Unit 2: Project Planning and Project Management Tools

Contents
2.1 Project Planning
2.2 Steps for Project Planning
2.3 PERT and Gantt Charts
2.4 Introduction to Project Management using Gantt Project
2.5 Objectives of Activity planning
2.6 Project Schedules, Activities, Sequencing and Scheduling
2.7 Network Planning Models
2.8 Formulating Network Model
2.9 Summary

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 What is Project Plan?
• Once a project is found to be possible, computer code project managers undertake project
design.
• Project designing is undertaken and completed even before any development activity
starts.
• Project designing consists of subsequent essential activities:
• Estimating the subsequent attributes of the project:
• Project size: What’s going to be the downside quality in terms of the trouble and time
needed to develop the product?
• Cost: What proportion is it reaching to value to develop the project?
• Duration: How long is it to reach design plate amended development?
• Effort: What proportion of effort would be required?

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 What is Project Plan? cont..
• Project planning or project management planning is the foundation and most important
stage of the project management life-cycle.
• The project planning activity sets the project foundations by base-lining the project scope,
schedule, quality standards, objectives, and goals.
• Planning typically involves creating a document with all project information that
comprises the respective tasks, assignees, and areas of responsibility.
The effectiveness of the following design activities relies on the accuracy of those
estimations.
• Planning force and alternative resources
• Workers organization and staffing plans
• Risk identification, analysis, and abatement designing
• Miscellaneous arrangements like quality assurance plans, configuration, management
arrangements, etc.
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 What is Project Plan? cont..
Precedence ordering among project planning activities:
• The different project-connected estimates done by a project manager have already been
mentioned.
• The below diagram shows the order in which vital project coming up with activities is
also undertaken.
• It may be simply discovered that size estimation is the 1st activity.
• It’s conjointly the foremost basic parameter supported that all alternative coming up with
activities square measure dispensed, alternative estimations like the estimation of effort,
cost, resource, and project length also are vital elements of the project coming up with.

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 What is Project Plan? cont..
Precedence ordering among project planning activities:
• The different project-connected estimates done by a project manager have already been mentioned.
• The below diagram shows the order in which vital project coming up with activities is also undertaken.
• It may be simply discovered that size estimation is the 1st activity.
• It’s conjointly the foremost basic parameter supported that all alternative coming up with activities square
measure dispensed, alternative estimations like the estimation of effort, cost, resource, and project length
also are vital elements of the project coming up with.

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 Steps for Project Planning
There are nine crucial steps in the project planning process. Follow these steps to create
your project plan:
1. Establish the project’s aims and objectives
• Defining your project goals and objectives is the first step in the project planning phase.
• The project’s goals and objectives will help you decide whether to prioritize it or even
launch it; in this case, you’ll mainly need a proof of concept.
• They’ll also help you decide what you want to give the customer, and quickly identify
any potential problems, such as a short lead time.
• Your project’s objectives help define its direction and give a general idea of what you’re
trying to achieve.
• Your project’s objectives are similar to yours, but they specify the project in greater detail
in terms of budget, schedule and quality. It’s easy to determine your project’s deliverables
once you know the objectives.

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 Steps for Project Planning cont..
1. Establish the project’s aims and objectives cont..
• Review the data collected during the project launch phase to determine your company’s
goals and objectives.
• Let’s take an example: the project description or proposal suggests that the customer
needs an online store to manage the number of orders placed on his social media
accounts. In this case, his objective is to launch an e-commerce site. His goals might
include launching a fast, user-friendly e-commerce site by the end of the fourth quarter at
a cost of $20,000.
• If you don’t know where to start, check out online project planning templates or the more
specialized project diagram templates, which can help you save time and effort.

