1. Project Management
© 2008 D. J. Foreman

2. Introduction What makes a successful project? All tasks included
Project completed on time
Quality maintained
Constraints upheld
Decision points clearly visible
© 2008 D. J. Foreman

3. Graphical Tools Gantt Chart shows dependencies with time relationships
Pert Chart shows dependencies without time relationships
© 2008 D. J. Foreman

4. Example – the 'student business' schedule
© 2008 D. J. Foreman

5. Terms -1 Schedule set of tasks and their sequence
Task non-divisible piece of work
Current date today's date
As-of date separates past and future, (shown as a vertical bar). Allows schedule to 'float' in time and/or be used as a template. Use with "Force future tasks after As-of Date" or an equivalent option.
© 2008 D. J. Foreman

6. Terms -2 Link (FF, SS, FS,SF) (sequential) joining of tasks
Status current state of a task
Dependency a timing relation between tasks
Predecessor task that comes earlier
Successor task that comes later
Conflicts attempt to simultaneously use exclusive resources
© 2008 D. J. Foreman

7. Terms -3 Duration length of a task/project
Completion amount of task finished
Critical Path set of consecutive tasks with no delays allowed
Milestone task event at a specific date/time has zero duration
Span/summary task synopsizes sub-tasks
© 2008 D. J. Foreman

8. Terms -4 Resource people, materials, etc
Slack (positive) permissible delay
Slack (negative) time that must be recovered to prevent lateness
Baseline record of original schedule
Future Tasks begin in the future
Fixed Tasks specific start/end dates/lengths
© 2008 D. J. Foreman

9. Getting Started Load the default schedule from my web page
File / Save as… your name
File / Task Info
Change start date to specified date
Change File/Properties to your name
Rename tasks
Change any other data as needed
© 2008 D. J. Foreman

10. Task Scheduling-1
ASAP Start on 'as-of date', or as soon as possible thereafter
Fixed Start/end dates locked-in
ALAP Start as late as possible
© 2008 D. J. Foreman

11. Task Scheduling-2 Must Start task must begin on this date
Must Finish task must end on this date
Critical succeeding tasks cannot start until this task finishes. Required dates may be in trouble.
© 2008 D. J. Foreman

12. Types of Links (and delays)FS FS SS SS FF FF
© 2008 D. J. Foreman

13. Gantt View Fields Field Values Status critical path late complete
resource overscheduled
delayed (overscheduled resources)
scheduled
must start (on/after)
must finish (on/after)
ASAP, ALAP
© 2008 D. J. Foreman

14. Gantt View Fields 2 Field Values ID numeric code to identify the task
Slack amount of time before a task is late
Duration time to complete a task (date)
Effort resource requirement (hours, days, weeks)
Dates start, end, late
WBS Work Breakdown Structure - identifies tasks based on their position in the schedule
OBS Organization Breakdown Structure - identifies tasks by resource group, cost center, or accounting code
© 2008 D. J. Foreman

15. Types of tasks Duration Driven Fixed time to complete
Independent of resources
Effort Driven Based on resources
Time based on applied resources (not used in our projects)
Split Assignment Allows for interruptions
No effect on duration-driven tasks
(same amount of 'work time' involved)
Interrupt extends duration for effort- driven tasks
© 2008 D. J. Foreman

16. Priorities & Resource Levelling
delaying tasks to resolve conflicts
graphical view of resource availability
have resource availability data
Priorities determine which tasks get shifted during auto-leveling.
Resource leveling
Histograms
Resource calendars
Task Priorities
© 2008 D. J. Foreman