Sequence Activities
The process of identifying how activities relate and then putting them in a logical order.
Project Network Diagram is a great way to sequence activities. Example:
FS: Finish-to-start relationship, e.g. A has a successor of activity B. Activity A has to be finished before the B can start.
SS: Start-to-start relationship, e.g. activity B and C start at the same time.
FF: Finish-to-finish relationship, e.g. activity J can’t finish until activity L finishes.
ITTOs
Input
- Schedule management plan
- Scope baseline
- Activities list
- Activities attributes
- Milestone list
- Assumption log
- EEFs
- OPAs
Tools & Techniques
- Precedence diagramming method (PDM)
It’s used to create a network diagram with activities shown as nodes or boxes, and the links between the nodes as arrows. - Dependency determination and integration
It is how one node is connected to another. It is important to know if it’s mandatory or discretionary and if it’s source is internal or external
An Mandatory dependency is one that cannot be broken
Discretionary dependency can be moved if necessary, it is one that you’d like to keep, but if you’re running out of the short time, you can move them. - Leads and lags
Lead: An activity is noved to start before it’s predecessor finishes, but usually adds risk to the project.
Lag: Amount of time a successor activity must wait until its predecessor is done. - Project management information system(PMIS)
Has the scheduling software used to create the network diagram.
output
- Project schedule network diagrams
A graphical representation of all the work that needs to be done and in what order. - Project documents updates.
Network diagram
Example:
Activity | Preceding Activities | Duration in Days |
---|---|---|
A | Start | 9 |
B | A,C | 3 |
C | Start | 13 |
D | C | 9 |
E | D | 2 |
F | E | 10 |
G | F | 11 |
H | B,G | 3 |
Estimate Activity Durations
Variables of Activity Durations
- Assigned resources
- Team member’s experience levels
- Percentage of time the resources are assigned
- Availablity
If team members don’t know the estimate for a particular activity, it’s best to include this in risk resevers.
Estimation Factors
- Law of diminishing returns
- Number of resources
- Advances in technology
- Staff motivation
ITTOs
Input
- Schedule management plan
- Scope baseline
WBS dictionary - Activity list
- Activity attributes
- Resource requirement
- Project team assignments
- Resource calendars
Show when the resources are available and for how long - Risk register
- Milestone list
- Resource breakdown structure
- Assumption log
- Lessons learned
- EEFs
- OPAs
Tools & Techniques
- Expert judgment
- Meetings
- Estimating tools
- Analogous estimating
- Parametric estimating
- Three-point estimating
- Bottom-up estimating
- Decision making
- Voting: Fist of five
- Reserve analysis
Also know as contingency or management reserves.
output
- Duration estimates (Important)
- Basis of estimates
- Project document updates
Develop Schedule
Develop Schedule:
process is critical to the project, It’s important to know what the team will be working on, when, and for how long.
ITTOs
Input
- Schedule management plan
- Scope baseline
- Project document
- Activity list
- Activity attributes
- Duration estimates
- Network diagrams
- Resource calendars
- Project team assignments
- Risk register
- Assumption log
- Basis of estimates
- Lessons learned register
- Agreements
- Milestone list
- EEFs
- OPAs
Tools & Techniques
- Schedule network analysis
Technique used to identify early and late start dates, as well as early and late finish dates for each activity. - Critical path method (CPM)
Calculation of the longest path in the diagram, representing the shortest amount of time the project can be done. - Float
Flexibility in a schedule - Resource optimization
Schedule adjustments made based on demand and supply of resources. - Data analysis
- What-if senario analysis
The process of evaluating scenarios in order to predict their effect on project objectives. - Simulation
- What-if senario analysis
- Leads and lags
- Schedule compression
- Crashing
Adding resources to shortern the schedule duration - Fast tracking
Moving activities to start earlier than planned, in parallel with other activities
- Crashing
- Project management information systems (PMIS)
- Agile release planning.
output
- Schedule baseline
- Project schedule
- Bar charts
- Milestone charts
- Network diagrams
- Schedule data
Includes supporting details for resource requirements, best or worst case scenarios, and schedule reserves. - Project calendar
- Change requests
- Project management plan updates
- Project documents updates
Network diagram: Critical path
Example:
Diagram:
Critical path
Critical Path:
- The longest path in the network diagram.
