1.

0 Introduction

2.0 Overview of Project Management Methods

1.0 Introduction
Project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project
activities in order to meet or exceed stakeholder needs and expectations.” PMI. There are three
main components of project management that are required to meet the set objectives of a project.
These are set of skills, suite of tools and processes.
A set of skill: Specialist knowledge, Skills and experiences are required to enhance the likelihood
of project success

A suite of tools: Various types of tools are used by managers to improve chances of success: e.g.
document templates, registers, planning software, modelling software, checklists and review form.

A series of processes: Various processes and techniques are required to monitor and control time,
cost, quality and scope of projects.

In order to achieve project objectives, different methods/tools/techniques are required. Some of the
models require that the project teams to set goals and review the action plans in order to achieve
them. Therefore, when project goals are set, it is important that they are: SMART, PURE and
CLEAR.

SMART means Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time Bound. A ‘specific’ project
goal must be clear and unambiguous. For such project goal/objective, there must be a well-defined
criterion for measuring progress of goals (Measurable). Also the goal should be ‘Attainable’ that
is, it must be realistic. It should also align to the effort and time being invested in the project
processes (Relevant) and finally, target date should be set for all the goals so that there is a constant
focus (Time Bound).

A PURE project should be Positively (P) Stated and not negative, properly ‘Understood’ (U) and
well interpreted by all the stakeholders. It should be ‘Relevant’ (R) by aligning with other goals
and finally ‘Ethical’ (E) by following the best practices and existing guidelines of other relevant
organisations.
Usually, a project has CLEAR Goals. It may be ‘Challenging’ which means that it should stretch
and push the team so that there is constant focus. It should be ‘Legal’ by abiding with the law of
the land and ‘Environmentally sound’- should consider the environmental aspects. It should be
‘Appropriate’ and ‘Recorded’- be written down and visible to keep the focus.

2.0 Overview of PM Methods

There are several project management methods. Some of the widely used among these methods can
be broadly classified into two:

1. Charts Methods
2. Network-based methods

Charts Methods

In this category, Bar Charts and Gantt charts are widely used to manage project activities.
However, the more popular (Above 75%) of these two charts is Gantt chart attributed to Henry
Gantt (1861-1919). It is a graphical way of showing task duration and project schedule. However,
it has limitations. First, it does not explicitly show relationship between tasks and second, it has
limited use for project track. Gantt charts visually represent the sequence of projects, its duration
and activities in an orderly manner.

Network-based methods

The most popular Network-based methods in project management are:

1. PERT (Project Evaluation and Review Technique) and

2. CPM (Critical Path Method)

These two methods are essentially network-oriented techniques using the same principle. PERT
and CPM are basically time-oriented methods in the sense that they both lead to determination of a
time schedule for the project. The significant difference between two approaches is that the time

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estimates for the different activities in CPM were assumed to be deterministic while in PERT these
are described probabilistic. These techniques are referred as project scheduling techniques.

The CPM and PERT methods are also called Network Analysis.

The CPM (Critical Path Method) was the discovery of M.R. Walker of E.I. Du Pont de Nemours
& Co. and J.E. Kelly of Remington Rand, circa 1957. The computation was designed for the
UNIVAC-I computer. The first test was made in 1958, when CPM was applied to the construction
of a new chemical plant. In March 1959, the method was applied to maintenance shut-down at the
Du Pont works in Louisville, Kentucky. Unproductive time was reduced from 125 to 93 hours.

PERT (Project Evaluation and Review Technique) was devised in 1958 for the POLARIS
missile program by the Program Evaluation Branch of the Special Projects office of the [Link],
helped by the Lockheed Missile Systems division and the Consultant firm of Booz-Allen &
Hamilton. The calculations were so arranged so that they could be carried out on the IBM Naval
Ordinance Research Computer (NORC) at Dahlgren, Virginia.

Assumptions of CPM

1. Project consists of a collection of well-defined tasks (jobs)

2. Project ends when all jobs completed

3. Jobs may be started and stopped independently of each other within a given sequence (no
“continuous-flow” processes)

4 Jobs are ordered technological sequence

In CPM activities are shown as a network of precedence relationships using activity-on node
network construction

– Single estimate of activity time

– Deterministic activity times

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USED IN: Production management - for the jobs of repetitive in nature where the activity time
estimates can be predicted with considerable certainty due to the existence of past experience.

