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Project Time Management The Project Management Cer8ficate Program

1 ©2014 Interna8onal Ins8tute for Learning, Inc.

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Project Time Management

2

The Project Management Cer8ficate Program

©2014 Interna8onal Ins8tute for Learning, Inc.


Participant’s Notes:

The Project Management Cer8ficate Program Project Time Management

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Participant’s Notes: Review these learning objec8ves carefully.

The learning content contained within this module is based on these learning objec8ves.

At the end of this module or the end of the course, you should be able to answer quiz or test ques8ons related to these learning objec8ves.

If you are par8cipa8ng in this course for cer8fica8on, you will be beOer prepared to pass a cer8fica8on exam by recalling these learning objec8ves.


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Participant’s Notes: Project Time Management includes the processes required to manage the 8mely comple8on of the project.

PMBOK® Guide – FiSh Edi8on, Glossary

The seven processes of Project Time Management typically begin aSer the project team has ini8ated the project planning effort and the scope has been reasonably developed. The Project Time Management processes add the element of how 8me will be managed to the project management plan. It also describes how the schedule will be developed, maintained and controlled.


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Participant’s Notes: The PMBOK® Guide – FiSh Edi8on describes the key benefit of this process as “providing guidance on how the schedule will be managed.”

PMBOK® Guide – FiSh Edi8on, p. 145


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Participant’s Notes: The PMBOK® Guide – FiSh Edi8on defines the following for this first Project Time Management process:

Inputs

•  Project management plan •  Project charter

•  Enterprise environmental factors

•  Organiza8onal process assets Tools & Techniques

•  Expert judgment

•  Analy8cal techniques •  Mee8ngs

Outputs

•  Schedule management plan


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Participant’s Notes: The project management plan feeds input into the 8me management process such as es8ma8ng dura8ons and resources, as well as how risks will be managed and required reports.


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Participant’s Notes: Rules of performance measurement include:

•  Which percentage complete to use? •  What control accounts to roll data into?

•  What earned value measurement techniques to use?

•  What tolerance intervals should be used?


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The PMBOK® Guide – FiSh Edi8on describes the key benefit of this process as “breaking down work packages into ac8vi8es.”


There is oSen confusion between ac8vi8es and work packages. To clarify, work packages are the lowest level of the WBS. Once you move the WBS into a schedule, they may further be broken down into ac8vi8es. Whether work packages or ac8vi8es are the lowest level of the schedule, this is the level at which es8ma8ng takes place. Ac8vi8es represent the work of the project.

Many 8mes, soSware such as MicrosoS® Project, Primavera and Artemis (just to name a few) are used to collect the ac8vity list, es8mates, dependencies and resources. These scheduling ar8facts are later developed into a model of the project. Defining the ac8vi8es is the first step in working with project schedules as defined in the ac8on steps below.

Ac8on steps:

•  Setup the scheduling tool’s op8ons

•  Enter Ac8vi8es and Enter Dependencies •  Enter Es8mates

•  Enter and Assign Resources

•  Enter Deadlines/Constraints •  Level and op8mize (schedule compression) to hit the deadlines/constraints

•  Gain Agreement on the Schedule •  Baseline Schedule

•  Enter Actual informa8on on start and finish dates and dura8ons

•  Report variances


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Participant’s Notes: The PMBOK® Guide – FiSh Edi8on defines the following for the second Project Time Management process:

Inputs

•  Schedule management plan •  Scope baseline

•  Enterprise environmental factors


•  Decomposi8on

•  Rolling wave planning •  Expert judgment

Outputs

•  Ac8vity list •  Ac8vity aOributes

•  Milestone list


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Participant’s Notes: A prac8cal considera8on in decomposi8on to the ac8vity level is to determine the appropriate ac8vity list. It must be defined in sufficient detail to assign ac8vi8es to resources that will perform the work, as well as enable the project management team to control the project, during execu8on.

