Project
Management:
• Project management is a method and a set of techniques based on
the accepted principles of management
• used for planning, estimating, and controlling work activities to reach
a desired end result
• on time
• Within budget,
• and according to specification.
The following are the stages of project management:
1. Project conception and initiation
2. Project definition and planning
3. Project launch or execution
4. Project performance and control
5. Project close
• Phases in Project Management
• The project management has five phases such as
• Tools for Project management
• Project management is a challenging task with many complex
responsibilities.
• Fortunately, there are many tools available to assist with accomplishing
the tasks and executing the responsibilities.
• Some require a computer with supporting software, while others can be
used manually.
• Project managers should choose a project management tool that best
suits their management style.
• No one tool addresses all project management needs.
• There are various tools for managing a research project.
• The major among them are listed below:
1. WBS - Work Breakdown Structure
2. GANTT Chart
3. PERT/CPM Project Evaluation and Review Technique/Critical Path Method
4. Risk Assessment Matrix
5. Monte Carlo simulation
6. Responsibility Matrix
7. Resource Estimate
8. Progress Report
3. Network Analysis
• Network Analysis is a generic name for a number of procedures which
are all based on the concept of a "network diagram.
• " Some common variants of this basic approach are PERT (Program
Evaluation and Review Technique), CPM (Critical Path Method) and
RAMPS (Resource Allocation and Multiple Project Scheduling).
• There some symbols that are commonly used in the network
diagrams, which are mentioned below
3.1 Program Evaluation &
Review Technique (PERT)
• PERT was born of sheer desperation.
• In 1956, during the initial stages of the U.S. Navy's Polaris missile
development program, the Special Projects Office in charge of this
immense project found that all the conventional management methods
were hopelessly inadequate to keep track of the schedule.
• Superimposed on the job of coordinating the efforts of 11,000
contractors was a degree of uncertainty as to when crucial research and
development stages might be completed.
• PERT was devised then with time as the critical factor, and its application
is credited with saving two years from the original estimate of five years
required to complete the project.
• An interesting aspect of PERT was the use of three completion time
estimates for each activity, and the application of statistical
probability theory to forecast the likely chance of completing the
project within a given date.
• The success of this application led the U.S. Department of Defence to
specify that all future defence contracts must use PERT.
• Since the Polaris project the method has undergone considerable
development and is called PERT/Cost.
• The expanded version of PERT is a comprehensive system, which
encompasses cost and resource aspects in addition to time.
PERT planning involves the following
steps:
• 1. Identify the specific activities and milestones.
• The activities are the tasks of the project.
• The milestones are the events that mark the beginning and the end of one or
more activities.
• 2. Determine the proper sequence of activities.
• This step may be combined with step 1 above since the activity sequence is
evident for some tasks.
• Other tasks may require some analysis to determine the exact order in which
they should be performed.
• 3. Construct a network diagram.
• Using the activity sequence information, a network diagram can be drawn showing
the sequence of the successive and parallel activities.
• Arrowed lines represent the activities and circles or "bubbles" represent
milestones.
• 4. Estimate the time required for each activity.
• Weeks are a commonly used unit of time for activity completion, but any
consistent unit of time can be used.
• A distinguishing feature of PERT is it's ability to deal with uncertainty in activity
completion times.
• For each activity, the model usually includes three time estimates:
• Optimistic time - the shortest time in which the activity can be completed.
• Most likely time - the completion time having the highest probability.
• Pessimistic time - the longest time that an activity may take.
• From this, the expected time for each activity can be calculated using
the following weighted average:
• Expected Time = (Optimistic + 4 x Most Likely + Pessimistic) / 6
• This helps to bias time estimates away from the unrealistically short
timescales normally assumed.
5. Determine the critical path.
• The critical path is determined by adding the times for the activities in
each sequence and determining the longest path in the project.
• The critical path determines the total calendar time required for the
project.
