project managment application of primavera p6

PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND APPLICATION OF PRIMAVERA P6 HAMMAD REHMAN BHATTI

PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND APPLICATION OF PRIMAVERA P6

By; Hammad Rehman Bhatti BE Civil Engineering (NUST)

PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND APPLICATION OF PRIMAVERA P6 of 51

Table of Contents

Sr. No.

Description Page

Table of contents 3-4 A Project 5 B Project Management 5 1. Project management knowledge areas 5-7 2. Project management process groups 7

C Introducing Primavera Project Management 7 1. Primavera Timesheets 7 2. Methodology Management 8 3. Features that are new or improved in Project Management 8-9

D EPS (Enterprise Project Structure) 9 E Work breakdown structure (WBS) overview 9 F OBS (organizational breakdown structure) 9 G Calendars 9 1. Schedule Dates 10 2. Anticipated Dates 10

H Base methodology 10 I Activities 10-11 1. Activity codes and values 11

2. Activity types 11 3. Activity dates 12-14

4. Activity Network 14 5. Predecessor 15

6. Successor 15 J Relationship 15 1. Driving Relationship and Non-Driving Relationship 15 2. Types of Relationship 15 3. Lag 16

K Duration 16 1. Original Duration 16 2. Actual Duration 16 3. Remaining Duration 16 4. At Complete 17 5. Duration Types 17 L Scheduling projects 17 1. Critical path 18 2. Critical Path Method (CPM) scheduling 18 3. Forward pass 18 4. Backward pass 18 5. Calculating a schedule 18 6. Automatic scheduling 18 7. Analyzing the schedule using multiple critical float paths 18-19

8. Total Float (days) 19 9. Free Float (days) 19

M Constraints 19 Types of constraints 19-21


Sr. No.

Description Page

N Baselines 21-22 O Roles 22 P Resources 22-23

1. Primary Resources 23 2. Resource Security 23 3. Current Project Resources 23 4. Leveling resources 23-24 5. Manual future period buckets/values 24 6. Leveling priority definitions 24 7. Driving resource 25 8. Non Driving resource 25 9. Scheduling "non-driving" resource assignments 25

Q Activity Percent Complete 25 1. Physical Percent Complete 25-26 2. Duration percent Complete 26 3. Units Percent Complete 26

R (Non)Labor Units/(Non)Labor Cost/Material Cost 26 1. Budgeted 26 2. Actual 26

3. Remaining 26 4. At Complete 26

S Establishing budgets 26 1. Budget 27

2. Variance 27 3. Spending Plan 27 4. Benefit Plan 27

T Earned Value 27 1. Earned Value Cost 27-28

U Estimate to Complete 28 V Planned Value Cost 28 W Expenses 28 X Resource curves 28-29 Y Future period bucket planning 29-30 Z Store Period Performance 30

AA Secure code 30 BB Thresholds 30-31

1. Threshold parameter definitions 31-34 CC Project Complexity 34 DD Important Terminologies 34-50 EE References 51


PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND APPLICATION OF PRIMAVERA P6

A. Project

A project constitutes a plan for creating a product or service. A project has a start and finish date and consists of some or all of the following: activities, resource assignments, a work breakdown structure (WBS), an organizational breakdown structure (OBS), calendars, relationships, baselines, expenses, risks, issues, thresholds, and project-specific codes, reports, and work products and documents.

A project is a set of activities and associated information that constitutes a plan for creating a product or service. A project has a start and finish date, work breakdown structure (WBS), and any number of activities, relationships, baselines, expenses, risks, issues, thresholds, and work products and documents. A project may also have its own Web site. While resources typically extend across all projects, each project has its own resource assignments. Similarly, while calendars, reports, and activity codes may span projects, they can also be project-specific.

B. Project Management

Project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities in order to meet or exceed needs and expectations from a project. Meeting or exceeding stakeholder needs and expectations invariably involves balancing competing demands among

• Scope, time, cost and quality • Stakeholders with different needs and expectations • Identified requirements (needs) and unidentified requirements (expectations)

The term project management is sometime used to describe an organizational approach to the management of ongoing operations. This approach more properly called management by projects treats many aspects of ongoing operations as projects in order to apply project management to them.

1. Project management knowledge areas

The Project management knowledge areas, describes project management knowledge and practice in terms of their component processes. These processes have been organized into nine knowledge areas as described below and illustrated in figure-1;

a. Project Integration Management

Describes the processes required to ensure that the various elements of the project are properly coordinated. It consists of project plan development, project plan execution, and integrated change control.

b. Project Scope Management

Describes the processes required to ensure that the project includes all the work required, and only the work required, to complete the project successfully. It consists of initiation, scope planning, scope definition, scope verification, and scope change control.

c. Project Time Management

Describes the processes required to ensure timely completion of the project. It consists of activity definition, activity sequencing, activity duration estimating, schedule development and schedule control.


Figure-1

d. Project Cost Management

Describes the processes required to ensure that the project is completed within the approved budget. It consists of the resource planning, cost estimating, cost budgeting and cost control

e. Project Quality Management

Describes the processes required to ensure that the project will satisfy the needs for which it was undertaken. It consists of quality planning, quality assurance and quality control.

f. Project Human Resource Management

Describes the processes required to make the most effective use of the people involved with the project. It consists of the organizational planning, staff acquisition and team development.

g. Project Communications Management

Describes the processes required to ensure timely and appropriate generation, collection, dissemination, storage and ultimate disposition of project information. It consists of communication planning, information distribution, performance reporting and administrative closure.


h. Project Risk Management

Describes the processes concerned with identifying, analyzing and responding to project risk. It consists of risk management planning, risk identification qualitative risk analysis, quantitative risk analysis, risk response planning and risk monitoring and control.

i. Project Procurement Management

Describes the processes required to acquire goods and services from outside the performing organization. It consists of procurement planning, solicitation planning, solicitation, source selection, contract administration, and contract closeout.

2. Project management process groups

Project management process can be organized into five groups of one or more processes each;

a. Initiating processes: authorizing the project or phase. b. Planning processes: defining and refining objectives and selecting the best of the alternative courses of

action to attain the objectives that the project was undertaken to address. c. Executing processes: coordinating people and other resources to carry out the plan. d. Controlling processes: ensuring that project objectives are met by monitoring and measuring progress

regularly to identify variances from plan so that corrective action can be taken when necessary. e. Closing processes: formalizing acceptance of the project or phase and bringing it to an orderly end.

C. Introducing Primavera Project Management

The Project Management module is comprehensive, multiproject planning and control software, built on Oracle and Microsoft SQL Server relational databases for enterprise-wide project management scalability. The Project Management module can stand alone for project and resource management, or it can be used in conjunction with other products, including the Timesheets module Methodology Management module, and Primavera's Web application.

The Project Management module enables your organization to store and manage its projects in a central location. The module supports work breakdown structures (WBS), organizational breakdown structures (OBS), user-defined fields and codes, critical-path-method (CPM) scheduling, and resource leveling. The Project Management module provides

• An enterprise project structure (EPS), which enables project managers to manage multiple projects, from the highest levels of the organization to the individuals that perform specific project tasks. Multiple users can access the same projects concurrently.

• Centralized resource management, including resource timesheet approval and the ability to communicate with project resources who use Primavera Timesheets

• Integrated risk management • Issue tracking • Management by threshold • A tracking feature that enables you to perform dynamic cross-project rollups of cost, schedule, and earned value • Work products and documents that can be assigned to activities and managed centrally • A Report wizard that helps you create customized reports to extract any data from the Project Management database

1. Primavera Timesheets

A project communication tool you can add on to the Project Management module.Team members or Timesheets-licensed users can log into the Timesheets module, either over the Web or their local area network and receive a cross-project view of their assignments, access to Activity Details, and a simple timesheet to record their progress.


2. Methodology Management

The Methodology Management module is a system for authoring and storing methodologies, or project plan templates. By using the Methodology Management module, your organization can gather its “best practices” and store them in a central location. This allows project managers to create custom project plans by selecting, combining, and tailoring methodologies, rather than creating project plans from scratch for each new project. In this way, your organization can continually improve and refine methodology activities, estimates, and other information with each new project.

3. Features that are new or improved in Project Management

a. Manually plan future period resource allocation in the Resource Usage Spreadsheet of the Resource Assignments and Activities windows. When work on an activity is planned to be performed sporadically or at varying levels of effort, you can manually enter future period budgeted units or remaining units to reflect the plan more accurately than a defined resource curve. The new project privilege 'Edit Future Periods' controls who can manually enter or edit future period data.

b. You can define role availability (limits) over time in the Roles dictionary. A new user preference enables you to specify how you want to calculate role limits: by using the limit of the role's primary resource, or by using the role limits you define. When you choose to define role limits and calculate role availability using the defined limits, you can view the role limit and allocation limit in spreadsheets, charts, and histograms that display role data in both the Project Management module and the Primavera Web application.

c. Assign user interface views to users on the Global Access tab of the Users dialog box. User interface views are customized views of the Primavera Web application that enable and disable access to Primavera Web application functionality. You can only create user interface views in the Primavera Web application. The new global privilege 'Edit User Interface Views' controls who can create, edit, delete, and assign views.

d. Create a reflection of an active project. A reflection is a copy of an active project that contains a link to the original project. This allows you to make changes to the reflection and then merge selected changes back into to the original project, keeping active project data such as timesheet information intact.

e. A new activity attribute called Owner enables organizations to specify one person responsible for an activity. The option to designate an Activity's Owner is of particular use for organizations who want to collect activity progress information from project team members who are not assigned resources or Timesheets users because it can be combined with the appropriate Primavera license to enable status reporting. Specifically, a user who has a Team Member license and the appropriate OBS project access and security privileges can use Primavera's Web application to update progress for activities they are associated with as Activity Owner. Additionally, to support oversight and approval processes, the Activity Owner designation can be combined with the use of the new Reflection project feature, which offers the capability to review all changes and specify which, if any, should be merged into the active source project associated with the Reflection. See Using Reflection projects and Activity Owner features to collect and review activity status.

f. The new Timesheets license provides access to the Timesheets application only. In previous versions, users required a Team Member license to access Timesheets. The existing Team Member license still provides access to Timesheets, but has been enhanced to provide additional functionality in the Primavera Web application, such as adding/editing activity relationships, activity expenses, and user-defined fields. For users who require access to the Primavera Web application to update data for their projects, as well as access to Timesheets, you can assign the Team Member license; for users who only require access to Timesheets to report their time, you can assign the Timesheets license.

g. Import and export projects between Project Management modules in XML format. h. The new project privileges 'Edit Resource Assignments for Resource Planning' and 'Edit Role Assignments for

Resource Planning' control who can assign, delete, and modify resource/role assignments on a project or WBS level in Primavera's web resource management application.

i. The new project privilege 'Edit Committed Flag for Resource Planning' controls who can identify committed resource and role assignments on a project or WBS level in the Resource Planning view in Primavera's web resource management application.

j. The new global privilege 'Edit Global Scenarios' controls who can create, edit, and delete global scenarios in Primavera's Web Portfolio Management module.

k. The new global privilege 'Edit Global Dashboards' controls who can create, edit, and delete global dashboards in the Primavera Web application. Users with this privilege can create dashboards available to all Primavera Web application users, and specify the content and layout of all global dashboards; all Primavera Web application users can create personal dashboards available only to them, or to specific users.


l. Two new project-level options let you specify if Timesheets users can: (1) view activities that belong to inactive

projects (2) report that they have completed work for an assignment. These options appear on the Project Details Resources tab.

m. Two new administrative preferences let you specify global-level options related to Timesheets. You can choose whether to allow resources to assign themselves to activities and whether to allow resources to report time against completed activities and assignments. The global option to allow resources to assign themselves to activities can be overridden for individual projects on the Project Details Resources tab.

n. In the Resource Assignments window and on the Activity Details Resources tab, you can add columns that display the date an assignment was made and the Primavera login name of the person who made the assignment. These columns are available under the General category in the Customize Columns dialog box.

o. Curtains and spotlights in P6 are now associated with the layouts. In previous versions of the software, these items were associated with the project. When databases are upgraded to P6, all curtains and spotlights that are saved with the open layout will be displayed regardless of which project is open.