Ac8vity aOributes extend the descrip8on of the ac8vity by iden8fying the mul8ple components associated with each ac8vity, which may include, but are not limited to:

•  Ac8vity ID •  WBS ID

•  Ac8vity name

•  Ac8vity codes •  Ac8vity descrip8on

•  Ac8vity predecessor and successor ac8vi8es, logical rela8onships, leads and lags

•  Ac8vity resource requirements

•  Ac8vity schedule dates

•  Ac8vity constraints and assump8ons Adapted from: PMBOK® Guide – FiSh Edi8on,

p. 153


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Participant’s Notes: The ac8vity list should include enough detail that the performers can successfully complete the work of the project. It should also be at a level that es8ma8ng resources and dura8ons can take place.

Ac8vity aOributes include a descrip8on of skills required, work es8mates, dependencies and other ar8facts to help the performer understand the work that needs to be done.

Milestones represent significant events in the life of a project. Typically they are markers that signify repor8ng points, beginning and ending of units of work and are a defined moment in 8me that requires no work and takes no dura8on. Frequently milestones are used to present a high level picture of the projects progression.


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The PMBOK® Guide – FiSh Edi8on describes the key benefit of this process as “defining the logical sequence of work.”


In building the logic of the scheduling model, place one milestone at the beginning (represen8ng the start of the project) and one milestone at the end (represen8ng the end of the project). All the tasks between the beginning and ending milestone should be connected with logical dependencies. This creates a complete network. Without a complete network of dependencies, it makes it very difficult to understand the logic of the model or to trace the cri8cal path. If the scheduler can’t think of a successor to a task it should be connected to the final milestone.

Different scheduling soSware packages have specific rules on dependencies. OSen in these packages, if a complete network is not present subsequent tasks will not respond to changes in preceding tasks. MicrosoS® Project doesn’t require a single star8ng milestone. It allows for mul8ple star8ng points, but requires a single ending point. Primavera requests a single milestone at the beginning and ending of the schedule.

Logical Dependencies relate to the predecessor (driving) and successor (driven) tasks that determine the order in which tasks are to be done. Resource dependencies are created when you level a schedule to allow for resource availabili8es.

Some tasks may not require logical dependencies. Examples include resource dependencies, recurring tasks that are short in dura8on and are 8me dependent rather than task dependent and hammock tasks that are 8ed to a series of tasks by the start of one task and the end of another task.




Participant’s Notes: The PMBOK® Guide – FiSh Edi8on defines the following for the third Project Time Management process:

Inputs

•  Schedule management plan •  Ac8vity list

•  Ac8vity aOributes

•  Milestone list •  Project scope statement

•  Enterprise environmental factors •  Organiza8onal process assets

Tools & Techniques

•  Precedence diagramming method (PDM) •  Dependency determina8on

•  Leads and lags Outputs

•  Project schedule network diagrams

•  Project documents updates


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Participant’s Notes: Once the method and the tool are indicated the project manager will combine these with the project data and create a model of the project. The end product of this effort is the project schedule.


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Participant’s Notes: In the Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM), there is a start and finish point with all ac8vi8es taking place in between. The nodes, iden8fied by the leOers in boxes, are the ac8vi8es to be performed.

Precedence diagramming method (PDM) is the network logic diagram method of choice today. PDM is used in the Cri8cal Path Method (CPM) when sequencing ac8vi8es to diagram a project schedule network. The ac8vi8es are connected by arrows that show the logical rela8onships that exist between the ac8vi8es.

This diagramming method is also referred to as Ac8vity-‐On-‐Node (AON) diagram. It can u8lize lags, leads and all four types of dependencies to be discussed in the following material.

Historical Note: One type of diagramming method rarely used today is called the Arrow Diagramming Method (ADM), also known as Ac8vity-‐On-‐Arrow. Here the ac8vi8es are listed on the arrows and the nodes serve as connecters. This method only uses the Finish-‐to-‐Start dependencies (sequen8al logic) and may require the use of dummy ac8vi8es to complete the logic.


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Participant’s Notes: PDM includes four types of precedence rela8onships or logical dependencies. In PDM, finish-‐to-‐start (sequen8al dependency) is the most commonly used type of precedence rela8onship.

