MGMT 4135

Project Management

Chapter-6 Developing a Project Plan

Chapter-6
Developing a Project Plan

Where we are now

Chapter-6
Developing a Project Plan

Developing the Project Network Why?

Graphical representation of the tasks to be completed

Logical sequence of activities
Determines dependencies
Provides the critical path

Worth Doing?

Takes time to develop which means it costs money

YES. Not as valuable for trivial or short duration projects
Basis for scheduling labor and equipment
Estimates project duration
Determines best start and finishing times

Chapter-6
Developing a Project Plan

From Work Package to Network

Networks are developed from the WBS
Work packages are the lowest level of the WBS where the
activities can be found.
An activity is an element in the project that consumes time.
How does the management process often fail?
o One group define the work packages and another defines
the activities
o WBS is poorly constructed and not deliverable oriented.
So what is actually networked? All the work packages.
Consider Figure 6.1 pg. 159

Chapter-6
Developing a Project Plan

From Work Package to Network

This diagram is using
several work packages in
its network. Some work
packages can be done in
parallel while others have
a FS relationship,
creating a linear pattern.

Duration is in
Weeks

Chapter-6
Developing a Project Plan

Terminology
An activity is an element in the project that consumes time. It
is represented as a node (box).
Merge activities have more than one activity
immediately preceding it. M is a merge activity.
Burst activities has more than one activity
immediately following it. X is a bust activity.
Parallel activities can take place at the same
time but do not have to take place at the same
time. In this case, J-K-L are shown as parallel
activities.

Chapter-6
Developing a Project Plan

Terminology
Network path is a sequence of connected dependent
activities. In this example, activities A-C-F-G make up one
network path. How many others are there?

Chapter-6
Developing a Project Plan

Terminology
Critical path is the network path with the longest duration.
When an activity on the critical path is delayed, the project is
delayed that same amount of time. Given the example below,
identify the critical path.

20

20

18

30

Chapter-6
Developing a Project Plan

Rules for Developing Project Networks

1. Networks flow from left to right
2. Activities cannot begin until all preceding connected activities have
been completed
3. Arrows indicate there are predecessors and successors in the flow of
activities
4. Each activity should have a unique ID Pg. 174 Activity Numbering
5. An activity identification number must be larger than that of any
activities that precede it. Consider the previous example.
6. Looping is not allowed. Pg. 173 Network Logic Errors
7. Conditional statements are not allowed Pg. 173 Network Logic Errors
8. With multiple starts, use a common start node
and similarly, use a common end node.

Chapter-6
Developing a Project Plan

Activity-on-Node (AON) Fundamentals

1. Activities that must be completed immediately before an activity
are called predecessor activities.
2. Activities that must follow immediately after an activity are
called successor activities.
3. Activities that can occur while an activity is take place is known
as a concurrent or parallel relationship.
See pg. 162 Figure 6.2

Chapter-6
Developing a Project Plan

Network Computation Process

1. Activity time estimates are taken from the work package
duration estimates and aggregated up as total time for that
network node.
2. A forward pass detects the earliest start ES and earliest finish
EF times of each activity to determine the earliest that the
project can be finished.
3. A backward pass detects the latest start LS and the latest
finish LF times of each activity in the network.

Chapter-6
Developing a Project Plan

Determining Slack (or Float)

1. When the forward and backward passes are computed, you will
be able to determine which activities can be delayed without
affecting the critical path and without delaying the project.
2. To determine an activity slack, simply subtract the ES from LS
or EF from LF both will yield the same answer.
In this example, activity C has an early start ES
of 5 and an early finish EF of 10. Subtract ES
from EF and you learn that activity C has a
float of 5 weeks.

Chapter-6
Developing a Project Plan

Determining Slack (or Float)

1. If there is a likelihood that the original critical path will change, it
is said to be sensitive. This is normally found when a network
has more than one critical path, or near critical path(s).
a) Near critical paths are those that have the closest duration
of the critical path and should be watched closely.
b) Sensitivity suggests that once the project is initiated, one of
the near critical paths could end up being an additional
critical path or even the new critical path should any activity
slip and cause that network path duration to increase equal
to or greater than the critical path duration.
2. Network schedules that have only one critical path
and activities that show significant slack, not likely
to affect the critical path are said to be insensitive.

Chapter-6
Developing a Project Plan

Determining Slack (or Float)

3. Going back to the previous example, consider the following
paths to determine the critical path and near critical paths.

20

20

18

30

A-B-E-H
A-B-F-G-H
A-C-E-H
A-C-F-G-H
A-D-F-G-H

48
35
50
47
59*

It is safe to ascertain that this network is insensitive.

Given that the second longest duration in the network is
50 weeks, there are 9 weeks slack before coming close to
affecting the critical path.

Chapter-6
Developing a Project Plan

Free Slack (Float)

1. Free Slack is the amount of time the early finish of an activity
can be delayed without affecting the early start of any
immediate successor activity/activities. See pg. 172 Figure 6.9
6

Activity-6 as
free slack of 15
time units.
Activity-4 has
free slack of 18
time units.

