SCHEDULING METHODS, NETWORK DIAGRAMS AND THE

CRITICAL PATH
Agenda
• Lab Session Information
• Quiz review
• Last Week Review
• Scheduling Methods
• Network Diagram
• Critical Path
• Exercise
• Quiz
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From Last Week

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PMBOK® p.160
From Last Week
The Six Processes for Project Scope Management are:

• Plan Scope Management

• Collect Requirements

• Define Scope

• Create WBS

• Validate Scope

• Control Scope

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Project Schedule Management
• Plan Schedule Management

• Define Activities

• Sequence Activities

• Estimate Activity Durations

• Develop Schedule

• Control Schedule

5 PMBOK® p.173
Emerging Practices in Scheduling
 Adaptive Planning

 Iterative scheduling

 On demand Scheduling

PMBOK® p.177

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Adaptive Planning
Adaptive Planning is defining a plan, but also acknowledging that
once work starts, priorities may change and the plan needs to
reflect this.
PMBOK® p.177

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Emerging Practices in Scheduling
 Iterative scheduling

 Backlog

 Timebox

PMBOK® p.177

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Emerging Practices in Scheduling
 On-demand scheduling

 Kanban

 Theory of Constraints

PMBOK® p.177

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Schedule Model
The schedule model is the representation of the plan using a

schedule method, ultimately resulting in the development of a

project schedule.

PMBOK®

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Building the Network Diagram
1. Create a list of activities that are to be scheduled.
2. Assign a duration to each of the activities.
3. Determine the predecessor for each activity.
4. Calculate the forward pass, the early schedule for each activity.
5. Calculate the backward pass, the late schedule for each activity.
6. Calculate the float for each activity.
7. Determine the critical path.
8. Determine if the projected project completion is earlier than the promise
date.
9. Adjust schedule or promise date.
10. Apply resources and determine resource constraints.
11. Adjust the schedule to allow for resource constraints.
12. Determine if the predicted project completion is earlier than the promise
date.
13. Adjust schedule or promise date.
14. Get approval on schedule.

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Reference: Newell, Mcihael., Preparing for PMP Certification Exam. 3rd Edition. American Management Association: NY,
2005. p. 58
The Project Network
Activity:
• A task or a set of tasks
• Consumes resources and time

Milestone:
• Events that mark significant progress

Network:
• Diagram of nodes (activities or events) and arrows (directional arcs)

that illustrate the relationships of activities

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Language of PERT / CPM
Path:
•A series of connected activities between any two events in a network

Critical Path:
•The set of activities on a path from the project's start event to its finish
event that, if delayed, will delay the completion date of the project.

Critical Time:
•The time required to complete all activities on the critical path

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Critical Path – another view
The series of activities that determine the earliest time by
which the project can be completed 1

It is also the longest path through the network diagram

14 Reference: 1. Schwalbe, Kathy, “An Introduction to Project Management, Second Edition”

Course Technology Cengage Learning, 2009, Boston, M.A. (p. 139)
 Sequence Activities

15 PMBOK® p. 187
 Estimate Activity Durations

16 PMBOK® p. 195
 Develop Schedule

17 PMBOK® p. 205
 Sequence Activities
Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM)

…also known as Activity on Node (AON)

Node

Activities are represented by boxes or nodes and linked lines to show

sequence in activities to be performed.

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 Sequence Activities
PDM/AON support four types of dependency
relationships: ES EF

Dur

• Finish to Start (FS) Activity

Description
• Finish to Finish (FF)
• Start to Start (SS) LS LF

• Start to Finish (SF)

ES – Early Start
LS – Late Start
EF – Early Finish
LF – Late Finish
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 Sample Project - PDM
Task Predecessor

A None

B None

C a

D b

E b

F c, d

G e

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 PDM – Stage 1

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 PDM – Stage 2

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 PDM – Complete

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BREAK

Be back in 15 Minutes

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Dependency Determination
Dependencies can be characterized as:

• Mandatory Dependencies (Hard Logic)

• Discretionary Dependencies (Preferential Logic)