• The amount of time that a non-critical path activity can be delayed
without delaying the project is referred to as slack time.
• If the critical path is not immediately obvious, it may be helpful to
determine the following four times for each activity:
* ES - Earliest Start time
* EF - Earliest Finish time
* LS - Latest Start time
* LF - Latest Finish time
• The earliest start and finish times of each activity are determined by
working forward through the network and determining the earliest
time at which an activity can start and finish considering its
predecessor activities.
• The latest start and finish times are the latest times that an activity
can start and finish without delaying the project.
• LS and LF are found by working backward through the network.
• The difference in the latest and earliest finish of each activity is that
activity's slack.
• The critical path then is the path through the network in which none
of the activities have slack.
• In project management, “float” or “slack” is the amount of time that a
task can be delayed without affecting the deadlines of other
subsequent tasks, or the project’s final delivery date.
• Total float/slack is 0 on the critical path.
THE PERT METHOD EXAMPLE
• In the following example, you are a project manager of a power plant
project. You tracked the steps mentioned above and listed the
following inputs;
• All the Activities
• Predecessors
• Optimistic, Pessimistic, and Most Likely Activity Durations
By using “The Pert Formula = (To + 4Tm + Tp)/6”, you calculated the
expected duration for each activity.
All the inputs are listed in the table below.
• After building a network diagram and estimating the activity
durations, you will determine the critical path by making forward and
backward pass calculations.
• Forward Pass Calculations specify the minimum dates at which each
activity can be performed and, ultimately, the minimum duration of a
project.
Backward calculation
Backward Pass
Calculations of Program
Evaluation and Review
Technique determine the
latest dates by which
each activity can be
performed without
increasing the project’s
minimum duration.
The total float can be calculated by subtracting the Early Start date of an activity
from its Late Start date or Early Finish date from its Late Finish date.
Total Float: LS – ES = 18-15 = 3
Total Float: LF – EF = 30-27 = 3
Critical Path
When we analyze the
network diagram, we will see
that there are some paths and
every path have duration.
The critical path is the longest
path in the network diagram
and the total float of the
critical path is zero.
Critical Path Method (CPM)
• Concurrently with PERT, CPM was developed at DuPont for scheduling
chemical plant construction.
• The entire emphasis in the initial development of PERT was on time since
early military applications were intent on completing the project in the
shortest possible time, there being no cost constraints.
• In the case of most "business" projects, however, costs also have to be
considered.
• In general, project time can be reduced but only with an attendant increase
in costs.
• The CPM technique relates costs to time and shows how to accelerate the
project for the lowest possible cost.
Steps in CPM:
• Identify and list all project activities: Break down the project into individual
tasks.
• Define the activity sequence: Determine the order in which tasks must be
completed.
• Identify dependencies: Determine which tasks depend on others.
• Build a network diagram: Visualize the project activities and their
dependencies.
• Estimate activity durations: Determine how long each task will take.
• Perform critical path analysis: Identify the critical path and any slack or float.
• Update the plan as the project progresses: Monitor the project's progress and
make adjustments as needed.
Benefits to using a PERT chart or the
Critical Path Method include
• Improved planning and scheduling of activities.
• Improved forecasting of resource requirements.
• Identification of repetitive planning patterns which can be followed in
other projects, thus simplifying the planning process.
• Ability to see and thus reschedule activities to reflect interproject
dependencies and resource limitations following know priority rules.
• It also provides the following: expected project completion time
probability of completion before a specified date, the critical path
activities that impact completion time, the activities that have slack
• The PERT/CPM is capable of giving answers to the following questions to
the project manager:
? when will the project be finished?
? when is each individual part of the scheduled to start and finish? ¾ of the
numerous jobs
? in the project, which one must be timed to avoid being late?
? is it possible to shift resources to critical jobs of the project from other
noncritical?
? jobs of the project without affecting the overall completion time of the
project?
? among all the jobs in the project, where should management concentrate
its efforts at one time?
