A7: ACTIVITY SEQUENCING

When planning out a project, step one will normally be to list down all the tasks you believe are needed to deliver a successful project. Obviously, task lists are completed at a particular point of time and will be what a project manager believes are all the tasks needed. But logic will dictate some tasks will change over time. A Gantt Chart can be used to list out the tasks, applications like Microsoft Project will help aid on this. The reason for sequencing the activities is that every project has a goal which is to go live in some form or other and to achieve this, these tasks must be completed in the right order.

Once a complete list of tasks is listed, they must be put in a logical sequence of what will come first, second, third and so on. 

After that step has been completed the project manager will need to analyse the data and tasks further.

For clarity activities and tasks are the same thing

Break the activities down into attributes and sequenced correctly. Each activity must have a unique number, one, two etc. Writing a short description of each attribute can help too. Use the task notes section in the Gantt Chart.

Know all the constraints associated with the activities. Resources, costs & time are examples of such constraints.

Dependencies are critical in every project and the correct identification of these dependencies is paramount if a project is to be successful. Without the exact knowledge of the project dependencies at your disposal opens up the possibility of project delays and potentially project failure. The textbook project management definition of dependencies are broken down into four types:

(1) Finish to Start (FS) – Task A must finish before Task B can start.

(2) Finish to Finish (FF) – Task A must be completed before Task B can be completed.

(3) Start to Finish (SF) – Task B cannot be completed before Task A has started.

(4) Start to Start (SS) – Task A cannot start before Task B has started.

A8: ACTIVITY NETWORK DIAGRAM

A follow on from activity sequencing is activity network diagrams. Project managers need to know how the tasks in their list affect the delivery of their projects and the critical path, which is the sequence of project activities with the longest expected completion time from start to finish.

So, what is an activity network diagram? Simply it’s a logical sequential way of visually presenting the links and relationship between the tasks. The diagram includes boxes (or nodes) which represent the various tasks and activities within work programs / packages in your project. The boxes should include an activity code, normally a letter and the duration of each task. The arrows links and depicts the relationship and dependencies between tasks. Every diagram must have a start and a finish, same as all projects. A critical part of a activity network diagram is to show the dependencies, so to do this you must know these beforehand and write them down in a list or table.

A clear and good example is below. 

 

Source: What is a Network Diagram in Project Management? (founderjar.com)

As you can see the table includes three columns, activity, predecessor (dependency) and duration. For this example, there are eight activities, which are coded using letter, A through H. Activity network diagrams tend to work better when the activity list is small to medium in size. The predecessor shows which tasks have a dependency in each other, for example for B to start, A must finish. The duration columns show the hours taken to complete each task.

This shows the activity code A and its duration of 6 hours.

• B will link to A because B is dependent on A finishing and B takes 2 hours to complete.

• C will link to A because C is dependent on A finishing and C takes 40 hours to complete.

• D will link to B because D is dependent on B finishing and D takes 20 hours to complete.

• E will link to B because E is dependent on B finishing and E takes 9 hours to complete.

• F will link to D because F is dependent on D finishing and D takes 20 hours to complete.

• F does not link to E because E only takes 9 hours to complete and this is less than D which takes 20 hours. Remember you are trying to find the critical path which is the longest expected completion time for the activities from start to finish.

• G can link to both C & E as it is dependent on both, but C will take 40 hours to complete and E will take 9, so for the critical path C is more important as the duration is longer. 

• H is the final activity and can link to F & G.

Now that all the activities have been mapped out in the diagram the next task is to find the critical path.

A, B, D, F, H = 35 hours

A, B, E, G, H = 35 hours

A, C, G, H = 64 hours

The critical path is A, C, G, H as it is the longest expected completion time from start to finish at 64 hours. You will note it contains only four activities whilst the other paths contain five activities, so just because there are more activities in a path does not mean they take the longest. This simple example is effective as it shows the benefit and value of mapping out an activity network diagram.

There are two common types of activity network diagram used

(1) Arrow diagram method (same as example shown above). They can be shown slightly differently as per below.

 

Source: Arrow Diagramming Method Example – projectcubicle

Some benefits of this method are:

▪ Easy to create.

▪ Easy to follow for the user (project team).

▪ Can self-teach as it is a simple method.

Some cons of this method are:

▪ No provision for lead and lag time for the boxes (nodes) so assumption is list is accurate and wont change. If there are changes new boxes have to be created.

▪ Projects are more agile and dynamic now so this can limit the benefit of these diagrams.

▪ Not widely used by project professionals because of point above.

(2) Precedence Diagram Method

Different type of diagram that uses nodes to represent activities and arrows and the relationships (dependencies) between them. See below:

Source: PDM – Precedence Diagramming Method [FS, FF, SS, SF] (+ Example) – Project-Management.info

This method uses the four recognised dependencies in project management (as mentioned in activity sequencing)

FS = Finish to Start

FF = Finish to Finish

SS = Start to Start

SF = Start to Finish

Some benefits of PDM are:

▪ Can estimate project completion time more accurately.

▪ Can factor in provision for lead and lag times in activities.