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 Steps for Project Planning cont..
2. Establish project scope
• Throughout the course of a project, stakeholders frequently request additional tasks or major
changes of direction (sometimes several) that could cause the project to fail.
• As the project progresses, its scope will protect you from unrealistic expectations, conflicting
interests and unachievable requirements.
• Review your project goals and objectives to determine their scope. What steps do you need to
take to achieve them? Which are not necessary? For example, the scope of a new housing
project may be limited to the construction and finishing of the building, but exclude
landscaping or the installation of an outdoor pool. And it certainly doesn’t include adopting a
skyscraper design!
• It’s common to feel uncertain about every detail. We advise you to be flexible in your
approach. You can carry out a more or less detailed analysis. It’s useful to start vaguely, get
some initial feedback, then be more specific.
• The use of a scope document or scope statement allows you to refer to it when necessary (this
can be done in a variety of ways).
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 Steps for Project Planning cont..
3. Establish your work breakdown structure (WBS)
• At this stage, start identifying the tasks, subtasks and deliverables that need to be
completed in order to properly manage the project. You can do this by referring to your
scope and creating a work breakdown structure, a structured breakdown of the tasks
required to complete a project.
• In his book Project Management for Humans, Brett Harned highlights the value of the
work breakdown structure, asserting that “creating a work breakdown structure for any
plan or set of tasks will help you better understand the work that needs to be done within
a given project.”
• You can establish a written work breakdown framework:
• Break down your project with a Kanban diagram, using Trello for example,

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 Steps for Project Planning cont..
3. Establish your work breakdown structure (WBS)
• Map tasks and deadlines using Gantt charts in a capacity management tool like Asana.
• Starting with the project itself, break it down into major parts or workflows.
• For example, the first tasks for an e-commerce site would be to set up the site’s
infrastructure and authentication, configure the payment gateway and create the shopping
cart system.
• You can go further by breaking down your workflow into smaller tasks (don’t forget to
include management tasks at every stage!)
• For an e-commerce site, tasks such as registering a domain name, setting up web hosting
and load balancing are all linked to setting up the website infrastructure.

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 Steps for Project Planning cont..
4. Establish due dates
• You can now set deadlines for each task you’ve created individually.
• Project deadlines help you stay on schedule and estimate the completion date.
• Typically, deadlines are plotted using a resource management program such as Teambook
or a Gantt chart.
• You can create deadlines by asking your team how long certain activities take, or by
comparing the duration of tasks in related projects.
• Other elements to be taken into account when drawing up schedules are as follows:
• Establish checkpoints for project milestones: an example of a milestone would be the
completion of the engineers’ work on the e-commerce site backend after two months from
the start date.
• Recognize time limits: Your schedule may have to be adapted to meet customer deadlines.
In this case, you may have to take the shortest route.

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 Steps for Project Planning cont..
5. Determine and schedule resources
• The right people and resources are essential to a project’s success.
• This step is crucial and should never be underestimated.
• The resource planning process of project management involves several stages of
hypothesis formulation and estimation.
• But you need to have a general idea of the resources you need based on previous
processes, your scope and your objectives.
• For example, you’ll need a developer, designer and copywriter if you’re creating an e-
commerce site.
• For the website, you’ll also need to purchase hosting and a domain name.
• If the team works remotely, you’ll need to offer them access to meeting space so they can
cooperate.

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 Steps for Project Planning cont..
5. Determine and schedule resources cont..
• When organizing your project resources, make sure you :
• Define the requirements and talents you need.
• Check the availability of resources in the future.
• Check if there are any additional requirements, for example if you need to find a
developer with a specific certification.
• To ensure the success of your project, you need to make sure you have the right people
and the right skills.
• You also need to ensure that the tasks in your strategy are clearly defined.

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 Steps for Project Planning cont..
6. Calculate your time budget
• A difficult task in project planning is to balance your budget with your partners’ desire for
financial savings.
• On the other hand, if you underestimate expenses, you run the risk of running out of
resources halfway through the project.
• You can use the following to get an idea of the project’s time budget:
• Based on the project objectives and the customer’s expectations, what is your
approximate estimate of the total time required to complete the project?
• This figure is not precise.
• Let your customers know that the project may take a little more or less time.
• When you need to provide an estimate before making decisions on factors such as work
organization structure or resources, use this technique, taking a 20% safety margin.

