Project Management

Chapter 12 : Activities - Sequencing, Estimating Duration and Scheduling

Fundamentals of Project Network Diagram

Activity Sequencing

Methods of Activity Sequencing

Activity Duration

Schedule Development

Techniques for Schedule Development

Critical Path Method
Program Evaluation and Review Technique
Graphical Evaluation and Review Technique
Duration Compression Techniques:

Crashing
Fast Tracking

Resource Leveling

Schedule Control

Chapter Summary

A project network diagram is a representation of all the project activities and the logical relationships among them. There are four types of relationships between any pair of activities. These are: finish to start, start to start, start to finish and finish to finish. The project network diagram helps the project manager in sequencing and scheduling project activities.

The project network diagram represents all the project activities, their estimated completion times and the sequence in which they are to be performed. The project manager can follow two methods in sequencing the project activities: Arrow Diagram Method and Precedence Diagram Method. Some conditional diagramming methods like GERT are also used.

The project manager estimates the duration of project activities based on similar activities of known duration, historical data, experts advice, Delphi method, Three Point Method and Wide Band Delphi method. CPM and PERT are important techniques in scheduling the project activities. The project manager identifies the critical activities of the project based on the project network diagram and estimates the project duration.

Using PERT, the project manager can also estimate the probability of project completion within the planned duration. Crashing and fast tracking are important methods of reducing project duration. The project manager controls the schedule of the project to complete it within the desired time.

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