
amount of time needed to finish a task without affecting subsequent tasks
Lag Time – The earliest time by which a successor event can follow another event
Fast Tracking – Refers to handling tasks or activities in parallel
Crashing Critical Path – Shortening the amount of time to do a critical task
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To implement a PERT chart:

1. Identify the different tasks needed to complete a project. Make sure to add these in
the right order and indicate the duration of each task.
2. Create a network diagram. Use arrows to represent the activities and nodes as
milestones.
3. Determine the critical path and possible hack.
Project Management for IT

Advantages of PERT
Here are several benefits of using PERT in project management:
1. It helps maximize the use of resources.
2. It makes project planning more manageable.
3. It’s useful even if there is little or no previous schedule data.
4. It enables project managers to determine a more definite completion data.
Disadvantages of PERT
Like any other method, PERT comes with its share of limitations:
5. In complex projects, many find PERT hard to interpret, so they also use a Gantt Chart another
popular method for project management.
6. It can be tedious to update, modify and maintain the PERT diagram.
7. It entails a subjective time analysis of activities, and for those who are less experienced or
biased, it may affect the project’s schedule.
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Define the critical path ?

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