Project Managers’

Competence
Enhancement Training
Time Management
in
Road Construction
1
Projects
By: Kiflom G/hiwot: PE-VII
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 Time management
Tool
 Competent Schedule

 Useful Road-Map
 realistic and achievable
 regular status-ed and updated

To support the on-going monitoring and controlling of

progress as the project work is executed.

 Concept > Definite ‘Job’ > ‘Work in progress’

 Pre-initiation(commitment / planning),
 Initiation and Planning (execution scheduling) and
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 Executing and Monitoring & Controlling (performance
control).
 Need for Scheduling
 To predict the project completion date
 To serve as an effective project control tool
 To manage money by predicting cash flows
 To determine the “time window” of an activity
 To coordinate subcontractors
 To coordinate client-supplied info
 To predict resource demand and improve resource
allocation
 To mitigate supply-demand conflicts
 To create progress record
 To compute progress payments
 To serve as an effective communication tool
 evaluate the time impact of changes

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 Scheduling Skills
 envision the shape and flow of the project’s work in ‘4D’ – the
three physical dimensions + time.
 (how the elements fit together),
 synthesize information from disparate sources into an integrated
and ‘sensible’ schedule,
 analyze and validate this preliminary schedule against the overall
project objectives,
 work with the project team to optimize and refine the schedule
 (identify and suggest options, test ‘what-if’ scenarios, etc) until
an agreed schedule has been developed,
 effectively communicate the outcome of the schedule
development (or update) process by presenting targeted and
relevant information from the schedule in elegant and effective
formats;
 reporting the right information to the right stakeholder at the
right time!
 assist the various project stakeholders, and in particular the
project manager, understand and manage the project from a time
perspective.
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 PROJECT Characteristics
 Limited Information
 Projects are surrounded by ambiguity
 searching for exactitudes causes paralysis.
 Recognize Some things require precision.
 take account of the project’s environment:
 Consider un-productive activities

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 Planning
Operational design
Knowledge of construction methods
 Visualize discrete work elements (tasks) +
 Determine task types & quantities +
 know tasks interdependence +
 establish tasks sequence
Availability of resources
(Materials; local & industrial; Equipment; Human
resource
 > task types & quantities
 > WBS
Concept > Definite ‘Job’ > ‘Work in progress’

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 Planning
the overall strategy of how the work process is to
be broken down for control;
how the control is to be managed;
what methods are to be used for design,
procurement and construction;
the strategy for subcontracting and procurement;
the interface between the various participants;
the zones of operation and their interface;
maximizing efficiency of the project strategy with
respect to cost and time;
risk and opportunity management.

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 TIME MANAGEMENT
Plan Schedule
deals with Deals with
• Why • when
(project objectives)
• what
(scope of work or basis of
constn)
• how
(project execution strategy
& plan)
• Who
(project organization
structure & Execution
strategy)
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 Plan Schedule
Provides the basis for: reflection of the plan
time and resource Involves:
estimation
•Involves the setting of : • the mechanics of
 goals and objectives converting the plan into a
Methods & WBS time table
•Defines : •the timing of activities
the activities to •allocation of resources to
accomplish goals and activities
objectives •Estimates durations
 resources needed to •Shows relationships
undertake activities. •Shows critical path
•Deals with: •Deals with implementation
 the development of and operation of progress
progress measurement measurement system
system.

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 Plan Schedule
Estimates: •Shows planned work &
Production rates progress
Cost rates •a useful tool for:
Methods & WBS  controlling progress
•Defines : communicating
the party who will information
perform the activities
the resources to be
applied to the
activities
•Deals with:
 the method of
sequencing
 communication and
reporting formats,
timing, etc.

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 Scheduling Technique
No. or (Level) of Schedules
What an appropriate level of detail to use for
the activities?
Too much Too Little
•confusing
•insufficient
•overly large project information for the
schedule on-going
• management of the
•difficult and expensive project
to manage

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 Schedule Levels –

Level 1 Schedule:
Executive Summary,
Project Master Schedule
(PMS)
Level 2 Schedule:
Management Summary,
Summary Master Schedule
(SMS)
Level 3 Schedule:
Project Coordination
Schedule (PCS) :Publication
Schedule
Level 4 Schedule:
Execution Schedule,
Project Working Level
Level 5 Schedule:
Schedule Detail
13 Schedule
 Schedule Levels…
 PMS
 This is a major milestone type of schedule; usually only one
page,
 it highlights major project activities, milestones, and key
deliverables for the whole project.
 SMS
 depicts the overall project broken down into its major
components by area and is used for higher-level management
 PCS
 Initially developed as an integrated CPM overview of the
project
 for reporting status to senior management
 spans the whole of the project
 primary coordination tool for the overall project

