4E1 Management for Engineers

Project Management - Lecture 3

Leo Harmon

4E1 Project Management Lecture 3

Objective of Lecture
From WBS to Network
Differences between them

Network to Gantt
Worked examples from Gray Larson
Concept of Critical Path
Concepts of Float/Slack and lag
Additional learning material
Chapter 6 Gray & Larson
4E1 Project Management Lecture 3

WBS to Network
WBS
Independently specified - task, resources, costs
No analysis of sequence

Network
Sequence of tasks
Interdependency & scheduling

Maximise the overlap in the people that do

WBS and Network Planning
Common understanding of WBS terminology
4E1 Project Management Lecture 3

Network Rules
Flow is Left to Right
An activity cannot begin until the preceding tasks
are completed
Arrows indicate precedence and flow (can cross
over each other)
Each activity should have a unique ID
Looping is NOT ALLOWED
Conditional statements are NOT ALLOWED
Project should have a common start and end
node
4E1 Project Management Lecture 3

4E1 Project Management Lecture 3

In Class Exercise 1
From the Following WBS draw network

4E1 Project Management Lecture 3

Solution to Task 1

4E1 Project Management Lecture 3

Project Networks
Project networks have some specific characteristics:
Arrows/links

At least one path from

start to completion

represent a task or activity

and its duration - hence
Activity on Arrow (AOA) No circuits or loops
conventionally run left-right

One and only one

starting node
completion node
link between each pair of
nodes (why?)

May be

multiple paths from start to

completion

special activities, and thus

links, with zero duration

4E1 Project Management Lecture 3

Project Network Features

Critical path

Free float

If all tasks on a path from start to

Activities that can start late or
completion have zero slack, the
finish early have free float
path is on the critical path
Interfering float
Time delay risk of the project!
An activity that can only be
Sub-critical activities
delayed in its float at the
Activities with a small free float
expense of some other
are sub-critical activities
activitys float has an
interfering float
Slack
Typical task has earliest start
and latest completion times
Slack = LC - ES
4E1 Project Management Lecture 3

Why Critical Path?

Minimise
Total project time
Total project cost
Cost for a given time
Time for a given cost
Idle resources

CPA methods used as:

planning tools
control tools
Many software packages
can calculate the path

May be > 1 critical path

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Critical Path Method (CPM)

To find the critical path three
steps are required
Requires care and thought
Easy to make a mistake

1.Forward pass
Traverse network from start,
calculating earliest possible
completion time of each task.
This will give you a total time
for the project.

2.Backward pass
Working backwards from end,
calculate latest completion
time needed to complete each
activitys preceding task.
3.Identify critical path
Nodes where the forward
earliest completion time
equals the backward latest
completion lie on the critical
path.

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Forward Pass
How soon can an activity
start?
Earliest Start (ES)

How soon can an activity

Finish?

ES

ID

EF

Description

Duration

Earliest finish (EF)

Goal: Project Completion

Time
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Task A: Project Kick off

Task B: Dig Foundations
Task C: Order concrete
Task D: Pour Concrete
ES

EF

ES

EF

1
5
1
1
ES

EF

Description

Description

Description

Duratio
n

Duratio
n

Duratio
n

ES

EF

Description
Duratio
n
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Durations
Task A: Project Kick off
Task B: Dig Foundations
Task C: Order concrete
Task D: Pour Concrete
0

ES

1
5
1
1
D

Kickoff

Dig foundations

Pour Concrete

EF

Description

Order
Concrete

Duration

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Exercise 2 Complete Forward Pass

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Solution to Forward Pass

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Backward Pass
How Late can an activity
start?

ES

Latest Start (LS)

How Late can an activity

Finish?

ID

EF

Description
LS

Duration LF

Latest finish (LF)

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Backward Pass
Task A: Project Kick off
Task B: Dig Foundations
Task C: Order concrete
Task D: Pour Concrete
0

ES

EF

SL

Description

LS

Duration

LF

Pour Concrete

Dig foundations

Kickoff
0

1
5
1
1

Order
Concrete
5

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Exercise 3 Complete Backward Pass

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Solution to Backward Pass

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Slack/Float and the Critical Path

How Long can an activity
be delayed?
Slack or Float (SL)
LS-ES=SL or LF-EF=SL

Critical Path are those

tasks with zero Slack

4E1 Project Management Lecture 3

ES

ID

EF

SL

Description

LS

Duration LF

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Slack
Task A: Project Kick off
Task B: Dig Foundations
Task C: Order concrete
Task D: Pour Concrete

Kickoff

ES

EF

SL

Description

LS

Duration

LF

1
5
1
1

Dig foundations

Pour Concrete

Order
Concrete

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Calculate Slack and Identify CP on

Koll case

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Solution to Koll

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Complications
Complications can arise
when computing the
critical path:
Different precedence
relations
Multiple projects
Resource constraints

Tradeoffs
Overtime
Additional resources
Extension of duration
Cost

Resource sharing
Availability constraints

Politics
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Critical Path
Put best people on CP
Put most effort into Risk Assessment on CP
When short of time - focus on the CP and
Practice MBWA
Know where you can lend resources safely
Know where extra effort will pay big dividends

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Different Precedence Relations

Four important types:

Finish to start

Start to start

Start to finish

Finish to finish
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Lag
Delay between the end of task and start of the
next
Transport
Approvals and signoff
Etc.

Add to the ES or subtract from EF of

successor task depending on the precedence
relation

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Example using Lag

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Critical Path
Probably the most important tool in project
management
Sensitivity Analysis
Multiple Critical Paths
then assign resources

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