D. EPS (Enterprise Project Structure)

The Enterprise Project Structure (EPS) forms the hierarchical structure of your database of projects. Each EPS node or folder) can be subdivided into multiple levels to represent the work that needs to be done in your organization. The number of levels and their structure depend on the scope of your projects and how you want to summarize data.

You can use the EPS to;

• Perform top-down budgeting and resource and cost analysis • Organize work breakdown and organizational breakdown structures into one common structure • Manage multiple projects from the highest levels of the organization to the individuals that perform specific project tasks • Implement coding standards for flexible reporting • Maintain appropriate security throughout the enterprise

E. Work breakdown structure (WBS) overview

A WBS is a hierarchy of work that must be accomplished to complete a project, which defines a product or service to be produced. The WBS is structured in levels of work detail, beginning with the deliverable itself, and is then separated into identifiable work elements.

Each project has its own WBS hierarchy with the top level WBS element being equal to that of each EPS node or project. Each WBS element may contain more detailed WBS levels, activities, or both.

When creating a project, the project manager typically develops the WBS first, assigns documents to each WBS element, and then defines activities for performing the element's work. In addition to document and activity assignments, each WBS element also has an assigned calendar, specific earned value calculation settings, and an assigned OBS element responsible for all work included in the WBS element.

F. OBS (organizational breakdown structure)

An OBS is a hierarchical arrangement of a project's management structure. User access and privileges to nodes and projects within the enterprise projects structure (EPS) hierarchy are implemented via a responsible manager defined in the enterprise-wide OBS hierarchy.

G. Calendars

You can create and assign calendars to each resource and each activity. These calendars define the available work hours in each calendar day. You can also specify national holidays, your organization's holidays, project-specific work/non-workdays, and resource vacation days. Calendar assignments are used for activity scheduling, tracking, and resource leveling. Whether an activity uses its assigned calendar or the calendar of an assigned resource depends on the activity type you specify.\


Three calendar pools are defined: global, resource, and project. The global calendar pool contains calendars that apply to all projects. The project calendar pool is a separate pool of calendars for each project. The resource calendar pool can be a separate pool of calendars for each resource. You can assign either resource or global calendars to resources, and you can assign either global or project calendars to activities.

You can link resource and project calendars to global calendars. Then, if you make changes to a global calendar, your changes apply to all resource and project calendars that are linked to the modified global calendar.

1. Schedule Dates

Date Field; Definition

a. Planned Start;

The start date of the project.

b. Must Finish By;

A date constraint placed on the project end date.

c. Data Date; The date used as the starting point to calculate the schedule.

d. Finish; The latest early finish date calculated when the Project Management module last scheduled the project.

e. Actual Start; The actual start date of the project, if the project has started.

f. Actual Finish;

The actual finish date of the project, if the project has finished all activities in the project has actual finish dates.

2. Anticipated Dates

Date Field; Definition

a. Anticipated Start;

The user-defined date the project is expected to start; used during the project planning stage, and set at the WBS, EPS, or project level.

b. Anticipated Finish;

A date constraint placed on the project end date.

H. Base methodology

A base methodology provides the basic infrastructure of activities performed during a project. A base methodology can include a life cycle, work breakdown structure, organizational breakdown structure, and work product and document assignments. A project plan uses one base methodology.

I. Activities

Activities are the fundamental work elements of a project. They are the lowest level of a work breakdown structure (WBS) and, as such, are the smallest subdivision of a project that directly concerns the project manager. Although you can divide activities into steps, an activity's primary resource is typically responsible for managing and tracking the progress of an activity's steps, while the project manager is typically responsible for managing and tracking the progress of the overall activity.

You can define the following information for an activity:

• Activity ID and name, which enables you to uniquely identify and describe the activity • Activity start and finish dates • Activity calendar


• Activity type, duration type, and percent complete type, which are used to specify which calendar applies to an activity;

whether an activity is a milestone; how to keep an activity's unit values, duration values, and resource units/time values synchronized; and how to calculate an activity's percent complete

• Activity codes and values, which enable you to classify and categorize activities • Constraints on the activity's scheduled start and finish dates • Expenses • Predecessor and successor relationships, which are used to define relationships with other activities • Work products and documents and deliverables • Resources • Notes and feedback, which are used to communicate with the resources working on an activity • Roles, which enable you to identify skill requirements for staffing the activity • Steps, which divide the activity into smaller units • Work breakdown structure element

1. Activity codes and values

Activity codes and values enable you to filter, group, sort, and report activity information according to your organization's unique requirements. For example, if your organization has more than one location, you can create a Location code with values such as New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. You can then associate activities with a specific location, such as New York.

You can define three types of activity codes, global activity codes, EPS-level activity codes, and project-level activity codes. You can assign global activity codes and values to activities in all projects. You can assign EPS-level activity codes and values to the EPS. EPS-level activity codes are useful when you don't want certain codes to be accessible to all users, or project-specific. You can assign project-level activity codes and values to activities only in the project for which the codes were created. Each activity code can have an unlimited number of values.

2. Activity types

Activity types control how an activity’s duration and dates are calculated.

a. Task dependent b. Resource dependent c. Level of effort d. Start Milestone e. Finish Milestone f. WBS summary

Each activity must be assigned an activity type.

a. Task dependent activity

For a task dependent activity, assigned resources schedule according to the activity’s calendar rather than according to their designated resource calendars. Use task dependent activities when multiple resources assigned to the same activity need to work together.

b. Resource dependent activity

Resources assigned to this type of activity are scheduled to work according to the resources’ calendars rather than the activity’s calendar. The activity’s duration is determined by the availability of resources to work on the activity. Use resource dependent activities when multiple resources assigned to the same activity can work independently.


c. Level of effort activity

A level of effort activity’s duration is dependent on its predecessor and/or successor activities. Level of effort activities cannot have constraints assigned to them. Level of effort activities are not included when leveling resources. Use level of effort activities for on-going tasks that depend on other activities. For example, you could assign level of effort activities for clerical work, a security guard, or even some aspects of project management.

A level of effort activity is similar to but different from a hammock activity.

• A level of effort activity uses its assigned calendar to summarize its dates. Hammocks are not scheduled using their own calendar.

• Any type of relationship can be assigned to a level of effort activity. Only a start-to-start and finish-to-finish relationship can be assigned to a hammock activity.

• A level of effort activity's duration is calculated from the earliest early start of its predecessors/successors (linked to the start end of the level of effort activity) to the latest early finish of its predecessors/successors (linked to the finish end of the level of effort activity).

A hammock activity’s duration is calculated from the earliest early start of its predecessors to the latest early finish of its successor activities.

d. Start milestone activity

A start milestone activity marks the beginning of a major stage in the project. Since a start milestone activity does not have a duration, it is sometimes referred to as a “zero duration activity.”

A start milestone may have a primary resource and expenses associated with it, but cannot have resource assignments, role assignments, or time-based costs such as labor. You can assign work products or documents to a start milestone.

e. Finish milestone activity

A finish milestone activity marks the end of a major stage in the project. Since a finish milestone activity does not have duration, it is sometimes referred to as a “zero duration activity.”

A finish milestone may have a primary resource and expenses associated with it, but cannot have resource assignments, role assignments, or time-based costs such as labor. You can assign work products and documents to a finish milestone.

f. WBS summary activity

Use a WBS summary activity to summarize a WBS level. The WBS summary activity comprises a group of activities that share a common WBS level. For example, all activities whose WBS codes start with A (A.1, A.1.1, A.1.1.2, A.2, A.3 and so forth) can be part of one WBS activity whose WBS code is A. At a lower level, all activities whose WBS codes start with A.1 (A.1, A.1.1, A.1.1.2 and so forth) can be part of a WBS activity whose WBS code is A.1.

The dates calculated on a WBS summary activity are based on the earliest start date of the activities in the group and the latest finish date of these activities. The WBS summary activity duration is calculated based on its assigned calendar.

Note

You cannot assign constraints to WBS summary activities.


3. Activity dates

The following table defines the types of activity dates available in the module and how they are used to plan and schedule your project.

Date Field Definition

a. Start For an activity that has not started, the current start date of the activity. Set to the remaining start date until the activity is started, then set to the actual start date.

b. Finish For an activity that has not started, the current finish date of the activity. Set to the activity planned finish date when the activity is not started, the remaining finish date when the activity is in progress, and the actual finish date once the activity is completed.

c. Actual Start The date on which the activity is actually started.

d. Actual Finish The date on which the activity is actually finished.

e. Early Start The earliest possible date the remaining work for the activity can begin. This date is calculated by the project scheduler based on activity relationships, schedule constraints, and resource availability. The Early Start equals the Remaining Start unless you preserve the scheduled early dates during leveling.

f. Early Finish The earliest possible date the activity can finish. This date is calculated by the project scheduler based on activity relationships, schedule constraints, and resource availability. The Early Finish equals the Remaining Finish unless you preserve the scheduled early dates during leveling.

g. Late Start The latest possible date the remaining work for the activity must begin without delaying the project finish date. This date is calculated by the project scheduler based on activity relationships, schedule constraints, and resource availability. The Late Start equals the Remaining Late Start unless you preserve the scheduled late dates during leveling.

h. Late Finish The latest possible date the activity must finish without delaying the project finish date. This date is calculated by the project scheduler based on activity relationships, schedule constraints, and resource availability. The Late Finish equals the Remaining Late Finish unless you preserve the scheduled late dates during leveling.

i. Planned Start For an activity that has not started, the date the activity is scheduled to begin. This date is set equal to the early start date by the project scheduler but can be updated manually by the project manager. This date is not changed by the project scheduler once you apply an Actual Start date.

j. Planned Finish For an activity that has not started, the date the activity is scheduled to finish. This date is set equal to the early finish date by the project scheduler but can be updated manually by the user. This date is not changed by the project scheduler once you apply an Actual Finish date.

k. Anticipated Start The expected start date of the project, EPS node, or WBS level, used during the planning phase. This date is manually entered and is not affected by scheduling. An anticipated start date cannot be entered at the activity level.

l. Anticipated Finish The expected finish date of the project, EPS node, or WBS level, used during the planning phase. This date is manually entered and is not affected by scheduling. An anticipated finish date cannot be


entered at the activity level.

m. Remaining Start The earliest possible date the remaining work for the activity is scheduled to begin. This date is calculated by the project scheduler but can be updated manually by the user. Before the activity is started, the Remaining Start is the same as the Planned Start. Once the activity has started, the Remaining Start is equal to the Data Date. When the activity is complete, the Remaining Start is blank.

n. Remaining Finish The earliest possible date the remaining work for the activity is scheduled to finish. This date is calculated by the project scheduler but can be updated manually by the user. Before the activity is started, the Remaining Finish is the same as the Planned Finish. When the activity is complete, the Remaining Finish is blank.

o. Remaining Late Start The latest possible date the remaining work for the activity must begin without delaying the project finish date. This date is calculated by the project scheduler based on activity relationships, schedule constraints, and resource availability. When the activity is complete, the Remaining Late Start is blank.

p. Remaining Late Finish The latest possible date the activity must finish without delaying the project finish date. This date is calculated by the project scheduler based on activity relationships, schedule constraints, and resource availability. When the activity is complete, the Remaining Late Finish is blank.

q. Expected Finish The date the activity is expected to finish, according to the primary resource. Typically, the primary resource enters this date in Timesheets. When scheduling your projects, you may choose to use the Expected Finish dates or not.

r. Constraint Date The constraint date for the activity is the date for which the activity's constraint applies. You can enter a primary and secondary constraint. Depending on the constraint type, this date could be a start date or a finish date. For example, if the constraint is a Finish On constraint, the constraint date is the date on which the activity must finish.

