Unit 3: Project Planning and Scheduling

1. Project Planning Lifecycle

Project planning is the second phase of the project management lifecycle, following Initiation and preceding Execution. It is arguably the most critical phase, as it establishes the detailed roadmap for the entire project. The primary purpose is to define the project scope, refine objectives, and develop the course of action required to attain those objectives.

Key Characteristics of the Planning Phase:

• Iterative: Planning is not a one-time event. As more information becomes available, plans are progressively elaborated and refined.
• Comprehensive: It involves creating a suite of subsidiary plans for all major knowledge areas.
• Foundation for Control: The output of planning, primarily the project management plan and its baselines, serves as the benchmark against which performance is measured and controlled.

Core Planning Processes:

1. Develop Project Management Plan: Creating the main document that integrates and consolidates all subsidiary plans.
2. Scope Management Planning:
   • Collect Requirements: Documenting stakeholder needs to meet project objectives.
   • Define Scope: Developing a detailed description of the project and its deliverables.
   • Create Work Breakdown Structure (WBS): Decomposing the project deliverables into smaller, more manageable components.
3. Schedule Management Planning: (Covered in detail below)
4. Cost Management Planning: (Covered in detail below)
5. Quality Management Planning: Identifying quality requirements and standards and documenting how the project will demonstrate compliance.
6. Resource Management Planning: Defining how to estimate, acquire, manage, and utilize physical and team resources.
7. Communications Management Planning: Determining the information needs of stakeholders: what information is needed, when, how it will be delivered, and by whom.
8. Risk Management Planning:
   • Identify Risks: Determining which risks might affect the project.
   • Perform Qualitative/Quantitative Risk Analysis: Prioritizing risks for further analysis by assessing their probability and impact.
   • Plan Risk Responses: Developing options and actions to enhance opportunities and reduce threats.
9. Procurement Management Planning: (Covered in detail below)
10. Stakeholder Engagement Planning: Developing strategies to effectively engage stakeholders throughout the project lifecycle.

2. Project Schedule Management

Project Schedule Management includes the processes required to manage the timely completion of the project.

Processes of Schedule Management:

1. Plan Schedule Management: The process of establishing the policies, procedures, and documentation for planning, developing, managing, executing, and controlling the project schedule. The output is the Schedule Management Plan.
2. Define Activities: Identifying and documenting the specific actions to be performed to produce the project deliverables. This involves breaking down the WBS work packages into schedule activities.
3. Sequence Activities: Identifying and documenting relationships among the project activities. The output is a Project Schedule Network Diagram.
4. Estimate Activity Durations: Estimating the number of work periods needed to complete individual activities with estimated resources.
5. Develop Schedule: Analyzing activity sequences, durations, resource requirements, and schedule constraints to create the project schedule model. The output is the Schedule Baseline and Project Schedule (e.g., Gantt Chart).
6. Control Schedule: Monitoring the status of project activities to update project progress and manage changes to the schedule baseline.

3. Activities and Sequencing

Activities

An activity (or task) is a distinct, scheduled portion of work performed during the course of a project. The primary input for defining activities is the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), specifically the lowest-level components called work packages.

• Activity List: A comprehensive list of all schedule activities required for the project.
• Activity Attributes: Additional details for each activity, such as activity ID, description, predecessor activities, successor activities, logical relationships, leads and lags, resource requirements, and constraints.

Sequencing

Sequencing is the process of placing activities and milestones in the order in which the work will be performed. This creates the logical flow of the project.

Dependency Types (Logical Relationships):

• Finish-to-Start (FS): The most common type. A successor activity cannot start until a predecessor activity has finished.
  • Example: You cannot paint the walls (successor) until the drywall is installed (predecessor).
• Start-to-Start (SS): A successor activity cannot start until a predecessor activity has started.
  • Example: The activity "Level Concrete" (successor) can start a few minutes after the "Pour Concrete" (predecessor) activity begins.
• Finish-to-Finish (FF): A successor activity cannot finish until a predecessor activity has finished.
  • Example: The activity "Final System Documentation" (successor) cannot finish until the "System Testing" (predecessor) is complete.
• Start-to-Finish (SF): The least common type. A successor activity cannot finish until a predecessor activity has started.
  • Example: A new on-call support shift (successor) cannot finish its duty until the next on-call support shift (predecessor) has started.

