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33-551: Much of the PMBOK Guide is unique to project management such as critical path method and work breakdown structure (WBS). The PMBOK Guide also overlaps with general management regarding planning, organising, staffing, executing and controlling the operations of an organisation. Other management disciplines which overlap with the PMBOK Guide include financial forecasting , organisational behaviour , management science , budgeting and other planning methods. Earlier versions of

66-494: A step function is more applicable. Originally, the critical path method considered only logical dependencies between terminal elements. Since then, it has been expanded to allow for the inclusion of resources related to each activity, through processes called activity-based resource assignments and resource optimization techniques such as Resource Leveling and Resource smoothing . A resource-leveled schedule may include delays due to resource bottlenecks (i.e., unavailability of

99-414: A critical path is the sequence of project network activities that adds up to the longest overall duration, regardless of whether that longest duration has float or not. This determines the shortest time possible to complete the project. "Total float" (unused time) can occur within the critical path. For example, if a project is testing a solar panel and task 'B' requires 'sunrise', a scheduling constraint on

132-474: A project or its various phases. A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge — Sixth Edition provides guidelines for managing individual projects and defines project management related concepts. It also describes the project management life cycle and its related processes, as well as the project life cycle. and for the first time it includes an "Agile Practice Guide". The PMBOK as described in

165-415: A regular basis, CPM allows continuous monitoring of the schedule, which allows the project manager to track the critical activities, and alerts the project manager to the possibility that non-critical activities may be delayed beyond their total float, thus creating a new critical path and delaying project completion. In addition, the method can easily incorporate the concepts of stochastic predictions, using

198-430: A resource at the required time), and may cause a previously shorter path to become the longest or most "resource critical" path while a resource-smoothed schedule avoids impacting the critical path by using only free and total float. A related concept is called the critical chain , which attempts to protect activity and project durations from unforeseen delays due to resource constraints. Since project schedules change on

231-423: A resource list with availability for each resource . If these components for the schedule are not available, they can be created with a consensus-driven estimation method like Wideband Delphi . To develop a project schedule, the following needs to be completed: In order for a project schedule to be healthy, the following criteria must be met: The schedule structure may closely follow and include citations to

264-464: Is a calendar that links the tasks to be done with the resources that will do them. It is the core of the project plan used to show the organization how the work will be done, commit people to the project, determine resource needs, and used as a kind of checklist to make sure that every task necessary is performed. Before a project schedule can be created, the schedule maker should have a work breakdown structure (WBS), an effort estimate for each task, and

297-420: Is a term referring to the shortest possible time for which an activity can be scheduled. It can be achieved by shifting more resources towards the completion of that activity, resulting in decreased time spent and often a reduced quality of work, as the premium is set on speed. Crash duration is typically modeled as a linear relationship between cost and activity duration, but in many cases, a convex function or

330-419: Is generally recognized as a good practice. 'Generally recognized' means the knowledge and practices described are applicable to most projects most of the time and there is a consensus about their value and usefulness. 'Good practice' means there is a general agreement that the application of the knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques can enhance the chance of success over many projects." This means that sometimes

363-532: Is not realized precisely, as estimations are used to calculate times: if one mistake is made, the results of the analysis may change. This could cause an upset in the implementation of a project if the estimates are blindly believed, and if changes are not addressed promptly. However, the structure of critical path analysis is such that the variance from the original schedule caused by any change can be measured, and its impact either ameliorated or adjusted for. Indeed, an important element of project postmortem analysis

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396-444: Is the 'as built critical path' (ABCP), which analyzes the specific causes and impacts of changes between the planned schedule and eventual schedule as actually implemented. Schedule (project management) In project management , a schedule is a listing of a project 's milestones , activities , and deliverables . Usually dependencies and resources are defined for each task, then start and finish dates are estimated from

429-656: The PMBOK Guide were recognized as standards by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) which assigns standards in the United States (ANSI/PMI 99-001-2008) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE 1490–2011). The evolution of the PMBOK Guide is reflected in editions of the Guide. The PMBOK Guide is intended to be a "subset of the project management body of knowledge" that

462-525: The Project Management Institute (PMI), and the US Government for acquisition and accounting purposes. Project management is not limited to industry; the average person can use it to organize their own life. Some examples are: Some project management software programs provide templates, lists, and example schedules to help their users with creating their schedule. The project schedule

495-458: The critical chain developers and followers (e.g. Eliyahu M. Goldratt and Lawrence P. Leach ), as opposed to critical path method adherents. The PMBOK Guide section on Project Time Management does indicate Critical Chain as an alternative method to Critical Path. A second strand of criticism originates in Lean Construction . This approach emphasises the lack of two way communication in

528-412: The longest path of planned activities to logical end points or to the end of the project, and the earliest and latest that each activity can start and finish without making the project longer. This process determines which activities are "critical" (i.e., on the longest path) and which have no float/slack or "total float" zero (i.e., can be delayed without making the project longer). In project management,

561-481: The resource allocation , budget , task duration , and scheduled events. A schedule is commonly used in the project planning and project portfolio management parts of project management . Elements on a schedule may be closely related to the work breakdown structure (WBS) terminal elements , the Statement of work , or a Contract Data Requirements List . In many industries, such as engineering and construction,

