Critical Path Method and Gantt Charts Thomas F. Piatkowski

Critical Path Method and Gantt Charts Thomas F. Piatkowski Department of Computer Science Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Western Michigan University 1 Critical Path Method (CPM) A mathematical/graphical method lays out the serial/parallel temporal relationships between the subprojects associated with a master project. 2 Critical Path Analysis of Project X John Doe 2005 January 27 1. Start A. Prepare work plan (4 ph) 2. Work plan (doc) B. Task1 activity (4 ph) 3. Task1 rpt (doc) C. Task2 activity (4 ph) 4. Task2 rpt (doc) D. Task3 activity (5 ph) 5. Task3 rpt (doc) E. Task4 activity (4 ph) 6. Task4 rpt (doc) F. Task5 activity (4 ph) 7. Task5 rpt (doc) G. Task6 activity (4 ph) 8. Task6 rpt (doc) H. Task7 activity (4 ph) 9. Task7 (doc) I. final rpt activity (4 ph) 10. Final rpt (doc) 3 Started in late 1950s on two different projects duPont de Nemours (Refinery Renovation Project) US Navy (Fleet Ballistic Missile Project)... at a time when it was a challenge to manage really large projects. 4 There are MANY different styles to doing critical path charts... we will specify a particular style for our class use. 5 Graphics Blocks denote events (milestones and/or deliverables). Fill (shade) blocks (if legibility is OK). Synchronization bars are dummy blocks ... ... 2. Work plan (doc) C. Task2 activity (4 ph) D. Task3 activity (5 ph) 4. Task2 rpt (doc) 5. Task3 rpt (doc) no deliverable just a point of synchronization of several arriving paths before down-stream activity can commence. 6 Arcs denote activities. 2. Work plan (doc) C. Task2 activity (4 ph) D. Task3 activity (5 ph) Labels 4. Task2 rpt (doc) 5. Task3 rpt (doc) Title block (title, author/owner, date) Blocks: Arcs: "1. text " "A. text ( n units ) [ ph = person hours ] " Identifies the estimated amount of time to accomplish the activity. 7 2. Work plan (doc) C. Task2 activity (4 ph) D. Task3 activity (5 ph) 4. Task2 rpt (doc) 5. Task3 rpt (doc) Arcs Solid arcs are "real" activities. Dashed arcs are "dummy" activities — used to synchronize parallel paths... give slack... no real work associated. 8 The critical path That path(s) from start to finish which takes the most time. Any slip in the accomplishment of an arc on the critical path will result in a slip in the finish. Double lined Oversized A CPM chart IS NOT A SCHEDULE ! It is a sequence dependency graph. 9 Critical Path Analysis of Project X John Doe 2005 January 27 1. Start A. Prepare work plan (4 ph) 2. Work plan (doc) B. Task1 activity (4 ph) 3. Task1 rpt (doc) C. Task2 activity (4 ph) 4. Task2 rpt (doc) D. Task3 activity (5 ph) 5. Task3 rpt (doc) E. Task4 activity (4 ph) 6. Task4 rpt (doc) F. Task5 activity (4 ph) 7. Task5 rpt (doc) G. Task6 activity (4 ph) 8. Task6 rpt (doc) H. Task7 activity (4 ph) 9. Task7 (doc) I. final rpt activity (4 ph) 10. Final rpt (doc) 10 Gantt Chart A graphical method (a kind of horizontal bar chart) laying out the calendar scheduling of work components ( by individuals or a team) and associated events/milestones. 11 Gantt Chart for Project X John Doe 2005 January 27 January 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 1 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Date A. Prepare work plan (4 ph total) 1. Start 2 2 2. Work plan (doc) B. Task1 activity (4 ph total) 2 2 3. Task1 rpt (doc) C. Task2 activity (4 ph total) 2 2 4. Task2 rpt (doc) D. Task3 activity (5 ph total) 2 1 2 5. Task3 rpt (doc) E. Task4 activity (4 ph total) 4 6. Task4 rpt (doc) F. Task5 activity (4 ph total) 1 3 7. Task5 rpt (doc) G. Task6 activity (4 ph total) 3 1 8. Task6 rpt (doc) H. Task7 activity (4 ph total) 2 2 9. Task7 (doc) I. final rpt activity (4 ph total) 1 1 2 10. Final rpt (doc) 12 Started in late 1916 by Henry Laurence Gantt, an American management engineer, to assist foremen study the performance of their equipment. 13 There are MANY different styles to doing Gantt charts... we will specify a particular style for our class use. 14 Graphics Date 1 1. Start January 2 3 4 5 A. Prepare work plan (4 ph total) 2 2 B. Task1 activity (4 ph total) 2 2 3. Task1 rpt (doc) Title block (title, author/owner, date) Timing row (series of blocks of days (typically)) Activity rows (series of blocks of days (typically)) [ In some styles of Gantt chart, these rows are per worker... as opposed to per activity. ] 15 Date 1 1. Start January 2 3 4 5 A. Prepare work plan (4 ph total) 2 2 Labels B. Task1 activity (4 ph total) 2 2 3. Task1 rpt (doc) Event/milestone deliverables: "1. text― Activities: "A. text ( n units) [ person hours ] " 16 Date 1 1. Start January 2 3 4 5 A. Prepare work plan (4 ph total) 2 2 B. Task1 activity (4 ph total) 2 2 3. Task1 rpt (doc) Internal consistency Sum of work efforts in a row equal total amount in activity label. 17 Consistency between coordinated critical path and Gantt charts • • • • Same set of activity labels and total work amounts. Same set of event/milestones deliverables and labels. Order of activities in Gantt chart is consistent with the order of activities in the critical path chart. Time placement of event/milestone deliverable pointers in Gantt chart is consistent with the implications of the critical path chart. 18 Team Gantt Charts • • • • One chart for the team. One chart for each team member. The daily column sums of the team members' work efforts must equal the team work effort. Event/milestones will be shown identically on all Gantt charts. 19 Team/worker effort consistency in Gantt charts 2005 January 30 Team day d e[a, d, Team] Worker 1 Worker 2 Worker j Worker n e[a, d, n] œ œ  e[a ,d , j]  e[a ,d ,Team]   aActivties d j1     n   20 Templates The templates cpm.doc gantt.doc are in the class online directory. 21 Learn all about the MS drawing tools and objects a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h. i. grid snap to grid text boxes fill line width/style arrows grouping etc... Get CorelDraw 22 Learn all about general MSWord document skills a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h. i. j. First line indent Left indent Full tab features Outlining – including customizing, editing Outline view Inserting page numbers Page breaks Section breaks Total page count Footers k. l. m. n. o. p. q. Headers Font/size Find/replace Hanging indent Use left alignment only – unless otherwise directed Tables Automatic TofC generation etc... Get WordPerfect 23 r. s. Q&A 24