Categories of Dependencies:

• Mandatory (Hard Logic): Inherent in the nature of the work being done (e.g., physical limitations). You must build the foundation before the walls.
• Discretionary (Soft Logic): Defined by the project team. They are preferred or best-practice sequences. You might choose to develop one module before another for strategic reasons, even though they are not technically dependent.
• External: Involve a relationship between project activities and non-project activities (e.g., waiting for a government permit).
• Internal: Involve a relationship between project activities that are within the project team's control.

4. Project Duration Estimation

This involves approximating the amount of time required to complete each activity. Estimation is an iterative process, becoming more accurate as the project progresses.

5. Scheduling Constraints

Constraints are limitations or restrictions that affect the project's execution. They can impact schedule, cost, and scope.

Common Constraints:

• Time: Imposed deadlines or fixed dates for milestones or project completion.
• Resources: Limited availability of key personnel, equipment, or materials.
• Budget: A fixed amount of funding available for the project.
• Scope: A fixed set of features or deliverables that must be completed.
• Quality: Specific standards that must be met.
• External Factors: Regulatory requirements, market conditions, or weather.

6. Network Diagram

A project schedule network diagram is a graphical representation of the logical relationships (dependencies) among the project schedule activities. Its primary use is to determine the project's critical path.

Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM) / Activity-on-Node (AON):

• This is the most common method used in project management software.
• Nodes (Boxes): Represent the activities.
• Arrows: Represent the logical dependencies between activities.

Critical Path Method (CPM):
The critical path is the sequence of activities that represents the longest path through the project, which determines the shortest possible project duration.

• Critical Path: Any delay on a critical path activity will directly delay the project's completion date. Activities on the critical path have zero Total Float.
• Float (or Slack): The amount of time an activity can be delayed without delaying the project end date or a subsequent activity.
  • Total Float: The time an activity can be delayed from its early start date without delaying the project finish date.
  • Free Float: The time an activity can be delayed without delaying the early start date of any immediate successor activity.
• Calculation:
  • Forward Pass: Calculates the Early Start (ES) and Early Finish (EF) dates for each activity, moving from the start of the project to the end.
  • Backward Pass: Calculates the Late Start (LS) and Late Finish (LF) dates for each activity, moving from the end of the project to the start.
  • Float = LS - ES or LF - EF

7. Leads and Lags Time

Leads and lags are refinements applied to dependencies to make the schedule more realistic.

• Lag: A directed delay in a successor activity. It represents a required waiting period between activities.
  • Example: In a Finish-to-Start dependency, you apply a 3-day lag. The successor can only start 3 days after the predecessor finishes (e.g., waiting for concrete to cure).
• Lead: An acceleration of a successor activity. It allows an overlap in activities that are otherwise dependent. A lead is essentially a negative lag.
  • Example: In a Finish-to-Start dependency, you apply a 2-day lead. The successor can start 2 days before the predecessor is scheduled to finish (e.g., starting to write documentation while final coding is still in progress).

8. Estimation Techniques

Analogous Estimating (Top-Down)

Uses historical data and expert judgment from previous, similar projects to estimate duration or cost.

• Pros: Quick, inexpensive, useful when detailed information is scarce (e.g., early project phases).
• Cons: Less accurate, relies heavily on the actual similarity between projects, can perpetuate past inaccuracies.

Parametric Estimating

Uses a statistical relationship between historical data and other variables to calculate an estimate.

• How it works: Identifies a unit cost or duration and multiplies it by the number of units.
• Example (Cost): If building a deck costs 6,000.
• Example (Duration): If a technician can install 5 network drops per day, installing 50 drops will take 10 days.
• Pros: More accurate than analogous, scalable.
• Cons: Requires a reliable, quantifiable data model.

Three-Point & PERT Estimating

Addresses uncertainty and risk by considering best-case, worst-case, and realistic scenarios.

• Estimates Required:

  • Optimistic (O): The best-case scenario; everything goes perfectly.
  • Most Likely (M): The most realistic duration, considering normal conditions.
  • Pessimistic (P): The worst-case scenario; accounts for potential risks and setbacks.

• Formulas for the Expected (E) Duration:

  • Triangular Distribution: Gives equal weight to all three points.
    E = (O + M + P) / 3
  • Beta Distribution (PERT): Gives stronger weight to the Most Likely estimate. This is more common.
    E = (O + 4M + P) / 6

• PERT (Program Evaluation and Review Technique): Specifically uses the beta distribution. It's often used in projects with high uncertainty (e.g., research and development). PERT also allows for calculating the standard deviation to quantify the estimate's uncertainty:
  Standard Deviation (SD) = (P - O) / 6

Bottom-Up Estimating

The most detailed and accurate method. The cost or duration of individual activities or work packages is estimated, and these estimates are then aggregated (or "rolled up") to get a total for the entire project.