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 Steps for Project Planning cont..
6. Calculate your time budget cont..
• Parametric estimation:
• For cost estimation, use historical data from the resource management tool for projects of
similar size and complexity.
• Take averages of actual time spent on 3-5 projects to give you an idea, even if it means
again taking a safety margin in order to communicate a realistic quote.
• Choose your approach… and keep track of actual times.
• Ask your team leaders to monitor the progress of the project and the “remaining time to
spend” according to the number of days already completed and/or planned.

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 Steps for Project Planning cont..
7. Assessing risks and constraints
• No project is free of risks or constraints.
• The key to preventing a project from failing is to recognize potential risks and develop an
action plan to mitigate them.
• Creating a risk register, or a file that summarizes all potential risks and related
information, is one way to prepare properly.
• The creation of a risk register, or a document summarizing all potential risks and related
information, is one way of preparing properly.

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 Steps for Project Planning cont..
8. Organize your communication
• Drawing up a communications strategy is a prerequisite for developing a project plan.
• Please provide information on the following items:
• Communication channels: email correspondence is one way to communicate with
customers, but Slack is the main way team members communicate.
• Frequency: This can be once a week, as needed, asynchronously or by milestone.
• Style of communication and details: team members actively working on the project
often want more detailed information, while managers generally need less detail and
higher-level knowledge.
• Contact details: To avoid delays, determine who you’re addressing and what type of
information you’re sending.

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 Steps for Project Planning cont..
9. Create quality control and assurance programs
• Project quality control planning involves establishing guidelines for managing, assuring
and maintaining standards within the project. Without a plan, it will be very difficult to
achieve the desired results. Without a plan, it will be very difficult to achieve the desired
results. You may come across an e-commerce website that loads slowly, or a plumbing
system that malfunctions!
• To define quality control measures, you must :
• Use the knowledge of internal experts on best practices
• Industry standards: for example, e-commerce sites must have a fast, secure payment
system
• Work with key players to determine quality expectations.
• In addition, your strategy should specify acceptance criteria, who is responsible for
approving the work, and any corrective measures.

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 Steps for Project Planning cont..
Why is project planning important?
• Project planning involves a great deal of guesswork.
• Project planning software facilitates this process by providing a central location for plan
documentation and stakeholder sharing.
• Project planning software facilitates this process by providing a central location for plan
documentation and stakeholder sharing.
• It automates the definition of milestones and deadlines.
• It provides reliable historical data to facilitate decision-making for future projects.
• By using project planning software, you can anticipate potential hazards and resource
limitations before they occur.
• By monitoring the capacity and availability of your resources, you can locate the
necessary expertise within your resource pool and efficiently plan your project from start
to finish.

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 PERT and Gantt Charts
What is the PERT Chart?
• Project Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) is a procedure through which activities
of a project are represented in its appropriate sequence and timing.
• It is a scheduling technique used to schedule, organize and integrate tasks within a project.

• PERT is basically a mechanism for management planning and control which provides
blueprint for a particular project.
• All of the primary elements or events of a project have been finally identified by the PERT.
• In this technique, a PERT Chart is made which represents a schedule for all the specified
tasks in the project.
• The reporting levels of the tasks or events in the PERT Charts is some what same as defined
in the work breakdown structure (WBS).

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 PERT and Gantt Charts cont..
• A PERT chart is a project management tool used to plan and schedule tasks, illustrating
the sequence and timing of project activities.
• The PERT chart is used to schedule, organize and coordinate tasks within the project.
• The objective of PERT chart is to determine the critical path, which comprises critical
activities that should be completed on schedule.
• This chart is prepared with the help of information generated in project planning activities
such as estimation of effort, selection of suitable process model for software
development and decomposition of tasks into subtasks.

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 PERT and Gantt Charts cont..
What does a PERT Chart Contain?
There are following main components of a PERT chart:
• Nodes: it represents the task or milestones. every node represents the task name and may
also show duration of the task.
• Arrows: it indicates the direction or sequence of task and also dependencies between
them. suppose an array from A to B, then task A must be completed before task B.
• Time Estimation: It estimates the time duration to complete the task.
• Critical Path: The critical path is the largest path in project management that always
results in the shortest time to complete the project.
• Milestones: It is Key point in the project timeline that represent significant events or
deadlines.

