Chapter 6: Managing Project Time

Primary output of breaking down WBS work packages

• somewhat unreliable method
• relies on historical information to predict what current activity durations should be
• aka top-down estimating

• most accurate approach
• considers every activity, its predecessor and successor activities, and the exact amount of resources needed

• WBS entry that considers the time, cost, and scope measurements for that deliverable within the WBS.
• Estimated performance is compared against actual performance to measure overall performance for the deliverables within that control account

• schedule compression approach that adds more resources to activities on the critical path to complete the project earlier.
• Crashing adds cost

• Network analysis approach where teh deadlines associated with individual tasks are removed and the only date that matters is the promised date of the project deliverable.
• Modifies schedule based on the availability of resources rather than on the pure sequence of events (like the critical path method)

• Path in the project network diagram that cannot be delayed, or the project completion date will be late
• There can be more than one critical path.
• Activities on this path have no float

• Preferred order of activities
• Logic behind decisions based on these dependencies should be documented
• Allow activities to happen in a preferred order because of best practices, unique conditions, or external events

• Earliest a project activity can finish.
• Used in forward pass procedure to discover the critical path and project float.

• Earliest a project activity can begin.
• Used in forward pass procedure to discover the critical path and project float.

• Outside project control
• Ex.: Delivery from a vendor, another project's deliverable, or decision of a committee, lawsuit, unexpected new law

• Schedule compression mthod that changes the relationship of activities
• Activities that would normally be done in sequence are allowed to be done in parallel or with some overlap.
• Adds risk

• Project network diagram that is often used for outsourced portions of a project, repetitive work within a project, or a subproject.
• AKA subnet

Total time a single activity can be delayed without affecting the early start of its immediately following successor activities

Describes activities that must happen in a particular order

Positive time that forces two or more activities farther apart

Negative time that allows two or more activities to overlap where ordinarily these activities would be sequential

• Percentage of project duration to combat Parkinson's Law.
• When project activities become late, their lateness is subtracted from management reserve

• Natural order of activities.
• AKA hard logic

• Project simulation approach predicts how scenarios may work out, given any number of variables
• Churns out a range of possible answers, not one specific one

Quantitiative duration estimate uses mathematical formulas to predict how long an activity will take based on the quantities of work to be completed

Work expands to fill the time available for its completion

• WBS entry located below a control account and above the work pacakges.
• Signifies that there is more planning that needs to be completed for this deliverable

network diagram method that shows activities in nodes and the relationship between each activity

Total time the project can be delayed without passing the customer-expected completion date

An update to the WBS

• Hierarchical breakdown of the project resources by category and resource type.
• Category examples: equipment, HR, materials

A method to flatten the schedule when resources are overallocated.

• imminent work is planned in detail, while work in the future is planned at a high level.
• this is a form of progressive elaboration

Order of activities doesn't necessarily have to happen in a specific order

• A representation of a project network diagram that is often used for outsourced portions of projects, repetitive work, or a subproject.
• AKA fragnet

time one activity can be delayed without delaying project completion

Averaging most likely, optimistic, and pessimistic estimates to predict how long an activity should take