The PERT technique is a method of minimizing trouble spots, programme bottlenecks, delays and
interruptions by determining critical activities before they occur so that various activities in the
project can be coordinated. PERT is used where emphasis is on scheduling and monitoring the
project. Both CPM and PERT describe the work plan of project where arrows and circles
respectively indicate the activities and events in the project. This arrow or network diagram
includes all the activities and events that should be completed to reach the project objectives. The
activities and events are laid in a planned sequence of their accomplishments. The three-point
estimate is basically a weighted average of several estimates of activity duration or cost.

Some of the terms frequently used in PERT include

(i). Activity: A recognizable work item of a project requiring time and resource for its completion.
(ii) Dummy Activity: An activity that indicates precedence relationship and requires no time nor
resource

(iii) Critical Activity: Activities on the critical path having zero slack / float time.

Slack: The amount of spare time available between completion of an activity and beginning of next
activity.

(iv) Critical Path: The longest time path connecting the critical activities in the project network.
The total time on this path is the shortest duration of the project.

(v) Event: An instantaneous point in time signifying completion or beginning of an activity.

(vi) Burst Event: An event which gives rise to more than one activity.

(vii) Merge Event: The event which occurs only when more than one activity are accomplished.
(viii) Expected Time: The weighted average of the estimated optimistic, most likely and
pessimistic time duration of a project activity:

Estimate = pessimistic + 4( times realistic/Most likely)+optimistic (1)

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In the Network methods, there are different diagram methods. An example include (a) Arrow
diagram method (b) Precedence diagram method.

In PERT activities are shown as a network of precedence relationships using activity-onarrow

network construction

– Multiple time estimates

– Probabilistic activity times

USED IN: Project management - for non-repetitive jobs (research and development work), where
the time and cost estimates tend to be quite uncertain. This technique uses probabilistic time
estimates.

Benefits of PERT/CPM

 Useful at many stages of project management

 Mathematically simple
 Give critical path and slack time

 Provide project documentation

 Useful in monitoring costs

Limitations of PERT/CPM

 Clearly defined, independent and stable activities

 Specified precedence relationships

 Over emphasis on critical paths

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Applications of CPM / PERT

These methods have been applied to a wide variety of problems in industries and have found
acceptance even in government organizations. These include

• Construction of a dam or a canal system in a region

• Construction of a building or highway

• Maintenance or overhaul of airplanes or oil refinery

• Space flight

• Cost control of a project using PERT / COST

• Designing a prototype of a machine

• Development of supersonic planes

Basic Steps in PERT / CPM

The six steps of network analysis are as follows.

1. Prepare the list of activities

2. Define the inter relationship among the activities.

3. Estimate the activity duration

4. Assemble the activities in the form of a flow diagram

5. Draw the network

6. Analyze the network i.e. compute EST and LST; identify critical events, critical path and critical
activities.

Step1: Prepare the list of activities

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 An activity in a project is the lowest level of resource consuming, time-bound work having
a specified beginning and endpoint. It should be quantifiable, measurable, costable, and discrete.
The total project is subdivided into activities and each activity is given an alphabetical symbol /
code. When the number of activities is more than 26, alphanumeric or multi -alphabet codes can be
used. This involves a detailed delineation of the activities to be performed to complete the project.
There is no limit to the number of activities to which the project should be splitted. However, it is
advisable to limit the number to the minimum required from managerial consideration for avoiding
unnecessary complexity. In a simple project it may be easier to identify the activity. In complex
projects project activities are identified by splitting it into different hierarchical levels (sub-
projects). For example in the activities of a watershed project could be broken down in to sub-
projects such as agricultural sub-projects, Soil & water conservation sub-projects, Aforestation sub-
project etc. For each of these subprojects the activities could be identified. Depending on the size
and nature of the project sub-projects could be further divided into sub-sub project.

For illustration of the process, a simple example of creating facility for lift
irrigation in a farm would be used in the following text. Some of the assumptions are as
under.

1. It is assumed that the competent authority has approved the project and the project
scheduling starts with the activity of “Site selection”.

2. Irrigation would be provided from a newly dug well.

3. Field channels from the well would be laid after its digging.

4. Suitable pump would be procured and installed for lifting water.

5. Specification for the pump is finalized based on the groundwater prospecting data
before digging.

6. Pump and other inputs would not be procured until the site is selected.

7. Pump would be installed after digging the well.

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 With above assumptions, the activities of the project are listed in Table 1. It may be noted
the list is not exhaustive. The list would be different with different set of assumption or the
perception of the project manager. More activities could be added to the list or some of the
activities could be further subdivided. The number of activities in this example has been delineated
and limited to only six numbers with objective of simplicity and to demonstrate the process of
networking.