Finish-‐to-‐start. The ini8a8on of the successor ac8vity depends on the comple8on of the predecessor ac8vity

Finish-‐to-‐finish. The comple8on of the successor ac8vity depends upon the comple8on of the predecessor ac8vity

Start-‐to-‐start. The ini8a8on of the successor ac8vity depends upon the ini8a8on of the predecessor ac8vity

Start-‐to-‐finish. The comple8on of the successor ac8vity depends upon the start of the predecessor ac8vity


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Participant’s Notes: In addi8on to sequencing ac8vi8es using logical rela8onships, three types of dependencies are used to define the sequence among the ac8vi8es:

Mandatory dependencies are referred to as hard logic, and oSen involve physical limita8ons that makes it impossible to move forward without comple8on the predecessor ac8vity.

Discre5onary dependencies are referred to as preferred logic, preferen8al logic or soS logic. These dependencies should be fully documented, because they can create arbitrary total float values and can limit scheduling op8ons that may be posed later in the project life cycle.

External dependencies represent a rela8onship between project and non-‐project ac8vi8es. For example, delivery of compu8ng hardware from an external source is an external dependency for a soSware developing project’s tes8ng environment configura8on ac8vity.

Internal dependencies show the rela8onships between ac8vi8es within the project.


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Participant’s Notes: Lag. The amount of 8me whereby a successor ac8vity is required to be delayed with respect to a predecessor ac8vity.

Lead. The amount of 8me whereby a successor ac8vity can be advanced with respect to a predecessor ac8vity.


The use of leads and lags should not replace schedule logic; however, it may be necessary to use lead or lag 8me between ac8vi8es to support a realis8c project schedule.


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Participant’s Notes: A project schedule network diagram is a graphical representa8on of the logical rela8onships among the project schedule ac8vi8es.



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Participant’s Notes: The PMBOK® Guide – FiSh Edi8on describes the key benefit of this process as “iden8fying the resources to help with es8ma8ng cost and dura8on.”


Es8mate Ac8vity Resources process is necessary for the Es8mate Ac8vity Dura8on process since that process depends on es8mates from the resources that are going to do the work. Resources are also closely related to the process Es8mate Costs.

Resource es8mates will be affected by the availability of resources to do the work, skill level required and cost.


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Participant’s Notes: The PMBOK® Guide – FiSh Edi8on defines the following for the fourth Project Time Management process:

Inputs



•  Resource calendars •  Risk register

•  Ac8vity cost es8mates •  Enterprise environmental factors


•  Expert judgment

•  Alterna8ve analysis

•  Published es8ma8ng data •  BoOom-‐up es8ma8ng

•  Project management soSware Outputs


•  Resource breakdown structure


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Participant’s Notes: The amount of detail and the level of specificity of the resource required can vary by applica8on area. Resource requirements should include:

•  The basis of the es8mate for each resource

•  The type of resource

•  The quan88es needed

•  The availability or when the resources will be needed

•  Working assump8ons

Snyder, Cynthia Stackpole, A User’s Manual to the PMBOK® Guide, John Wiley and Sons 2013, p. 67


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Participant’s Notes: These tools and techniques applied to the inputs are intended to produce ac8vity resource requirements, a resource breakdown structure (RBS), and informa8on required to update project documenta8on.


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Participant’s Notes: A resource breakdown structure is similar to an organiza8onal chart, except the rela8onships diagrammed reflect the repor8ng of stakeholders on a project as opposed to formal repor8ng rela8onships.


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Participant’s Notes: The PMBOK® Guide – FiSh Edi8on describes the key benefit of this process as “providing the 8me each ac8vity will take to complete.”


Dura8ons are arrived at by determining who is going to do the work, how much effort is required, the cost of the applied resources and the resource’s availability. Here we are referring to all types of resources applied. Human, equipment, material, machinery, facili8es, cost, etc.


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The PMBOK® Guide – FiSh Edi8on defines the following for the fiSh Project Time Management process:

Inputs



•  Ac8vity resource requirements •  Resource calendars

•  Project scope statement •  Risk register

•  Resource breakdown structure

•  Enterprise environmental factors •  Organiza8onal process assets

Tools & Techniques

•  Expert judgment •  Analogous es8ma8ng

•  Parametric es8ma8ng •  Three-‐point es8ma8ng

•  Group decision-‐making techniques

•  Reserve analysis Outputs

•  Ac8vity dura8on es8mates






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Participant’s Notes: There is a difference between effort and dura8on. Effort, according to the PMBOK® Guide – FiSh Edi8on, is the number of labor units required to complete a schedule ac8vity or work breakdown structure component, oSen expressed in hours, days, or weeks.