Some cons of PDM are:

▪ More time intensive.

▪ Visually not as appealing as the arrow diagram.

▪ Can be harder to read.

Summary of benefits of activity network diagram

1. Visually shows projects tasks and progress.

2. Project workflows are established and emphases importance of activities and scheduling.

3. Tracks dependencies between tasks and can show where bottlenecks / lags will occur.

4. Improves efficiency by understanding the path to delivery more concisely and without ambiguity.

5. Outputs the critical path which will show the longest path from start to finish.

 

A9: ADAPTABILITY

Being adaptable is a skill that is useful across numerous disciplines and project management is no different. Similar words like flexibility, malleability and versatility can describe the same skill. The ability to multi task and manoeuvre between ever changing environments and tasks is a key part of being adaptable. 

As a project manager gains more experience the skill of adaptability grows organically and can become the primary skill needed to carry out assigned duties. Such duties involve planning, resourcing, budget and people management to name a few and without adaptability these tasks become difficult to manage. In short being adaptable is a necessary skill to succeed in project management

A10: AGENDAS

A project manager will attend many meetings during any given week. For formal and structured meetings especially if these are with customers then an agenda should be sent to all attendees. It doesn’t have to be too flashy but should contain the subject matter and topics that will be discussed. Most meetings tend to last less than an hour so organisers must be realistic with what topics can be discussed and worked through in any given timeslot. An agenda should outline the topic to be discussed, the owner of the topic and the assigned timeslot. Simple example is given below.

Meeting 1

15th March 2022

@10.00 – 11.00am

Attendees:

John A

David B

Joan A

Caroline B

Non – Attendees

Barry C

Rebecca D

Agenda

Topic

Owner

Time

1. Actions from last meeting

John A

10.00 – 10.15

2. Topic A

David B

10.15 – 10.25

3. Topic B

Joan A

10.25 – 10.40

4. Topic C

Caroline B

10.40 – 10.50

5. Q&A

John A

10.50 – 11.00

 

A11: AGGREGATE PLANNING

Aggregate planning involves aligning and balancing the link between demand and capacity. It tends to be used as a tool more in managing production lines or product related projects. However, it can be used in finance and technology projects too. In project management if used correctly it can help in managing resources, requirements, scheduling and timelines including duration of task accuracy. Throughout the live of projects aggregate planning should aid with change management by adjusting workloads and capacity to match current demands. This will then in turn improve efficiency and cohesion.

Some of the benefits of Aggregate Planning are listed below:

▪ Demand and capacity are managed proactively and in a live environment.

▪ Provides a more detailed and accurate plan.

▪ Time management is improved and the task duration is managed more efficiently. This makes it easier to match available resources to the time a task will take to complete.

▪ Factors in change and helps manage this.

▪ Project resources are managed in a live environment and used more efficiently. This in turn reduces wastage and keeps projects within signed off budgets.

▪ Costs are budgeted far more effectively and resources are utilised better to meet financial goals.

▪ Factoring in all of the above senior management can use aggregate planning to make better data and strategy driven decisions that will make projects succeed.

There are three known aggregate planning strategies that are applied in business. These are noted below.

Level strategy – this involves managing resource and demand so that those available resources can meet and execute the required current demand. When demand is deemed low, resources will still maintain a level or flat labour force which means producing extra inventory. The reasoning behind this is that when demand increases the extra inventory can be absorbed which maintains production and employment levels. This strategy in theory should protect companies from shocks in demand and supply. The key though is to decide on what is the level labour force is needed so that the inventory produced is not too low or high. Program and project managers can manage this with senior stakeholders by having a good or accurate demand forecast.

Chase strategy – the company will only produce when the demand is there. When an order is received the production line works to get the order fulfilled within agreed service levels. This strategy works well for small to medium sized companies as it manages costs more effectively and reduces wastage. In theory demand should match supply.

Hybrid strategy – as it suggests the hybrid strategy is a mix of the level and chase strategies. It tries to balance the capacity, resources and inventory (stock) levels with the demand as those changes over time. It aims to execute project targets and companies can execute polices at lower costs than the other two strategies.

Some disadvantages of Aggregate Planning are listed below:

▪ Bottlenecks – these can occur when there are sudden changes in demand which have not been adequately planned for. This can increase production costs and cause employee unrest.

▪ Smoothing – this concept comes from the fact that demand and supply is never constant and to remedy this production, capacity and resource levels will need to change regularly. This has a knock-on cost in order to balance the project objectives. Smoothing is the term used to make these changes.

▪ Future planning – “Fail to prepare, prepare to fail”, this saying has its merits, but no matter what planning and preparation one does the future is uncertain and unpredictable. Project managers try to control what is controllable and mitigate against what is uncontrollable. However certain world events like wars and pandemics can deem any best laid plans redundant. Therefore, planning demand an capacity is risky and not an exact science no matter what strategy is deployed.

Many companies specialise in producing applications and software that will help with aggregate planning and manage capacity, resources, inventory and demand. NetSuite and Wrike are some examples but there are many others too.