Table 1. List of activity

Sr. No Activity Symbol / Code

1. Site selection
A

2. Digging well B

3. Laying field channels C

4. Procurement of Pump D

5. Installation of pump E

6. Test run F

Step 2: Define the inter relationship among the activities

The relationship among the activities could be defined by specifying the preceding and
succeeding activity. Preceding activity for an activity is its immediate predecessor, i.e. the activity
that needs to be completed before the start of the new activity. In the given example, selection of
the site precedes digging of well. In other words the site needs to be selected before digging of the
well. Thus the activity “Selection of site” becomes proceeding activity to the activity of “Digging
the well” Succeeding activity is the one that immediately starts after completion of the activity.
“Digging well” is the succeeding activity to “Selection of site”.

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 In PERT the interrelationship is generally defined using the preceding
activity. Only the terminating activities will not have any preceding activity. And all
other activities must appear at least once as a preceding activity in the table. The inter
relationship among the activities listed in the example is as in Table 2.

Table 2. Interrelationship of activities

Sr. No Activity Symbol Preceding

activity
1. Site selection A ----
2. Digging well B A
3. Laying field channels C B
4. Procurement of Pump D A
5. Installation of pump E B, D
6. Test run F C, E

Step 3: Estimation of activity time

The activity time is the time, which is actually expected to be expended in

carrying out the activity. In deterministic cases as in CPM one time estimate is used. In
probabilistic cases as in PERT, the activity time has some kind of probabilistic
distribution and is the weighted average of three time estimates ( Optimistic time,
Pessimistic time and Most likely time) for each activity. The expected time for each
activity is computed as following:

Optimistic + 4 TM + Pessimistic time

Expected Time (TE ) = ------------------------
6

where To is the Optimistic time,(minimum time assuming every thing goes well)

TM is the Most likely time, (modal time required under normal circumstances)

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 T is the Pessimistic time, (maximum time assuming every thing goes wrong)

Example: Estimation of estimated time for the activity “Site selection”

For this activity the tree time estimates i.e., Optimistic, Most likely and
Pessimistic times are 10, 8 and 6 days respectively.

i.e. TO = 10, TM = 8, and TP = 6

TE = 10 + 4*8 + 6 = 10+32+6 = 48 = 8 days

6 6 6

Three time estimates, optimistic, pessimistic and most likely, could the decided on past
experiences in execution of similar activities or from the feedback from individuals with
relevance experience. The three time estimates and computed estimated time for the project
activities are given in Table 3.

Table 3. Activity time estimates

Time (Days)
Optimistic Most Pessimistic Estimatedtime
SN Activity Symbol Preceding Time likely TP TE
activity TO time TM
1. Site selection A ---- 10 8 6 8
2. Digging well B A 4 9 2 7
3. Laying field channels C B 5 6 6 5.83
4. Procurement of Pump D A 8 12 1 9.50
5. Installation of pump E D, B 2 2 16 4.33
6. Test run F C, E 6 14 9 11.83

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Network Diagram

Having decided on activities, their relationship and duration (estimated time of the activity),
next step is to draw the network diagram of the project. PERT network is a schematic model that
depicts the sequential relationship among the activities that must be completed to accomplish the
project.
Step 4: Assemble the activities in the form of a flow chart.

In a flow chart the activity and its duration is shown in a box. The boxes are connected with lines
according to the preceding and succeeding activity relationship. The flow charts do not give details
like start and completion time of each activity until unless it is super imposed on a calendar. It
also does not facilitate computation of various slacks. However, the critical path for the project
can be identified by comparing the various path lengths (sum of activity time, from start to finish,
on any path). The longest path in the chart is the critical path. The flow diagram for the project
considered for illustration is as in Figure 5 .

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 START

A 8

B D

C E 4.3

FINISH

Figure 5. The flow

diagram

Path I A-B-E-F 8+7+4.3+11.8 = 31.1

Path II A-B-C-F 8+7+5.83+11.8 = 32.63

Path III A-D-E-F 8+9.5+4.3+11.8 = 33.6

Path III i.e., A-D-E-F being the longest path (33.6 days) is the Critical path .

Step 5: Draw the network

This graphical representation of the project shows the precedence relationship among
the activities. An arrow generally represents activities in the diagram while a circle
represents event. Each activity starts with an event and end in an event. Activities in
a project are performed either sequentially i.e. one after another or they are undertaken

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concurrently i.e. simultaneously. To draw the network it requires the knowledge of
specifying which activities must be completed before other activities can be started,
which activities can be performed in parallel, and which activities immediately
succeed other activities. Some of the common combination of activity in a project is
as follows,

Sl No Diagram Logic
1 Activity “A” is preceding activity of “B”. i.e.

