Project

Management

By Dr Aatma Maharajh
 Learning Objectives

What is Project Management?

Outline Effective and Ineffective Project Management

Project Phases

PERT and CPM

Learning Objectives
• Recall what is a project and a project’s phase
• Recall what is project management
• Summarise project management phases
• Identify a projects milestones, major and minor tasks
• Develop GANTT Charts and Network Diagrams
• Analyse Network Diagrams using PERT and CPM Techniques
Recall
High
Continuous
Production

Mass Production
Volume

Batch
Production

Project

Low Standardization High

 Concept Customer
Feasibility Study
Development Requirements

Solution
Project Phases Prototype Design
Development

Build Test Transition

Milestones
Lessons Learnt Commissioning
Source: PMBOK 6 Ed (2017, p 20)
th Review
 “… the application of
knowledge, skills, tools and
techniques to project activities to
meet the project requirements.”
What Is Project
Management? - PMBOK Guide - 6th Ed (2017)
 Class exercise:

Importance of Can you think of any

Project benefits/drawbacks of
Management effective/ineffective
project management?
 Meet Meet business objectives

Satisfy Satisfy stakeholder expectations

Effective Project
Management
Be Be more predictable

Increase Increase chances of success

 Deliver Deliver the right products at the right time

Resolve Resolve problems and issues

Respond Respond to risks in a timely manner

Effective Project
Management
Optimise Optimise the use of organisational resources
 Identify,
recover, or Identify, recover, or terminate failing projects
terminate

Manage Manage constraints

Balance the influence of constraints on a the

Balance
project
Effective Project
Management
Manage Manage change in a better manner
Ineffective Project Management

Missed deadlines Cost Overruns Poor Quality Rework

Ineffective Project Management

Uncontrolled expansion of the Loss of reputation for the Unsatisfied Stakeholders Failure in achieve the
project organisation objectives for which the
project was undertaken

(PMBOK 6th Ed, 2017, p.10)

Project Management Phases

Planning Scheduling Controlling

(Heizer, Render & Munson, 2017)

Project Management Phases

Planning Scheduling Controlling

• Goal Setting • Sequence Activities • Monitor Resources, cost
• Defining the Project • Assign People and quality
• Develop Work • Schedule Deliverables • Revise and change plans
Breakdown Structure • Schedule Resources • Shift resources
• Team Organisation
Planning Phase
• Project Organisation: An organization formed to ensure that programs
(projects) receive the proper management and attention.

• In UTT, we have our Capital Projects Unit that oversees major

construction projects and repairs
Planning Phase
• Project Organisations are most useful when:
• Work tasks can be defined with a specific goal and deadline.
• The job is unique or somewhat unfamiliar to the existing organization.
• The work contains complex interrelated tasks requiring specialized skills.
• The project is temporary but critical to the organization.
• The project cuts across organizational lines.
Project Manager: Definition and Function
• The person assigned by the performing organisation to lead the team
that is responsible for achieving the project objectives.
1. all necessary activities are finished in proper sequence and on time;
2. the project comes in within budget;
3. the project meets its quality goals;
4. the people assigned to the project receive the motivation, direction, and
information needed to do their jobs.
 Work
Breakdown
Structure

Source: https://www.workbreakdownstructure.com/, cited: 02/02/2021

Scheduling Phase - Purpose
1. It shows the relationship of each activity to others and to the whole project.
2. It identifies the precedence relationships among activities.
3. It encourages the setting of realistic time and cost estimates for each activity.
4. It helps make better use of people, money, and material resources by
identifying critical bottlenecks in the project.
(Heizer, Render & Munson, 2017, p. 65)
Scheduling Phase – Gantt Chart
• Planning charts used to schedule resources and allocate time. \
• Helps managers to make sure that:
• Activities are planned,
• Order of performance is documented,
• Activity time estimates are recorded, and
• Overall project time is developed.
 Gantt Chart

Source:
https://www.teamgantt.com/free-gantt-chart-excel-template,
Controlling
• Constant monitoring of project

• Ease of control directly related to planning and scheduling phases.

• Use of Software to aid in monitoring (e.g. MS Projects)

Project Management Techniques: PERT and
CPM
• Programme Evaluation Review Technique (PERT): A project
management technique that employs three time estimates for each
activity.

• Critical Path Method (CPM): The computed longest time path(s)

through a network.
The Framework of PERT and CPM
1. Define the project and prepare the work breakdown structure.
2. Develop the relationships among the activities. Decide which activities must
precede and which must follow others.
3. Draw the network connecting all the activities.
4. Assign time and/or cost estimates to each activity.
5. Compute the longest time path through the network. This is called the critical path .
6. Use the network to help plan, schedule, monitor, and control the project.
(Heizer, Render & Munson, 2017)
Importance of PERT and CPM
1. When will the entire project be completed?
2. What are the critical activities or tasks in the project—that is, which
activities will delay the entire project if they are late?
3. Which are the noncritical activities—the ones that can run late without
delaying the whole project’s completion?
4. What is the probability that the project will be completed by a specific date?
Importance of PERT and CPM
5. At any particular date, is the project on schedule, behind schedule, or ahead of
schedule?
6. On any given date, is the money spent equal to, less than, or greater than the
budgeted amount?
7. Are there enough resources available to finish the project on time?
8. If the project is to be finished in a shorter amount of time, what is the best way
to accomplish this goal at the least cost?
Network Diagrams
• A graphical representation of the
logical relationships among the
project schedule activities.
(PMBOK 6th Ed, 2017, pp. 717)

Source: https://www.wrike.com/project-management-guide/faq/what-is-a-
network-diagram-in-project-management/, cited: 02/02/21
Types of Network Diagrams
• Activity-on-Node (AON): A network diagram in which nodes designate
activities.