Contrasted with effort, dura8on is the total number of work periods (not including holidays or other non-‐working periods) required to complete a schedule ac8vity or work breakdown structure component. It is usually expressed as workdays or workweeks.


One of the necessary inputs for analysis is the dura8on es8mate for each ac8vity. Knowledge of when an ac8vity can start, plus its dura8on, allows you to calculate when it will finish. The dura8on es8mate for each ac8vity is added to the network diagram. This allows you to determine the start and finish dates for each ac8vity.


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Participant’s Notes: Expert judgment can provide dura8on es8mate informa8on or recommended maximum ac8vity dura8ons from similar projects.

Analogous es8ma8ng uses parameters such as dura8on, budget, size, weight, and complexity from previous, similar projects to es8mate the dura8on of the current project.

Parametric es8ma8ng uses a sta8s8cal rela8onship between historical data and other variables to calculate an es8mate for ac8vity parameters, i.e., cost, budget, and dura8on.


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Three-‐Point Es5mates using a Beta Distribu5on:

Three(3)-‐point es8mates were first used by the government and a contrac8ng firm for a defense weapons program. The technique is called the Program Evalua8on and Review Technique (PERT). The resul8ng es8mate is a rough sta8s8cal representa8on of the mean of a beta 8me distribu8on weighted towards the most likely informa8on using the formula shown. Its use is appropriate when there is uncertainty (risk) and varia8on associated with es8mates for the ac8vity. PERT analysis calculates an Expected (tE) ac8vity dura8on using a weighted average of these three es8mates:

tO + 4tM + tP

(tE) = -‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐

6

The standard devia8on for the adapted beta distribu8on formula above is:

Tp -‐ tO

(tσ) = -‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐-‐

6

Three-‐Point Es5mates using a Triangular Distribu5on:

This calcula8on needs to be performed using the three es8mates of the ac8vity dura8on and is used in planning the project schedule.

Triangular es8ma8ng, an alterna8ve three-‐point es8ma8ng, averages Op8mis8c, Pessimis8c and Most Like es8mates. Its intent is to provide a close approxima8on of the sta8s8cal mean of a triangular distribu8on instead of a beta distribu8on, as shown.

+ ML + P




Participant’s Notes: Dura8on es8mates do not include lag 8me that is needed in between ac8vi8es.

Ac8vity Dura8on es8mates include some indica8on of range of possible results. For example: Developing a design document may take 2 workweeks +/-‐ 2 days; or there is a low probability, 10%, that the ac8vity will take more than 2 workweeks.

Project documents that may need to be updated include, but are not limited to the ac8vity aOributes and assump8ons that were documented when engaged in the ac8vity to es8mate dura8ons.

Adapted from Snyder, Cynthia Stackpole, A User’s Manual to the PMBOK® Guide, John Wiley

and Sons 2013, p. 72


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The PMBOK® Guide – FiSh Edi8on describes the key benefit of this process as “genera8ng planned dates for comple8ng project ac8vi8es.”


In this process, all the major outputs from the previous processes are used to assemble a project schedule. The ini8al schedule can be based on dura8ons and dependencies. This is the best es8mate of what the Subject MaOer Experts (SMEs) think it will take to complete the project. ASer the ini8al schedule is developed you may need to level the schedule based on resources constraints and availability. OSen 8mes you will need to use schedule compression techniques to reduce the dura8on to meet imposed deadlines. This is an itera8ve process.

There are many reasons people prepare schedules for projects. Four of the most compelling are:

•  To sell upper management on an idea. To do so may require a high-‐level view of the cost and 8me required.

•  To delegate. When you have a detailed WBS, you can more easily assign ac8vi8es to team members.

•  To effec8vely track progress by entering the current status of ac8vi8es into the schedule. •  To forecast the project end date and total cost.

