06 Project Planning

7/31/2019 06 Project Planning

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PROJECT PLANNING


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INTRODUCTION This unit describes techniques used to plan

thework elements and activities that need

to be carried out in order to accomplish aproject.

Here we shall discuss:

Clearly defining the project objectiveDeveloping a work breakdown structure

Developing a network diagram


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PROJECT OBJECTIVEo The first step in the planning process is to define the

project objective the expected result or end product.

o

The objective must be clearly defined and agreed uponby the customer and the contractor.

o The objective must be clear, attainable, specific andmeasurable.

o For a project, the objective is usually defined in termsof scope, schedule and costit requires completingthe work within budget by a certain time.


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Contd---o Ideally, the project objective should be clear and

concise at the beginning of the project.

o

However, sometimes the project objective needs to bemodified as the project proceeds.

o The project manager and the client must agree on allchanges to the initial project objective.

oAny such changes might affect the work scope,completion date and final cost.


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WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE

Once the project objective has been defined, the next

step is to determinewhat work elements or activitiesneed to be performed to accomplish it.

This requires developing a list of all activities.

There are two approaches to preparing such a list.

One is to have the project team brainstorm the list ofactivities. This approach is suitable for small projects.


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Contd--- For larger and more complex projects, it is difficult to

develop a comprehensive list of activities withoutforgetting some items.

For such projects, creating a work breakdownstructure( WBS) is a better approach.

The WBS breaks a project down into manageable

pieces or items, to help ensure that all of the workelements needed to complete the project work scopeare identified.


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Contd---

It is a hierarchical tree of end items that will be

accomplished or produced by the project team duringthe project.

The accomplishment or production of all of theseitems constitutes completion of the project work

scope. An example of a WBS for a town festival is given in

figure 7.1 (Slides 13 & 14)


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Contd--- The graphic structure subdivides the project into

smaller pieces calledwork items.

Not all branches of the WBS have to be broken down

to the same level. The lowestlevel item of any one branch is called a

work package.

Most work packages shown in figure 7.1 are at the

second level, but four work items are further dividedinto a more detailed third level.

One work item(list of volunteers) is not broken downbeyond the first level.


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Contd--- The WBS usually indicates the organisation or

individual responsible for each work item.

The criteria for deciding how much detail or howmany levels to put in the WBS are:

1. The level at which a single individual or organisationcan be assigned responsibility and accountability for

accomplishing the work package.2. The level at which you want to control the budget

and monitor and collect cost data during the project.


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Contd---

There is not a single correct WBS for any project. For example, two different project teams might

develop somewhat different WBSs for the sameproject.


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RESPONSIBILITY MATRIXThe responsibility matrix is a method used to

display, in tabular format, the individuals responsiblefor accomplishing the work items in the WBS.

It is a useful tool because it emphasises who isresponsible for each work item and shows eachindividuals role in supporting the overall project.

Figure 7.2 shows the responsibility matrix associatedwith the WBS in Figure 7.1 for the festival project.


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Contd---Some responsibility matrices use anXto show who is

responsible for each work item; others use a P todesignate primary responsibility and an S to indicatesupport responsibility for a specific work item.

(Example) Figure 7.2 indicates that Jim has primaryresponsibility for the game booths, with Chris and Joesupporting this effort.

It is a good idea to show only one individual as thelead, or primary, person responsible for each workitem.


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DEFINING ACTIVITIESFor projects in which a WBS is used, individual

activities can be defined by the person or teamresponsible for each work package.

An activityis a defined piece of work that consumestime.

For work package 3.1 in Figure 7.1, game booths, the

following eight detailed activities may be identified:Design booths

Specify materials


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Contd---

Buy materialsConstruct booths

Paint booths

Dismantle booths

Move booths to festival site and reassemble

Dismantle booths and move to storage


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Contd---

When all the detailed activities have been defined foreach of the work packages, the next step is tographically portray them in a network diagram thatshows the appropriate sequence and interrelationships

needed to accomplish the overall project work scope.