• Activity-on-Arrow (AOA): A network diagram in which arrows

designate activities.
Network Diagrams (Example 1)
Activity Description Immediate Predecessors
A Build internal components -
B Modify roof and floor -
C Construct collection stack A
D Pour concrete and install frame A,B
E Build high-temperature burner C
F Install pollution control system C
G Install air pollution device D,E
H Inspect and test F,G
Network Diagram (AON)
F

A C E G

STAR
T

B D
Network Diagram (AOA)
C
2 4
A F

Dummy H
1 Activity E 6 7

B
G
D
3 5
Critical Path Analysis
Activity Description Time (Weeks)
A Build internal components 2
B Modify roof and floor 3
C Construct collection stack 2
D Pour concrete and install frame 4
E Build high-temperature burner 4
F Install pollution control system 3
G Install air pollution device 5
H Inspect and test 2
Total Time (Weeks) 25
Determining the Project Schedule
• This is done using critical path analysis
• Earliest start (ES) = earliest time at which an activity can start, assuming all
predecessors have been completed
• Earliest finish (EF) = earliest time at which an activity can be finished
• Latest start (LS) = latest time at which an activity can start to not delay the completion
time of the entire project
• Latest finish (LF) = latest time by which an activity must finish to not delay the
completion time of the entire project
 Activity Name
or Symbol
Notation
Early Start Early Finish
A
ES EF

LS LF
2
Late Start Late Finish

Activity
Duration
Forward vs Backward Pass
• Forward Pass: A process that identifies all the early times.

• Backwards Pass: An activity that finds all the late start and late finish
times.
FORWARD PASS
• Calculated using the following:
• If an activity has only a single immediate predecessor, its ES equals the EF of
the predecessor.
• If an activity has multiple immediate predecessors, its ES is the maximum of all
EF values of its predecessors
Backward Pass
• Calculated using the following:
• If an activity is an immediate predecessor for just a single activity, its LF equals
the LS of the activity that immediately follows it.
• If an activity is an immediate predecessor to more than one activity, its LF is
the minimum of all LS values of all activities that immediately follow it.
Slack Times
• Free time for an activity. Also referred to as free float or free slack.

• Calculated using the following:

Class Exercise (Example 2)

Determine Critical Path for Previous Example.

Example 2 (To do at Home)
Activity Description Immediate Predecessors Time (Weeks)
A Build internal components - 2
B Modify roof and floor - 3
C Construct collection stack A 2
D Pour concrete and install frame A,B 4
E Build high-temperature burner C 4
F Install pollution control system C 3
G Install air pollution device D,E 5
H Inspect and test F,G 2
Total Time (Weeks) 25
Analysing Cost-Time Trade-offs
• Normal Time (NT) - the time necessary to complete an activity under normal
conditions.
• Normal Cost (NC) - the activity cost associated with the normal time.
• Crash Time (CT) - the shortest possible time to complete an
• activity.
• Crash Cost (CC) - the activity cost associated with the crash
• time.
Analysing Cost-Time Trade-offs

𝐶𝐶− 𝑁𝐶
𝐶𝑜𝑠𝑡𝑡𝑜 𝐶𝑟𝑎𝑠h =
𝑁𝑇 −𝐶𝑇
Minimizing Costs
• Minimum-Cost Schedule - A schedule determined by starting with the
normal time schedule and crashing activities along the critical path, in
such a way that the costs of crashing do not exceed the savings in
indirect and penalty costs.

• NB: We will look at an example during the tutorial session.

Advantages of PERT and CPM
• Especially useful when scheduling and controlling large projects.
• Straightforward concept and not mathematically complex.
• Graphical networks help highlight relationships among project
activities.
• Critical path and slack time analyses help pinpoint activities that need
to be closely watched.
Advantages of PERT and CPM
• Project documentation and graphs point out who is responsible for
various activities.
• Applicable to a wide variety of projects.
• Useful in monitoring not only schedules but costs as well.
Limitations of PERT and CPM
• Project activities must be clearly defined, independent, and stable in their relationships.
• Precedence relationships must be specified and networked together.
• Time estimates tend to be subjective and are subject to fudging by managers who fear
the dangers of being overly optimistic or not pessimistic enough.
• There is the inherent danger of placing too much emphasis on the longest, or critical,
path. Near-critical paths need to be monitored closely as well.
Thank You!

Any Questions?
References
• Project Management Institute (2017) A Guide to the project management
knowledge: PMBOK Guide (6th Ed), Project Management Institute, IL:USA

• Heizer, J., Render, B., Munson, C. (2017) Operations Management: Sustainability

and Supply Chain Management (12th Ed), Pearson, USA