• External Dependencies

• Internal Dependencies

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Extensions to PERT/CPM (dependencies)
• Finish to Start (F to S)
• finish of Activity A to start of Activity B
• activity B must not start before activity A has been completed
• e.g. framing cannot start until foundation is in place
• the most common dependency

• Start to Start (S to S)
• start of Activity A to start of Activity B
• activity B cannot start until activity A has been underway
• e.g. Setting electrical wires in place can’t begin until 2 days
after framing has begun

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Extensions to PERT/CPM (dependencies)
• Finish to Finish (F to F)
• finish of Activity A to finish of Activity B
• one activity cannot finish before another finishes
• e.g. quality control work can’t finish before production finishes

• Start to Finish (S to F)
• start of Activity A to finish of Activity B
• one activity must start before the other can finish
• e.g. an employee can’t leave his/her current job until a
replacement is found

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Precedence Diagram Conventions

28 Reference: Mantel, S.J., Meredith, J. R., Shafer, S. M., Sutton, M. M. “Core Concepts: Project Management in Practice.” Wiley, 2005.
 Sequence
Activities
Arrow Diagramming Method (ADM)

…also known as Activity on Arrow (AOA)

Arrow

The arrows represent the activities and connect them to nodes to show the
dependencies.

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 Sample Project - ADM
Task Predecessor

A None

B None

C a

D b

E b

F c, d

G e

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 AOA Network – Stage 1

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 AOA Network – Stage 2

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 Activity Sequencing
NB: ADM Supports only one type of dependency relationship
(Finish to Start (FS))

A B

Dummy
Task

Dummy tasks:
→ May be used to define logical relationships.
→ Are represented by a dashed arrow.
→ Have zero duration.
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 AOA Network – Complete (Using the Dummy
Task)

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 AOA Network – Complete

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 Sequencing Activities
• Total Float ES EF
• Free Float Dur

• Project Float Activity

Description
• Critical Path
LS LF

ES – Early Start
LS – Late Start
EF – Early Finish
LF – Late Finish

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 Slack/Float
Total Float (Slack)

The amount of time a particular activity can be delayed

without delaying the project end date

Slack = LF - EF
OR
Slack = LS - ES

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 Slack/Float
Free Float

The amount of time that schedule activity can be

delayed without delaying the early start date of any
immediately following schedule activities.

Free Float of an activity = (ES of the next activity – EF of that activity)

PMBOK® p. 707
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 Slack/Float
Project Float

Project float is the amount of time a project can be delayed

without delaying the externally imposed project completion
date.

Note: Externally imposed completion date can be from the executive management,
sponsors, clients, government legislations, etc.

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 Critical Path
Activity Predecessor Duration
a -- 5 days
b -- 4
c a 3
d a 4
e a 6
f b, c 4
g d 5
h d, e 6
i f 6
j g, h 4

40 Reference: Mantel, S.J., Meredith, J. R., Shafer, S. M., Sutton, M. M. “Core Concepts: Project Management in Practice.” Wiley, 2005.
 Critical Path

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 Exercise
You are the Project Manager for a new project, and you have come up with the
following duration and dependency table after consulting with your subject
matter experts:

Activity Predecessor Duration

(weeks)
Activity 1 None 3

Activity 2 Activity 1 3

Activity 3 Activity 1 6

Activity 4 Activity 2 8

Activity 5 Activity 3 & 4 4

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 Exercise - Contd
1. Draw a network diagram for the above scenario.
2. What is the float of activity 3?
3. What is the float of activity 1?
4. The resource working on activity 3 is replaced with another resource
who is less experienced. The activity will now take 11 weeks. How
will this effect the project?
5. Using the original information, after some arguing between
stakeholders, a new activity 6 is added to the project. It will take 9
weeks to complete and must be completed before activity 5 and
after activity 3. Management is concerned that adding the activity
will add 9 weeks to the project. Another stakeholder argues the time
will be less than 9 weeks. Who is correct?
6. Based on the information in number 6 above, how much longer will
the project take?
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 Quiz

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THANK YOU.