If the activity does not have a constraint, this field will be empty.

4. Activity Network

The Activity Network displays your project as a diagram of activities and relationships according to the work breakdown structure (WBS). A red border around an activity box indicates a critical activity. A line connecting activity boxes indicates an activity relationship.

You can control nearly every aspect of the Activity Network, including the appearance of activities, the contents of activity boxes, and the spacing between activities.

The left pane of the Activity Network layout always displays the WBS hierarchy, regardless of the current grouping selection. The right pane displays the selected WBS element’s assigned activities. If you specify a grouping option other than WBS, the right pane of the Activity Network layout groups and displays the selected WBS element’s activities according to the activity data item you specify, for example, grouped by project status or budget at completion.

You can save the Activity Network layout on your computer to e-mail to another project user or to retrieve later.

You can use an Activity Network layout to

• Easily view relationships among activities and the flow of work through a project • Examine and edit an activity and its predecessors and successors • Focus on the driving relationship path


• Determine at a glance whether an activity has started or finished

To make the Activity Network layout more effective, you can

• Change the Activity Network template to view different activity information and levels of detail • Right-click anywhere in the Activity Network to access commands that enable you to change the information

displayed or format data • Combine the Activity Network with a Trace Logic layout to focus on a specific sequence of activities.

5. Predecessor

An activity that must occur before another activity. A predecessor activity controls the start or finish date of its successors. An activity can have multiple predecessors, each with a different relationship to it.

6. Successor

An activity that must occur after another activity. An activity can have multiple successors, each with a different relationship to it.

J. Relationship

A relationship defines how an activity relates to the start or finish of another activity or assignment. Add relationships between activities to create a path through your schedule from the first activity to the last activity. These relationships, which form the logic of the project network, are used together with activity durations to determine schedule dates. An activity can have as many relationships as necessary to model the work that must be done. You can also identify relationships between activities that are in different projects; this type of relationship is referred to as an external relationship.

1. Driving Relationship and Non-Driving Relationship

Driving relationship is the one which determine the start date of its successor activity.

Non-Driving relationship is the one which cannot determine the start date of its successor activity.

2. Types of Relationship

Following relations are generally used;

a. Finish to start b. Finish to finish c. Start to start d. Start to finish

a. Finish to start (FS) relationship

A relationship in which the start of a successor activity depends on the completion of its predecessor activity. This is the default activity relationship.

A

B


b. Finish to finish (FF) relationship

A relationship in which the finish of a successor activity depends on the finish of its predecessor activity.

c. Start to start (SS) relationship

A relationship between activities in which the start of a successor activity depends on the start of its predecessor.

d. Start to finish (SF) relationship

A relationship between activities in which a successor activity cannot complete until its predecessor activity starts.

3. Lag

An offset or delay from an activity to its successor. Lag can be positive or negative and it is based on the calendar of the successor activity.

K. Duration

1. Original Duration

The expected number of work periods required to complete the selected activity. You can type a new time value and unit.

2. Actual Duration

The actual number of work periods spent on the selected activity. If the selected activity is complete, type a new number.

3. Remaining Duration

The remaining number of work periods needed to complete the selected activity. If the selected activity is in progress, type a new number.

A

B

A

B

A

B


4. At Complete

An estimate of the duration at completion time for the selected activity. (At Complete Duration = Actual Duration + Remaining Duration). If the selected activity is in progress, type a new at complete estimate.

5. Duration Types

None of the duration type option effects all of the schedule until one or more resource is assigned to the activity. The following options are available.

a. Fixed Units

Activity requires fixed amount of work and will be finished faster if more resources are assigned.

Choose Fixed Units if you want the activity units to remain constant when the duration or resource units per time change. This type is used when the total amount of work is fixed, and increasing the resources can decrease the activity duration. You most often choose this duration type when you are using resource dependent activities.

b. Fixed Durations and Unit/Time

Activities will take the same amount of time no matter what resources are assigned.

Choose Fixed Duration & Units/Time if you want the activity duration to remain constant and the remaining units to change. This type is used when the activity is to be completed within a fixed time period regardless of the resources assigned. You most often choose this duration type when you are using task dependent activities.

c. Fixed Unit/Time

Activities have resources with fixed productivity per time period.

Choose Fixed Units/Time if you want the resource units per time to remain constant when the activity duration or units change. This type is used when an activity has fixed resources with fixed productivity output per time period. You most often choose this duration type when you are using resource dependent activities.

d. Fixed Durations and Units

Activities indicate that neither the activities duration nor units will change regardless of the number of resources assigned to the activity.

Choose Fixed Duration & Units if you want the activity duration to remain constant and the units/time to change. This type is used when the activity is to be completed within a fixed time period and the total amount of work is fixed. You most often choose this duration type when you are using task dependent activities.

L. Scheduling projects

Your project schedule can be calculated one of two ways: when you choose the Scheduling command or each time you make a change that affects schedule dates.

The Critical Path Method (CPM) scheduling technique is used to calculate project schedules. CPM uses activity durations and relationships between activities to calculate the project schedule.


1. Critical path

The critical path is a series of activities that determines a project's completion time. The duration of the activities on the critical path controls the duration of the entire project; a delay to any of these activities will delay the finish date of the entire project. Critical activities are defined by either the total float or the longest path in the project network.

2. Critical Path Method (CPM) scheduling

The method by which activity durations and the relationships between activities are used to mathematically calculate a schedule for the entire project. CPM focuses your attention on the critical path of activities that affect the completion date for the project or an intermediate deadline. Early dates, the earliest possible dates each activity can start and finish, and late dates, the latest possible dates each activity can start and finish without delaying the project finish or an intermediate deadline (constraint) are also calculated.

3. Forward pass

The calculation of early dates for a project. The forward pass starts at the beginning of the project and continues to the end to calculate the earliest start and finish dates for each activity.

4. Backward pass

The calculation of late dates of activities in a project. The backward pass begins with the latest early finish date of the last activity, or the imposed project finish date if one exists, and works backward to the first activity in the project. The late start and finish dates of each activity calculate based on durations, constraints, and relationships.

5. Calculating a schedule

When you choose to calculate a schedule, all activities in the network are examined, beginning with the first and ending with the last, to calculate the earliest start and finish dates for each activity.

The activities are then reexamined in a backward pass, beginning with the latest early finish of the last activity in the network and ending with the first activity, to calculate the latest start and finish dates for each activity. Float values are calculated using the duration and calendar definitions for the activity. In addition to scheduling a project, you can also level resources.

6. Automatic scheduling

You can calculate the schedule each time activity data change, rescheduling activities that have changed significantly and rescheduling any activities affected by the change to the first activity. If automatic scheduling is turned on, the schedule recalculates each time a significant change is made to an activity, relationship, or resource. If you turn off automatic scheduling, changes to activities are not reflected in the schedule until you calculate the schedule again. You can also level resources during automatic scheduling.

Note

When you open an EPS node, all projects contained within the node are scheduled.

7. Analyzing the schedule using multiple critical float paths

When you schedule a project, you can choose to calculate multiple critical float paths (sequences of activities) that affect the project schedule. By calculating multiple critical float paths, you can determine the most critical path in the project schedule, along with sub-critical paths that affect the completion of the most critical path.


While you can determine the critical path of activities based on total float or longest path, these methods do not offer insight into sub-critical paths that may also affect the project schedule. For example, if you choose to identify critical activities based on a maximum total float threshold, the module will identify all activities beyond the threshold as critical even if the activities have no relationships or do not affect the project end date. Likewise, if you choose to identify critical activities based on longest path, the module will identify the critical path of activities but will not identify sub-critical paths that affect the critical path.

In the Advanced tab of the Schedule Options dialog, you can choose to calculate a specific number of critical float paths based on total float or free float. You can also choose the activity you want the float paths to end on. By choosing an activity, you can calculate multiple float paths that affect the entire project schedule, a specific part of the schedule, or a milestone in the schedule. When you schedule the project, the module identifies the most critical float path in the schedule and assigns those activities a Float Path value of 1. Then, depending on the number of paths you choose to calculate, the module identifies other float paths (sub-critical float paths) that affect the most critical float path and numbers the paths in ascending order (beginning with 2) based on the criticality of the path.

After you schedule a project, you can display the Float Path and Float Path Order columns in the Activity Table. Group by Float Path to view the activities in each critical float path, then sort by Float Path Order to view the order in which the activities were processed.

Note

Calculating multiple critical float paths does not affect how you define critical activities. When you schedule a project, you must choose to define critical activities by a maximum float time or by longest path in the General tab of the Schedule Options dialog box. When you run the scheduler, activities are flagged as critical based on this setting. If you also choose to calculate multiple critical float paths, the float paths are calculated after the project has been scheduled. Critical activities that are not part of a critical float path remain tagged as critical.

8. Total Float (days)

A Total Float threshold value is a specified number of days. An issue is generated if an activity's total float (the amount of time the activity can be delayed without delaying the project finish date) falls beyond the threshold values.

9. Free Float (days)

A Free Float threshold value is a specified number of days. An issue is generated if an activity's free float (the amount of time the activity can be delayed without delaying the early start of any successor activity) falls beyond the threshold values.

Free Float threshold monitoring can only be applied at the activity level, not at the WBS level.

M. Constraints

User imposed restrictions on network logic are known as Constraints.

1. Types of constraints

Network logic alone cannot reflect all project situations. Sometimes activities must be accomplished according to specific dates rather than on dates determined by other activities in the project. To model dependence on specific dates, assign primary and secondary constraints to activities.

Listed are the types of constraints;

a. Start constraints b. Finish constraints


c. Mandatory constraints d. Late constraints

a. Start Constraints

Start constraints are;

i. Start on ii. Start on or After iii. Start on or Before

i. Start on

A restriction you place on an activity by imposing a start date. The start on constraint can delay an early start or accelerate a late start to satisfy the imposed date. Unlike the mandatory start constraint, which can violate the network logic, this constraint protects it.

ii. Start on or After

A restriction you impose on an activity that limits the earliest time it can begin. When calculating a schedule, the start on or after constraint is used in the forward pass only if the calculated early start date will be earlier than the imposed date. This constraint affects only early dates. The early start date of an activity with a start on or after constraint cannot be earlier than the imposed date, although the network logic may cause the early start to occur later.

iii. Start on or before constraint

A restriction you impose on an activity that limits the latest date it can start. When calculating a schedule, the start on or before constraint is used in the backward pass only if the calculated late start date will be later than the imposed date. This constraint may decrease total float. It only affects late dates.

b. Finish Constraints

Finish constraints are;

i. Finish on ii. Finish on or After iii. Finish on or Before

i. Finish on

A restriction you place on an activity by imposing a finish date. The finish on constraint can delay an early finish or accelerate a late finish to satisfy the imposed date.

ii. Finish on or After

A restriction you impose on an activity that limits the earliest time it can complete. The finish on or after constraint reduces float to coordinate parallel activities, ensuring that the finish of an activity is not scheduled before the specified date. It is usually applied to activities that have few predecessors that must finish before the next phase of a project.


iii. Finish on or before constraint

A restriction you impose on an activity that limits the latest time it can be finished. The finish on or before constraint affects only late dates. Use this constraint to ensure that the late finish date of an activity is not later than the date you impose.

c. Mandatory Constraints

Mandatory constraints are;

i. Mandatory Start ii. Mandatory Finish

i. Mandatory Start

A restriction you impose on an activity that sets its early and late start dates equal to the date you specify. The mandatory early start date is used regardless of its effect on network logic. A mandatory early start date could affect the late dates for all activities that lead to the constrained activity and all early dates for the activities that lead from the constrained activity.

