Developing the Project Schedule
Develop an in-depth schedule for your initial project based on the Work Breakdown Structure you have completed. You will need to complete several activities at this stage: (1) create an activity precedence diagram showing the network logic for each project activity you have identified; (2) prepare an activity duration table showing optimistic, likely, and pessimistic activity times for each task; and (3) create both the network diagram and Gantt charts for your project, indicating the critical path, and all critical activities, total project duration, and all activities with float. As you prepare the activity precedence diagram, consider:
1. Have we identified opportunities to create parallel paths, or are we placing too many activities directly in a serial path?
2. Is our logic correct for identifying preceding and subsequent activities?
3. Are there some clear milestones we can identify along the precedence diagram?
As you prepare the activity duration table, you might wish to set it up along the following lines:
Duration
Activity Optimistic Likely Pessimistic Est. Duration
A 6 9 18 10
B 3 8 13 8
Finally, in creating the network diagram and Gantt charts use MS Project or a comparable scheduling
software package (see examples in Figures 10.26 and 10.27a, b, and c).
Sample Project Schedule, ABCups, Inc.
Tasks Duration (in days)
Plant manager feasibility request 1
Get technical approval 5
Determine if additional labor needed 4
Research equipment 26
Determine best suppliers 21
Meet with vendors 21
Obtain quotations from vendors 21
Pick equipment vendor 14
Negotiate price and terms 7
Obtain financing for equipment 3
Calculate ROI 3
Obtain required signatures 3
Capital approved 10
Issue purchase order 1
Equipment being built 40
Marketing new process 21
Create mailer 15
Design new brochure 9
Update Web site 9
Lay out plant for new equipment 15
Note: This is a partial activity network and schedule.
Notes
1. O’Sullivan, F. (2015). “The plan to move an entire Swedish town,” The Atlantic, June, retrieved at: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/06/a-town-onthe-move/392078/; Bromwich, J. (2016). “How do you move a city? As Kiruna, Sweden,” New York Times, May 20, retrieved at: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/21/world/europe/kiruna-sweden-move-arctic-circle.html?_
r=0; Meier, A. (2016). “Undermined by mining, Swedish town plans to move two miles east,” Hyperallergic, Apr 6, retrieved at: https://hyperallergic.com/194181/undermined-by-mining-swedish-town-plans-to-move-two-mileseast/; Vulliamy, E. (2016). “Kiruna: How Sweden is moving
a city 3km to stop it sinking into the ground,” Independent, May 24, retrieved at: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/kiruna-sweden-how-to-move-a-cityvideo-three-kilometres-mine-sink-into-the-grounda7046916.html; Menon, A. (2014). “Kiruna 4-ever,” Civil
Engineering, October, p. 69 White Arkitekter. (n.d.). Kiruna, retrieved at:http://en.white.se/projects/kiruna/
2. Nicholas, J. M. (1990). Managing Business & Engineering Projects. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall; Hulett, D. (1995). “Project schedule risk assessment,” Project Management Journal, 26(1): 23–44; Lock, D. (2000). Project Management, 7th ed. Aldershot: Gower; Oglesby, P., Parker, H., and
Howell, G. (1989). Productivity Improvement in Construction.
New York: McGraw-Hill.
3. Brooks, F. P., Jr. (1994). The Mythical Man-Month: Essays on
Software Engineering, Anniversary Edition. Reading, MA:
Addison-Wesley; Cooper, K. G. (1998). “Four failures in
project management,” in Pinto, J. K. (Ed.), The Project Management Institute Project Management Handbook. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, pp. 396–424; Ibbs, C. W., Lee, S.A., and Li, M. I. (1998). “Fast-tracking’s impact on project change,” Project Management Journal, 29(4): 35–42.
4. Gray, C. F., and Larson, E. W. (2003). Project Management. Burr Ridge, IL: McGraw-Hill.
5. Shtub, A., Bard, J. F., and Globerson, S. (1994). Project Management: Engineering, Technology, and Implementation. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall; Navarre, C., and Schaan, J.(1990). “Design of project management systems from top management’s perspective,” Project Management Journal,
21(2), pp. 19–27.
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