1. Chapter 6
Activity Planning

2. Effort estimation Detailed plan For whole project
For individual activity
Detailed plan
Starting of each activity
End of each activity
Risks

3. Project Vs Activity
A project is composed of a number of related activities
A project may start when at least one of its activities is ready to start
A project will be completed when all of its activities have been completed

4. Cont… An activity should have a duration that can be forecasted
An activity must have a clear start and a clear stop
Each activity should have some ‘deliverables’ for ease of monitoring
Some activities may require that other activities are completed before they can begin

5. Activity Planning
A project plan is a schedule of activities indicating the start and stop for each activity
Also provide the project and resource schedules

6. Cont… During planning, managers consider: Resource availability
Resource allocation
Staff responsibility
Project Monitoring
Cash flow forecasting
Re-planning of the project towards the pre- defined goal
Resource available: Make sure the resources are there when needed
Resource allocation: Make sure there are no competing resources.
Staff responsibility: Schedule showing which staff carry out each activity
Project Monitoring: Measure the actual achievement
Cash flow forecasting:Produce a timed cash flow forecast
Re-planning of the project towards the pre-defined goal:re-plan the project so that it will correct drift from the target.

7. Objectives of Activity Planning
Feasibility assessment
Time and resource constraints
Resource allocation
Timescale and resource availability
Detailed costing
Cost and their timing
Motivation
Co-ordination
Once a detailed activity plan is finished, it can be used to achieve the following:
Feasibility assessment: Can the project be delivered on time and within budget (constraints)?
Resources allocation:
How to allocate the resources with best results?
When should those resources be ready?
Detailed costing:
A detailed estimates on the project cost and the timings.
A detailed forecast on when the expenditure is likely to take place.
Motivation:
Providing targets and being able to monitor the achievement of the targets at the end of the activity can be a good strategy to motivate staff.
Co-ordination:
Help to set the time and requirements of staff from different departments to work together in the project, if necessary
Provide a good way for the project teams to communicate, cooperate and collaborate among themselves

8. Cont… Activity Planning and scheduling techniques leads to
Completing the project in a min. time and at an acceptable cost
Activities in parallel

9. When to plan Ongoing process of refinement
During feasibility study and project start- up
Focus is on
Timescale
Risk
Further focus shifts to
Resource availability
Cash flow control

10. Different Levels of Plans
Project Schedule: a plan that shows
What are activities
Order of activities
Dates when each activity should start and stop
When and how much of the resources will be required
Activity Plan: a plan that describes
how each activity will be undertaken
The activity plan is done in Steps 4 and 5 of Step Wise framework.

11. Project Schedule in 4 Stages
Ideal Activity Plan
An activity plan without any constraints
Risk consideration for each activity
Resource consideration for whole project
Schedule production and publication
The word ‘public’ here means those people that are involved in the project.

12. Activity networks

13. Planning and Scheduling the Activities
Once we have a project plan (or, project schedule), we need to schedule the activities in a project taking into account the resource constraints
We need to put the activities in a project and arrange them in their order taking into account of the resource.

14. Network Planning Model
Time flows from
Left to Right
Simple sequencing
Suitable for small projects
CPM(Critical Path Method)
PERT(Program Evaluation Review Technique)
AOA
Precedence Network
AON

15. Simple sequencing

16. CPM Network A project network should have only one start node
A project network should have only one end node
A link have duration
Nodes has no duration
Precedents are immediate preceding activities
Time moves from Left to Right
Nodes are numbered sequentially
A network may not contain loops
Leads to an impossible sequence
A network should not contain dangles

17. CPM Convention
Event
Number
Earliest
date
Latest
date
Slack

19. Example to construct a CPM
Id.
Activity Name
Duration (weeks)
Precedents A
Hardware selection 6 B
Software design 4 C
Hardware Installation 3 D
Coding E
Data Preparation F
User Documentation 10 G
User Training
E,F H
System Installation 2
C,D