Note

When mandatory constraints are placed on calendar non work time, the early and late dates are not set equal to each other. The early date is moved forward to the next valid work time and the late date is moved back (earlier) to the first valid work time. This can cause negative float in the schedule.

ii. Mandatory Finish

A restriction you impose on an activity that sets its early and late finish dates equal to the date you specify. The mandatory finish date is used regardless of its effect on network logic. This constraint affects the late dates for all activities that lead to the constrained activity and all early dates for the activities that lead from the constrained activity.

Note

When mandatory constraints are placed on calendar non-work time, the early and late dates are not set equal to each other. The early date is moved forward to the next valid work time and the late date is moved back (earlier) to the first valid work time. This can cause negative float in the schedule.

d. Late Constraints

A late constraint is;

i. As late as possible constraint

A restriction you impose on an activity or work unit with positive float that allows it to start as late as possible without delaying its successors. This constraint sets the early dates as late as possible without affecting successor activities.

N. Baselines

Before you update a schedule for the first time, you should create a baseline plan. A baseline is a complete copy of a project plan that you can compare to the current schedule to evaluate progress. Within layouts, you can display baseline data in graphical and column data format to perform cost and schedule analysis.


The simplest baseline plan is a complete copy, or snapshot, of the original schedule. This snapshot provides a target against which you can track a project's cost, schedule, and performance. When you create a baseline, you can save a copy of the current project to use as the baseline or you can choose to convert another project in the EPS hierarchy to a baseline for the current project.

You can save an unlimited number of baselines per project; however, the number of baselines you can actually save per project is determined by administrative preference settings, which are typically controlled by the project controls coordinator or administrator. Regardless of the number of baselines you save for a project, at any given time you can select only up to three baselines for comparison purposes.

The Baselines feature includes an option for you to specify which baselines you want to use for comparison. The project-level baseline is used for project/activity usage spreadsheets and profiles, as well as earned value calculations. You must have the Edit Project Details Except Financials project privilege to set the project baseline.

You can assign primary, secondary, and tertiary baselines. If you do not select a baseline to use, the current project is used by default. Using the administrative preference setting, you can choose which values to use for earned value calculations, either budgeted or at completion.

To help categorize, or track, multiple baselines for a single project, you can assign each baseline a type that reflects its purpose, for example, initial planning baseline, what-if project baseline, or mid project baseline. The administrator or project controls coordinator defines the available baseline types.

Baselines do not exist as separate projects that you can access. To copy or modify a baseline project, you must first unlink it from its current project by restoring it as a separate project. You can then work with this restored baseline project as you would any other project in the EPS.

You can also automatically add new data from the current project to the baseline and modify existing baseline data that has changed in the current project using the Update Baseline feature.

O. Roles

Roles are project personnel job titles or skills, such as mechanical engineer, inspector, or carpenter. They represent a type of resource with a certain level of proficiency rather than a specific individual. Roles can also be assigned to specific resources to further identify that resource's skills. For example, a resource may have a role of a engineer and manager.

You can create a set of roles to assign to resources and activities in all projects in the enterprise. You can establish an unlimited number of roles and organize them in a hierarchy for easier management and assignment. The set of roles you assign to an activity defines the activity's skill requirements. You can also define unique price per unit rates for each role for accurate cost planning.

You can temporarily assign roles during the planning stages of the project to see how certain resources affect the schedule. Once you finalize your plans, you can replace the roles with resources that fulfill the role skill levels. Five proficiency levels can be assigned to roles: Master, Expert, Skilled, Proficient and Inexperienced.

P. Resources

Resources include the personnel and equipment that perform work on activities across all projects. Resources are generally reused between activities and/or projects. In the Project Management module, you can create a resource pool that reflects your organization's resource structure and supports the assignment of resources to activities. The Project Management module also enables you to distinguish between labor, material, and non labor resources. Labor and non labor resources are always time-based, and material resources, such as consumable items, use a unit of measure you can specify. You can create and assign resource calendars and define a resource's roles, contact information, and time-varying prices. If a resource uses Timesheets you can also assign a login name and password to the resource.

Define a master list of resources consisting of the resources necessary to complete the projects in your organization. Then, group resources to create an easily accessible pool from which you can draw when assigning resources to a project. For each resource,


set availability limits, unit prices, and a calendar to define its standard work time and non-work time, then allocate resources to the activities that require them. To enable grouping and rollups of your resources across the organization, set up resource codes and assign code values.

Resources are different than expenses. While resources can be time-based and generally extend across multiple activities and/or projects, expenses are one-time expenditures for non-reusable items required by activities. The Project Management module does not include expenses when leveling resources.

1. Primary Resources

The Project Management module allows you to assign primary resources to activities. An activity's primary resource is typically the resource who is responsible for coordinating an activity's work. Using Timesheets, the primary resource also updates the activity's start date, finish date, and expected end date. In addition, if an activity has any material resources, the primary resource may also be responsible for reporting the material resource's units as well. With the exception of material resources, all other resources are responsible for reporting their own hours for assigned activities.

2. Resource Security

Resource security allows the administrator to restrict your resource access by assigning you to a node in the resource hierarchy. That node is your root node. Once assigned to a resource node, you have access only to your root node and all of its children. In the Resource Assignments window you still have access to current project resources even if they are outside your root node.

3. Current Project Resources

Current project resources are resources that belong to any of the following categories:

• Assigned to an activity in the currently open project(s) • Assigned to a risk in the currently open project(s) • Assigned to an issue in the currently open project(s) • Assigned to the currently open project(s) on the WBS or Project level in Primavera's Web application

4. Leveling resources

Resource leveling is a process that helps you ensure that sufficient resources are available to perform the activities in your project according to the plan. During resource leveling, an activity is only scheduled to occur when its resource demands can be met. To accomplish this, tasks may be delayed to resolve resource availability conflicts.

Typically, you level during the forward pass through a project. This determines the earliest dates to schedule an activity when sufficient resources will be available to perform the task.

If forward leveling delays the project's early finish date, late dates remain unchanged unless you clear the checkbox to preserve scheduled early and late dates in the Level Resources dialog box. In this case, a backward pass recalculates late dates.

Tip

While resource leveling provides one way to resolve resource conflicts, you may also want to consider alternative solutions, such as changing activity relationships or reallocating resources.

Notes

• The maximum amount of work that a resource is capable of doing for a given time period is defined by the resource’s Max Units/Time value in the Units & Prices tab of Resource Details.


• Leveling is disabled when no projects are open. • Resource curves are not used when leveling; however, manual future period values are considered when leveling.

5. Manual future period buckets/values

A manual future period bucket is a future period resource or role assignment bucket, or time period, that contains a value that was manually entered or edited in the Resource Usage Spreadsheet (in the Resource Assignments or Activities windows). Typically, a resource or role assignment to an activity that has a manually-entered value in a future period bucket is referred to as an assignment with "manual future period buckets" or "manual future period values."

6. Leveling priority definitions

Projects typically contain more than one chain of activities. If two activities from different chains are ready for leveling, the Project Management module chooses one using the priorities you specify in the Leveling Priorities area of the Level Resources dialog box. Then, it sorts numbers first, then alphabetic characters, followed by blank values. If you specify no prioritization codes, the Project Management module sorts by activity ID.

The following table defines your priority and order options for leveling resources.

Priority Ascending Descending Activity ID Levels activities with

lower IDs first. Levels activities with higher IDs first.

Activity Priority Levels lower priority activities first.

Levels higher priority activities first.

Early Finish Levels activities with earlier, early finish dates first.

Levels activities with later, early finish dates first.

Early Start Levels activities with earlier, early start dates first.

Levels activities with later, early start dates first.

Free Float Levels activities with less free float, or more critical activities, first.

Levels activities with more free float, or less critical activities, first.

Late Finish Levels activities with earlier, late finish dates first.

Levels activities with later, late finish dates first.

Late Start Levels activities with earlier, late start dates first.

Levels activities with later, late start dates first.

Original Duration Levels activities with shorter original durations first.

Levels activities with longer original durations first.

Planned Finish Levels activities with earlier planned finish dates first.

Levels activities with later planned finish dates first.

Planned Start Levels activities with earlier planned start dates first.

Levels activities with later planned start dates first.

Project Priority Levels lower priority projects first.

Levels higher priority projects first.

Remaining Duration Levels activities with shorter remaining durations first.

Levels activities with longer remaining durations first.

Total Float Levels activities with less total float, or more

Levels activities with more total float, or less critical


7. Driving resource

A resource that determines the duration of the activity to which it is assigned. The Project Management module automatically calculates the activity duration based on the quantity to complete and the units per time period of the driving resource.

Defining resources as driving, by marking the Drive Activity Dates by Default checkbox for new resource assignments in the Projects window, Project Details, Resources tab, only establishes its default status; you can change it for any specific assignment.

If an activity has more than one driving resource, the resource that takes the longest to complete determines the duration of the activity.

8. Non Driving resource

Resources that do not drive the dates of the activity they are assigned to are considered to be non driving.

9. Scheduling "non-driving" resource assignments

Resources that do not drive the dates of the activity they are assigned to are considered to be non-driving. You can define resources as driving or non-driving by default in the Projects Window, Project Details and Resources tab. When scheduling non-driving resources, the Project Management module applies the following rules:

• When scheduling on the forward pass, if the activity has any driving resource assignments, the Project Management module will calculate the early start date of the activity as the earliest Early Start date of all driving resource assignments. Once the Early Start of the activity is calculated from the driving assignments and relationships, all non-driving resources are scheduled on or after this date using its assignment duration. The Early Finish dates of the non-driving assignments can fall earlier or later than the Early Finish of the activity.

• When scheduling on the backward pass, the Late Start date of the activity and all non-driving resources is calculated as the earliest Late Start date of all driving resource assignments. Once the Late Start date of the activity is calculated from the driving assignments and relationships, all non-driving resources are scheduled on or after this date using its assignment duration. This means the Late Finish date of the non-driving assignments can fall later than the Late Finish date of the activity to which they are assigned.

• The finish dates of the non-driving resource assignments can fall later than the latest calculated Early Finish date of the project, which is driven by the activity dates.

• If no driving resources exist on the activity, the activity dates are used as the calculated dates for the non-driving resources.

Q. Activity Percent Complete

You can calculate percent complete according to activity duration, activity units, or according to a physical percent complete that you enter manually for each activity.

1. Physical Percent Complete

This is independent of activities, resources and durations.

In this case, Activity % Complete = Physical % Complete

2. Duration percent Complete

This is linked to activities duration only.

critical activities, first. activities, first.


In this case, Activity % Complete = Duration % Complete = (Original Duration – Remaining Duration) / Original Duration.

3. Units Percent Complete

This is linked to the resource unit.

In this case, Activity % Complete = Units % Complete = (Actual Labor Units + Actual Non labor Units) ¸ (Actual Labor Units + Actual Non labor Units +Remaining Labor Units + Remaining Non labor Units).

R. (Non)Labor Units/(Non)Labor Cost/Material Cost 1. Budgeted

The expected number of labor or non labor units or cost, or material cost the selected activity will use, depending on your current display. You can type a new budgeted value.

2. Actual

The actual number of labor or non labor units or cost, or material cost the selected activity has used, depending on your current display. If the selected activity has started, type a new actual value for units. You can enter actual cost on an activity that has not yet started.

3. Remaining

The remaining number of labor or non labor units or cost, or material cost the selected activity will use, depending on your current display. If the selected activity is in progress, type a new remaining value.

4. At Complete

An estimate of the labor or non labor units or cost, or material cost at the completion of the selected activity (At Complete Units(or Cost) = Actual Units(or Cost) + Remaining Units(or Cost)). If the selected activity is in progress, type a new At Complete estimate.

S. Establishing budgets

You can create budget estimates for each EPS node project, or WBS level, and then refine them as needed.

