NETWORK BASED PLANNING METHODS
Planning, What is it? A common mistake: Not involving in the planning process the people who must do the work
The Lewis Method Project Management
Step 6 of The Lewis Method
The Methods Project planning consists of developing a schedule and a budget for the execution of the project. Among the most popular methods are Critical Path Method (CPM) and Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM)
Work Breakdown Structure In order to successfully planning and controlling a project, it has to be structured by decomposing it into manageable sub- activities of reasonable size and complexity which can be accomplished separately. For each sub-activities, a specification describing its objectives has to be provided. It has to be characterized of its duration, cost, and work content.
Having done with the decomposition process, the sub-activities and jobs determined can be arranged in a form of a tree with its root node corresponding to the complete project. The major sub-activities are depicted on the first level. On subsequent levels, each of them are decomposed again. The leafs of the tree correspond to the identified jobs. The resultant figure is called work-breakdown structure. Work Breakdown Structure …
A function-oriented approach: a sub- activity is divided according to the development or organizational function. A product-oriented approach: a sub-activity is broken into smaller ones referring to the technological structure of the product. A process-oriented approach: a sub-activity is decomposed according to its processing. Method for Decomposing a Project
A statement of work: defines the objective which has to be achieved by performing the job. To judge its successful completion, performance measures have to be established. The amount of labor, equipment, and materials required for executing the job have to be determined. Then, the expected duration of the job can be estimated. A budget for executing the job can be developed. Project’s Work Content
WBS, An Example The Project Function-oriented Process-oriented Product- oriented Bicycle Project Deliverable
Jobs or activities have to be processed in order such that precedence relationships among pair of jobs/activities are satisfied. Technological precedence: due to technological dependencies. Procedural precedence: due to guidelines defining how certain jobs have to be performed. Imposed precedence: due to restricted resource or budget availability. Activity-on-Node Networks
A finish-to-start precedence relationship is the most commonly used. AoN Networks…
It introduces a minimum time lag between jobs. A finish-to-start time lag, L ij FS, between job i and j indicates that at least L ij FS periods have to pass away after finishing job i before job j can start. A start-to-start relationship between job i and j with a time lag L ij SS indicates that job j cannot start before the processing of job i has been executed for at least L ij SS periods. Precedence Diagramming Method
A finish-to-finish relationship with a time lag of L ij FF indicates that job j cannot be finished until at least L ij FF periods have passed away after completing job i. A start-to-finish relationship with a time lag of L ij SF indicates that there must be at least L ij SF periods between the start of job i and the finish of job j. PDM …
Activity-on-Arch Networks
To determine the smallest possible project completion time which can be realized without violating the precedence constraints imposed by the project network. It computes earliest and latest starting and finishing times. It defines a time window for each job: –[ES j, LF j ] is the time window interval for job j. Critical Path Analysis
The Formulas
Other Method