- Add durations of each path
So the critial path is 48.
Network diagram: Forward Pass
Forward Pass: Moves from start to finish, or left to right
F
o
r
w
a
r
d
=
E
a
r
l
y
s
t
a
r
t
+
D
u
r
a
t
i
o
n
−
1
Forward = Early start + Duration - 1
Forward=Earlystart+Duration−1
T
o
t
a
l
f
o
r
f
o
r
w
a
r
d
p
a
s
s
=
C
r
i
t
i
c
a
l
p
a
t
h
Total for forward pass = Critical path
Totalforforwardpass=Criticalpath
Network diagram: Backward pass
Backward pass: Moves from finish to start, or right to left.
B a c k w a r d P a s s = L a s t D a t e − D u r a t i o n + 1 BackwardPass=LastDate-Duration+1 BackwardPass=LastDate−Duration+1
Critical Path: Top number = Bottom number
Float: Time to move or delay activity without affecting the critical path.
Control schedule
Key: Make the project stays on track.
ITTOs
Input
- Project management plan
- Schedule management plan
- Schedule baseline
- Scope baseline
- Performance measurement baseline
- Work performance data
- Project documents
- Project calendars
- Resource calendars
- Project schedule
- Schedule data
- OPAs
Tools & Techniques
- Data analysis
- Earned value analysis
Calculates the schedule performance index (SPI), and schedule variance (SV) from baseline. - Trend analysis
Looks to see if the performance has changed over time. - Performance reviews
- Varience analysis
- What-if scenario analysis
- Earned value analysis
- Critical path method
- Project management information system (PMIS)
- Resoure optimization
- Leads and lags
- Schedule compression
output
- Work performance information
- Schedule forecasts
- Change requests
- Project management plan updates
- Project documents updates
Project Cost Management
Plan Cost Management
Plan Cost Management: An important process of defining how the project costs will be estimated, budgeted, managed, monitored, and controlled.
ITTOs
Input
- Project charter
- Project management plan
- Schedule management plan
- Risk management plan
- EEFs
- OPAs
Tools & Techniques
- Expert judgment
- Data analysis
- Meetigs
output
- Cost management plan
Estimate Costs
Estimating cost is important to making sure the project budget is based on accurate information. This ensures you’re spending the right amount of money at the right time. If estimates aren’t accurate, the project might run into cost overruns leading to change requests.
ITTOs
Input
- Cost management plan
Describes how the rest of the processes in this knowledge area is managed. - Quality management plan
- Scope baseline
- Project scope statement
- WBS
- WBS dictionary
- Project documents
- Project schedule
- Lessons learned register
- Resource requirements
- Risk register
- EEFs
- OPAs
Tools & Techniques
- Expert judgement
- Estimating tools
- Analogous estimating
- Parametric estimating
- Bottom-up estimating
- Three-point estimating
- Data analysis
- Reserve analysis
Also known as contingency reserves. - Cost of quality (COQ)
- Alternatives analysis
- Reserve analysis
- Project management information system (PMIS)
- Decision making
- Voting
output
- Cost estimates
- Probable cause needed to complete the work
- Contingency and management reserve
- Basis of estimates
- Assumptions
- Constraints
- Level of detail
- Ranges
- Confidence levels
- Project documents updates.
Determine Budget
Project Budget: Funding used to execute the project.
Cost Baseline: Approved, time-phased project budget.
ITTOs
Input
- Cost management plan
- Scope baseline
- Project scope statement
- WBS
- WBS dictionary
- Resource management plan
- Project documents
- Basis of estimates
- Project schedule
- Risk register
- Agreements
- Business case
- Benefits management plan
- OPAs
- EEFs
Tools & Techniques
- Cost aggregation
Adding up activity costs to reach a total cost of work packages. - Reserve analysis
Data analysis tool used to determine the contingency and management reserves to cover unexpected work. - Historical information review
- Parametric estimating
- Analogous estimating
- Funding limit reconciliation
Examining funding restrictions for a period of time. - Financing
- Expert judgement
output
- Cost baseline
- Project Budget
- Project funding requirements
- Project documents updates
Control costs
Control Costs: Process of monitoring a project to update costs and manamge cost baseline changes.