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DEVELOPING THE NETWORK PLANNetwork planning is a technique that is helpful in

planning, scheduling and controlling projects thatconsist of many interrelated activities.

Two network planning techniques, programevaluation and review technique(PERT) and thecritical path method(CPM)were developed in the1950s.

Since that time, other forms of network planning, suchas the precedence diagramming method (PDM)and the graphical evaluation & reviewtechnique(GERT) have been developed.


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Contd---All of these fall under the general category of network

planning techniques, because they all make use of anetwork diagram to show the sequential flow andinterrelationships of activities.

Network planning techniques are often compared witha somewhat more familiar tool known as a Ganttchart (Sometimes called a bar chart). This is an olderplanning and scheduling tool, developed in the early1900s; however, it remains very popular today, mainlybecause of its simplicity.
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Contd---The Gantt chart combines the two functions of

planning and scheduling.

Activities are listed down the left-hand side, and atime scale is shown along the bottom.

The estimated duration for each activity is indicatedby a line or bar spanning the period during which the

activity is expected to be accomplished.Columns that indicate who is responsible for each task

can be added to the chart.


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Contd---One of the major drawbacks to the traditional Gantt

chart is that it does not graphically display theinterrelationships activities. Therefore, it is not

obvious which activities will be affected when a givenactivity is delayed.

Because planning and scheduling are donesimultaneously in a traditional Gantt chart, it is

cumbersome to make changes to the plan manually.This is especially true if an activity at the beginning of

the project is delayed and thus many of bars have to beredrawn.


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Contd---Network techniques, on the other hand, separate the

planning and scheduling functions.

A network diagram is the result, or output, of theplanning function and is not drawn to a time scale.

Separating the two functions makes it much easier torevise a plan and calculate an updated schedule.


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NETWORK PRINCIPLESThere are a few basic principles that must be

understood and followed in preparing a networkdiagram.

There are also different formats that can be used indrawing the diagram.

One format is activity in the box (AIB), also knownas activity on the node (AON) .

Another format is activity on the arrow(AOA).


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ACTIVITY IN THE BOX(AIB) In the AIB format, each activity is represented by a box

in the network diagram, and the description of theactivity is written within the box as shown below:

GETVOLUNTEERS

7


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Contd--- The description of activities usually starts with a verb.

Each activity is represented by one and only one box. In addition, each box is assigned a unique activity

number.

In the above example, the activity Get Volunteers has

been given activity number 7.


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Contd--- Activities have a precedential relationshipthatis,

they are linked in a precedential order to show whichactivities must be finished before others can start.

Arrows linking the activity boxes show the direction ofprecedence.

An activity can not start until all of the preceding

activities that are linked to it by arrows have beenfinished.


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Contd--- Certain activities have to be done in serial order. For

example, as shown below, only after wash car isfinished can dry car start.

WASHCAR

DRYCAR

3 4


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Contd--- Some activities may be done concurrently. As shownbelow, Get volunteer & Buy Materials can be doneconcurrently; when they are bothfinished, ConstructBooth can start. Similarly, when 10 is finished, both

11&12 can start concurrently.

BUYMATERIAL

GETVOLUNTEER

CONSTRUCTBOOTH

PAINTBOOTH

CLEANUP

DISMANTLEBOOTH

7

8

9 10

11

12


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ACTIVITY ON THE ARROW(AOA)o In the AOA format, an activity is represented by an

arrow in the network diagram, and the activitydescription is written above the arrow as shown below:

o Collect Data

o Each activity is represented by one and only one arrow.


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Contd---o The tail of the arrow designates the start of the activity,

and the head of the arrow represents the completionof the activity.

o The length and slope of the arrow are in no wayindicative of the activitys duration or importance.

o In the AOA format, activities are linked by circles

called events.oAn event represents the finish of activities entering

into it and the start of activities going out of it.


