Introduction

PERT is a method to analyze the involved tasks in

completing a given project, especially the time
needed to complete each task, and identifying
the minimum time needed to complete the
total project.
PERT was developed primarily to simplify
the planning and scheduling of large and
complex projects. It was developed by Bill
Pocock for the U.S. Navy Special Projects Office
in 1957 to support the U.S. Navy's Polaris
nuclear submarine project.
The Program (or Project) Evaluation and Review
Technique, commonly abbreviated PERT, is a
statistical tool, used in project management,
that is designed to analyze and represent the
tasks involved in completing a given project.
PERT can be considered as a roadmap of
a particular project in which all major events
have been identified and relationship among
events clearly indicated
 Definition

• Project management technique that shows the time

taken by each component of a project, and the total
time required for its completion. PERT breaks down
the project into events and activities, and lays down
their proper sequence, relationships, and duration
in the form of a network. Lines connecting the
events are called paths, and the longest path
resulting from connecting all events is called the
critical path. The length (duration) of the critical
path is the duration of the project.
 Terminology
• PERT event:
a point that marks the start or completion of one or more activities. It
consumes no time and uses no resources. When it marks the completion of one or
more tasks, it is not “reached” (does not occur) until all of the activities leading to
that event have been completed.
• predecessor event:
an event that immediately precedes some other event without any other
events intervening. An event can have multiple predecessor events and can be the
predecessor of multiple events.
• successor event:
an event that immediately follows some other event without any other
intervening events. An event can have multiple successor events and can be the
successor of multiple events.
• PERT activity:
the actual performance of a task which consumes time and requires
resources (such as labor, materials, space, machinery). It can be understood as
representing the time, effort, and resources required to move from one event to
another. A PERT activity cannot be performed until the predecessor event has
occurred.
• optimistic time (O): the minimum possible time required
to accomplish a task, assuming everything proceeds
better than is normally expected
• pessimistic time (P): the maximum possible time
required to accomplish a task, assuming everything goes
wrong (but excluding major catastrophes).
• most likely time (M): the best estimate of the time
required to accomplish a task, assuming everything
proceeds as normal.
• expected time (TE): the best estimate of the time
required to accomplish a task, accounting for the fact
that things don't always proceed as normal
TE = (O + 4M + P) ÷ 6
 Steps involved in PERT…
– Preparation of the list of all activities
necessary to complete the project.
– determine the proper sequence of
activities
– Design the actual PERT network
relating to all activities to one another
in a proper sequence.
– Estimate the time schedule for each
activity
– Determine the critical path
– Update the PERT chart as the
program progresses
Examples –
 In the following example, the Project manager know succesion of the project
activities and the optimistic, pesimistic and most likely time (in weeks) for the
following activities
Most
Optimistic
Pesimistic likely Expected time
Activity Description Predecesors time
time (P) time (0+4M+P)/6
(0)
(M)

A Select - 9 15 12 12
administrative
and medical staff.

B Select site and do - 5 13 9 9

site survey.

C Select equipment. A 8 12 10 10

D Prepare final B 7 17 9 10
construction
plans and layout.

E Bring utilities to B 18 34 23 24
the site.
F Interview A 9 15 9 10
applicants and fill
positions in
nursing support
staff,
maintenance, and
security.

G Purchase and C 30 40 35 35
take delivery of
equipment.

H Construct the D 35 49 39 40
hospital.

I Develop an A 12 18 15 15
information
system.

J Install the E, G, H 3 9 3 4
equipment.

K Train nurses and F, I, J 7 11 9 9

support staff
A= meeting to finalize the idea of setting up an ICU
B = planning the infrastructure
C = prepare the list of articles needed to the unit and put tender notice
d =finalize the tender
G =order for the articles aa
E = prepare the budget, both capital and operating
F = draw the plan of ICU, and estimate the cost
H- give the work to the contractors to start the work
I – get the materials like cemnt gravel tiles electric and plumbing
materials
J = start the project
Benefits of PERT