• Pros: Highest level of accuracy, creates a more detailed basis for control.
• Cons: Time-consuming, requires a complete WBS and a clear definition of the work.

9. Schedule Baseline and Gantt Chart

Schedule Baseline

The schedule baseline is the approved version of the project schedule. It is a fixed reference point against which the project's actual schedule performance is measured.

• It is a component of the Project Management Plan.
• It is accepted and approved by the relevant stakeholders.
• It can only be changed through formal change control procedures.
• It is used in Earned Value Management as the Planned Value (PV).

Gantt Chart

A Gantt chart is a horizontal bar chart used to visually represent a project schedule over time. It is one of the most common and effective tools for communicating schedule information.

Key Elements of a Gantt Chart:

• Vertical Axis: Lists the project activities or WBS components.
• Horizontal Axis: Represents the project timeline (days, weeks, months).
• Bars: The length and position of each bar correspond to the start date, duration, and end date of an activity.
• Milestones: Significant events in the project, often represented by a diamond shape. They have zero duration.
• Dependencies: Arrows or lines linking bars to show the relationships between activities.
• Progress: Shading within the bars can be used to show the percentage of work completed.

10. Compressing and Schedule Controlling

Schedule Compression

Techniques used to shorten the project schedule duration without changing the project scope. These are typically applied to activities on the critical path.

• Crashing:
  • What it is: Adding more resources (e.g., overtime, extra staff, more efficient equipment) to critical path activities to shorten their duration.
  • Trade-off: Crashing almost always increases project cost. The goal is to get the greatest compression for the least incremental cost.
• Fast Tracking:
  • What it is: Performing activities or phases in parallel that would normally be done sequentially.
  • Trade-off: Fast tracking always increases project risk, as it can lead to rework if a predecessor activity's output needs to be changed after the successor has already begun.

Schedule Controlling

The process of monitoring the project status to update schedule progress and manage changes to the schedule baseline.

Key Activities:

1. Monitor Performance: Comparing actual start/finish dates, percent complete, and remaining durations against the schedule baseline.
2. Analyze Variances: Determining the cause and degree of variance between the plan and actual performance (e.g., using EVM metrics like SV and SPI).
3. Implement Corrective/Preventive Actions: Taking steps to bring the project back on track if it deviates.
4. Manage Changes: Using the integrated change control process to evaluate and approve/reject any requested changes to the schedule baseline.
5. Update Schedule: Revising the project schedule and communicating changes to stakeholders.

11. Project Management Cost and Estimation

This knowledge area includes the processes involved in planning, estimating, budgeting, financing, funding, managing, and controlling costs so that the project can be completed within the approved budget.

Key Cost Management Processes:

1. Plan Cost Management: Establishing policies and procedures for how project costs will be managed.
2. Estimate Costs: Developing an approximation of the monetary resources needed to complete project activities.
3. Determine Budget: Aggregating the estimated costs of individual activities to establish an authorized cost baseline.
4. Control Costs: Monitoring project status to update costs and manage changes to the cost baseline.

12. Estimating Tools

The same tools used for duration estimation are often used for cost estimation:

• Analogous, Parametric, Three-Point, and Bottom-Up Estimating.
• Reserve Analysis:
  • Contingency Reserves: Funds allocated for identified risks ("known unknowns"). This is part of the Cost Baseline.
  • Management Reserves: Funds allocated for unforeseen work that is within the project scope ("unknown unknowns"). This is part of the overall project budget but not the cost baseline.
• Cost of Quality (CoQ): Estimating the costs associated with preventing non-conformance (prevention/appraisal costs) and the costs of failure (internal/external failure costs).
• Vendor Bid Analysis: Analyzing bids or proposals from potential sellers to help estimate costs for procured items.

13. Project Budget

The project budget is the total approved funding for the project.

Budget Components:

1. Activity Cost Estimates: The cost estimated for each individual activity (labor, materials, etc.).
2. Work Package Cost Estimates: The aggregation of costs for the activities within a work package.
3. Cost Baseline: The aggregation of all work package costs. This is the time-phased budget against which project performance is measured.
4. Contingency Reserves: Added to the cost baseline to address identified risks.
   • Cost Baseline + Contingency Reserves = Project Budget
5. Management Reserves: Added to the project budget to handle unidentified risks. This is under the control of management, not the project manager.
   • Project Budget + Management Reserves = Total Project Funding

14. Managing Project Procurement

Procurement involves acquiring goods, services, or results from outside the project team. It requires managing contracts and relationships with suppliers or vendors.

