Chapter 6 
                                                                      
                                       Project Implementation and Tools 
                  
                 Tools for Project Scheduling 
                   
                  The  project  manager  uses  a  planning  and  scheduling  process  because  most  projects  are 
                  complex, of long duration, require visualization of their parts and the resources needed.   
                 A planning and scheduling process: 
                  
                         •   Identifies project activities (tasks/steps) 
                         •   Identifies the sequence and duration of project activities 
                         •   Organizes project resources (labor, equipment, materials, technology, facilities) 
                         •   Enables monitoring of project progress  
                              
                 In any project:  
                  
                     
  There will be many tasks to accomplish.  
                     
  Tasks have to go through a sequence  
                     
  Some tasks cannot start until others are finished (task dependency) 
                     
  Some tasks are unconstrained. 
                     
  Some are “critical tasks” 
                     
  Some task will have flexibility in time, cost, resources 
                     
  Some tasks will have uncertainty 
                          
                 Project  scheduling  involves  determination  of  precedence  relationship  between  work 
                 elements(activities) determining extent of interdependency and developing the flow path of the 
                 activities to reach the objectivities of the project. 
                  
                 Steps in Project Scheduling 
                  
                     1.  Develop Work Breakdown Structure(WBS) to establish work elements constituting the 
                         project 
                     2.  Determine  Interdependency  among  various  work  elements  or  activities/tasks  and 
                         accordingly define logical sequence of the activities 
                     3.  Quantify each work element in terms of time/other resources requirements 
                     4.  Find out constraints, if any, external(e.g., Government policies, law and order problem, 
                         inadequacies of infrastructure etc.). and internal(e.g., poor choice of site, inadequacies in 
                         agreement with other stakeholders such as consultants etc.) 
                     5.  Review the work elements, their inter dependencies and quantification in light of the 
                         identified constraints 
                     6.  Develop a flow path of activities satisfying the logic of interdependency and constraints 
                     7.  Develop a time schedule of activities satisfying the logic of the flow path and time 
                         duration of the activities. 
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                    Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) 
                          First step toward a work plan 
                          Helps to identify the tasks in a project 
                          The concept of the  WBS is simple: in order  to manage  a  whole  project,  one  must 
                             manage and control each of its parts 
                     
                    What is a Work Breakdown Structure? 
                        ◙  The WBS is a graphical display of the project.  
                        ◙  WBS is a hierarchical listing of the sub-components of a project 
                        ◙  What is the purpose of the WBS? 
                             The purpose of the WBS is to divide the total project into small pieces, sometimes called 
                             work packages. 
                             Dividing the project into work packages makes it possible to prepare project schedules 
                             and cost estimates and to assign management and task responsibility 
                              
                    WBS components 
                          Tasks  
                          Dependencies 
                          Start date  
                          Duration 
                          Resources 
                          Milestones 
                          Deliverables 
                          The WBS should be divided into tangible deliverable items (hardware items, software 
                             packages, interim reports in R & D, etc.). 
                     
                    WBS levels? 
                    Typically 6 or fewer 
                    1  Total project 
                    2  Sub-project 
                    3  Combination of tasks 
                    4  Task 
                    5  Sub-task 
                    6  Individual processes or actions 
                     
                    At what level do you stop? 
                        •    Stop when you reach a point at which you can estimate required resources to the desired 
                             degree of accuracy 
                        •    Or when the work will take an amount of time equal to the smallest units you want to 
                             schedule  days, weeks, months, etc. 
                        •    Or stop when the element is .5 to 2.0% of the project. 
                        •    Or stop once you’ve identified a “work package”  
                     
                     
                     
                     
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                    A WBS planning key!! 
                             REMEMBER the rule that the people  who  must  do  the  work  should  participate  in 
                             planning it. 
                        •    Different levels may be done by different groups 
                                  –  Top management may do the first level  or  two  and  pass  it  on  down  to  the 
                                       operating levels for further amplification 
                                  –  Software can help 
                     
                     
                     
                     
                                                                                                                                                  
                    A Gantt chart is a horizontal bar chart developed as a production control tool in 1917 by Henry 
                    L. Gantt, an American engineer and social scientist. Frequently used in project management, a 
                    Gantt chart provides a graphical illustration of a schedule that helps to plan, coordinate, and 
                    track specific tasks in a project. It is a simple and widely used method of working out and 
                    displaying the knotty problem of who does what and when. Typically it is used in a project 
                    where a number of people are working on interlinked tasks. 
                      
                    How does it work? 
                     
                     The basic principle of the Gantt Chart is to show time in a number of columns and to draw bars 
                     across those columns in order to show the usage of time. Each bar represents a task being 
                     carried out by one or more people. The bars can be summed downwards into simple histograms 
                     to show whether individuals are double-booked or have spare time on their hands. 
                      
                      
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        Additional symbols and colours may be added to the chart to show events and features such as 
        milestones (zero-length tasks), critical paths (which, if extended, will slip the completion date 
        of the project) and float (where tasks can be slipped without jeopardizing the completion date). 
         
         Characteristics of Gantt/Bar Chart 
         
            Popular tool for project scheduling 
            Graph with bar representing time for each task 
            Provides visual display of project schedule 
            Doesn’t show priorities  
            Gantt charts may be simple versions created on graph paper or more complex automated 
           versions created using project management applications such as Microsoft Project or 
           Excel. 
            
        How do you do it? 
         
        1. Break down the task into units that can be clearly allocated and tracked. In a typical project 
        this might be tasks of one week or less, allocated to one person each (although this can vary 
        widely with the type of project). 
          
        2. Identify skills and resources required by each task and allocate the task to a person or group, 
        along with appropriate resources. Be careful when allocating scarce resources, such as subject 
        specialists or expensive equipment; a person with less skill who can perform the task, albeit 
        over a longer period, can free up the expert for working on more critical activities. 
          
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