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T10 cont: Project planning and scheduling (Five main steps to project…
T10 cont: Project planning and scheduling
Five main steps to project planning
Identify how the activities are related (network analysis)
Planning tools (p.527)
Gantt chart (bar chart)
Critical path method (CPM)
'Activity-on-node' method (AoN) see Fig 15.12
The activities that make up the longest path through the project represent the critical path and critical activities
Critical activities have no 'float'
Non-critical activities have 'float' which means they can move slightly without delaying the whole project
See Fig 15.13 for a Gantt Chart with critical path information included
Types of relationships
Independent / parallel
Dependent / series
Identify time constraints for work and resources
This will involve considering the critical path, float availability and resource availability to determine if the initial schedule will work
This now brings resources into the equation, staff / equipment / etc
Estimate times and resources for the activities
Probabilistic estimates, see Fig 15.10, p. 524
No way to get times perfect, need to be systematic best guess
Consolidate the network and set up schedules for time and resources
In large projects, software such as Bitrix24, Trello, 2-Plan PMS, Asana, MS Project and Producteev, is valuable
Consider several schedule options to determine the best one to meet objectives
Such software can be used for planning, modelling and control through the project
Identify the activities in the project
Work breakdown structure (WBS) - shows how all the jigsaw pieces fit together
Use a 'family tree' to breakdown the project into sub-project and sub-deliverables, continue until you have manageable work packages
Adjust and review any steps as necessary
PERT - Program evaluation and review technique
Technique works on the potential 'best'/'worst'/'likely' time variances for each activity
Then calculates probabilities for the whole project running over by various amounts
Project Control
'Crashing' the project duration
'Crashing' is the universal project management term for taking serious action to shorten the duration of the project
Generally requires throwing resources at activities to shorten them
Will increase costs but this may be beneficial, especially if a contract of penalties for going overtime
Involves analysing the potential time savings and cost impact for each activity, calculate the 'cost slope' as per p. 533, then decide what actions are required based on the options available
Handling unforeseen events
Examples - freight delays / weather / skilled staff illness
There should be some initial contingency plans in place, but continual review of the critical path and rerouting as required
Controlling project performance
Commonly measures will highlight mainly time or mainly cost impacts, but quality impacts will have time/cost impacts also
Some possible measures
Technical changes to the project
Inspection failures
Overtime
Number and length of delays
Supplier price changes
Activities not started on time
Expenditure to date
Missed milestones
etc, etc, etc