ITTOs
Input
- Cost management plan
- Cost baseline
- Performance measurement baseline
- Project funding requirements
- Projected expenditures (预期支出)
- Anticipated liabilities (预期负债)
- Work performance data
- Lessons learned register
- OPAs
Tools & Techniques
- Data analysis
- Earned value analysis
- Variance analysis
- Trend analysis
- Reserve analysis
- Earned value, planned value and Actual costs
- To-complete performance index (TCPI)
Projection of cost performance the team needs to meet in order to meet the original plan. - Expert judgement
- Project management information system (PMIS)
output
- Cost forecasts
- Estimate at completion (EAC)
Final cost of the project if performance stays the same until the end of the project. - Estimate to completion (ETC)
The expected cost to finish all remaining project work
- Estimate at completion (EAC)
- Work performance information
- Change requests
- Project management plan updates
- Project documents updates
Earned Value Formulas Example
BAC: Budget at completion
AC: Actual cost to date
EV: Earned value = Actual % of the work complete to date * BAC
PV: Planned value = Planned % of the work completion to data * BAC
CV: Cost variance = E V − A C EV - AC EV−AC
SV: Schedule variance = E V − P V EV - PV EV−PV
CPI: Cost performance index = E V A C \frac{EV}{AC} ACEV, The value of every dollar spent on project.
SPI: Schedule performance index = E V P V \frac{EV}{PV} PVEV, The value of every working day.C P I , S P I { ≥ 1 , G O O D < 1 , B A D CPI,SPI \begin{cases} \ge1,& GOOD\\<1, & BAD \end{cases} CPI,SPI{≥1,<1,GOODBAD
EAC: Estimate at completion = B A C C P I \frac{BAC}{CPI} CPIBAC
ETC: Estimate to completion = E A C − A C EAC-AC EAC−AC
VAC: Variance at completion = B A C − E A C BAC-EAC BAC−EAC
TCPI: To complete performance index = B A C − E V B A C − A C \frac{BAC-EV}{BAC-AC} BAC−ACBAC−EVT C P I { ≤ 1 , G O O D > 1 , B A D TCPI\begin{cases}\le1, & GOOD\\>1, & BAD\end{cases} TCPI{≤1,>1,GOODBAD
Example 1:
You have a construction project to be completed in 12 months. The total cost of the project is $100000 USD. Six months have passed. You have spent $60000 and the schedule says that 50% of the work should be completed. Upon closer review, you find that only 40% of the work has been completed.
Answer:
B
A
C
=
100000
BAC = 100000
BAC=100000
A
C
=
60000
AC = 60000
AC=60000
E
V
=
0.4
∗
100000
=
40000
EV = 0.4*100000 = 40000
EV=0.4∗100000=40000
P
V
=
0.5
∗
100000
=
50000
PV = 0.5*100000 = 50000
PV=0.5∗100000=50000
C
V
=
40000
−
60000
=
−
20000
CV = 40000-60000 = -20000
CV=40000−60000=−20000
S
V
=
40000
−
50000
=
−
10000
SV = 40000-50000 = -10000
SV=40000−50000=−10000
C
P
I
=
40000
60000
=
2
3
=
0.67
CPI = \frac{40000}{60000} = \frac{2}{3} = 0.67
CPI=6000040000=32=0.67
S
P
I
=
40000
50000
=
4
5
=
0.8
SPI = \frac{40000}{50000} = \frac{4}{5} = 0.8
SPI=5000040000=54=0.8
E
A
C
=
100000
0.67
=
149253.73
EAC = \frac{100000}{0.67} = 149253.73
EAC=0.67100000=149253.73
E
T
C
=
149253.73
−
60000
=
89253.73
ETC = 149253.73-60000 = 89253.73
ETC=149253.73−60000=89253.73
V
A
C
=
100000
−
149253.73
=
−
49253.73
VAC = 100000-149253.73 = -49253.73
VAC=100000−149253.73=−49253.73
T
C
P
I
=
100000
−
40000
100000
−
60000
=
3
2
=
1.5
TCPI = \frac{100000-40000}{100000-60000}=\frac{3}{2}=1.5
TCPI=100000−60000100000−40000=23=1.5