Key Decision: Make-or-Buy Analysis
A process of deciding whether a particular product or service can be produced by the project team (make) or should be purchased from an outside source (buy).

Contract Types:

• Fixed-Price Contracts:
  • Sets a fixed total price for a well-defined product or service.
  • Risk: Primarily on the seller, who must control costs to make a profit.
  • Best for: Projects with clear, stable requirements (e.g., Firm-Fixed-Price - FFP).
• Cost-Reimbursable Contracts:
  • Involves paying the seller for all legitimate actual costs incurred, plus a fee representing seller profit.
  • Risk: Primarily on the buyer, as total costs are uncertain.
  • Best for: Projects where the scope is not well-defined or is expected to change (e.g., Cost Plus Fixed Fee - CPFF, Cost Plus Incentive Fee - CPIF).
• Time and Materials (T&M) Contracts:
  • A hybrid type containing aspects of both fixed-price and cost-reimbursable contracts. The buyer pays on a per-hour or per-item basis.
  • Risk: Shared between buyer and seller.
  • Best for: Staff augmentation, acquiring experts, or when a precise statement of work cannot be quickly prescribed.

15. Procurement Process

1. Plan Procurement Management:
   • Deciding what to procure, when, and how.
   • Creating the procurement management plan, statement of work (SOW) for each procurement, and source selection criteria.
2. Conduct Procurements:
   • Obtaining seller responses, selecting a seller, and awarding a contract.
   • Activities include advertising, holding bidder conferences, evaluating proposals, and negotiating the contract.
3. Control Procurements:
   • Managing procurement relationships, monitoring contract performance, and making changes as appropriate.
   • This involves ensuring both parties meet their contractual obligations and that legal rights are protected.
4. Close Procurements:
   • Completing and settling each project procurement, including the resolution of any open items.
   • Activities include formal acceptance of work, final payments, and archiving records.

16. Earned Value Management (EVM)

EVM is a project management technique that integrates measures of scope, cost, and schedule to provide an objective assessment of project performance and progress.

Core Metrics:

• Planned Value (PV): The authorized budget assigned to the work scheduled to be completed by a certain date. "Where should we be?"
• Earned Value (EV): The value of the work actually performed, in terms of its budgeted cost. "What value have we produced?"
  • EV = % Complete * BAC (Budget at Completion)
• Actual Cost (AC): The total cost actually incurred in accomplishing the work performed. "How much have we spent?"

Variance Analysis:

• Schedule Variance (SV): Measures schedule performance.
  • SV = EV - PV
  • Positive = Ahead of schedule
  • Negative = Behind schedule
• Cost Variance (CV): Measures cost performance.
  • CV = EV - AC
  • Positive = Under budget
  • Negative = Over budget

Performance Indices:

• Schedule Performance Index (SPI): Measures schedule efficiency.
  • SPI = EV / PV
  • > 1.0 = Ahead of schedule (efficient)
  • < 1.0 = Behind schedule (inefficient)
• Cost Performance Index (CPI): Measures cost efficiency.
  • CPI = EV / AC
  • > 1.0 = Under budget (efficient)
  • < 1.0 = Over budget (inefficient)

17. Supplier Management

Supplier management (or vendor management) is the process that ensures that value is received for the money that an organization spends with its suppliers. It goes beyond simple procurement to include building and maintaining strong relationships.

Key Activities in Supplier Management:

• Supplier Selection: Evaluating and choosing suppliers based on criteria like cost, quality, reliability, and past performance.
• Contract Management: Ensuring the terms of the contract are met by both the project and the supplier. This includes tracking deliverables, payments, and compliance.
• Performance Monitoring: Regularly assessing supplier performance against key performance indicators (KPIs) and service-level agreements (SLAs).
• Relationship Management: Fostering a collaborative, long-term partnership rather than a purely transactional relationship. This involves clear communication, mutual trust, and joint problem-solving.
• Risk Management: Identifying and mitigating risks associated with suppliers, such as delivery delays, quality issues, or financial instability of the supplier.
• Payment and Administration: Ensuring timely and accurate payments and maintaining proper records of all transactions and communications.