Use the Budget Log tab on the Projects window to enter the original budget the total amount you require for the EPS node or project.

The Budget Change Log helps you keep track of budget changes as they occur. The Current Budget (original budget plus approved budget changes) and Proposed Budget fields (original budget plus approved and pending budget amounts) incorporate these changes so you have up-to-date and accurate budget information for each project or EPS node.

You can record monthly spending of budgeted funds, track the current and undistributed variance amounts, and roll up the monthly spending plan of each project to any level of the EPS.

If your projects use funding to support budgets, you can also set up a dictionary containing any nonprofit, government-allocated, or other funding sources for easy assignment to projects or EPS nodes.


1. Budget

a. Current Budget; Original budget plus approved budgets. b. Unallocated Budget; Current budget minus distributed current budget. c. Distributed Current Budget; Sum of current budget values.

2. Variance

a. Current Variance; Current budget minus the total spending plan.

3. Spending Plan a. Total Spending Plan; Sum of the monthly spending plan. b. Undistributed Current Variance; Total spending plan minus the total spending plan tally. c. Total Spending Plan Tally; Sum of the monthly spending tally.

4. Benefit Plan

a. Total Benefit Plan; Sum of the monthly benefit plan. b. Total Benefit Plan Tally; Sum of the monthly benefit plan tally.

T. Earned Value

Earned Value is a technique for measuring project performance according to both project cost and schedule. This technique compares the budgeted cost of the work to the actual cost. While earned value analyses are typically performed for WBS elements, you can also perform an earned value analysis for activities and groups of activities.

In order to perform an earned value analysis, you must specify two calculation techniques. These techniques apply to activities that are currently in progress. The first technique is used to calculate an activity's percent complete. The second technique is used to calculate an activity's Estimate To Complete (ETC). A set of options is provided for both of these techniques, and you can set these options for each WBS element.

The fundamental earned value parameters used to calculate an activity's Estimate to Complete are: Earned Value Cost Budget at Completion; Planned Value Cost; and, Actual Cost You can derive an activity's Estimate to Complete and other earned value indexes from these parameters.

If you are the administrator for your organization, you can specify default earned value techniques for WBS elements.

1. Earned Value Cost

Earned Value Cost is the portion of the budgeted total cost of the activity that is actually completed as of the project data date. Computed as Earned Value Cost = Budget at Completion * Performance % Complete. The method for computing the performance percent complete depends on the Earned Value technique selected for the activity's WBS.

a. Budget At Completion

Budget At Completion is the budgeted total cost through activity completion. Computed as Budget At Completion = Budgeted Labor Cost + Budgeted Non labor Cost + Material Cost + Budgeted Expense Cost. It is the same as the BL Total Cost.

b. Planned Value Cost

Planned Value Cost is the portion of the budgeted total cost of the activity that is scheduled to be completed as of the project data date, according to the baseline. Computed as Planned Value Cost = Individual resource Budget At


Completion * (Data Date of current project - Baseline Assignment Start Date) / (Baseline Assignment Finish Date - Baseline Assignment Start Date). The Planned Value Cost of an activity is the sum of the Planned Value Cost of each individual resource assignment on the activity. If an activity has a resource or role assignment with manually-defined future period bucket values, Planned Value Cost is calculated using the manual assignment values.

If an activity has no resources, its Planned Value Cost is calculated as the Budget At Completion * Schedule % Complete [(Data date - Baseline Start) / (Planned Finish - Baseline Start)]. The Schedule % Complete specifies how much of the activity's original duration has been completed so far.

c. Actual Cost

Actual Cost is the actual total cost incurred on the activity as of the project data date. Computed as Actual Cost = Actual Labor Cost + Actual Non labor Cost + Actual Material Cost + Actual Expense Cost. Actual Cost is the same as the Actual Total Cost.

U. Estimate to Complete

The estimated cost to complete the activity. Computed as either the remaining total cost for the activity (Remaining Total Cost), or as PF * (Budget at Completion - Earned Value Cost), depending on the earned-value technique selected for the activity's WBS.

V. Planned Value Cost

Planned Value Cost is the portion of the budgeted total cost of the activity that is scheduled to be completed as of the project data date, according to the baseline. Computed as Planned Value Cost = Individual resource Budget At Completion * (Data Date of current project - Baseline Assignment Start Date) / (Baseline Assignment Finish Date - Baseline Assignment Start Date). The Planned Value Cost of an activity is the sum of the Planned Value Cost of each individual resource assignment on the activity. If an activity has a resource or role assignment with manually-defined future period bucket values, Planned Value Cost is calculated using the manual assignment values.

If an activity has no resources, its Planned Value Cost is calculated as the Budget At Completion * Schedule % Complete [(Data date - Baseline Start) / (Planned Finish - Baseline Start)]. The Schedule % Complete specifies how much of the activity's original duration has been completed so far.

W. Expenses

Expenses are non resource costs associated with a project and assigned to a project's activities. They are typically one-time expenditures for non reusable items. Examples of expenses include materials, facilities, travel, overhead, and training.

You can categorize expenses, indicate a unit of measure for expenses, and specify whether an expense accrues at the start or end of an activity or uniformly over its duration. Each expense has a budgeted cost, actual cost, and estimated remaining cost.

Expenses are not the same as resources. Resources generally extend across multiple activities and/or multiple projects. Examples of resources are personnel and equipment. Unlike resources, expenses are project-specific. The Project Management module does not include expenses when leveling resources. Resource curves are not supported for expenses.

X. Resource curves

Resource/cost distribution curves enable you to specify how you want resource units or costs spread over the duration of an activity. Resource units and costs are distributed evenly during an activity unless you specify nonlinear distribution using curves.

You can assign a resource distribution curve to any resource or role assignment on activities with a duration type of Fixed Duration and Units/Time or Fixed Duration & Units. Assign the appropriate curve to a resource or role assignment by selecting a curve in the Curve column in the Resource Assignments window. You can also assign a resource curve in the Resources tab in the Activity Details.


If timesheet data exists for the actual, curves are ignored for the actual and are spread using the timesheet data. Activities with timesheet data continue to spread the remaining units using the curve.

In order to use curves to calculate the Actual Units/Cost and EV Units/Costs, the new project setting that uses duration percent complete to calculate actual should be marked.

Tip

Using pre-defined or custom resource curves, you can define 21 points on the curve to spread units or costs over the duration of an activity. While this is suitable for most activities, some of your activities may require a more granular resource distribution. For example, for long duration activities with varying levels of effort, a resource curve may not fully reflect when work is planned to be performed on the activity. To accurately capture future period resource distribution for these activities, you can manually enter future period budgeted and remaining unit assignment values in the Resource Usage Spreadsheet of the Activities and Resource Assignments windows. For more information, refer to Future Period Bucket Planning.

Notes

• Resource curves do not support expenses. The Accrual Type will continue to spread the expenses. • Resource lag is taken into consideration. The curve should begin on the "lagged start date." • Resource curves are reflected in the Resource Usage Profile and Resource Usage Spreadsheet.

Y. Future period bucket planning

When you specify an activity's total budgeted units, the budgeted units for an assignment to that activity are spread evenly across the duration of the activity, in the timescale increment you choose. For example, a four-week activity with 80 budgeted units is spread as follows, assuming a weekly timescale:

Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 20h 20h 20h 20h

However, your projects may contain activities for which you know work will be performed sporadically and at varying levels of effort. For these activities, you can do either of the following to more accurately capture when you plan for work to be performed on an activity:

• assign a resource curve to the resource/role assignment • manually enter the assignment's budgeted units or remaining units in future period buckets (time periods)

While assigning a resource curve to the resource/role assignment will yield more accurate results than spreading units evenly across the duration of an activity, the work you plan to perform per period on an activity may not be fully reflected by the curve. As a result, performance against the project plan cannot be accurately measured.

To achieve the most precise resource/role distribution plan, you can manually enter the budgeted resource/role allocation per assignment in the timescale unit you choose (days, weeks, months, quarters, years, or financial periods). For example, assume an activity has an original duration of 28 days and budgeted units of 80 hours. For this activity, you know that the actual work will not be spread evenly across the duration of the activity; rather, the budgeted units will be spread as follows:

Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 10h 30h 15h 25h

By manually entering the planned resource/role distribution in future period assignment buckets, you can create an accurate baseline plan to measure against current project progress. As the current project schedule progresses and you apply actual, you can track how the project is performing against plan by comparing the project’s budgeted future periods to the current project’s actual.


If work on an activity is not proceeding according to plan, you can manually update the remaining units for an assignment's future periods, enabling you to measure the remaining work for an assignment without changing the original plan. Alternatively, if you choose to re-estimate future work based on changes to the project schedule, you can edit an assignment's future period budgeted units while the activity is in progress; if many assignments require re-estimation, you can establish a new baseline plan based on your changes. Tips

• You can compare the planned future period resource distribution to actual units and costs in the Resource Usage Profile, Resource Usage Spreadsheet, Activity Usage Profile, Activity Usage Spreadsheet, time-distributed reports, and the Tracking window. If you plan your project work in defined financial periods, after you store period performance, you can compare the resource distribution you planned to the project's past period actual.

• Activity costs, including earned value and planned value, are calculated using the planned future period resource distribution you define for activity assignments.

Note

You must have the 'Edit Future Periods' project privilege to manually enter future period data.

Z. Store Period Performance

Using the Store Period Performance feature, you can track actual units and costs to date each time the schedule is updated. For example, if you increase the actual this period by 50, the Project Management module increases the Actual to Date by the same amount. At the end of each financial period, reset the Actual This Period values of all activities and assignments to zero by choosing Tools, Store Period Performance. Resetting the Actual This Period values does not affect Actual to Date values; rather, it prepares you to begin tracking new use for the current period.

Storing period performance records actual for the selected financial period along with earned value and planned value, so you can track previous periods and compare current and future trends. If past period data changes after you store period performance, you can edit the data in financial period columns of the Activity Table, Resource Assignments window, and the Resources tab of Activity Details.

Your projects may be scheduled to update every two weeks, monthly, or even quarterly. To track actual costs and progress recorded, update your schedule at the times established in the Financial Periods dictionary, then store period performance at the end of the update period and before the start of the next schedule update.

AA. Secure code

A global or EPS-level activity code that is accessible only to certain users. If an EPS-level or global activity code is marked as a secure code in the Activity Code Definitions dialog box, the user will need the appropriate access rights to view, edit, delete and assign this code and its values.

BB. Thresholds

A project management technique in which you specify a threshold parameter and a lower and/or upper threshold value against which project data can be evaluated to identify issues that you want to track.

An issue is automatically generated when a threshold parameter is equal to or less than the lower threshold value, or equal to or more than the upper threshold value.

For example, you may set a threshold using the Total Float parameter. If the lower threshold value is 1d and the upper threshold value is 10d, an issue is generated for any activities that have a total float less than or equal to 1d or more than or equal to 10d. You can assign a person to be responsible for issues generated by the threshold. You can also specify threshold tracking layouts and assign priority levels to thresholds.


Use thresholds as a project management technique. You can create a threshold by selecting a parameter, such as start date variance; setting lower and upper values for the threshold; and applying the threshold to a specific work breakdown structure (WBS) element, or area, of your project plan.

When you define a threshold for a WBS element, you can specify the level of detail by which you want to monitor the WBS element. You can monitor the threshold at the activity level, and you can monitor the threshold at the WBS level. If you monitor a threshold at the activity level, issues are generated for each activity that violates the threshold. If you monitor a threshold at the WBS level, each activity contained in the specified WBS element is tested, and then all issues are summarized to the WBS element, rather than each activity.

After you define a threshold, you can monitor it to identify any issues associated with it. For example, you may set a threshold using the Total Float parameter. If the lower threshold value is 1d and the upper threshold value is 10d, an issue is generated for any activities that have a total float less than or equal to 1d or more than or equal to 10d. You can assign a person to be responsible for issues generated by the threshold. You can also specify threshold tracking layouts and assign priority levels to thresholds. A threshold's tracking layout assignment identifies the tracking layout that best displays the threshold problem area.