Adapted from: Dynamic Scheduling with MicrosoA® Project 2010 by Rodolfo Ambriz, PMP, PMI-‐SP, PMI-‐RMP, MCTS, MCITP and John White, MA, PMP, MCT, MCP, MCTS, MCITP



The PMBOK® Guide – FiSh Edi8on defines the following for the sixth Project Time Management process:

Inputs



•  Project schedule network diagrams •  Ac8vity resource requirements

•  Resource calendars •  Ac8vity dura8on es8mates

•  Project scope statement

•  Risk register •  Project staff assignments

•  Resource breakdown structure •  Enterprise environmental factors

•  Organiza8onal process assets

•  Tools & Techniques ―  Schedule network analysis ―  Cri8cal path method

―  Cri8cal chain method

―  Resource op8miza8on techniques ― Modeling techniques

―  Lead and lags ―  Schedule compression

―  Scheduling tool •  Outputs ―  Schedule baseline ―  Project schedule ―  Schedule data ―  Project calendars ―  Project management plan updates

―  Project documents updates



The cri8cal path is determined by logical dependencies, it does not consider resource dependencies. The Cri5cal Path Method (CPM) assumes unlimited resources. This means that resource dependencies (leveling delays) are not highlighted as driving forces in the schedule. This can lead to delays in the schedule do to changes in resource assignments or availability.

SoSware applica8ons also do a forward and backward pass

The forward and backward pass calculate the following items on each ac8vity:

Total Float (ac8vi8es with zero total float are considered cri8cal).

Free Float

Early Start, Early Finish, Late Start and Late Finish.

•  Free float: The amount of 8me that a schedule ac8vity can be delayed without delaying the early start date of any successor or viola8ng a schedule constraint.

•  Total float: The amount of 8me that a schedule ac8vity can be delayed or extended from its early start date without delaying the project finish date or viola8ng a schedule constraint.

Calcula8ng total float:

late start – early start (or late finish – early finish)

Slack and Float are synonymous terms. Nega8ve Float occurs when you have a deadline or constraint before (earlier than) the scheduled comple8on of the project schedule. Ac8vi8es with nega8ve float are considered cri8cal since you have already missed a deadline. Also, some8mes you will see Total Float referred to as just Float.

The cri8cal paths is the path with the least amount of float. Usually zero float.




Participant’s Notes: To determine the project cri8cal path, it is necessary to perform a forward pass and a backward pass through the network. The forward pass will iden8fy the early start and early finish 8mes. The backward pass will iden8fy the late start and late finish 8mes.

These processes are needed to be able to calculate the float on each ac8vity.

Let’s take a closer look.


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A forward pass is performed from leS to right through the network. This process will iden8fy the early start and early finish for each ac8vity. Start with one for the first ac8vi8es to get the ini8al early start dates, and then add the dura8on to the early start and subtract one to get the early finish for each ac8vity.

In the forward pass process, the greater value of the early finish for all predecessors is always used (and incremented by one) when mul8ple predecessors converge onto one successor. Remember: the predecessor’s early finish is incremented by one to get the early start for the successor.

The early finish for the last ac8vity in the network is also the project dura8on. Therefore the dura8on for the schedule network shown is 24 work periods.

SPECIAL NOTE: In previous edi8ons of this course, we used the following method for the forward pass:

A forward pass is performed from leS to right through the network. This process will iden8fy the early start and early finish for each ac8vity. Start with zero for the first ac8vi8es to get the ini8al early start dates, and then add the dura8on to the early start to get the early finish for each ac8vity. In the forward pass process, the greater value of the early finish for all predecessors is always used when mul8ple predecessors converge onto one successor. The early finish for the last ac8vity in the network is also the project dura8on. Therefore the dura8on for the schedule network shown is 24 work periods. (See the inset on the slide)

Because the PMBOK® Guide – FiSh Edi8on, p. 177 demonstrates the forward pass in the manner we focus on in this slide…we will use this method to teach the forward pass. The results of using one method or the other are the same, with the excep8on of the early start.



A backward pass is performed star8ng from right to leS. It will determine the late start and late finish for each ac8vity. Start by inheri8ng the early finish for the late finish in the last ac8vity (J), and then subtract the dura8on from the late finish (and add one) for the late start. The lesser value of all successor tasks that converge from a predecessor (and decremented by one) is used as the late finish for the predecessor, as in ac8vity B. Remember: the successor’s late start is decremented by one to get the late finish for the predecessor.