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Contd---o In the AOA format, each event not each activityis

assigned a unique number.

o (Example) the activities shown below, Wash Car andDry Car, have a serial relationship and are linkedtogether by event 2. Event 2 represents thecompletion of Wash Car and the start of Dry Car .

o

Wash Car Dry Car

1 2 3


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Contd---o The event at the beginning(tail of the arrow) of the

activity is known as the activitys predecessor event,and the event at the end( head of the arrow) of theactivity is known as the activitys successor event.

o For the activity Wash Car, the predecessor event is 1

and the successor event is 2; for the activity Dry Car,the predecessor event is 2 and the successor event is3.


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Contd---oAll activities going into an event(circle) must be finished

before any activities leading from that event can start.

Get Volunteer Paint Dismantle

Booth

Construct

Buy Materials Clean up

o Get Volunteer & Buy Materials can be doneconcurrently, but only when they are both finished can theactivity Construct Booth start.

6

7

8 9 10

11

12


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DUMMY ACTIVITIES In the activityonthearrow format, there is a

special type of activity known as a dummy activity,which consumes zero time and is represented by a

dashed arrow in the network diagram.

Dummy activities, which are used only with theactivity-on-the-arrow format, are needed for tworeasons:

1. To help in the unique identification of activities

2. To show certain precedential relationships thatotherwise could not be shown.


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Contd--- In drawing an activity-on-the-arrow network diagram,

there are two basic rules with regard to the uniqueidentification of activities:

1. Each event(circle) in the network diagram must havea unique event numberthat is, no two events in thenetwork diagram can have the same event number.

2. Each activity must have a unique combination ofpredecessor and successor event numbers.


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Contd--- Activities A and B below both have the predecessor-

successor event number combination 1-2. This is notallowed in an AOA network diagram, because if

someone referred to activity1-2,you would not knowwhether activityAor activityB was being discussed.

A

B


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Contd---

If computer software is used to calculate a projectschedule based on activity-on-the-arrow networkdiagram, it will probably require that each activity beidentified by a unique predecessor-successor event

number combination.


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The insertion of a dummy activity, as shown below, allowsactivities A and B to have unique predecessor-successorevent number combinations. In (a), activity A is referred to

as 1-3 & activity B as 1-2. Similarly, in(b), activity A isreferred to as 1-2 & activity B as 1-3.Both approaches areacceptable ways.

A A

BB

(a) (b)

1 3 1 2 3

2


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Contd--- Let us consider an example of a case in which a dummy

activity must be used to show precedentialrelationships that otherwise could not be shown. The

situation is as follows:Activities A and B can be done concurrently.

When activity A is finished, activity C can start.

When both activity A and activity B are finished,activity D can start.

To portray this logic a dummy activity must be used, asshown below:


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Contd---A C

B D

The dummy activity 3-4 in a sense extends activity A to

show that, in addition to being necessary in order tostart activity C, its finish is also needed(along with thefinish of activity B) in order to start activity D.

1 3

2 4

5

6


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Contd--- The format shown below is incorrect because it

indicates that activities A and B must both be finishedin order for activities C and D to start, when, in fact,

only activity A (not A and B) must be finished in orderfor activity C to start.

A C

B D

1

3

4

2 5


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Contd--- An advantage of the activity-in-the-box format is that

the logic can be shown without the use of dummyactivities. For example, below is the AIB format for the

relationship shown above; no dummy activity isneeded.

A C

B D

2 4


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LOOPSShown below in AIB and AOA formats is an illogical

relationship among activities known as a loop. Inpreparing a network diagram, drawing activities in a

loop is not allowed because it portrays a path ofactivities that perpetually repeats itself.