1. Threshold parameter definitions

A threshold parameter is a type of "test" that the Project Management module applies to activities or work breakdown structure (WBS) elements in a project to identify potential issues. You can specify a threshold parameter and a lower and/or upper threshold value against which project data can be evaluated to identify issues that you want to track.

An issue is automatically generated when a threshold parameter is equal to or less than the lower threshold value, or equal to or greater than the upper threshold value. The following list defines the available threshold parameters:

a. Accounting Variance

An Accounting Variance threshold value is expressed as a monetary value. An issue is generated if the Accounting Variance (the difference between the activity's budgeted cost according to the schedule and the actual cost of performing the activity) falls beyond the threshold values.

Accounting Variance is calculated as Accounting Variance = Planned Value Cost - Actual Cost.

A negative value indicates that actual costs have exceeded the scheduled costs. A positive value indicates that actual costs have not reached the scheduled costs.

If the lower threshold value is 0, an issue is generated as soon as actual costs are greater than scheduled costs.

b. Cost % of Budget (%)

Cost % of Budget threshold value is expressed as a percentage. An issue is generated if the ratio of the activity's actual cost to its budgeted cost (actual cost / budgeted cost * 100) falls beyond the threshold values.

Actual cost is the same as Total Actual Cost, and original cost is the same as Budget at Completion (BAC).

The Cost % of Budget will reach 100 percent when the actual cost reaches the budgeted cost. The Cost % of Budget may be greater than 100 percent.

c. Cost Performance Index (CPI) (ratio)

A Cost Performance Index (CPI) threshold value is expressed as a ratio. An issue is generated if the CPI falls beyond the threshold values.

The Cost Performance Index is calculated as CPI = Earned Value Cost / Actual Cost . A value less than 1 indicates that actual costs have exceeded the value of work performed.


If the lower threshold value is 1, an issue is generated whenever the actual costs exceed the value of the work performed.

d. Cost Variance (CV)

A Cost Variance (CV) threshold value is expressed as a monetary value. An issue is generated if the CV (the difference between the activity's earned value and the actual cost of performing the activity) falls beyond the threshold values.

Cost Variance is calculated as CV = Earned Value Cost - Actual Cost. A negative value indicates that actual costs have exceeded the value of work performed, which may be considered a cost overrun.

If the lower threshold value is 0, an issue is generated as soon as actual cost of the work is greater than the value of the work. A larger negative value for the threshold indicates that a certain amount of cost overrun may be tolerated before an issue is generated.

e. Cost Variance Index (CVI) (ratio)

A Cost Variance Index (CVI) threshold value is expressed as a ratio. An issue is generated if the CVI (the ratio of the cost variance to the earned value of work performed) falls beyond the threshold values.

The Cost Variance Index is calculated as CVI = Cost Variance (CV) / Earned Value Cost.

A value less than 0 indicates that actual costs have exceeded the value of work performed.

If the lower threshold value is 0, an issue is generated whenever the actual costs exceed the value of the work performed.

f. Duration % of Original (%)

A Duration % of Original threshold value is expressed as a percentage. An issue is generated if the ratio of the activity's actual duration to its original duration (actual duration / original duration * 100) falls beyond the threshold values.

The ratio of actual duration to original duration may be greater than 100.

g. Finish Date Variance (days)

A Finish Date Variance threshold value is a specified number of days. An issue is generated if the difference between the activity's baseline and current finish dates (calculated as BL Finish - Finish Date) falls beyond the threshold values. If no baseline is defined, the current project is used as the primary baseline.

A negative value for Finish Date Variance indicates that the current finish date is later than the primary baseline finish date.

h. Free Float (days)

A Free Float threshold value is a specified number of days. An issue is generated if an activity's free float (the amount of time the activity can be delayed without delaying the early start of any successor activity) falls beyond the threshold values.

Free Float threshold monitoring can only be applied at the activity level, not at the WBS level.


i. Schedule Performance Index (SPI) (ratio)

A Schedule Performance Index (SPI) threshold value is expressed as a ratio. An issue is generated if the Schedule Performance Index (the ratio of the earned value of work performed to the cost of work that was scheduled) falls beyond the threshold values.

The Schedule Performance Index is calculated as SPI = Earned Value Cost / Planned Value Cost. A value less than 1 indicates that less work was actually performed than was scheduled.

If the threshold value is 1, an issue is generated whenever the value of the work performed falls below the expected cost of performing that work, according to the schedule.

j. Schedule Variance (SV)

A Schedule Variance (SV) threshold value is expressed as a monetary value. An issue is generated if the Schedule Variance (the difference between the activity's earned value and the work scheduled to be performed) falls beyond the threshold values.

Schedule Variance is calculated as SV = Earned Value Cost – Planned Value Cost. A negative value indicates that less work was actually performed than was scheduled. The activity may be considered behind schedule.

If the lower threshold value is 0, an issue is generated as soon as the earned value of the work performed is equal to or less than the amount of work that was supposed to be performed, according to the schedule. A larger negative value for a Schedule Variance threshold indicates that an activity may be behind schedule by that amount before an issue is generated.

k. Schedule Variance Index (SVI) (ratio)

A Schedule Variance Index (SVI) threshold value is expressed as a ratio. An issue is generated if the Schedule Variance Index (the ratio of the schedule variance to the planned value) falls beyond the threshold values.

The Schedule Variance Index is calculated as SVI = Schedule Variance (SV) / Planned Value Cost. A value less than 0 indicates that the value of the work performed is less than what was scheduled.

If the threshold value is 0, an issue is generated whenever the value of the work performed falls below the expected cost of performing that work, according to the schedule.

l. Start Date Variance (days)

A Start Date Variance threshold value is a specified number of days. An issue is generated if the difference between the activity's baseline and current start dates (calculated as BL Start - Start Date) falls beyond the threshold values.

A negative value for Start Date Variance indicates that the current start date is later than the primary baseline start date.

m. Total Float (days)

A Total Float threshold value is a specified number of days. An issue is generated if an activity's total float (the amount of time the activity can be delayed without delaying the project finish date) falls beyond the threshold values.

n. Variance at Completion (VAC)

A Variance at Completion (VAC) threshold value is expressed as a monetary value. An issue is generated if the Variance At Completion (the budgeted total cost - latest total cost estimate) falls beyond the threshold values.


Variance At Completion may also be expressed as VAC = Budget at Completion (BAC) - Estimate At Completion (EAC).

A negative value indicates an estimated total cost overrun. If the threshold value is 0, an issue is generated as soon as the latest estimate for total cost exceeds the budgeted total cost. A larger negative value for a Variance At Completion threshold indicates that a certain amount of estimated total cost overrun may be tolerated before an issue is generated.

CC. Project Complexity

A project’s complexity value can be between 0 and 100. If the project complexity value equals 0, the Project Management module uses the low estimate for each activity. If the project complexity value equals 100, the Project Management module uses the high estimate for each activity. For project complexity values between 0 and 100, the Project Management module calculates an intermediate value between the low and high estimates for each activity. The value calculated using the project complexity factor is then copied into the budgeted labor/non labor units and expense costs for each activity.

DD. Important Terminologies

Description Definition

Activity

An element of work performed during the course of a project. An activity normally has an expected duration, an expected cost, and expected resource requirements. Activities can be subdivided into tasks.

Activity Definition Identifying the specific activities that must be performed in order to

produce the various projects. Activity Description (AD) A short phrase or label used in a project network diagram. The activity

description normally describes the scope of work of the activity. Activity Duration Estimating Estimating the number of work periods which will be needed to complete

individual activities. Actual Cost of Work Performed (ACWP) Total costs incurred (direct and indirect) in accomplishing work during a

given time period. See also earned value. Actual Finish Date (AF) The point in time that work actually ended on an activity. (Note: in some

application areas, the activity is considered "finished" when work is "substantially complete.")

Actual Start Date (As) The point in time that work actually started on an activity. Administrative Closure Generating, gathering, and disseminating information to formalize project

completion. Application Area A category of projects that have common elements not present in all

projects. Application areas are usually defined in terms of either the product of the project (i.e., by similar technologies or industry sectors) or the type of customer (e.g., internal vs. external, government vs. commercial). Application areas often overlap.

Arrow The graphic presentation of an activity.


Arrow Diagramming Method (ADM) A network diagramming technique in which activities are represented by

arrows. The tail of the arrow represents the start and the head represents the finish of the activity (the length of the arrow does not represent the expected duration of the activity). Activities are connected at points called nodes (usually drawn as small circles) to illustrate the sequence in which the activities are expected to be performed. See also precedence diagramming method.

Backward Pass The calculation of late finish dates and late start dates for the

uncompleted portions of all network activities. Determined by working backwards through the network logic from the project's end date. The end date may be calculated in a forward pass or set by the customer or sponsor.

Bar Chart A graphic display of schedule-related information. In the typical bar chart,

activities or other project elements are listed down the left side of the chart, dates are shown across the top, and activity durations are shown as date-placed horizontal bars. Also called a Gantt chart.

Baseline The original plan (for a project, a work package, or an activity), plus or

minus approved changes. Usually used with a modifier (e.g., cost baseline, schedule baseline, performance measurement baseline).

Budget At Completion (BAC) The estimated total cost of the project when done. Budgeted Cost of Work Performed (BCWP) The sum of the approved cost estimates (including any overhead

allocation) for activities (or portions of activities) completed during a given period (usually project-to date).

Budgeted Cost of Work Scheduled (BCWS) The sum of the approved cost estimates (including any overhead

allocation) for activities (or portions of activities) scheduled to be performed during a given period (usually project-to-date). See also earned value.

Calendar unit The smallest unit of time used in scheduling the project. Calendar units

are generally in hours, days, or weeks, but can also be in shifts or even in minutes. Used primarily in relation to project management software.

Change Control Board (CCB) A formally constituted group of stakeholders responsible for approving or

rejecting changes to the project baselines

Chart of Accounts Any numbering system used to monitor project costs by category (e.g.,

labor, supplies, materials). The project chart of accounts is usually based upon the corporate chart of accounts of the primary performing organization. See also code of accounts. Charter.


Code of Accounts Any numbering system used to uniquely identify each element of the

work breakdown structure.

Communications Planning Determining the information and communications needs of the project

stakeholders.

Concurrent Engineering An approach to project staffing that, in its most general form, calls for

implementers to be involved in the design phase. Sometimes confused with fast tracking.

Contingency Planning The development of a management plan that identifies alternative

strategies to be used to ensure project success if specified risk events occur.

Contingency Reserve A separately planned quantity used to allow for future situations which

may be planned for only in part (sometimes called "known unknowns"). For example, rework is certain, the amount of rework is not. Contingency reserves may involve cost, schedule, or both. Contingency reserves are intended to reduce the impact of missing cost or schedule objectives. Contingency reserves are normally included in the project's cost and schedule baselines.

Contract A contract is a mutually binding agreement which obligates the seller to

provide the specified product and obligates the buyer to pay for it. Contracts generally fall into one of three broad categories:

Cost reimbursable contracts This category of contract involves payment (reimbursement) to the contractor for its actual costs. Costs are usually classified as direct costs (costs incurred directly by the project, such as wages for members of the project team) and indirect costs (costs allocated to the project by the performing organization as a cost of doing business, such as salaries for corporate executives). Indirect costs are usually calculated as a percentage of direct costs. Cost reimbursable contracts often include incentives for meeting or exceeding selected project objectives such as schedule targets or total cost.

Customer The individual or group that has requested, that is the recipient, or who is

paying for the deliverable(s). This could be an internal department, someone in management, an external organization, and so on.