SPECIAL NOTE: In previous edi8ons of this course we used the following method for the backward pass:

A backward pass is performed star8ng from right to leS. It will determine the late start and late finish for each ac8vity. Start by inheri8ng the early finish for the late finish in the last ac8vity (J), and then subtract the dura8on from the late finish for the late start. The lesser value of all successor tasks that converge from a predecessor is used as the late finish for the predecessor, as in ac8vity B. (See the inset on the slide.)

Because the PMBOK® Guide – FiSh Edi8on, p. 177 demonstrates the backward pass in the manner shown on in this slide we will use this method to teach the backward pass. The results of using one method or the other are the same, with the excep8on of the late start.



The float, denoted in parenthesis, is the amount of 8me you can delay a task without affec8ng the project end date. Float (or Total Slack, Slack or Total Float) can then be calculated as follows:

Total float = Late finish – Early finish

or

Total float = Late start – Early start

Calculate the total float using both formulas as a way of checking for errors. The number should be the same whether using start or finish date formulas. A difference greater than zero indicate tasks that have slack. Zero indicates no slack and a “cri8cal ac8vity”. Less than zero or nega8ve slack are ac8vi8es that do not meet the project deadline and are also cri8cal. The cri8cal path is comprised of all ac8vi8es that have the least amount of float.

Note: Scheduling soSware considers two other elements that were not taken into considera8on during this demonstra8on of the forward pass and backward pass.

1.  The demonstra8on assumed that everyday was a working day. In a scheduling tool, the precedence diagram will take into considera8on weekends and non-‐working days.

2.  Scheduling tools will also consider the length of each month. Had this demonstra8on been done on a project covering the month of February there would be only 28 days in the month. This demonstra8on was considering only days, not dates.

To replicate the demonstra8on in a scheduling tool:

1.  Set the project start date to 1/1/XX.

2.  Create a project calendar that has no holidays and shows all seven days of the week as working.

3.  Insert columns for Early Start, Early Finish, Late Start, Late Finish and Total Slack.



The cri8cal chain approach to project management is based on the theory of constraints (TOC), a management philosophy developed and promoted by Eliyahu M. GoldraO. TOC began in manufacturing where the objec8ve is to produce more items in less 8me through the effec8ve use of resources and 8me.

Cri8cal chain is used in the project environment to iden8fy the project’s schedule constraint and determine how to “elevate” or in some way improve the situa8on to relieve or eliminate the constraint.

TOC differs from the tradi8onal cri8cal path method by focusing on the series of ac8vi8es in a project schedule that becomes the cri8cal chain aSer all resource issues have been addressed.

Drum resource: The boOleneck which is used to schedule an en8re project team. Also refers to the boOleneck work sta8on. This resource availability is used to stagger the start of projects. It should be the most highly used resource, and one that is not easy to elevate.

Drum Buffer: Buffer placed in the project plan immediately in front of the first use of the drum resource in a project. Its purpose is to enable project accelera8on if the drum resource is available early. Drum buffers are used in a porzolio environment.

•  Add buffers that are non-‐work schedule ac8vi8es to manage uncertainty.

A project buffer is at the end of the cri8cal chain and protects the target finish from slippage A feeding buffer is placed at each point that a chain of dependency ac8vi8es that feeds into the

cri8cal chain and protects slippage along the feeding chains •  Determine the size of the buffer based on dura8on uncertainty in the cri8cal chain.

•  Plan for latest possible start and finish dates and focuses on managing buffer dura8ons. The theory of constraints addresses two major project management goals:

•  Comple8ng projects more quickly

•  Funneling more projects through the organiza8on without adding resources. To reduce project cycle 8me and deliver projects more quickly, cri8cal chain focuses on the longest



There are several 8mes during the life of a project that the team will need to reduce the dura8on of the project. They include:

1.  If aSer building an unconstrained schedule (based on SME’s es8mates and the order in which the tasks need to be done), a shorter dura8on deadline needs to be met.

2.  Once the schedule is baselined and updates start to move the schedule off the baseline, the project team may need to re-‐plan ( compress) the schedule to get back on the baseline.

