Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
Developing the Project Network (Constructing a Project Network (Critical…
Developing the Project Network
Constructing a Project Network
Critical Path
The longest path through the activity network that allows for the completion of all project-related activities
The shortest expected time.
Delays on the critical path will delay completion of the entire project.
Activity
An element that requires time but may not require resources
Merge Activity
An activity that has two or more preceding activities on which it depends
Parallel Activities
Activities that can occur independently and, if desired, not at the same time
Burst Activity
An activity that has more than one activity immediately following it
Two Approaches
Activity-on-Node (AON)
Uses a node to depict an activity.
Activity-on-Arrow (AOA)
Uses an arrow to depict an activity.
Network Computation Process
Forward Pass—Earliest Times
How soon can the activity start? (early start—ES)
How soon can the activity finish? (early finish—EF)
How soon can the project finish? (expected time—TE)
Backward Pass—Latest Times
How late can the activity start? (late start—LS)
How late can the activity finish? (late finish—LF)
Which activities represent the critical path?
How long can the activity be delayed? (slack or float—SL)
Total Slack (or Float)
The amount of time an activity can be delayed and not delayed the project.
How long an activity can exceed its early finish date without affecting the project end date or an imposed completion date.
Is simply the difference between the LS and ES (LS – ES = SL) or between LF and EF (LF – EF = SL).
Free Slack (or Float)
The amount of time an activity can be delayed after the start of a longer parallel activity or activities.
How long an activity can exceed its early finish date without affecting early start dates of any successor(s).
Allows flexibility in scheduling scarce resources.
Only activities that occur at the end of a chain of activities, where you have a merge activity, can have free slack.
Network Sensitivity
A network schedule that has only one critical path and noncritical activities that enjoy significant slack would be labeled ‘insensitive’.
The likelihood the original critical path(s) will change once the project is initiated.
Lag relationship
The minimum amount of time a dependent activity must be delayed to begin or end.
Lengthy activities are broken down to reduce the delay in the start of successor activities.
Can be used to constrain finish-to-start, start-to-start, finish-to-finish, start-to-finish, or combination relationships
Hammock Activity
Spans over a segment of a project.
Has a duration that is determined after the network plan is drawn.
Very useful in assigning and controlling indirect project costs.
Used to aggregate sections of the project to facilitate getting the right level of detail for specific sections of a project.
Concurrent engineering
The activity area is divided into many smaller units, so that the work can be carried out in parallel, and the project has been accelerated several times
Gantt chart
If the project has too many dependencies, it will destroy the simplicity of the Gantt chart