Fixed price or lump sum contracts This category of contract involves a fixed total price for a well defined

product. Fixed price contracts may also include incentives for meeting or exceeding selected project objectives such as schedule targets.

Unit price contracts The contractor is paid a preset amount per unit of service (e.g., $70 per

hour for professional services or $1.08 per cubic yard of earth removed) and the total value of the contract is a function of the quantities needed to complete the work.

Contract Administration Managing the relationship with the seller.


Contract Close-out Completion and settlement of the contract, including resolution of all

outstanding items.

Control The process of comparing actual performance with planned performance,

analyzing variances, evaluating possible alternatives, and taking appropriate corrective action as needed.

Control Charts Control charts are a graphic display of the results, over time and against

established control limits, of a process. They are used to determine if the process is "in control" or in need of adjustment.

Corrective Action Changes made to bring expected future performance of the project into

line with the plan. Cost Budgeting Allocating the cost estimates to individual project components. Cost Control Controlling changes to the project budget. Cost Estimating Estimating the cost of the resources needed to complete project

activities. Cost of Quality The costs incurred to ensure quality. The cost of quality includes quality

planning, quality control, quality assurance, and rework. Cost Performance Index (CPI) The ratio of budgeted costs to actual costs (BCWP/ACWP). CPI is often

used to predict the magnitude of a possible cost overrun using the following formula: original cost estimate/CPI = projected cost at completion.

Cost Plus Fixed Fee (CPFF) Contract A type of contract where the buyer reimburses the seller for the seller's

allowable costs (allowable costs are defined by the contract) plus a fixed amount of profit (fee).

Cost Plus Incentive Fee (CPIF) Contract A type of contract where the buyer reimburses the seller for the seller's

allowable costs (allowable costs are defined by the contract), and the seller earns its profit if it meets defined performance criteria.

Cost Variance (CV) Difference between the estimated cost of an activity and the actual cost

of that activity.

Crashing Taking action to decrease the total project duration after analyzing a

number of alternatives to determine how to get the maximum duration compression for the least Cost.

Critical Activity Any activity on a critical path. Most commonly determined by using the

critical path method. Although some activities are "critical" in the dictionary sense without being on the critical path, this meaning is seldom used in the project context.


Critical Path In a project network diagram, the series of activities which determines the

earliest completion of the project. The critical path will generally change from time to time as activities are completed ahead of or behind schedule. Although normally calculated for the entire project, the critical path can also be determined for a milestone or subproject. The critical path is usually defined as those activities with float less than or equal to a specified value, often zero. See critical path method.

Critical Path Method (CPM) A network analysis technique used to predict project duration by

analyzing which sequence of activities (which path) has the least amount of scheduling flexibility (the least amount of float). Early dates are calculated by means of a forward pass using a specified start date. Late dates are calculated by means of a backward pass starting from a specified completion date (usually the forward pass's calculated project early finish date).

Current Finish Date The current estimate of the point in time when an activity will be

completed. Current Start Date The current estimate of the point in time when an activity will begin. Data Date (DD) The point in time that separates actual (historical) data from future

(scheduled) data. Also called as-of date. Deliverable Any measurable, tangible, verifiable outcome, result, or item that must be

produced to complete a project or part of a project. Often used more narrowly in reference to an external deliverable, which is a deliverable that is subject to approval by the project sponsor or customer?

Decomposition Decomposition involves subdividing the major project deliverables into

smaller, more manageable components until the deliverables are defined in sufficient detail to support future project activities (planning, executing, controlling, and closing).

Dummy Activity An activity of zero duration used to show a logical relationship in the

arrow diagramming method. Dummy activities are used when logical relationships cannot be completely or correctly described with regular activity arrows. Dummies are shown graphically as a dashed line headed by an arrow.

Duration (DU) The number of work periods (not including holidays or other non-working

periods) required to complete an activity or other project element. Usually expressed as workdays or workweeks. Sometimes incorrectly equated with elapsed time.

Duration Compression Shortening the project schedule without reducing the project scope.

Duration compression is not always possible and often requires an increase in project cost.


Early Finish Date (EF) In the critical path method, the earliest possible point in time on which the

uncompleted portions of an activity (or the project) can finish based on the network logic and any schedule constraints. Early finish dates can change as the project progresses and changes are made to the project plan.

Early Start Date (ES) In the critical path method, the earliest possible point in time on which the

uncompleted portions of an activity (or the project) can start, based on the network logic and any schedule constraints. Early start dates can change as the project progresses and changes are made to the project plan.

Earned Value (EV) (1) A method for measuring project performance. It compares the amount

of work that was planned with what was actually accomplished to determine if cost and schedule performance is as planned. See also actual cost of work performed, budgeted cost of work scheduled, budgeted cost of work performed, cost variance, cost performance index, schedule variance, and schedule performance index. (2) The budgeted cost of work performed for an activity or group of activities.

Earned Value Analysis See definition (1) under earned value. Effort The number of labor units required to complete an activity or other project

element. Usually expressed as staff hours, staff days, or staff weeks. Should not be confused with duration.

Estimate An assessment of the likely quantitative result. Usually applied to project

costs and durations and should always include some indication of accuracy (e.g., + x percent). Usually used with a modifier (e.g., preliminary, conceptual, feasibility). Some application areas have specific modifiers that imply particular accuracy ranges (e.g., order-of-magnitude estimate, budget estimate, and definitive estimate in engineering and construction projects).

Estimate At Completion (EAC) The expected total cost of an activity, a group of activities, or of the

project when the defined scope of work has been completed. Most techniques for forecasting EAC include some adjustment of the original cost estimate based on project performance to date. Also shown as "estimated at completion." Often shown as EAC = Actual-to-date + ETC. See also earned value and estimate to complete.

Estimate To Complete (ETC) The expected additional cost needed to complete an activity, a group of

activities, or the project. Most techniques for forecasting ETC include some adjustment to the original estimate based on project performance to date. Also called "estimated to complete." See also earned value and estimate at completion.

Event‐on‐Node A network diagramming technique in which events are represented by

boxes (or nodes) connected by arrows to show the sequence in which the events are to occur. Used in the original Program Evaluation and Review Technique.

Exception Report Document that includes only major variations from plan (rather than all

variations).


Expected Monetary Value The product of an event's probability of occurrence and the gain or loss

that will result. For example, if there is a 50 percent probability that it will rain, and rain will result in a $100 loss, the expected monetary value of the rain event is $50 (.5 x $100).

Fast Tracking Compressing the project schedule by overlapping activities that would

normally be done in sequence, such as design and construction. Sometimes confused with concurrent engineering.

Finish Date A point in time associated with an activity's completion. Usually qualified

by one of the following: actual, planned, estimated, scheduled, early, late, baseline, target or current.

Finish-to-Finish (FF). See logical relationship. Finish-to-Start (FS) See logical relationship. Firm Fixed Price (FFP} Contract A type of contract where the buyer pays the seller a set amount (as

defined by the contract) regardless of the seller's costs. Fixed Price Contract See firm fixed price contract. Fixed Price Incentive Fee (FPIF) Contract. A type of contract where the buyer pays the seller a set amount (as

defined by the contract), and the seller can earn an additional amount if it meets defined performance criteria

Float The amount of time that an activity may be delayed from its early start

without delaying the project finishes date. Float is a mathematical calculation and can change as the project progresses and changes are made to the project plan. Also called slack, total float, and path float. See also Free float.

Forecast Final Cost See estimate at completion. Forward Pass The calculation of the early start and early finish dates for the

uncompleted portions of all network activities. See also network analysis and backward pass.

Fragnet See subnet. Free Float (FF) The amount of time an activity can be delayed without delaying the early

start of any immediately following activities. See also float. Functional Manager A manager responsible for activities in a specialized department or

function (e.g., engineering, manufacturing, marketing). Functional Organization An organization structure in which staff are grouped hierarchically by

specialty (e.g., production, marketing, engineering, and accounting at the top level; with engineering, further divided into mechanical, electrical, and others).


Gantt Chart See bar chart. Grade A category or rank used to distinguish items that have the same

functional use (e.g., "hammer") but do not share the same requirements for quality (e.g., different hammers may need to withstand different amounts of force).

Graphical Evaluation and Review Technique (GERT)

A network analysis technique that allows for conditional and probabilistic treatment of logical relationships (i.e., some activities may not be performed).

Hammock An aggregate or summary activity (a group of related activities is shown

as one and reported at a summary level). A hammock may or may not have an internal sequence. See also subproject and subnet.

Hanger An unintended break in a network path. Hangers are usually caused by

missing activities or missing logical relationships. Information Distribution Making needed information available to project stakeholders in a timely

manner. Initiation Committing the organization to begin a project phase. Integrated Cost/Schedule Reporting See earned value. Invitation for Bid (IFB) Generally, this term is equivalent to request for proposal. However, in

some application areas it may have a narrower or more specific meaning. Key Event Schedule See master schedule. Lag A modification of a logical relationship which directs a delay in the

successor task. For example, in a finish-to-start dependency with a 10-day lag, the successor activity cannot start until 10 days after the predecessor has finished. See also lead.

Late Finish Date (LF) In the critical path method, the latest possible point in time that an activity

may be completed without delaying a specified milestone (usually the project finish date).

Late Start Date (LS) In the critical path method, the latest possible point in time that an activity

may begin without delaying a specified milestone (usually the project finish date).

Lead A modification of a logical relationship which allows an acceleration of the

successor task. For example, in a finish-to-start dependency with a 10-day lead, the successor activity can start 10 days before the predecessor has finished. See also lag.


Level of Effort (LOE) Support-type activity (e.g., vendor or customer liaison) that does not

readily lend itself to measurement of discrete accomplishment. It is generally characterized by a uniform rate of activity over a specific period of time.

Life-cycle Costing The concept of including acquisition, operating, and disposal costs when

evaluating various alternatives. Line Manager. The manager of any group that actually makes a product or performs a

service. (2) A functional manager. Link See logical relationship. Logic Diagram See project network diagram. Logical Relationship A dependency between two project activities, or between a project

activity and a milestone. See also precedence relationship. The four possible types of logical relationships are: • Finish-to-start--the "from" activity must finish before the "to" activity can start. • Finish-to-finish--the "from" activity must finish before the "to" activity can finish. • Start-to-start--the "from" activity must start before the "to" activity can start. • Start-to-finish--the "from" activity must start before the "to" activity can finish.

Loop A network path that passes the same node twice. Loops cannot be

analyzed using traditional network analysis techniques such as CPM and PERT. Loops are allowed in GERT

Management Reserve A separately planned quantity used to allow for future situations which

are impossible to predict (sometimes called "unknown unknowns"). Management reserves may involve cost or schedule. Management reserves are intended to reduce the risk of missing cost or schedule objectives. Use of management reserve requires a change to the project's cost baseline.

Master Schedule A summary-level schedule which identifies the major activities and key

milestones. See also milestone schedule. Mathematical Analysis See network analysis. Matrix Organization Any organizational structure in which the project manager shares

responsibility with the functional managers for assigning priorities and for directing the work of individuals assigned to the project.

Milestone A significant event in the project, usually completion of a major

deliverable. Milestone Schedule A summary-level schedule which identifies the major milestones. See

also master schedule.


Mitigation Taking steps to lessen risk by lowering the probability of a risk event's

occurrence or reducing its effect should it occur. Modern Project Management (MPM) A term used to distinguish the current broad range of project

management (scope, cost, time, quality, risk, etc.) from narrower, traditional use that focused on cost and time.

Monitoring The capture, analysis, and reporting of project performance, .usually as

compared to plan. Monte Carlo Analysis A schedule risk assessment technique that performs a project simulation

many times in order to calculate a distribution of likely results. Near-Critical Activity An activity that has low total float. Network See project network diagram. Network Analysis The process of identifying early and late start and finish dates for the

uncompleted portions of project activities. See also Critical Path Method, Program Evaluation and Review Technique, and Graphical Evaluation and Review Technique.

