6. Project Time ManagementManaging Delays

Time Management - Impact

Builder has an obligation to complete project within a defined time period for fulfilling the needs of customers

Project may be part of a larger project, which cannot be made operational until this project is completed.

Availability of resources such as personnel, funds, equipment and facilities have to be matched with the progress of the project.

It impacts builder's reputation

Project Time management includes the processes we use to manage timely completion of the project.

Construction Project Managers often cite delivering projects on time as one of their biggest challenges

As the target completion date is already committed to customers, time has the least amount of flexibility; it passes no matter what happens on a project

Schedule issues are the main reason for conflicts on projects, especially during the latter half of construction phase

Project Time Management

Time Stealers

Delay in material , supplies & equipments Government regulatory delays

Labour availability & productivityChanges in design and plans

Each project is unique

Often involves remote sites with various access / conncectivityproblems

The processes are not as predictable with high potential for encountering unforeseen conditions

Difficulty in applying automation and technical innovations are adopted slower

Difficult to manage and supply utilities and other resources.

Very custom-oriented processes and procedures by builders

Product can be of mind-boggling size, cost, and complexity

The work has strong seasonal influence

The work is not performed in controlled conditions, therefore highly impacted by weather and other environmental conditions

Challenges Project Time Management

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Control Schedule

Must considerations while scheduling the project Past experience of similar projects especially from

technical experts Location and weather conditions Funding constraints laid down by the owner and other

stakeholders. Availability of resources such as personnel, equipments ,

infrastructure etc. Must consider quality and safety as a priority

Project Time Management Best Practices

Group 6. Project Time Management

Initiating

Planning

6.1 Plan Schedule Management

6.2 Define Activities

6.3 Sequence Activities

6.4 Estimate Activity Resources

6.5 Estimate Activity Durations

6.6 Develop Schedule

Executing

M & C 6.7 Control Schedule

Closing

This process involves establishing policies, procedures and documentation for planning, developing, managing, executing and controlling the project schedule.

The time earmarked for pre-construction, construction and commissioning and handing over activities should be as per the time frame for the project

Standard Operating Procedures Could Be Handy

6.1 Plan Schedule Management

Good Schedule Planning Practices Project should be divided into suitable performance phases /

periods. At the start of each performance period all concerned should be

aware of and agreed for milestones The progress achieved shall be reviewed with respect to the

targets laid down. In case of time variance in certain activities, reasons for the same shall be examined

The cumulative impact of changes should be assessed with respect to project schedule and resources required for taking corrective action.

During monitoring, importance shall be given to activities on critical path(s) and, those which are close to becoming critical.

Where time variance has already occurred, the targets/baselines may have to be revised and intimated to all concerned.

It is a process of identifying and documenting the specific actions to be performed to produce project deliverables.

Activities are planned down to the work package level, which is the lowest level of Work Breakdown Structure

Work packages may be decomposed another level, which is designated schedule activities.

6.2 Define Activities

6.2 Define Activities

Inputs

1. Scope Baseline2. Schedule Management Plan3. Enterprise Environmental Factors4. Organizational Process Assets

T & T1. Decomposition2. Rolling wave Planning3. Expert Judgment

Outputs1. Activity List2. Activity Attributes3. Milestone List

Decomposition :Technique for dividing and subdividing project scope and project deliverables into smaller, more manageable parts. It defines final output as activities rather than deliverables as done in the create WBS process.

Level 2 Level 3 Level 4

2.01Foundation

2.01.01 Land survey 2.01.02 Excavation2.01.03 Footings2.01.04 Sub-slab Systems 2.01.05 Foundation drainage 2.01.06 Construce sump2.01.07 Construct foundation walls2.01.08 Anchor Bolts2.01.09 Beam Pockets2.01.10 Dampproofing and waterproofing2.01.11 Foundation slab2.01.12 Backfill

2.02RCC2.03Brick Work2.04Plastering2.05Water proofing2.06Plumbing2.07Flooring (tile work )2.08Windows and doors

2.09Electric wiring

2.09.01 Slab Conduiting2.09.02 Wall Conduiting2.09.03 Module fixing2.09.04 Wiring2.09.05 Switch board & sockets fixing

2.10Painting2.11Interior

Rolling Wave Planning : Also known as progressive elaboration. Work in the near term is planned in detail, whereas work in the future is planned at a higher level.