Chapter-6
Developing a Project Plan

Free Slack (Float)

2. Free slack occurs at the end of a chain of activities before a
merge occurs.
3. Notice that activities 6 and 4 are at the end of a chain before
merging into activity-7. (4, 5, and 6 all merge into 7)
4. Consider also that any activity or all activities in the chain can
take advantage of the free float.
We know that Activity-6 has a free slack/float of 15 time units.
That means activities 2, 3, and 6 can all share in that float. If
each of those tasks float, totaling 15 time units, the successor
activity (7) early start will not been affected.

Chapter-6
Developing a Project Plan

Laddering
1. Stated earlier, a finish-to-start relationship states that the activity
must be 100% completed before advancing to the next activity.
If that activity has a long duration and if that activity has a delay,
that activity can be broken down into segments using laddering
so that the following activity can begin sooner without delaying
work.
2. Laying pipe requires that the trench must be dug, pipe laid, and
the trench refilled. If the pipeline is 1-mile long, it is not
necessary to dig on mile of trench before pipe laying can begin.
3. It is also true that once the pipe is in place, refilling the trench
can also begin.

Chapter-6
Developing a Project Plan

Laddering

In this ladder network, all activities have been broken into

segments of 1/3.
After 1/3 of the trench has been dug, the pipe laying begins.
After 1/3 of the pipe laying is completed, the trench refilling
begins.

Chapter-6
Developing a Project Plan

Use of Lags
When an long duration activity delays the start of finish of the next
(or successor) activity, the network normally breaks the activity into
smaller activities to avoid the long delay of the successor activity.
Using lags can avoid such delays and reduce the network detail.
Lags can be used to constrain the start and finish of an activity.
During this lag, no work can occur or be charged
to account code.
The project manager normally must justify lags.

Chapter-6
Developing a Project Plan

Use of Lags: Finish-to-Start Relationship

Ordering material (Activity-X) may take 1 day but it may take up to
19 days to receive the goods (Activity-Y).
Activity-Y has a finish-to-start relationship with Activity-X, meaning
that ordering material must be completed before receiving the
goods can begin.
Receiving Goods: FS+19 days means that ordering material must
first be completed before receiving goods can start, 19 days later.

Chapter-6
Developing a Project Plan

Use of Lags: Start-to-Start Relationship

1. Consider this depiction of using a 3-day lag for the Pipe Laying
project. Essentially, each activity begins at the same time having a
start-to-start relationship but there is a delay (or a lag) between the
successor activities.
Digging the 1-mile trench begins.
Lay Pipe: SS+3 days means that laying
pipe will begin the same time as the trench
digging begins trench with a lag of 3 days.
Refill trench: SS+3 days means that filling
the trench will begin the same time as pipe
laying begins with a lag of 3 days.
2. This is also an example of concurrent engineering
whereby work is broken into smaller segments so that
work can performed in parallel to expedite the project.

Chapter-6
Developing a Project Plan

Use of Lags: Finish-to-Finish Relationship

1. The finish of one activity depends on the finish of another activity.
While software is being developed, beta testing can be occurring
in parallel. Beta testing cannot be completed until the software
development is completed.
2. Given this situation, we will have a finish-to-finish lag of, say, 10
days. This means that both the software development and testing
essentially have the same finish date but testing will have a finish
lag of 10 days.
3. Beta Testing has a finish-to-finish relationship with Software
Development plus 10 more days, or FF+10days.
Software Development
Lag 10

Beta Testing

Chapter-6
Developing a Project Plan

Hammock Activities
1. Hammock activities derives its name because this activity spans
over a segment of a project. They are used to identify fixed
resources or costs over a segment of a project.
2. Hammock activities are very useful in assigning and controlling
indirect project costs.
3. Hammock activities are determined after the network plan is
drawn. See Snapshot from Practice pg. 183.

Chapter-6
Developing a Project Plan

Network Diagramming Exercise #1

4

8
Start

7
F

Finish

D
6

Chapter-6
Developing a Project Plan

Network Diagramming Exercise #2

Start

17

15

11

13

14

Finish

Chapter-6
Developing a Project Plan

Network Diagramming Exercise #3

15

17

Start

Finish
22
E

12
F

Chapter-6
Developing a Project Plan

Network Diagramming Exercise #4

A
2

C
4

D
1
E
3

B
6

I
2

F
1

G
5

H
1

Chapter-6
Developing a Project Plan

Chapter-5 Key terms:

Activity, 161

Early and late times, 159

Parallel activity, 160

Activity-on-Node, 160

Gantt chart, 174

Sensitivity, 170

Burst activity, 160

Hammock activity, 183

Total Slack/float, 169

Critical path, 160

Lag relationships, 178

Free Slack/float, 171

Concurrent Engineering, 179

Merge activity, 160