INTRODUCTION

PROJECT
Projects are the temporary assemblage of key personnel designed to accomplish specific objectives with
identifiable customers in mind. A project has a beginning and an end. The project team dissolves once the
objectives are met.
Projects must have a clear, definitive goal or objective. The objective is specific, identifiable, and can be
accomplished. A project usually involves varied activities, which produce quantifiable and qualifiable

Characteristics Of A Project
A project has a beginning and an end.
A project has limited resources.
A project follows a planned, organized method to meet its objectives with specific goals of quality and
performance.
Every project is unique
A project has a manager responsible for its outcomes.
Involves risk and uncertainity

PROJECT MANAGEMENT?
Project Management is the process of achieving project objectives (schedule, budget and performance)
through a set of activities that start and end at certain points in time and produce quantifiable and
qualifiable deliverables.
The project management tools and principles provide the means for

 project breakdown into tasks and sub-tasks

 finding interdependencies between the tasks
 allocating resources, human and material and smoothing resources
 estimation for total project duration and budget
 monitoring more efficiently project progress
Key Steps of Project Management

Assessing needs

Learning from the Planning the

project and project
evolving

Implementing and
Evaluating the monitoring the
project project
 Project Cycle
Identification

LESSON
Evaluation Design
LEARNING

Implementation

Reviewing Monitoring
TOPIC 2: PROJECT LIFE CYCLE

Phases of a project

Project life cycle phases are the sequence of events, which a project follows from inception to
termination. These phases may be divided differently depending on the parties involved and
the executing agency. Most writers have identified the following five project phases:
initiation/, planning, execution/implementation, closure, monitoring and evaluation.

1. Project initiating phase (identification)

This is the stage at which the idea to initiate a project germinates. At this phase the idea
regarding a required intervention in an area is formed, screened, crystalized and developed.
The phase involves the following activities:
• Process of idea conception from: - community need, market demand, resource
availability, technology, natural calamity, political consideration, well-wishers,
national development plans economic/social trends etc.
• Process of idea screening (by specialists/consultants)

• Process of defining the project: - conducting needs and capacity assessments and
development of a concept note and project proposal.

The initiating processes determine the nature and scope of the project. If this stage is not
performed well, it is unlikely that the project will be successful in meeting the intended needs.
The key project controls needed here are an understanding of the environment and making
sure that all necessary controls are incorporated into the project. Any deficiencies should be
reported and a recommendation should be made to fix them.

The initiating stage should include a plan that encompasses the following areas:
• analyzing the needs/requirements in measurable goals

• reviewing of the current operations

• financial analysis of the costs and benefits including a budget

• stakeholder analysis, including users, and support personnel for the project

• project charter/proposal including costs, tasks, deliverables, and schedules

 2. Planning and design
After the initiation stage, the project is planned to an appropriate level of detail. The main
purpose is to plan time, cost and scope adequately to estimate the work needed and to
effectively manage risk during project execution. As with the Initiation process group, a
failure to adequately plan greatly reduces the project's chances of successfully accomplishing
its goals.
Planning helps to answer the following questions: -
What action needs to be done?
 When are these actions to be done?

 Who is going to do them?

 What equipments and tools are required?

 What is not going to be done?

The plan should help the project team actualize the project proposal in the realm of time, cost
and scope/quality constraints. Project planning is conducted to:
 Reduce risks and uncertainties to the minimum

 Establish standards of performance

 Provide structured basis for executing the project work

 Establish procedures for effective control of work

 Obtain the required outcomes in the minimum time.

Project planning generally consists of:

 Establishing the project objectives

 determining how to plan (e.g. by level of detail or rolling wave);

 developing the scope statement;

 selecting the planning team;

  identifying deliverables and creating the work breakdown structure;

 identifying the activities needed to complete those deliverables and networking the
activities in their logical sequence;
 estimating the resource requirements for the activities;

 estimating time and cost for activities;

 developing the schedules;

 developing the budget;

 risk planning;

 Gaining formal approval to begin work.

Additional processes, such as planning for communications and for scope management,
identifying roles and responsibilities, determining what to purchase for the project and holding
a kick-off meeting are also generally advisable.

3. Project Implementation/Execution
Project implementation is normally the longest phase in terms of duration. It is the phase
within which the deliverables are physically constructed and presented to the customer for
acceptance. Executing consists of the processes used to complete the work defined in the
project plan to accomplish the project's requirements. Execution process involves
coordinating people and resources, as well as integrating and performing the activities of the
project in accordance with the project management plan. The deliverables are produced as
outputs from the processes performed as defined in the project management plan and other
frameworks that might be applicable to the type of project at hand. The project team
specifically does the following in this phase:
 Build the deliverables i.e. specific product/outcome of the project

 Time management: to ensure completion within time

 Cost management: to ensure the project is within the budget

 Quality management: to ensure quality as per the planned/acceptable standards

 Change management: to remain relevant

 Risk management
  Procurement management

 Acceptance management

 Communication management

 Stakeholders management

 Conflict management

During implementation, the progress is monitored and improvements done based on the feed
back to ensure successful achievement of the project objectives. Any necessary changes
occasioning a deviation from the original plan should be authorized and well documented. At
the end of the implementation phase a review should be done to confirm that the project did
actually achieve the intended objectives before handing it over to the client.

