INTERPRETATION AND ANALYSIS OF THE FLOW CHART OF THE process "SEQUENCING OF THE PROJECT ACTIVITIES
INTRODUCTION
The purpose of
this work is to describe in detail the
Inputs, Tools and Techniques, and Outputs of the process 6.3 Sequence Project
Activities, as part of the Area of Knowledge "Project Time
Management" of the PMBOK, indicating in a reasoned way, the best use
of all its elements and the importance of its application for the procurement
of the final product of this section.
In the same way
as with the previous process, a critical analysis of the exposed descriptions
of this process and the respective conclusions on its relevance for the
development of the Knowledge Area "Project Time Management" and the
project in general are presented.
Process Description 6.3: Sequence Project Activities
Process definition
Sequencing
Activities is the process of identifying and documenting the relationships
between project activities. The sequence of activities is established
through logical relationships. Each activity and milestone, except from
the first and last, connects with at least one predecessor and one
successor in a way that forms a network of activities. The sequence
can be established using a project management software or using the classical manual
techniques for PERT-CPM or other preceding diagramming method. The final
product of this process is a network of related activities.
Process Flow
Diagram 6.3 Sequencing Activities
Sequence Activities: Inputs
1.
List of Activities, coming out of the
process 6.2 Define the Activities.
2.
Attributes of the Activity: from the process
output 6.2 Define the Activities
3.
List of Milestones: from the process
output 6.2 Define Activities.
4.
Project Scope Statement: The project scope
statement comes as an output from the process 5.3 Define Scope
and contains the description of the product scope, which
includes the characteristics of the product, an aspect that may affect the
establishment of the sequence of the activities, in addition
to scope restrictions and assumptions.
5.
Process Assets of the Organization: Among the assets
of the organization processes that can influence the process 6.3 Sequencing activities,
project files are located s from the base of knowledge of the
company, used in the planning methodology.
Sequence Activities: Tools and Techniques
1. Precedence
Diagramming Method
(PDM)
The Precedence Diagramming
Method (PDM) is one of the network programming techniques used by the
Critical Path Method (CPM). To create the project
schedule network, the activities are represented in boxes
or rectangles, which contain the information
of each activity. Each activity is contained in a rectangle and
the relationships between the activities are represented by lines with arrows
showing the logical relationships. To determine the sequencing of
activities, there are four types of logical relationships or possible
dependencies between two activities, which are listed below:
a.
Finish - Start (FS). The
start of the successor activity depends on the completion of
the predecessor activity.
b.
Finish - Finish
(FF). The completion of the successor activity depends on the completion
of the predecessor activity.
c.
Start - Start (SS). The
start of the successor activity depends on the start of the predecessor
activity.
d.
Start - Finish (SF). The
completion of the successor activity depends on the start of
the predecessor activity.
2. Determination
of
Dependencies
To
define the sequence between activities, three types of dependencies are used:
a.
Mandatory
dependencies. Mandatory dependencies are those required by contract
conditions, or inherent to the nature of the work. The project team
determines which dependencies are required during the activity sequencing
process. Sometimes the term "hard logic" is used to refer to
required dependencies.
b.
Discretionary
dependencies. They are dependencies determined by
the project team based on the knowledge of best practices within
a given application area. They are known as preferred logic,
preferential logic, or soft logic. It is a sequencing adapted to the needs
and convenience of the project, where experience and Expert Judgment intervene.
c.
External
dependencies. They are dependencies that are beyond the control of
the entity or organization that executes the work.
3. Application
of Advances and
Delays
Leads and Lags are
periods of time that may be necessary to locate in the dependency relationship
between two activities in order to adjust the condition of the network to be
viable and closer to reality. The need to place an Advance or Delay in the
relationship between two activities is established by the nature of the work
that is carried out.
4. Network
Schedule
Templates
They
are standard templates of the project schedule
network diagram and can cover all or part of the schedule. They are
especially useful when the activities in the work packages of various project
deliverables are similar. They considerably speed up the development of the
network.
Sequence Activities: Outputs
1. Network
Diagrams of the Project
Schedule
The project
schedule network diagram is a schematic representation of the project
schedule activities and their logical relationships, which
is determined using the tools and techniques of this
process. Developing the network diagram of the project schedule
can be done manually or by using a project management software, as mentioned before. For
every activity of this diagram must be determined the duration and the
correspondent resources to form the final schedule of the project.
2. Updates to
Project
Documents
Project
documents that can be updated include, but are not limited to:
a.
the activity lists
b.
the activity attributes
c.
the risk register
Critical Analysis Process 6. 3 Sequencing Project Activities
Inputs
The Flow Diagram of the process indicates that the
main inputs for this process are the outputs of the process 6.2 Define
Activities, to the point that it can be pointed out that process 6.3 cannot be
started if process 6.2 has not been completed, which sounds
obvious. The Project Scope Statement from process 5.3 Define Scope should
have been developed well before process 6.2. The Environmental Factors of
the Company are not mentioned among the entries, among which the information
system of the project should be highlighted.
Tools and
Techniques
Several aspects should be mentioned here. In the
first place, the types of dependencies are those indicated in point 1, that is,
Finish-Start, Finish-Finish, Start-Start and Start-Finish and not
what is indicated in point 2. This seems to be confusing, because it is
indicated in paragraph 2 that mandatory dependencies are
discretionary and external types of dependencies, when they really are aspects
that influence the establishment of the dependencies. On the
other hand, in my opinion, the Expert Judgment and the database of
lessons learned should be tools present in this process and yet they are
not mentioned.
Outputs