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 PERT and Gantt Charts cont..
How a PERT Chart Works?
• A PERT chart used to plan and visualize tasks in a project.
• It breaks down the project into individual tasks and shows the sequence in which they
must be completed.
• Each task is represented by a node, and arrows indicate the dependencies between tasks.
• By analyzing the chart, teams can identify the critical path, which helps determine the
shortest time to complete the project and allocate resources effectively.

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 PERT and Gantt Charts cont..
How to Create a PERT chart?
To create a PERT chart, we can follow the below steps:
Step 1: Identify Project Tasks
• List all the tasks required to complete the project.
• Identifying tasks means listing all the steps needed to complete a project.
• Start by figuring out what the main goal is, then break it down into smaller actions.
• Ask team members for ideas and use clear action words for each task.
Step 2: Define task dependencies
• Defining task dependencies means figuring out which tasks must be completed before
others can start.
• Look at your task list and identify connections by asking if one task relies on another.
• This helps you establish the order of work, ensuring everything is done in the right
sequence.

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 PERT and Gantt Charts cont..
How to Create a PERT chart? Cont..
Step 3: Estimate Timeline
• Estimating the timeline involves figuring out how long each task will take to
complete.
• For each task, think about the quickest time it could be done (optimistic), the longest
it might take (pessimistic), and the most likely time it will actually take.
• This gives you a better idea of the overall project duration and helps with planning.
Step 4: Calculate Critical Path
• Calculate Critical Path means finding the longest sequence of tasks that determines
the shortest time to complete the project.
• Identify which tasks can’t be delayed without affecting the overall project deadline,
helping you focus on what’s most important.

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 PERT and Gantt Charts cont..
How to Create a PERT chart? Cont..
Step 5: Manage task progress
• It involves tracking how each task is going.
• Regularly check if tasks are on schedule, address any delays, and adjust plans if
needed.
• This ensures the project stays on track and any issues are resolved quickly.

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 PERT and Gantt Charts cont..
Characteristics of PERT Chart
• It serves as a base for obtaining the important facts for implementing the decision-
making.
• It forms the basis for all the planning activities.
• PERT helps management in deciding the best possible resource utilization method.
• PERT take advantage by using time network analysis technique.
• PERT presents the structure for reporting information.
• It helps the management in identifying the essential elements for the completion of the
project within time.
• It specifies the activities that from the critical path.
• It describes the probability of completion of project before the specified date.
• It describes the dependencies of one or more tasks on each other.
• It represents the project in graphical plan form.
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 PERT and Gantt Charts cont..
Advantages of PERT Chart
• Estimation of completion time of project is given by the PERT.
• It supports the identification of the activities with slack time.
• The start and dates of the activities of a specific project is determined.
• It helps project manager in identifying the critical path activities.
• PERT makes well organized diagram for the representation of large amount of data.

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 PERT and Gantt Charts cont..
Disadvantages of PERT Chart
• The complexity of PERT is more which leads to the problem in implementation.
• The estimation of activity time are subjective in PERT which is a major disadvantage.
• Maintenance of PERT is also expensive and complex.
• The actual distribution of may be different from the PERT beta distribution which causes
wrong assumptions.
• It under estimates the expected project completion time as there is chances that other
paths can become the critical path if their related activities are deferred.

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 PERT and Gantt Charts cont..
• As a conclusion, the Project Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) is a valuable
tool for effective project management.
• It helps teams visualize the sequence of tasks, understand dependencies, and identify the
critical path for timely project completion.
• By using PERT, organizations can improve planning, resource allocation, and overall
project success, ensuring that goals are met efficiently and effectively.

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 PERT and Gantt Charts cont..
What is the PERT Chart? Cont..