Network logic The collection of activity dependencies that make up a project network

diagram. Network Path Any continuous series of connected activities in a project network

diagram. Node One of the defining points of a network; a junction point joined to some or

all of the other dependency lines. See also arrow diagramming method and precedence diagramming method.

Order of Magnitude Estimate See estimate. Organizational Breakdown Structure (OBS). A depiction of the project organization arranged so as to relate work

packages to organizational units. Organizational Planning Identifying, documenting, and assigning project roles, responsibilities,

and reporting relationships. Overall Change Control Coordinating changes across the entire project. Overlap. See lead. Parametric Estimating An estimating technique that uses a statistical relationship between

historical data and other variables (e.g., square footage in construction, lines of code in software development) to calculate an estimate.

Pareto Diagram A histogram, ordered by frequency of occurrence, that shows how many

re-suits were generated by each identified cause.


Path A set of sequentially connected activities in a project network diagram. Path Convergence In mathematical analysis, the tendency of parallel paths of approximately

equal duration to delay the completion of the milestone where they meet. Path Float. See float. Percent Complete (PC)

An estimate, expressed as a percent, of the amount of work which has been completed on an activity or group of activities.

Performance Reporting Collecting and disseminating information about project performance to

help ensure project progress. Performing Organization The enterprise whose employees are most directly involved in doing the

work of the project. PERT Chart A specific type of project network diagram. See Program Evaluation and

Review Technique. Phase See project phase. Planned Finish Date (PF) See scheduled finish date. Planned Start Date (PS) See scheduled start date. Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM) A network diagramming technique in which activities are represented by

boxes (or nodes). Activities are linked by precedence relationships to show the sequence in which the activities are to be performed.

Precedence Relationship The term used in the precedence diagramming method for a logical

relationship. In current usage, however, precedence relationship, logical relationship, and dependency are widely used interchangeably regardless of the diagramming method in use.

Predecessor Activity (1) In the arrow diagramming method, the activity which enters a node.

(2) In the precedence diagramming method, the "from" activity. Procurement Planning Determining what to procure and when. Program A group of related projects managed in a coordinated way. Programs

usually include an element of ongoing activity. Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT)

An event-oriented network analysis technique used to estimate project duration when there is a high degree of uncertainty with the individual activity duration estimates. PERT applies the critical path method to a weighted average duration estimate. Also given as Program Evaluation and Review Technique. Project. A temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product or service.


Project Charter A document issued by senior management that provides the project

manager with the authority to apply organizational resources to project activities.

Project Communications Management A subset of project management that includes the processes required to

ensure proper collection and dissemination of project information. It consists of communications planning, information distribution, performance reporting, and administrative closure.

Project Cost Management A subset of project management that includes the processes required to

ensure that the project is completed within the approved budget. It consists of resource planning, cost estimating, cost budgeting, and cost control.

Project Human Resource Management A subset of project management that includes the processes required to

make the most effective use of the people involved with the project. It consists of organizational planning, staff acquisition, and team development.

Project Integration Management A subset of project management that includes the processes required to

ensure that the various elements of the project are properly coordinated. It consists of project plan development, project plan execution, and overall change control.

Project Life Cycle A collection of generally sequential project phases whose name and

number are determined by the control needs of the organization or organizations involved in the project.

Project Management (PM) The application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project

activities in order to meet or exceed stakeholder needs and expectations from a project.

Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) An inclusive term that describes the sum of knowledge within the

profession of project management. As with other professions such as law, medicine, and accounting, the body of knowledge rests with the practitioners and academics who apply and advance it. The PMBOK includes proven, traditional practices which are widely applied as well as innovative and advanced ones which have seen more limited use.

Project Management Professional (PMP) An individual certified as such by the Project Management Institute. Project Management Software A class of computer applications specifically designed to aid with

planning and controlling project costs and schedules. Project Management Team The members of the project team who are directly involved in project

management activities. On some smaller projects, the project management team may include virtually all of the project team members.

Project Manager (PM) The individual responsible for managing a project.


Project Network Diagram Any schematic display of the logical relationships of project activities.

Always drawn from left to right to reflect project chronology. Often incorrectly referred to as a "PERT chart."

Project Phase A collection of logically related project activities, usually culminating in the

completion of a major deliverable. Project Plan

A formal, approved document used to guide both project execution and project control. The primary uses of the project plan are to document planning assumptions and decisions, to facilitate communication among stakeholders, and to document approved scope, cost, and schedule baselines. A project plan may be summary or detailed.

Project Plan Development Taking the results of other planning processes and putting them into a

consistent, coherent document. Project Plan Execution Carrying out the project plan by performing the activities included therein. Project Planning The development and maintenance of the project plan. Project Procurement Management A subset of project management that includes the processes required to

acquire goods and services from outside the performing organization. It consists of procurement planning, solicitation planning, solicitation, source selection, contract administration, and contract close-out.

Project Quality Management A subset of project management that includes the processes required to

ensure that the project will satisfy the needs for which it was undertaken. It consists of quality planning, quality assurance, and quality control.

Project Risk Management A subset of project management that includes the processes concerned

with identifying, analyzing, and responding to project risk. It consists of risk identification, risk quantification, risk response development, and risk response control.

Project Schedule The planned dates for performing activities and the planned dates for

meeting milestones. Project Scope Management A subset of project management that includes the processes required to

ensure that the project includes all of the work required, and only the work required, to complete the project successfully. It consists of initiation, scope planning, scope definition, scope verification, and scope change control.

Project Team Members A subset of project management that includes the processes required to

ensure timely completion of the project. It consists of activity definition, activity sequencing, activity duration estimating, schedule development, and schedule control.

Projectized Organization Any organizational structure in which the project manager has full

authority to assign priorities and to direct the work of individuals assigned to the project.


Quality Assurance (QA) (1) The process of evaluating overall project performance on a regular

basis to provide confidence that the project will satisfy the relevant quality standards. (2) The organizational unit that is assigned responsibility for quality assurance.

Quality Control (QC) (1) The process of monitoring specific project results to determine if they

comply with relevant quality standards and identifying ways to eliminate causes of unsatisfactory performance. (2) The organizational unit that is assigned responsibility for quality control.

Quality Planning Identifying which quality standards are relevant to the project and

determining how to satisfy them. Remaining Duration (RDU) The time needed to complete an activity. Request for Proposal (RFP) A type of bid document used to solicit proposals from prospective sellers

of products or services. In some application areas it may have a narrower or more specific meaning.

Request for Quotation (RFQ) Generally, this term is equivalent to request for proposal. However, in

some application areas it may have a narrower or more specific meaning. Reserve A provision in the project plan to mitigate cost and/or schedule risk.

Often used with a modifier (e.g., management reserve, contingency reserve) to provide further detail on what types of risk are meant to be mitigated. The specific meaning of the modified term varies by application area.

Resource Leveling Any form of network analysis in which scheduling decisions (start and

finish dates) are driven by resource management concerns (e.g., limited resource availability or difficult-to-manage changes in resource levels).

Resource-Limited Schedule A project schedule whose start and finish dates reflect expected resource

availability. The final project schedule should always be resource-limited. Resource Planning Determining what resources (people, equipment, and materials) are

needed in what quantities to perform project activities. Responsibility Assignment Matrix (RAM) A structure which relates the project organization structure to the work

breakdown structure to help ensure that each element of the project's scope of work is assigned to a responsible individual.

Responsibility Chart See responsibility assignment matrix. Responsibility Matrix See responsibility assignment matrix. Retainage A portion of a contract payment that is held until contract completion in

order to ensure full performance of the contract terms. Risk Event A discrete occurrence that may affect the project for better or worse.


Risk Identification Determining which risk events are likely to affect the project. Risk Quantification Evaluating the probability of risk event occurrence and effect. Risk Response Control Responding to changes in risk over the course of the project. Risk Response Development Defining enhancement steps for opportunities and mitigation steps for

threats S-Curve Graphic display of cumulative costs, labor hours, or other quantities,

plotted against time. The name derives from the Spike shape of the curve (flatter at the beginning and end, steeper in the middle) produced on a project that starts slowly, accelerates, and then tails off.

Schedule See project schedule. Schedule Analysis See network analysis. Schedule Compression See duration compression. Schedule Control Controlling changes to the project schedule. Schedule Development Analyzing activity sequences, activity durations, and resource

requirements to create the project schedule. Schedule Performance Index (SPI) The ratio of work performed to work scheduled (BCWP/BCWS). See

earned value. Schedule Variance (SV) (1) Any difference between the scheduled completion of an activity and

the actual completion of that activity. (2) In earned value, BCWP less BCWS.

Scheduled Finish Date (SF) The point in time work was scheduled to finish on an activity. The

scheduled finish date is normally within the range of dates delimited by the early finish date and the late finish date.

Scheduled Start Date (SS) The point in time work was scheduled to start on an activity. The

scheduled start date is normally within the range of dates delimited by the early start date and the late start date.

Scope The sum of the products and services to be provided as a project. Scope Baseline See baseline. Scope Change

Any change to the project scope. A scope change almost always requires an adjustment to the project cost or schedule.


Scope Change Control Controlling changes to project scope. Scope Definition Decomposing the major deliverables into smaller, more manageable

components to provide better control. Scope Planning Developing a written scope statement that includes the project

justification, the major deliverables, and the project objectives. Scope Verification Ensuring that all identified project deliverables have been completed

satisfactorily. Should-Cost Estimates

An estimate of the cost of a product or service used to provide an assessment of the reasonableness of a prospective contractor's proposed cost. Slack. Term used in PERT for float. Obtaining quotations, bids, offers, or proposals as appropriate.

Solicitation

Obtaining quotations, bids, offers, or proposals as appropriate. Solicitation Planning Documenting product requirements and identifying potential sources. Source Selection Choosing from among potential contractors. Staff Acquisition Getting the human resources needed assigned to and working on the

project. Stakeholder Individuals and organizations that are involved in or may be affected by

project activities. Start Date A point in time associated with an activity's start, usually qualified by one

of the following: actual, planned, estimated, scheduled, early, late, target, baseline, or current.

Start-to-Finish See logical relationship. Start-to-Start See logical relationship. Statement of Work (SOW) A narrative description of products or services to be supplied under

contract. Subnet A subdivision of a project network diagram usually representing some

form of subproject. Subnetwork See subnet. Successor Activity (1) In the arrow diagramming method, the activity which departs a node.

(2) In the precedence diagramming method, the "to" activity. Target Completion Date (TC) An imposed date which constrains or otherwise modifies the network


analysis.

Target Schedule See baseline. Task See activity. Team Development Developing individual and group skills to enhance project performance. Team Members See project team members. Time-Scaled Network Diagram Any project network diagram drawn in such a way that the positioning

and length of the activity represents its duration. Essentially, it is a bar chart that includes network logic.

Target Finish Date (TF) The date work is planned (targeted) to finish on an activity. Target Start Date (TS) The date work is planned (targeted) to start on an activity. Total Float (TF) See float. Total Quality Management (TQM) A common approach to implementing a quality improvement program

within an organization. Workaround A response to a negative risk event. Distinguished from contingency plan

in that a workaround is not planned in advance of the occurrence of the risk event.

Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) A deliverable-oriented grouping of project elements which organizes and

defines the total scope of the project. Each descending level represents an increasingly detailed definition of a project component. Project components may be products or services.

Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) Element An entry in the Work Breakdown Structure that can be at any level. Work Item See activity. Work Package A deliverable at the lowest level of the work breakdown structure. A work

package may be divided into activities.


EE. References

A guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge 4th edition, a PMBOK Guide by Project Management Institute. Practice standard for Work Breakdown Structure, by Project Management Institute. Primavera project management tutorial Manual by Primavera enterprise Pvt. Ltd.

project managment application of primavera p6

Documents

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