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 Schedule Levels…
PWLS
 key working level CPM schedule displaying the activities to be
accomplished by the project workforce and is required for
every project
 represents the area of authority of a section manager or
engineer,
 So one manager is responsible for all of the work in the
schedule.
 Activities are generally over a week in duration (depending on
the nature of the project) and
 should be resource loaded at least in the near term and
include detailed crew movements and other means and
methods to ensure viability.
 Where used, short term ‘look ahead’ are produced from this
level; typically ‘Three Week Look-ahead’ schedules are
15 updated every two weeks.
 Schedule Levels…
 DS
 A short term schedule
 used to map out the detailed tasks needed
 to coordinate day to day work in a specific areas
 are developed by workforce supervisors
 to plan and coordinate their work at the detail
level;
 Typically Bar Charts (Gantt Charts),
 The schedules are replaced in weeks
 superintendents, team leaders, crew leaders &
foremen.

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  Appropriate cycle for: statusing and
updating
• Long enough to implement the last update
• Rate of change in the project
• optimum level of control information
• the timing of review meetings
• management reporting requirement

 Time-Scale
 frequency of the control processes
 level of detail needed in the activities.

• Estimate for your road

projects.
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  Reporting Requirement

 Information required

 Guides the optimum coding structures that need

to be built

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  key steps in designing a
schedule

 Intelligence gathering
 agree the major compromises/parameters
needed from the schedule
 Creation and adoption of a specification for the
schedule
 Select the scheduling method
 Enter project specific data into the scheduling
model.
 maintain by statusing, updating and
incorporating authorized changes
 On completion of the project, archive the project
schedule model for future reference.

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  Schedule Model:

 the full set of data used to develop the schedule

 with its inherent logic, durations, resources,
calendars, etc.
 shall be developed and maintained
 Shall completely include all aspects of the project
work scope
 Activities in the project schedule model represent the
work that produces the deliverables identified in the
WBS
 all work elements in the WBS should be directly
traceable to a schedule activity or group of activities.
 Conversely, each activity should only roll up into one
WBS element.
 a unique name and identification number to identify
20 the project
  WBS :
 a task oriented frame work

 for organizing & dividing a project

 using a hierarchal structure

 to an increasingly greater level of detail

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 Sub-base Placing Pdn @ S1 Pdn @ S2

SB Source
Hauling Approval

Sub-base
mtl
Capping
top-layer Quality
Approval Approval
tests

Blendi
Capping
layer As-built
Survey
Source
ng. Reading
Selection

Product
S1
Approva
l
Product
S2
Approva
l
RFI
Capping
ROW
Layer
clearance

ROW
obstructio
n list

SB source
Identificati
on

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  Establish project calendars and
work periods
 primary or default calendar for the project:
a project calendar which is adequate and reasonable
to perform the work, based on normal working times.
 Special calendars (few)
may then be used for areas of the project (or resources)
needing different working times.
 for each portion of the project (and potentially each
resource)
 The number of working days in a week
 The number of shifts to be worked each day
 The number of hours to be worked each shift or
day
 Any periods of scheduled ‘overtime’ work or non-
working time (eg holidays)

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  Activity coding structure

 to support schedule data usage

 an activity number must be unique, and follow a scheme

appropriate to the project

 Activities should be coded with more than one code for

each activity

 to identify location of work, responsible person and/or

other details

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 Developing the Baseline
schedule

 Define project milestones

 Milestones should have zero duration and be

used as bench marks
 reflect the start and finish points for various
project events or
 conditions and/or identify external
constraints or interim deliverables.