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 PERT and Gantt Charts cont..
What is the Gantt Chart?
• A Gantt chart is a type of horizontal bar chart commonly used in project management,
which is a visual view of tasks scheduled overtime.
• It provides a graphical visualization of a schedule that helps to plan, coordinate, and track
specific tasks (or elements) in a project.
• The Gantt chart was created by Henry Gantt in the early 20th century to improve project
planning, scheduling and tracking by illustrating completed work compared to planned
work.
• Gantt chart contains multiple tasks and timelines into a single page.
• Using a Gantt chart allows all stakeholders to perceive the same schedule information,
sets mutually understood expectations, and conducts their efforts according to the desired
protocol.
• The Gantt chart tool provides a visual timeline for the start and end of tasks, making it
clear how tasks are interrelated and perhaps rely on the completion of another before one
can start.
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 PERT and Gantt Charts cont..
Purpose of a Gantt Chart
• At a basic level, a Gantt chart allows project, program and portfolio managers to easily
map out project plans by organizing project tasks on a visual timeline.
• However, Gantt charts are used for many other purposes in project planning, project
scheduling, project tracking and resource management.
• Gantt charts can be used to manage any business process, from routine procedures such as
establishing production lines to one-off initiatives such as buying materials.
• They are commonly used in industries such as construction, manufacturing, IT,
professional services and more.
• Gantt charts are created during the project planning phase as they are used to make a
detailed project schedule.
• As the Gantt diagram is visual, it is often referred to throughout the project lifecycle by
both project managers and teams as a way to monitor and control the project.

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 PERT and Gantt Charts cont..
What is the Gantt Chart? Cont..

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 PERT and Gantt Charts cont..
PERT vs Gantt Chart
• PERT charts
• PERT charts are network diagrams that use boxes to represent tasks and arrows to
present dependencies between tasks.
• The boxes are laid out from left to right, but there is no fixed Y-axis with dates.
• The first box, or root, is centered vertically on the left side, and the subsequent tasks
can be drawn anywhere along the Y-axis.
• Arrows can point to the right, up or down, but never to the left.
• Gantt charts
• Gantt charts are bar graphs.
• The X-axis contains dates and the Y-axis lists separate tasks.
• On each line of the Y-axis, the chart depicts a bar positioned to extend from the task’s
start date to its end date.
• Tasks are listed in the start-date order.
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 PERT and Gantt Charts cont..
• PERT vs Gantt Example
• A Pert Chart:

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 PERT and Gantt Charts cont..
• PERT vs Gantt Example cont..
• The ‘Gantt Chart version” of the PERT Chart above:

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 PERT and Gantt Charts cont..
• Summary
• Because the PERT Chart clearly illustrates task dependencies, a PERT chart sometimes is
preferred over the Gantt chart (another popular project management charting).
• While the PERT chart can be harder to interpret, especially for large-scale projects.
• Most often, project managers use both techniques in order to serve multiple purposes.
• On the contrary, a Gantt chart does not show clear dependencies or relationships between
tasks and also fails to provide enough information for showing the critical path and as
well as the detail information for each of the activities.

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 PERT and Gantt Charts cont..
Differences between PERT vs Gantt Chart

Gantt chart PERT chart

Gantt chart is defined as the bar chart. PERT chart is similar to a network diagram
Gantt chart was developed by Henry L. PERT chart was developed by the United States
Gantt. navy.
PERT chart can be used for large and complex
Gantt chart is often used for Small Projects
Projects
Gantt chart focuses on the time required to PERT chart focuses on the dependency of
complete a task relationships.
PERT chart could be sometimes confusing and
Gantt chart is simpler and more
complex but can be used for visualizing critical
straightforward
path
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 PERT and Gantt Charts cont..
Differences between PERT vs Gantt Chart
Feature PERT Chart Gantt Chart

Purpose Visualize project tasks and dependencies Schedule tasks over time

Focus Task relationships and sequence Task duration and timeline

Representation Network diagram with nodes and arrows Horizontal bar chart

Time Estimation Includes optimistic, pessimistic, and most likely durations Shows start and end dates

Complexity More complex, suitable for large projects Simpler, easier to read

Flexibility Adaptable for changing project paths Less flexible once established

Construction and production

Best Use Case Research and development projects
schedules

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