Expert Judgment : Inputs from architect, site engineer, construction contractors are extremely important

Outputs: Activity List : include all activities, an activity identifier

& description of the work. Activity Attributes :include for each activity

Activity ID,WBS ID, activity name & description Predecessor and successor activity Type of dependency and leads & lags Resource requirements & responsible Assumptions & constraints Geographical area

Milestone List all milestones and identifies them as mandatory (specified by contract) and optional (based on historical information)

Define Activities

To find logical relationships between activities so you can develop a realistic schedule. • Finished-to-start (FS): A logical relationship in which a successor

activity cannot start until a processor activity has finished Ex RCC work can start only after foundation is completed

• Finished-to-finished (FF): successor activity cannot finish until a processor activity has finished Ex Quality control activities

• Start-to-start (SS): successor activity cannot start until a processor activity has started Ex Project marketing

• Start-to-Finish (SF): processor activity cannot finish until a successor activity has started Ex Shifting labour camp to new site

6.3 Sequence Activities

Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM) : Used to construct a schedule model in which activities are represented by nodes and are linked to show the sequence. One way to display a schedule in network fashion; it is also called activity-on-node (AON). The activities are listed inside boxes (called nodes) and are connected by lines (or arrows) to indicate sequences.

Dependency Determination : mandatory (hard logic) vs. discretionary (soft logic), internal vs. external

Leads And Lags : A lead is the amount of time a successor activity can be advanced with respect to a predecessor activity.

Lag is the delay of a successor activity and represents time that must pass before the second activity can begin.

Sequence Activities

OutputsProject Schedule Network Diagrams A graphical representation of

the logical relationships (also known as dependencies) among the project schedule activities.

What is needed ?

How much is needed

6.4 Estimate Activity Resources

Estimates should be: Produced by the people most familiar with the work taking into

account Resource availability calendars Activity cost estimates and available alternatives Risk register Enterprise environmental factors Published estimating data

Progressively elaborated Adjusted for the effects of “elapsed time”, (whether or not

weekends are treated as work periods) Duration estimating should also consider the difference

between effort and duration.

Estimate Activity Resources

Tools & TechniquesAnalogous Estimating : A form of top-down estimating, this approach uses the actual durations of previous, similar activities to estimate the duration of future activities

Parametric Estimating : Uses statistical relationship between historical data and other variables (e.g. square footage in construction) to calculate an estimate for activity parameters such as cost, budget and duration.

Three-Point Estimating : Uses the most likely, the optimistic (best-case), and pessimistic (worst-case) estimate for each activity.

Don’t forget to do Reserve Analysis : Contingency reserves (also referred to as time reserve or buffers)should added to duration estimates to account for risk or uncertainty.

Outputs

Activity Duration Estimates : The duration estimates may include a range of possible results

General practices guidelines:

Scheduling is driven by target completion date promised to customers

Forward pass schedule is determined using Gantt charts

3-4 month contingency buffer is kept to take care of uncertainties. The period depends on nature of uncertainties and size of the project

Crashing is used if the forward pass time line exceeds target date

Few milestones like construction foundation can not be crashed but many other activities can be crashed

Gantt charts are used extensively though more sophisticated techniques like CPM / PERT are seldom used for normal sized project

Estimate Activity Durations

The purpose of this process is to put everything together from the first five time management processes and create a schedule model

6.6 Develop Schedule

Tools & Techniques Schedule Network Analysis : Technique that generates the

schedule model. It includes

Critical path method : shortest possible project duration

Critical chain method : resources constrained critical path

Develop Schedule

Critical path method : Calculates theoretical start and finish dates for all schedule activities without regard to resource limitations. The technique:

Uses a forward and backward pass to determine early and late times

Calculates available float or slack (float or slack indicates where any flexibility in the schedule exists to delay activities without delaying the project)

Determines the critical path. It is possible to have more than one critical path, which would make the schedule more risky.

Yields the shortest possible project duration.

Critical Path Method.pdf

Critical Chain Method : Allows project team to place buffers on any project schedule path to account for limited resources and project uncertainties.

