In this step, we think about what needs to be done first and what can be done at the same time. We want to capture the logical relationships that exist between the tasks in our WBS. The traditional technique used to capture these relationships is the network diagram. An example of a network diagram is pictured in Figure 8.5.
Unlike most introductory project management books, I’m not going to spend five to ten pages (or more) on traditional network diagram topics such as types of network diagrams (Activity-on-Node, Activity-on-Arrow, GERT), dependency types (Finish-to-Start, Start-to-Finish, Start-to-Start, Finish-to-Finish), or mathematical analysis scheduling techniques (Critical Path Method, PERT, and Monte Carlo simulation). Why? Because unless you are in a specialized industry, these techniques are not used very often, and most project scheduling software will take care of this for you (if you know how to use it). Of course, if you plan to take the PMP, you will need to hone your knowledge of these concepts.
The whole idea here is to look at your work visually and think about in what order (sequence) the work needs to occur. This is an exercise in logic. In many cases, this step is an excellent team activity. At this time, you don’t want to concern yourself with resource constraints: just focus on logical sequence of the work. When you complete this task, you want to be clear on three things:
Caution
Avoid entering start and end dates for tasks. These dates establish constraints in the scheduling software and can give you unexpected results.
If you have a hard, fixed milestone date that must be honored, then leverage a separate milestone task or, if you’re using Microsoft Project, the “deadline” task attribute.
- For each task, what other tasks must be completed first?
- For the project, what tasks could be done at the same time (concurrently, in parallel)?
- For the project, where are your external dependencies? What tasks can’t start until an external event or task has completed?
Tip
A team-based schedule development approach should be pursued whenever possible for two primary reasons: higher quality schedule and team ownership of the schedule.
Team collaboration tools like Mindjet’s MindManager can be very effective for these activities.
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