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

The practically unique final product of this process is the Precedence Network Diagram, an essential element for the final development of the schedule. Little emphasis is placed on the use of computer tools such as the project management software, to obtain the network. Currently, it is essential, mainly in the case of very large projects, to have these tools to develop the network and the schedule. The manual procedure can be largely a time-consuming one.