A B activity ‘A” need to be completed before

start of activity “B”. In other words “B”
starts after “A” is finished.

A
2 Activity “A” and “B” are concurrent.
C
B Activity “C” cannot start until both the
activities “A” and “B” are completed.

3
Activity “B” and “C” are concurrent
B
A activities. Any one of these cannot start until
C activity “A” is completed.

Neither activity C nor D can start until both

the activities A and B are completed. But C
and D can start independently.

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5
A B Activity D cannot begin until both A & C are
completed. But B can start after A is
complete. The activity Z, represented by
Z
dashed arrow, is a dummy activity
C D (Explained bellow). It specifies the inter
relation ship.

2.6 Rules for Drawing Network Diagram

Rule 1

Each activity is represented by one and only one arrow in the network

Rule 2

No two activities can be identified by the same end events

Rule 3

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In order to ensure the correct precedence relationship in the arrow diagram, following questions
must be checked whenever any activity is added to the network

(i) What activity must be completed immediately before this activity can start?

(ii) What activities must follow this activity?

(iii) What activities must occur simultaneously with this activity?

Common Errors in Drawing Networks

The three types of errors are most commonly observed in drawing network diagrams

Dangling

To disconnect an activity before the completion of all activities in a network diagram is

known as dangling. As shown in the figure activities (5 – 10) and (6 – 7) are not the last
activities in the network. So the diagram is wrong and indicates the error of dangling

Looping or Cycling

Looping error is also known as cycling error in a network diagram. Drawing an endless loop in
a network is known as error of looping as shown in the following figure.

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Redundancy

Unnecessarily inserting the dummy activity in network logic is known as the error of redundancy
as shown in the following diagram

Critical Path in Network Analysis

Basic Scheduling Computations

The notations used are

(i, j) = Activity with tail event i and head event j

Ei = Earliest occurrence time of event i

Lj = Latest allowable occurrence time of event j

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Dij = Estimated completion time of activity (i, j)

(Es)ij = Earliest starting time of activity (i, j)

(Ef)ij = Earliest finishing time of activity (i, j)

(Ls)ij = Latest starting time of activity (i, j)

(Lf)ij = Latest finishing time of activity (i, j)

The procedure is as follows

1. Determination of Earliest time (Ej): Forward Pass computation

• Step 1

The computation begins from the start node and move towards the end node. For
easiness, the forward pass computation starts by assuming the earliest occurrence
time of zero for the initial project event.

• Step 2

i. Earliest starting time of activity (i, j) is the earliest event time of the tail end
event i.e. (Es)ij = Ei

ii. Earliest finish time of activity (i, j) is the earliest starting time + the activity
time i.e. (Ef)ij = (Es)ij + Dij or (Ef)ij = Ei + Dij
iii. Earliest event time for event j is the maximum of the earliest finish times of all
activities ending in to that event i.e. Ej = max [(Ef)ij for all immediate
predecessor of (i, j)] or Ej =max [Ei + Dij]

2. Backward Pass computation (for latest allowable time)

Step 1

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 For ending event assume E = L. Remember that all E’s have been computed by forward
pass computations.

Step 2

Latest finish time for activity (i, j) is equal to the latest event time of event j i.e.

(Lf)ij = Lj

Step 3

Latest starting time of activity (i, j) = the latest completion time of (i, j) – the activity time
or (Ls)ij =(Lf)ij - Dij or (Ls)ij = Lj - Dij

Step 4

Latest event time for event ‘i’ is the minimum of the latest start time of all activities
originating from that event i.e. Li = min [(Ls)ij for all immediate successor of (i, j)]
= min [(Lf)ij - Dij] = min [Lj - Dij]

Determination of floats and slack times

There are three kinds of floats

Total float – The amount of time by which the completion of an activity could be delayed
beyond the earliest expected completion time without affecting the overall project duration time.
Mathematically
(Tf)ij = (Latest start – Earliest start) for activity ( i – j)

(Tf)ij = (Ls)ij - (Es)ij or (Tf)ij = (Lj - Dij) - Ei

Free float – The time by which the completion of an activity can be delayed beyond the earliest
finish time without affecting the earliest start of a subsequent activity.

Mathematically

(Ff)ij = (Earliest time for event j – Earliest time for event i) – Activity time for ( i, j)

(Ff)ij = (Ej - Ei) - Dij

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 Independent float – The amount of time by which the start of an activity can be delayed
without effecting the earliest start time of any immediately following activities, assuming that
the preceding activity has finished at its latest finish time. Mathematically

(If)ij = (Ej - Li) - Dij

The negative independent float is always taken as zero.