A

C B

A B

C

1 2

3

1 2

3


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LADDERINGSome projects have a set of activities that are repeated

several times. For example, consider a projectinvolving the painting of three rooms. Painting each

room requires:(1) preparing the room to be painted,

(2) painting the ceiling and walls,

(3) trimming.Assume that three experts will be available- one to do

preparation, one to paint the ceilings and walls, andone to do the trim.


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Contd---It may seem logical to draw a network diagram for theproject as shown below:

(Activity-in-the-Box Format)

PREPARE

ROOM 11

PAINT

ROOM12

TRIM

ROOM 13

PREPARE

ROOM24

PAINT

ROOM25

TRIM

ROOM3

PAINT

ROOM3

PREPARE

ROOM3

TRIM

ROOM26789


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or Prepare Paint TrimRoom 1 Room 1 Room 1

Prepare room 3 Trim Room 2 Paint Room2 PrepareR Room 2

Paint Room 3 Trim Room 3

(Activity-on-the-Arrow

Format)

1 2 3 4

8 7 6 5

9 10


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Contd---The following figure shows a technique known as

laddering,which can be used to diagram this project.It indicates that each expert, after finishing one room,can start working on the next room. This approach willallow the project to be completed in the shortestpossible time while making the best use of availableresources.


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Contd---

Activity-in-

The-Box Format

PREPAREROOM 1

1

PAINTROOM 1

TRIMROOM1

PREPAREROOM 2

PAINTROOM2

TRIMROOM2

PREPAREROOM3

PAINTROOM3

TRIMROOM3

2

3

4

5 7

6 8 9


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ACTIVITY-ON-THE-ARROW FORMATPrepare Paint Trim

Room 1 Room1 Room1

Prepare Paint Trim

Room2 Room2 Room2

Prepare Paint Trim

Room3 Room3 Room3

1 2 3

4 5 6 7

8 910


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PREPARING THE NETWORK

DIAGRAM

Given a list of activities and knowledge of networkprinciples, you can prepare a network diagram.

First, select the format to be usedactivity in the boxor activity on the arrow.

Next, start drawing the activities in their logical

precedential order, as the project should progress frominitiation to completion.


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Contd---When deciding on the sequence in which the activitiesshould be drawn to show their logical precedentialrelationship to one another, you should ask the

following three questions regarding each individualactivity:

1. Which activities must be finished immediatelybefore this activity can be started?

2. Which activities can be done concurrently with thisactivity?

3. Which activities cannot be started until this activityis finished?


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Contd---By answering these questions for each activity, you

should be able to draw a network diagram thatportrays the interrelationships and sequence of

activities needed to accomplish the project scope.The entire network diagram should flow from left to

right.

Unlike the Gantt chart, the network diagram is notdrawn to a time scale.

It is easier to visualise the entire project if the networkdiagram can be drawn to fit on a large sheet of paper.


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Contd---If the network is very large, however, it may require

multiple pages.

In such cases, it may be necessary to create a referencesystem or set of symbols to show the linkages betweenactivities on different pages.

When initially drawing the network diagram for aproject, dont be too concerned about drawing itneatly.


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Contd---It is better to sketch out a rough draft of the diagram

and make sure the logical relationships among theactivities are correct.

Then , go back later and draw a neater diagram ( or

have the computer generate the diagram if you areusing project management software)


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NETWORK DIAGRAM--GUIDELINESThe following guidelines should be considered indeciding how detailed ( in terms of number ofactivities) a network diagram for a project should be:

1. If work breakdown structure has been prepared forthe project, then activities should be identified foreach work package.

2. It may be preferable to draw a summary-level

network first and then expand it to a more detailednetwork. Asummary network contains a smallnumber of higher-level activities rather than a largenumber of detailed activities.


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Contd---In some cases, a summary network may suffice for usethroughout a project.

3. The level of detail may be determined by certainobvious interface or transfer points. For example, ifone person is responsible for building an item andanother person is responsible for packaging it, theseshould be two separate activities.

