PROJECT PLANNING AND SCHEDULING

Project planning consists of activities such as work break down structure, statement of work,
and accurate time estimates and schedules in order to prevent the occurrence of any short coming
in the project execution. Planning of project is the first step, which provides the means to satisfy the
needs of the project sponsor towards achieving the desired objective. Usually, most of the project
decisions are taken during the preliminary planning stage. Project planning is essential in order to
minimize risks and uncertainties at the beginning of a project. It also serves as a base line for making
changes as status information is gathered during the implementation of the project.
Project planning is aimed at meeting the following objectives:
i. Analyzing: Project planning is aimed at visualizing the way the work is to be
done, in what other, and with what resources.
ii. Anticipating: Planning focuses on the probable potential problems, devising
a way of overcoming such, and predicting associated risks in order to
minimize their effects.
iii. Co-ordinating and controlling: planning lays emphasis on an un-interrupted
network within and outside the parties involved in the project in order to
develop appropriate method of estimating and controlling project time and
costs.
iv. Schedule: Project planning is aimed at identifying appropriate resource to
enable their optimal use at each aspect of the project.
 V. Information Management: The aim of project planning is to supply the
relevant information necessary for effective planning,as well as the
presentation of the facts in respect of the project.

ELEMENTS OF A PROJECT PLAN:

A good project plan must emphasize on the following elements:
i. Clear definition and objectives of the project.
ii. A description of the task to be completed and the identification of
the technique to be used.
iii. Identification of the skills, people, and other resources required for
the completion of the project.
iv. A schedule, which may be simple or complex, depending on the
project
v. A budget that forecasts costs, and gives direction to the pattern of
expenditure of the project. The following basic principles guide
effective planning and scheduling of projects:
vi. Programming, which is a statement of how a job should be done, at
an appropriate time and cost schedules.
vii. Principle of management by exception, which helps in preventing
swapping project management in administrative paper work.
Dynamic Planning, which is capable of rapid response to changing conditions in order
to avoid adverse effects of any deviation on the project execution.
Network analysis and project planning.
Networking is a graphical model which shows the interrelationship between
various elements of a given project work system: It shows what is to be done in the
right order.

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 Networking analysis is most effective in dealing with complicated
[projects, especially those with external constraints, and complex
interrelationships such as management contracts, design management.
i. It furnishes all concerned agencies about the relationship
between the various elements in a given project work.
ii. It is useful in the computation of the time, cost, and the
resources needed for the project.
iii. It facilitates the control of project.
iv. It enables the planner to develop a more detailed plan
v. It categorically separated the planning and scheduling
functions to avoid overlapping.
vi. It encourages effective planning of project before
committing resources.
The main disadvantage of this planning tool is that it is tedious and
exerting task, if attempted manually.

Among the network analysis are the PERT (project evaluation and Review
Technique). And CPM Critical path method) PERT is time oriented, a probabilistic
model, and concentrates on schedules. CPM on the other hand is activity oriented,
a deterministic model, and focuses on trade-offs.
In most cases, PERT is applied where activities are complex and
sequential with emphasis mainly on time estimates.
Generally, CPM is mostly found useful in repetitive activities
(construction projects which are quite often undertaken by the
contractors), whereas PERT is useful for newly under taken research
and development projects where time has a significant effect..

Generally, in project planning using PERT and CPM, five

procedures are used: These include:
 i. Analyzing and breaking down of projects in terms of specific
activities and events.
ii. Determining the interdependence and sequences of activities aimed at
producing a network.
iii. Assigning estimates of time, cost, or both to all the activities of the network.
iv. Identifying the longest (critical path) through the network.
V. Evaluating the progress of the project by re-planning, rescheduling, and re-
assigning resources.
In both cases, the central focus is to identify the critical path because this path equals
the minimum time required to complete the given project.

PERT NETWORK AND PROJECT PLANNING/SHEDULLING

In drawing PERT net work for a given project, the following basic concepts/rules need
to be understood.
1. Activity: An activity refers to the actual process of doing work. Denoted by an
arrow an activity is drawn from left to right.
2. Event: An event (node) is an accomplishment of work, at a specified point in
time. Events only signify the start or end of activities. It is denoted by a circle,
0,and connected by an activity.
3. By convention, the network flows from left to right (or start to finish).
4. An activity is always bounded by two events: The start event, and the end event.
The start is the beginning of an activity, while the end marks the end of an
activity.

5. No activity can start until its event is complete.

6. A network path consists of a set of activities that connect the network beginning
event to the network ending event. In network, there are several paths.

The longest path (in terms of time) is called the critical path. Paths other than
the critical path are called non-critical or slack paths
7. Each event of the network can be assigned two specific time dimensions. These
are: (i) Earliest expected time, Te, and the latest allowable event time Tl.