• Event slack - It is defined as the difference between the latest event and earliest
event times. Mathematically

Head event slack = Lj – Ej, Tail event slack = Li - Ei

4. Determination of critical path

Critical event – The events with zero slack times are called critical events. In other words the
event i is said to be critical if Ei = Li
• Critical activity – The activities with zero total float are known as critical activities.
In other words an activity is said to be critical if a delay in its start will cause a
further delay in the completion date of the entire project.

Critical path – The sequence of critical activities in a network is called critical path. The critical
path is the longest path in the network from the starting event to ending event and defines the
minimum time required to complete the project.

3.1 Worked Examples on CPM

Example 1

Determine the early start and late start in respect of all node points and identify critical path for
the following network.

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Solution

Calculation of E and L for each node is shown in the network

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 Activity(i, Normal Earliest Time Latest Time Float Time

Time Start Finish (Ei Start (Li Finish

j) (Li - Dij ) - Ei
+ Dij ) - Dij )
(Ei) (Li)
(Dij)
(1, 2) 10 0 10 0 10 0

(1, 3) 8 0 8 1 9 1

(1, 4) 9 0 9 1 10 1

(2, 5) 8 10 18 10 18 0

(4, 6) 7 9 16 10 17 1
(3, 7) 16 8 24 9 25 1

(5, 7) 7 18 25 18 25 0

(6, 7) 7 16 23 18 25 2

(5, 8) 6 18 24 18 24 0

(6, 9) 5 16 21 17 22 1

(7, 10) 12 25 37 25 37 0

(8, 10) 13 24 37 24 37 0

(9, 10) 15 21 36 22 37 1
Network Analysis Table

From the table, the critical nodes are (1, 2), (2, 5), (5, 7), (5, 8), (7, 10) and (8, 10)

From the table, there are two possible critical paths

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 i. 1 → 2 → 5 → 8 → 10 ii.
1 → 2 → 5 → 7 → 10

Example 2

Find the critical path and calculate the slack time for the following network

Solution

The earliest time and the latest time are obtained below
Activity(i, Normal Earliest Time Latest Time Float Time
j) Start Finish (Ei Start (Li - Finish
Time (Li - Dij ) - Ei
+ Dij ) Dij )
(Ei) (Li)
(Dij)

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 (1, 2) 2 0 2 5 7 5

(1, 3) 2 0 2 0 2 0

(1, 4) 1 0 1 6 7 6

(2, 6) 4 2 6 7 11 5

(3, 7) 5 2 7 3 8 1

(3, 5) 8 2 10 2 10 0

(4, 5) 3 1 4 7 10 6

(5, 9) 5 10 15 10 15 0

(6, 8) 1 6 7 11 12 5

(7, 8) 4 7 11 8 12 1

(8, 9) 3 11 14 12 15 1

From the above table, the critical nodes are the activities (1, 3), (3, 5) and (5, 9)

The critical path is 1 → 3 → 5 → 9

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Example 2

A project has the following characteristics

Activity Most optimistic time Most pessimistic time Most likely time

(a) (b) (m)

(1 – 2) 1 5 1.5

(2 – 3) 1 3 2

(2 – 4) 1 5 3
(3 – 5) 3 5 4

(4 – 5) 2 4 3

(4 – 6) 3 7 5

(5 – 7) 4 6 5

(6 – 7) 6 8 7

(7 – 8) 2 6 4

(7 – 9) 5 8 6

(8 – 10) 1 3 2

(9 – 10) 3 7 5

Construct a PERT network. Find the critical path and variance for each event.

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Solution

Activity (a) (b) (m) (4m) te v

(a + b + 4m)/6 [(b – a) / 6]2

(1 – 2) 1 5 1.5 6 2 4/9

(2 – 3) 1 3 2 8 2 1/9

(2 – 4) 1 5 3 12 3 4/9

(3 – 5) 3 5 4 16 4 1/9

(4 – 5) 2 4 3 12 3 1/9

(4 – 6) 3 7 5 20 5 4/9

(5 – 7) 4 6 5 20 5 1/9

(6 – 7) 6 8 7 28 7 1/9

(7 – 8) 2 6 4 16 4 4/9

(7 – 9) 5 8 6 24 6.17 1/4

(8 – 10) 1 3 2 8 2 1/9

(9 – 10) 3 7 5 20 5 4/9

The network is constructed as shown below

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The critical path = 1 → 2 → 4 → 6 → 7 →9 →10

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