Non-work activities called duration buffers are added to the end of activity sequences

This technique modifies the schedule to account for limited resources.

Develop Schedule

Develop Schedule

Resource Optimization Techniques : Used to adjust schedule due to demand and supply of resources: Resource levelling : in which the start and finish dates are

adjusted based on resource constraints. This might affect critical path.

Resource smoothing : Adjust the activities of the schedule model such that requirements for resources on the project do not exceed certain predetermined limits. Project critical path is not changed as activities are delayed within their free or total float.

Develop Schedule

•Modelling Techniques : Which includes– What-if scenario analysis: used to assess feasibility of the

project schedule under different scenarios

Develop Schedule

•Modelling Techniques– Simulation: calculates multiple project durations based on

different sets of assumptions (Monte Carlo analysis) using probability distributions

Develop Schedule

•Leads And Lags : They make it easier to delay or accelerate work.

•Schedule compression : Shortens project duration without reducing the project scope in order to meet schedule constraints.– Crashing: Exploring cost and schedule trade-offs to shorten the

schedule for the least incremental cost.

– Fast-tracking: activities normally done in sequence are now performed in parallel for part of their duration.

•Scheduling Tool : Automated scheduling tools contain the schedule model and expedite the scheduling process.

Develop Schedule

Outputs

•Schedule Baseline : The approved version of the schedule model by which performance of the project will be measured. It can only be changed through formal change control procedures.

Develop Schedule

Outputs

•Project Schedule : Output of the schedule model. It can be represented in the following ways:– Bar charts : (also called Gantt charts): may be used to display

summary tasks (referred to as hammock activities)

– Milestone charts : an important event with zero duration. (good way to communicate high-level schedule status to customers and upper management)

– Project schedule network diagrams : which show activity dependencies (logic) and the critical path without time scale, sometime referred as pure logic diagram.

Develop Schedule

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Gantt Chart

• A GANTT chart is a type of bar chart that illustrates a project schedule.

• After the PERT/CPM analysis is completed, the following phase is to construct the GANTT chart and then to re-allocate resources and re-schedule if necessary.

• GANTT charts have become a common technique for representing the phases and activities of a project work breakdown structure.

• It was introduced by Henry Gantt around 1910 – 1915.

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Gantt Chart

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Gantt Chart

• Characteristics:– The bar in each row identifies the corresponding task– The horizontal position of the bar identifies start and end times of

the task– Bar length represents the duration of the task– Task durations can be compared easily– Good for allocating resources and re-scheduling– Precedence relationships can be represented using arrows– Critical activities are usually highlighted– Slack times are represented using bars with doted lines– The bar of each activity begins at the activity earliest start time (ES)– The bar of each activity ends at the activity latest finish time (LF).

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Gantt Chart

Advantages Simple

Good visual communication to others

Task durations can be compared easily

Good for scheduling resources

Disadvantages Dependencies are more difficult to visualise

Minor changes in data can cause major changes in the chart

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Constructing Gantt Chart

• The steps to construct a GANTT chart from the information obtained by PERT/CPM are:1. Schedule the critical tasks in the correct position.2. Place the time windows in which the non-critical tasks can be

scheduled.3. Schedule the non-critical tasks according to their earliest starting

times.4. Indicate precedence relationships between tasks.

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Constructing Gantt Chart

• Example of an early GANTT chart construction:

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Constructing Gantt Chart

Step 1. Schedule critical tasks:

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Constructing Gantt Chart

Step 2. Place time windows for non-critical tasks:

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Constructing Gantt Chart

Step 3. Schedule non-critical tasksStep 4. Indicate precedence relationships:

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Staffing & Re-scheduling

• Once the project schedule, (e.g. GANTT chart), has been constructed, take into account – available staff hours – slack times and – the project schedule

Assign staff and other resources to each activity in the project

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Staffing & Re-scheduling

• Resource Smoothing is a technique used to re-allocate resources and re-schedule activities.

• In resource smoothing, non-critical tasks are re-scheduledwithin their time window.

• Staff Utilization:(duration of activity x staff required for each activity,

all added together) / (maximum staff required x duration of project)

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07 Cost Management : Managing Money

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