3.  If resources become over-‐allocated and need to be leveled. Leveling may move the schedule off the baseline and require op8miza8on (compression). To reduce the dura8on of a project, you have to reduce the dura8on of ac8vi8es on the cri8cal path. Reducing the dura8on of non-‐cri8cal tasks only adds more float to these tasks.

Schedule Compression is divided into two broad categories, Crashing and Fast tracking. In the simplest terms, crashing is throwing money (resources) at the schedule to reduce dura8on. Fast tracking is overlapping tasks to reduce dura8on. A combina8on of these techniques may also offer a workable solu8on.

More specific techniques to compress the project schedule include: 1.  Using leads and parallelism with serial ac8vi8es 2.  Breaking down a long ac8vity and reassigning the smaller ac8vi8es to other resources 3.  Removing or changing constraints 4.  Reducing scope 5.  Adding more resources 6.  Working resources over8me 7.  Spli{ng ac8vi8es around constrained ac8vi8es 8.  Ge{ng an updated es8mate from the SME 9.  U8lizing a newer 8me-‐saving technology 10.  Elimina8ng non-‐value add ac8vi8es




Participant’s Notes: During execu8on, if schedule slippage is encountered, there are a few sanc8oned compression techniques to consider.

Crashing adds over8me or addi8onal people to the project.

Fast-‐tracking adjusts the schedule so that work that was ini8ally intended to be done in sequence is worked concurrently or in parallel.

Any 8me a project manager applies one of these techniques, he or she should also assess the risk of doing so, and convey that informa8on to the stakeholders.


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You may be required to work a crashing problem on the PMP exam. If so, it will be a "least-‐cost" crashing problem. The goal in these type of problems is to get the maximum amount of compression for minimum addi8onal cost.

Steps:

Build a network diagram from table 1.

Iden8fy the cri8cal ac8vi8es in diagram 2.

Calculate a crashing cost per unit (cri8cal ac8vi8es) in table 3.

Calculate the benefit in 8me per unit (cri8cal ac8vi8es) in table 3.

Iden8fy the lowest crashing cost per ac8vity

As each change is made, ensure that the cri8cal path has not changed.

7. Calculate the total cost of crashing and the benefit gained.

For the problems on the exam, this would be sufficient. In a work environment, you would want to evaluate each change and its impact on the compe8ng constraints.

In the example above:

Assuming that the cri8cal path doesn’t change….A,F, E and B would be crashed in that order. The crashing cost would increase from $120,000 to $157,000 (net increase of $37,500). The dura8on would be decreased from twenty-‐three weeks to fiSeen weeks.

Crashing the non-‐cri8cal ac8vi8es would increase the cost of the project by $7,500 without reducing the total project 8me.




Participant’s Notes: Develop Schedule Outputs:

Milestone chart, bar chart or network diagram can be very effec8ve in displaying the project schedule.

•  Graphic approach (picture) •  Easy to read and understand

A schedule baseline is a specific version of the project schedule developed from the schedule network analysis.

Schedule data for the project schedule includes at least the schedule milestones, schedule ac8vi8es, ac8vity aOributes, and documenta8on of all iden8fied assump8ons and constraints.

Project documenta8on updates include:



•  Calendar •  Risk register


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Participant’s Notes: The PMBOK® Guide – FiSh Edi8on describes the key benefit of this process as “recognizing devia8on from the plan and taking appropriate ac8ons.”


Schedule control is concerned with:

•  Determining the current status of the project schedule

•  Influencing the factors that create schedule changes

•  Determining that the project schedule has changed

•  Managing the actual changes as they occur


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Participant’s Notes: The PMBOK® Guide – FiSh Edi8on defines the following for the seventh Project Time Management process: Inputs •  Project management plan •  Project schedule •  Work performance data •  Project calendars •  Schedule data •  Organiza8onal process assets

Tools & Techniques

•  Performance reviews •  Project management soSware •  Resource op8miza8on techniques •  Modeling techniques •  Lead and lags •  Schedule compression •  Scheduling tool

Outputs

•  Work performance informa8on •  Schedule forecasts •  Change requests •  Project management plan updates •  Project documents updates •  Organiza8onal process assets updates