594-613: The "latest" project management trends, often promoted by consultants, may not be part of the latest version of The PMBOK Guide . However, the 6th Edition of the PMBOK Guide now includes an "Agile Practice Guide" The PMBOK Guide is process-based, meaning it describes work as being accomplished by processes. This approach is consistent with other management standards such as ISO 9000 and the Software Engineering Institute 's CMMI . Processes overlap and interact throughout

627-496: The Guide recognizes 49 processes that fall into five basic process groups and ten knowledge areas that are typical of most projects, most of the time. The five process groups are: The ten knowledge areas , each of which contains some or all of the project management processes, are: Each of the ten knowledge areas contains the processes that need to be accomplished within its discipline in order to achieve effective project management. Each of these processes also falls into one of

660-499: The PERT and event chain methodology . Currently, there are several software solutions available in industry that use the CPM method of scheduling; see list of project management software . The method currently used by most project management software is based on a manual calculation approach developed by Fondahl of Stanford University. A schedule generated using the critical path techniques often

693-468: The PMBOK model and offers an alternative which emphasises a language/action perspective and continual improvement in the planning process. Critical path method The critical path method ( CPM ), or critical path analysis ( CPA ), is an algorithm for scheduling a set of project activities. A critical path is determined by identifying the longest stretch of dependent activities and measuring

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726-407: The critical path (and near-critical path activities if desired) as a cascading waterfall that flows from the project's start (or current status date) to the selected logical end point. Although the activity-on-arrow diagram (PERT chart) is still used in a few places, it has generally been superseded by the activity-on-node diagram, where each activity is shown as a box or node and the arrows represent

759-410: The critical path" (i.e., shortening the durations of critical path activities by adding resources ). Critical path drag analysis has also been used to optimize schedules in processes outside of strict project-oriented contexts, such as to increase manufacturing throughput by using the technique and metrics to identify and alleviate delaying factors and thus reduce assembly lead time. "Crash duration"

792-686: The developers of the PERT, which was developed at about the same time by Booz Allen Hamilton and the U.S. Navy . The precursors of what came to be known as critical path were developed and put into practice by DuPont between 1940 and 1943 and contributed to the success of the Manhattan Project . Critical path analysis is commonly used with all forms of projects, including construction, aerospace and defense, software development, research projects, product development, engineering, and plant maintenance, among others. Any project with interdependent activities can apply this method of mathematical analysis. CPM

825-529: The development and maintenance of the project schedule is the responsibility of a full-time scheduler or team of schedulers, depending on the size and the scope of the project. The techniques of scheduling are well developed but inconsistently applied throughout industry. Standardization and promotion of scheduling best practices are being pursued by the Association for the Advancement of Cost Engineering (AACE),

858-476: The five process groups, creating a matrix structure such that every process can be related to one knowledge area and one process group. While the PMBOK Guide is meant to offer a general guide to manage most projects most of the time, there are currently three official extensions: The PMBOK is a widely accepted standard in project management, however there are alternatives to the PMBOK standard, and PMBOK does have its critics. One thrust of critique has come from

891-416: The logical relationships going from predecessor to successor as shown here in the "Activity-on-node diagram". In this diagram, Activities A, B, C, D, and E comprise the critical or longest path, while Activities F, G, and H are off the critical path with floats of 15 days, 5 days, and 20 days respectively. Whereas activities that are off the critical path have float and are therefore not delaying completion of

924-479: The overall project. In other words, individual tasks on the critical path prior to the constraint might be able to be delayed without elongating the critical path; this is the total float of that task, but the time added to the project duration by the constraint is actually critical path drag , the amount by which the project's duration is extended by each critical path activity and constraint. A project can have several, parallel, near-critical paths, and some or all of

957-505: The project, those on the critical path will usually have critical path drag, i.e., they delay project completion. The drag of a critical path activity can be computed using the following formula: These results, including the drag computations, allow managers to prioritize activities for the effective management of project, and to shorten the planned critical path of a project by pruning critical path activities, by "fast tracking" (i.e., performing more activities in parallel), and/or by "crashing

990-481: The tasks could have free float and/or total float. An additional parallel path through the network with the total durations shorter than the critical path is called a subcritical or noncritical path. Activities on subcritical paths have no drag, as they are not extending the project's duration. CPM analysis tools allow a user to select a logical end point in a project and quickly identify its longest series of dependent activities (its longest path). These tools can display

1023-399: The testing activity could be that it would not start until the scheduled time for sunrise. This might insert dead time (total float) into the schedule on the activities on that path prior to the sunrise due to needing to wait for this event. This path, with the constraint-generated total float, would actually make the path longer, with total float being part of the shortest possible duration for

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1056-422: The time required to complete them from start to finish. It is commonly used in conjunction with the program evaluation and review technique (PERT). The CPM is a project-modeling technique developed in the late 1950s by Morgan R. Walker of DuPont and James E. Kelley Jr. of Remington Rand . Kelley and Walker related their memories of the development of CPM in 1989. Kelley attributed the term "critical path" to

1089-550: Was used for the first time in 1966 for the major skyscraper development of constructing the former World Trade Center Twin Towers in New York City. Although the original CPM program and approach is no longer used, the term is generally applied to any approach used to analyze a project network logic diagram. The essential technique for using CPM is to construct a model of the project that includes: Using these values, CPM calculates

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