If there is a tangible, deliverable output or product as aresult of an activity, it should define the end of oneactivity and the start of other activities.


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Contd---4. Activities should not be longer in estimatedduration than the time intervals at which actualproject progress will be reviewed and compared to

planned progress .For example, if the project is athree-year endeavor and the project team plans toreview project progress monthly, then the networkshould contain no activities with estimated durationsgreater than 30 days. If there are activities with

longer estimated durations, they should be brokenup into more detailed activities with durations of 30days or less.


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Contd---5. Whatever the level of detail used in the initial

network diagram, some activities may be brokendown further as the project progresses. It is alwayseasier to identify activities that need to be done inthe near term ( the next several weeks or months)than to identify activities that are a year in the future.

It is not unusual to add more detail to a networkdiagram as the project moves forward.


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Contd---6. In some cases, an organisation may do similarprojects for different customers, and certain portionsof these projects may include the same types of

activities in the same logical precedentialrelationships. If so, it may be worthwhile to developstandard subnetworks for these portion of theprojects. Having standard subnetworks can save

effort and time when a network diagram is developedfor an overall project.


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Contd---7. Finally, when the entire network diagram has beendrawn, it is necessary to assign a unique activitynumber either to each activity(box), if you are using

the activity-in-the-box format, or to each event (circle) , if you are using the activity-in-the-arrowformat.

The choice between the activity-in-the-box format and

the activity-on-the-arrow format is a matter ofpersonal preference. Both formats use a networkbased on precedential relationships.


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Contd---The network diagram is a roadmap that displays how

all the activities fit together to accomplish the projectwork scope.

It is also a communication tool for the project teambecause it shows who is responsible for each activityand how that persons work ties into the overallproject.


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KEY FOR ACTIVITY-IN-THE-BOX

FORMAT

ACTIVITY

DESCRIPTION

PERSON

RESPONSIBLE

ACTIVITYNUMBER


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KEY FOR ACTIVITY-ON-THE-ARROW

FORMAT

ACTIVITY

DESCRIPTION

PERSON RESPONSIBLE

EVENT EVENT

NUMBER NUMBER


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PROJECT MANAGEMENT

SOFTWARE

A wide variety of affordable project managementsoftware packages are available for purchase.

These packages allow the project manager and theproject team to plan and control projects in acompletely interactive mode.

Common features of project management softwareallow the user to:


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Contd---Create lists of tasks with their estimated durations

Establish interdependencies among tasks

Work with a variety of time scales, including hours,days, weeks, months and years

Handle certain constraints- for example, a task can not

start before a certain date, a task must be started by acertain date, labour unions allow no more than twopeople to work on the weekends.


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Contd---Track team members, including their pay rates, hoursworked thus far on a project and upcoming vacationdates.

Incorporate company holidays, weekends and teammember vacation days into calendering systems.

Handle shifts of workers( day, evening, night)

Monitor and forcast budgets

Look for conflicts-for example, over allocatedresources and time conflicts


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Contd---Generate a wide variety of reportsInterface with other software packages such as

spreadsheets and databases

Sort information in a variety of ways- for example, byproject, by team member or by work package.

Handle multiple projects

Work online and respond quickly to changes inschedule, budget or personnel

Compare actual costs with budgeted costs

E l


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ExampleA small conveyor is to be installed at a tea garden involving

the following activities:1. Foundation work of the support framework involving 32 nos. of

foundation blocks.2. Supply and erection of the support framework3. Procurement and installation of motor and gear box.4. Procurement and installation of conveyor belts.

5. Alignment of conveyor system.6. Installation of electric appliances and supply of electricity7. Trial run of the system.

Constraints:1. Framework can be started only after completing the corresponding

foundations.

2. Installation of motors, gearbox and belts can be done simultaneouslyat site.3. Alignment of the system can be done only after installation of all

equipments is complete.4. Trail run can be given on supply of electricity and the alignment work

is completed.

06 Project Planning

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