It provides information
about the
• expected project completion time
• probability of completion before
the specified date
• the critical path activities that
directly impact the completion time
• the activities that can slack time
• activity start and end dates
Weakness of PERT
• Is probabilistic in nature
• Is time and labor intensive
• Time estimate is subjective
• Despite the well planned time
distribution the actual plan
may be different
• Any delay in any activity can
alter the path and cause delay
in the progress
• Mostly used in large complex
projects
Estimates the time needed
for each activity, the
longest possible time . a
cost estimate is figured for
both normal and crash
operating conditions
 Critical path method (CPM)
• CPM is the most versatile planning and controlling
technique used in business. It was first employed in
USA in 1958 by E.I. du Pont de Nemous Company.
• Unlike PERT it is applied in those projects where
activity timings are relatively well known.
• It is used for planning and controlling the most logical
sequence of activities for accomplishing the project
• CPM techniques are used to
guide project managers in
making resource allocation
decisions
• CPM enhances a manager's
ability to use resources in an
efficient way by providing a
strategy for determining
which activities can be
expedited to minimize total
project costs. during the life of
a project.
 Definition of CPM
• It’s a mathematical based
algorithm for scheduling a set of
project activities, which is a set of
sequential task upon which the
project completion date depends
– or the longest full path.
For an evaluation the managers
observe the critical path and
compare with the progress
Utility value of CPM

To construct a model of the

project
• A list of activities required to
complete a project
• Time duration that each activity
will take to completion
• Dependencies between
activities
• Also make use of PERT in CPM
CPM in health care
• First CPs in hospital was developed
by nurses for nursing care alone
• Then it was adopted by
multidisciplinary team
• Helps the Management to plan in
such a way that displays
goal for clients and
provide the corresponding ideal
sequence and
Provide timing of the staff actions to
achieve those goals with optimal
efficiency
Need for CPM in nursing field
• Increased competition in he
medical and nursing field
• Need to reduce cost while
maintaining the quality of care
• Reduce the resource utilization
while maintaining the quality of
care
• Develop the ideal sequence and
timing of staff actions achieving
client centered goals with optimal
efficiency
Goals of CPM in nursing administration
• Selecting the best practice when the
practice styles vary unnecessarily
• Define the standards for the
expected duration of hospital stay
and use of test and treatment
• Examining and co-coordinating the
various steps in the care process to
find ways to time spend
• Developing a common game plan
from which to understand the role of
different staff in the overall care
process
Goals of CPM in nursing administration

• Providing a frame work for

collecting data on the care
process
• Decreasing the nursing and
medical documentation burden
• Improving the client
satisfaction with the care by
educating and involving the
client and family fully in the
care implementation process
 Format of CPM
• Outline the patient care process
based on time matrix
• List the components of care in one
column, cross aligned with columns
pertaining to time
• Give specific actions for each day of
hospitalization
• Mark transition points of patient
progress
• Layout a co-ordinated map of staff
activites to achieve the transitions in
the most effective way as possible.
Developing Prepare the CPM
a CPM CPM development
Step 1 – evaluate the current
process of care
Step 2 – evaluate the med-surg
evidence and current practises

Team composition – multidisciplinary local

nurses, physician, hospital administrator

Topic selection - hospital care associated with

high volume, high cost diagnosis and
procedures, particulary those with inefficient
variation in care process
Named after its developer,
Henry L Gannt .
Highly developed schedules
that allow one to visualize
multiple tasks that have to
be done
 UTILITY VALUE OF GANNT CHART
For planning and scheduling projects, because they allow
you to indicate actual progress versus planned progress
directly on the chart
To monitor the project development, resource allocation
and progress
Allow managers to start, track and report projects
Show immediately that what should have been achieved
at ant point of time
Shows how remedial action may bring the project back
on course
Also used in IT to represent data that has been collected.
 Strength of Gannt chart

Easily created and

maintained
Displays the status of
each task at a glance
Also used as a
reporting tool
Easily understood
 Weakness of gannt chart
• Unwidely used for projects with more
than about 30 activities
• Focus is primarily on scheduled
management
• Relatively little information per unit
area of display
• All activities planned shows to have
work load as equal
• Does not show the magnitude of a
behind schedule condition
• Large number of dependencies may
cause clustered chart
 EXAMPLE OF GANNT CHART

TASK PERS MON TUES WED THU FRI

ON
Collect
information ME
Type report ME
Revise
report ME
Submit
report ME