NOTE: These time dimensions can easily be converted to calendar dates.

8. As a convention, too, the following applies:
Event numbers cannot be repeated in a network
Any two events may be directly connected by not more than one
activities, that is, two activities cannot be tied using the same two events.
Any network has only one initial event (preceding nothing)and only one
terminal event. The event numbers must flow from left to right in ascending order.
Computation of Earliest Expected event time, Te, and Latest
Allowable Event time, Tl.
a. The generalized procedure for calculating Te for an event is given below:
i. For an event, identify the various paths that connect the network
beginning event to that event.
ii. Beginning from left to right, add the Te (time between one event and
another) of the activities along each such path.
𝑎+4𝑚+𝑏
𝑇𝑒 = 6
.

where:
a = the optimistic time (To) for completion of an activity.
m = The middle or most likely time (Tm) for completing the activity
b- The most pessimistic time Tp ) for completing the activity
The standard deviation of each activity is given as

𝑏−𝑎
𝛿= .
6
The variance is given as the square of standard deviation.
(𝑏−𝑎) 2
𝛿2 = .
6

The longest chain or path determines its Te. That is, the. highest value obtained
in the second step (step ii) is the Te of the event.

Note: The Te of the beginning event is Zero.

 b. COMPUTING THE LATEST ALLOWANBLE TIME,TL
To finish a particular project, it is expected that the Tl of the network
beginning event must equal its Te. Thus, by definition, the Tl of the network
ending event must equal its Te.
The following procedures are used in computing the Tl.
1. For each event, identify the various part that connect the network ending
event to that event.
2. Proceeding backward (right to left) subtract the Te of the activities along
each such path.
The construction, analysis, and management of a PERT network
consists of the following steps:
Step 1: Define the overall project, including the project objective and target
completion date.
2.:Break down the project in to well-defined activities (this entails the
identification of the network beginning event, and the network completion
event ie,the start and end event for each activity).
3. Assign serial numbers to each event and arrange them in the proper
sequences as required by planning and technological requirements.
4. Constructing there actual PERT network and inter connecting all the
activities and events as requirement by the preceding relationship.
5. For each activity,evaluate its expected completion time,te and
standard deviation given respectively as:
𝑎+4𝑚+𝑏 𝑏−𝑎
𝑇𝑒 = . and 𝛿 =
6 6

6 Determine the critical path. That is, the longest expected time for the
project
7. calculate the earliest expected time, Te, and the latest allowable time, Tl for
each event.
8. Calculate slacks for each event =Tl- Te

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 9. Conduct the necessary probability analysis on the PERT network
to generate management information regarding project
completion.
10.Monitor changes on the distributed networks where necessary.

Significance of PERT
The following are fundamental rational underlying the intoduction of
PERT planning system to project.
- It fosters increasedI orderliness and consistency in planning and evaluation
of all the parts in a given project.
PERT prescribes a comprehensive procedure to be followed right from
the start to the completion of a given project. The method accommodates
both routine (productive) activities as well as non-routine
(unproductive)activities found mostly in research and development projects.
Thus, all parts of the projects system are fully integrated into a
meaningful whole.
- PERT enables easy identification of potential trouble spots which may arise
due to a failure in one area of the project. A project consists of numerous
and separate activities linked together in terms of systems ultimate goal.
The PERT system, therefore, outlines a set of rules which must be
followed and observed in order to identify those activities in the project that
may be potentially troublesome. Such identification enables the
manager(s)of the project or system to concentrate on those activities which
may affect the current day activities in order to bring the project to a
successful completion.

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-PERT enables speedy handling and analysis of the integrated data.
The use of PERT helps in easy identification and rectification of any out -of-
phase situations. This is achieved by programming the PERT system to be
compatible for a wide range of computers.
-PERT system is a vehicle that enables systematic observation of the results of one or
more possible decisions on the pre-determined objectives.
Thus, once the trouble spots of a given project has been detected, it gives an
opportunity to sit across various other alternative decisions for the correction.
Illustration
A project with three-time estimates for its activities is presented as shown:

Activity Predecessor Time Estimates

Activity/Activities (weeks)
T o Tm Tp
A None 14 17 32
B None 17 20 29
C B 2 5 14
D A 19 22 31
E None 9 12 21
F E 3 6 15
G E 6 9 24
H G, C 13 16 25
I D, F,H 7 10 19
J F, D, H 4 7 22
K C, G 5 8 17
L I, K 12 15 30
M J.L 10 13 28

(a) Draw the network for this project

(b) Identify the critical path, and the expected duration of the project
(c) Compute the standard deviation and variance of each activity.
(d) What is the probability that the project will be completed within
85 weeks ?