 As a minimum each project must have a start

milestone and finish milestone.
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 characteristics of a well designed
activity
 a discrete element (or block) of work
 requires time & resources with identifiable start &
finish
 A single person should be responsible for
performing the activity
 That person should be the same one who will report
progress on the activity
 shall describe work that must be accomplished
 For example, ‘Pour the wall foundation from x to
y’, or ‘Review Chapter 3 terminology’.
 Each activity description should be unique and leave
no room for interpretation
 The work represented by an activity should, once
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started, be capable of proceeding to completion
without interruption
 Design the project’s logic
 bedrock of any dynamic project schedule
 The method of connection is defined as a
relationship.
 Every activity and milestone must be connected
 finish-to-start (FS) logic tie
 (SS), (FF) or (SF) links: if overlap is necessary
 lag(s)
 Lags should not be used to represent a period of time
when work is actually occurring,
 review of document before the next phase
proceeds.
 coded to show that these are activities for which
another party, for example the client, is
responsible.
 constraints
 require the activity or milestone to start or finish
at a specific point in time
27  ‘start no earlier’ Neither constraints nor lags
should not be used to replace logic.
 Activity duration

 defining the activity first, then

 tie it logically into the overall schedule sequence and
 then focus on how long it will take to accomplish the
work
 resource flows,
 team sizes and the like
 type or skill level of the resources available to
undertake the work
 resource calendars and
 the intrinsic nature of the work
 Fixed time activities

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 Activity duration

 Estimating the duration of a future activity is

 a balance between setting an objective to motivate team
performance and
 allowing adequate time for the scope of work in the
activity to be achieved.
 The process of duration estimating requires:
• Dealing with each activity in turn
• Considering the work involved, the ideal crew size
and the team’s experience
• Estimating optimum duration for activity
 each activity needs to be concisely and precisely defined.
 When estimating durations you need to be realistic!
 For 90% of projects use days;

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 Activity duration

factors that may influence include:

• The expectations of the person doing the work.
• previous experience record
• Volume of work and production rates references (highly
variable).
• Optimum crew sizes and the production estimates.
• Capacity and capability of resources.
• Work methods and physical constraints—efficiency of
working.
• Understanding variability
• Setting new expectations: the ‘Critical Chain’ effect of
using stretch targets as motivators.
• Achieving quality (adequate time for testing, etc).

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 Productivity Factors (PF)

The net time & actual time needed to accomplish a set

quantity of work vary:
based on how much time resources can actually apply to
the work and
how much is consumed in other activities that may be
essential for the work but do not directly contribute to its
accomplishment.
These non-productive but essential activities include
safety meetings, waiting for inspections or permits,
refreshment breaks that are not defined in the calendar,
on-site travel time between work locations etc.

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 The productivity factor for any given work situation needs to
be assessed and applied to the work to base the scheduling
process against the net available productive hours rather than
the ‘paid hours’.
 The factor is not fixed, it can vary depending on geographic
region, climate, the accessibility of the work place (working at
height or in confined spaces), the skill of the contractor, etc.
The PF needs to be factual and not used to hide
administrative inefficiencies:
• Waiting for an inspection to be completed is a legitimate PF
inclusion – the work cannot be completed or continued without
the sign-off.
• Waiting for the inspector to turn up is an administrative
inefficiency – a better organized process would ensure the
inspector is available when needed.
• The down-time for a scheduled tea break included in the
contract is a legitimate inclusion, plus reasonable travel time
from the work place to the tea room.
• If lax behavior routinely extends a 15 minute break to 25
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minutes, the additional 10 minutes is an inefficiency, not a PF
 Analyzing the schedule output
 A start date is assigned to the start milestone
 start and finish dates are calculated for each activity and
milestone
 establishes the earliest possible finish date for the
project
 Next, a finish date is assigned to the end milestone
 backward pass and establishes the late dates
 Total Float (TF)= LFT-EST-Dur
 Free Float (FF)=ESTsucc-EFT
 Resource smoothing and/or levelling
 minimize resource over allocations or
 reduce the fluctuations in resource demand
 May extend project duration if resource becomes
scarce.

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 Schedule
Facilitates project processes
Budgets time
Minimizes risks
Saves Costs

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 Earned Value Management
(EVM)
performance measurement and feedback
tools for managing projects
to identify problems early and make
adjustments that can keep a project on time
and on budget
“Plan, Do, Check, Act.”
patterns and trends in the past can be good
predictors of the future.
integrate the management of project scope,
schedule, and cost
BCWS, BCWP, ACWP Vs elapsed time
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 Earned Value Management
(EVM)
Are we ahead of or behind schedule?
How efficiently are we using our time?
When is the project likely to be completed?
Are we under or over our budget?
What is the remaining work likely to cost?
What is the entire project likely to cost?
How much will we be under or over
budget?

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 THANKYO
U!
I appreciate your patience.

Your comments & suggestions are highly

appreciated.

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