In order to regulate for things like scope changes, we want to be sure that there’s a solid project schedule in situ. The project scheduling process has to include the activity definition, activity sequencing, activity duration estimating, schedule development, and the schedule control.
Examples of the first tools used for project scheduling are Gantt charts, or Critical Path Method (CPM), PERT (Program Evaluation and Review Technique). Critical Path Method and PERT are powerful tools that facilitate your to schedule and manage complex projects.
They were developed within the 1950s to manage large defense projects, and are used routinely since then.
Gantt charts are simply a visible take a look at the main activities involved in a project, arranged in order that the viewer will see the time-based relationships of the component parts of the project. Figure 11.3 is a Gantt chart showing the activities involved within the purchase and implementation of a brand new accounting package.
CPM helps you to plan out all tasks that has to be completed as part of a project, and it acts as a basis both for preparation of a schedule and for resource planning. once you are managing a project, this tool can facilitate your monitor the achievement of your project goals to date. It also helps you to determine where you’ll take action to place a project back on the right track if it’s fallen behind or deviated from its course.
CPM is helpful because it:
✔ Identifies tasks that has to be completed on time for the entire project to be completed on time.
✔ Identifies which tasks will be delayed if necessary if resources need to be allocated someplace else to catch au fait missed tasks.
✔ Helps to spot the minimum length of your time needed to complete the project.
PERT could be a variation on CPM that takes a rather more skeptical view of your time estimates made for every project stage. To use it, you estimate the shortest possible time each activity will take, the foremost likely length of your time, and also the longest time that may be taken if the activity takes longer than expected.
Project scheduling essentially takes the definition of what the project is and breaks it down into smaller, more manageable tasks. It also identifies the relationships of every of the tasks to the opposite tasks.
It illuminates in complete detail the actions that require to require place in order for the project to induce accomplished. It then ensures the mandatory order by using information about the activity duration similarly as any external constraints which may exist. Finally, the project schedule ensures that the deadlines are met given the identified constraints like labor, materials, and other resources.