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Performance reviews measure, compare, and analyze schedule performance. Project managers can develop project metrics that compare planned start vs. actual start dates, planned finish vs. actual finish, planned effort vs. actual effort and planned dura8on vs. actual dura8on. Using the planned vs. actual informa8on and analyzing the cri8cal path provides a good way to track performance

Variance analysis requires schedule performance measurements, i.e., Schedule Variance (SV) and Planned Value (PV), that are used to assess the magnitude of varia8on to the original schedule baseline. Comparing the planned vs. actual work and analyzing the impact to the cri8cal path (or cri8cal chain) the project manager can analyze the variance to determine if the schedule is within the defined control limits, or if it has reached or passed a threshold. If the schedule has exceeded the tolerance limits the project team will need to iden8fy the root cause of the variance in order to determine the appropriate ac8on.

PM SoSware and Scheduling Tools are used on most projects to track and measure progress against the baseline and performance metrics. Scheduling tools can also perform a ‘what-‐if analysis’ to iden8fy trends.

Resource op8miza8on techniques include, but are not limited to leveling, smoothing, realloca8on, etc.

Modeling techniques can include porzolio op8miza8on under resource constraints. The effect of changing out different resources can be seen in cost, composi8on of projects selected and dura8on of a project.

Lags and leads should not be used in place of logical dependencies between ac8vi8es, but can augment them to op8mize the project schedule or to model the project in a more effec8ve manner.

Frequently when we create the unconstrained schedule we need to compress the schedule to hit a deadline. We may also need to re-‐plan our schedule when we start collec8ng updates in order to stay on the baseline. In both these cases schedule compression techniques are useful.

Scheduling tools can facilitate the planning and analysis of project 8melines. They can automate the various calcula8ons to iden8fy the cri8cal path, slack, network logic, and slippage.



Maintaining the schedule baseline is important. Re-‐planning is the way to accomplish this.

Work performance measurements are the calculated SV and the Schedule Performance Index (SPI).

Organiza8onal process assets that could be updated are: causes of variances, correc8ve ac8on chosen and the ra8onale, and lessons learned.

Change requests could be generated by variance analysis, performance measures, or requests to change the schedule baseline or other components of the project plan. Change requests can include preven8ve and correc8ve ac8ons needed to bring and keep the schedule performance within the control limits.

Project plan updates may include, but are not limited to, schedule baseline, schedule management plan, or cost baseline.

Project document updates include, but are not limited to, a revised network diagram and/or schedule.

Schedule Forecasts allow project managers “drive the project by looking through the windshield rather than the rear-‐view mirror.” Earned Value calcula8ons that assist with this include Es8mate to Complete (ETC), Es8mate at Comple8on (EAC) and To Complete Performance Indicator (TCPI) and all of their varia8ons to reflect differing assump8ons.



HONESTY STANDARDS

We earnestly seek to understand the truth.

When we are asking for status informa8on from team members we need to make sure we are clear about the status of their work. Just because 50% of the 8me has passed does not mean 50% of the work is done.

We are truthful in our communica8ons and in our conduct.

When we report status we discuss the good work we have done as well as the challenges we face. We don’t hide bad news hoping the situa8on will improve.

We provide accurate informa8on in a 8mely manner.

When we determine that we may have a schedule variance we need to communicate the situa8on in a 8mely manner while there is s8ll 8me to take correc8ve ac8on to get the schedule back on track.

We make commitments and promises, implied or explicit, in good faith.

When we are building our schedules we do our best to build a realis8c schedule. We use good faith when nego8a8ng for resources and developing es8mates, but we are not overly aggressive and we don’t accept an unrealis8c schedule. If we are forced to work to an unrealis8c deadline we tell the truth about the risks involved.

We do not engage in or condone behavior that is designed to deceive others, including but not limited to, making misleading or false statements, sta8ng half-‐truths, providing informa8on out of context or withholding informa8on that, if known, would render our statements as misleading or incomplete.

Es8mates and schedules can be complex and sensi8ve aspects of the project. Regardless, we disclose all informa8on and are transparent in how we develop and manage the schedule.





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Project Time Management

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The Project Management Cer8ficate Program

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