20. Cont… 1 2 6 3 5 4 11 9 10 13
A=6
B=4
D=4
C=3
H=2
F=10
G=3
E=3

21. Critical Path Any delay in critical path delays the project
Slack= difference between earliest and latest dates
Any event with slack 0 is critical.
Path joining these events is critical path
Activity float
Float=difference in earliest finish and it’s latest start

22. Adding the time dimension
Critical path approach is concerned with:
Project completed as quickly as possible
Identifying activities leads to delay project or later activities start date, if delayed.
Forward pass
Earliest dates of activities
Backward pass
Latest start dates and the critical path

23. = |latest start date – earliest start date|
Activity Float
Time allowed for an activity to delay
3 different types:
Total float(no delay in project end date)
= |latest start date – earliest start date|
Free float(delay without affecting subsequent activity)
= |earliest completion date of activity – earliest start date of succeeding activity|
Interfering float = |total float - free float|
Total float can be used up once.
Free float can be used up separately.
However, whenever any float is used, the overall timing of the project is changed.
Teachers should distinguish between overall timing of the project and overall duration of the project.
The overall timing of a project should includes the activities and the duration of each activities.
A recalculation of the CPM is need.

24. Cont… Loop representing impossible sequencing Code Program
Release Program
Test Program
Diagnose Errors
Correct Error

25. Cont… Dangling activities indicate errors in logic Design Program
Test Program
Code Program
Install Program
Write User Manual

26. Cont… Solution is: Remove dangle activities
If that is a part of project => re-draw the network
Design Program
Test Program
Code Program
Install Program
Write User Manual

27. Revise Specifications
Cont…
Lagged Activities
Build Prototype
Test Prototype
Revise Specifications
Ends 2 day after Test
Starts 1 after Test
Document amendments

28. Cont…
Dummy activities

29. Activity on Node Representation

30. Critical Path Method (cont’d)
Adding time dimension
The forward pass
calculate the earliest start dates of the activities
To calculate the project completion date
The backward pass
calculate the latest start dates for activities
identify the critical path from the graph
In CPM, each activity has a time estimate.
Software Project Management

31. Critical Path Method (cont’d)
Identifying critical path and critical event
Critical event: an event that has zero slack
Critical path: a path joining those critical events
Slack: measures how late an event may be without affecting the overall target date of the project
slack = latest start date – earliest start date (for an event)
Any delay of the critical events will delay the project
There is always at least one critical path in the CPM network.
Software Project Management

32. Activity label, activity description
Activity on Node
Activity label, activity description
Earliest start
Duration
Earliest finish
Latest start
Float
Latest finish

33. Example Id. Activity Name Duration (weeks) Precedents A
Hardware selection 7 B
Software design 4 C
Hardware Installation 6 D
Coding E
Data Preparation 5 F
User Documentation 9 G
User Training
E,F H
System Installation 3
C,D

34. Finish A 7 w C 6 W B 4 W D 4 W H 3 W F 9 W E 5 W G 5 W 7 7 13 4 4 8 13
7 w 7 C 7
6 W 13 B
4 W 4 D 4
4 W 8 H 13
3 W 16
Start
Finish F
9 W 9 E 4
5 W 9 G 9
5 W 14

35. Finish A 7 w C 6 W B 4 W 2 6 D 4 W 9 5 13 H 3 W F 9 W 2 11 E 5 W 6 2
7 w 7 C 7
6 W 13 B
4 W 4 2 6 D 4
4 W 8 9 5 13 H 13
3 W 16
Start
Finish F
9 W 9 2 11 E 4
5 W 9 6 2 11 G 9
5 W 14 11 2 16

36. Example-2

37. Significance of critical path
During planning stage
Shortening the critical path will reduce the overall project duration
During management stage
Pay more attention to those activities which fall in the critical path
Actually, it is the shortening of the critical activity by putting more resources in it.
The CPM allows you to identify what to shorten. However, it does not tell you how to.