4. Monitoring and Evaluation

Monitoring is the routine collection, analysis and use of information about how the project is
being implemented. It is a continuous checking by the management at every stage of project
implementation to ensure that the input deliveries, work schedules, target outputs and other
required actions are proceeding according to plan. It helps to know what is going on and how
actual outputs compare to the planned.
The purpose of monitoring is to:
• Help project team and clients make decisions to improve the project

• Help in deciding the effects the projects is having

• Ensure accountability at all levels of the project hierarchy

• Help make judgment on personnel and project performance.

Monitoring consists of those processes performed to observe project execution so that

potential problems can be identified in a timely manner and corrective action can be taken,
when necessary, to control the execution of the project. The key benefit is that project
performance is observed and measured regularly to identify variances from the project
management plan.
Monitoring entails:
• Measuring the ongoing project activities ('where we are');

• Monitoring the project variables (cost, effort, scope, etc.) against the project
management plan and the project performance baseline (where we should be);
• Identify corrective actions to address issues and risks properly (How can we get on
track again);
• Influencing the factors that could circumvent integrated change control so only
approved changes are implemented
Common ways to undertake monitoring:
• Inspection

• Interim progress reports

• Testing

• Auditing

Monitoring helps to determine the need for corrective measures which may include: -
 Renegotiation on budgets, timelines, quality etc

 Recoveries during later stages e.g. time delays

 Narrow project scope- concentrate on most critical areas and leave out others

 Deploy more resources:- people, overtime, machines, materials etc

 Accept substitution e raw materials

 Seek alternative sources such as suppliers

 Accept partial delivery

 Offer incentives

 Demand compliance

Evaluation on the other hand is periodic assessment of the project progress. Unlike
monitoring which is continuous, evaluation is done after some time e.g. midterm evaluation
at the middle of the project or even final evaluation at the end of the project implementation.
It is a one-off affair that may take the form of final review or interim progress review.
Project Evaluation is a step-by-step process of collecting, recording and organizing
information about project results, including short-term outputs (immediate results of
activities, or project deliverables), and immediate and longer-term project outcomes (changes
in behaviour, practice or policy resulting from the project).

Common rationales for conducting an evaluation are:

• response to demands for accountability;

• demonstration of effective, efficient and equitable use of financial and other

resources;

• recognition of actual changes and progress made;

• identification of success factors, need for improvement or where expected

outcomes are unrealistic;
• Validation for project staff and partners that desired outcomes are being achieved.

Evaluating project results is helpful in providing answers to key questions like:

 What progress has been made?

 Were the desired outcomes achieved? Why not?

 Are there ways that project activities can be refined to achieve better outcomes?

 Do the project results justify the project inputs?

Challenges in Monitoring and Evaluation include:

 getting the commitment to do it;

 establishing base lines at the beginning of the project;

 identifying realistic quantitative and qualitative indicators;

 finding the time to do it and sticking to it;

 getting feedback from the stakeholders; reporting back to the stakeholders.

5. Project Closure Phase

Project closure involves winding up the project. Closing includes the formal handing over of
to the client the project deliverables together with any documents relating to the project. Other
administrative activities include the archiving of the files and documenting lessons learned as
well as termination of supply contracts and release of project staff. The following checklist
provides important issues to check on:
 Test project outputs to see it works

 Write operational manuals

 Complete final drawings

 Deliver project output to client

 Train clients personnel to operate the deliverables

 Dispose surplus equipment, materials and supplies

 Release facilities

 Summarize major problems encountered and their solutions

 Document technological advances made

 Summarise lessons learnt

 Summarise recommendations for future research and development

 Write performance evaluation reports for all project staff

 Provide feedback on performance to all project staff

 Complete final audit

 Write final report

 Conduct project review with top management

 Hand over the project deliverable together with project documentations, manuals
report etc
 Declare the project completed.

NB: after the project closure, the project is considered completed. What remains is project
activities. i.e. project is a temporally endeavor, with specific start and end time.
 PROJECT EVALUATION AND AUDIT

Project Evaluation

During the implementation process assessment are carried out to determine if the project is
developing as planned. This assessment is called project evaluation. It is an interim assessment
at major milestones. Evaluating the project at major milestones during the course of
implementation will steer the project in the right direction. Project evaluation is an attempt to
determine if the overall status and progress of the project is acceptable as compared to what
was planned earlier and if the objectives are being achieved. The ultimate aim of project
evaluation is to bring about all-round improvements in project planning and execution.

Project evaluation objectives

Project evaluation will be carried out with an aim of;

 Verifying if the progress of project implementation is going as planned
and to take corrective measures if the project progress lags behind the schedule.
 Project evaluation aims Ascertaining whether the actual costs are within
the budgeted costs at the different stages of the implementation and to take steps
to contain costs if the actual costs escalate over the budgeted costs.
 Project evaluation will ensue that the quality standards of the project are
reached without any intentional or unintentional compromise.
 Project evaluation aims at identifying any unexpected problem areas and
to plan for managing such situations appropriately (for example, during the course
of implementation of a project, the macro economic factors might have changed
drastically and unfavorable and this might have changed the project into an
unviable proposition. In such situations, it may even be wiser to abandon the
project if going ahead with implementation proves to be 'throwing good money
after bad money')
 Project evaluation facilitates the Appraisal of clients on the progress of the
project, keeping them informed about the project status.
 Project evaluation Brings about overall improvement in project
performance. As things are done well as the working teams know their work will
be scrutinized
  Project evaluation is a tool for determining whether the project objectives
are met and to suggest corrective measures if the objectives are found to get
defeated.
 Project evaluation will give confidence to the project team members and
to reassure the organization‘s commitment to the project.
In order to undertake an objective and comprehensive project evaluation the party undertaking
the evaluation must be well composed. The composition of the evaluating team should reflect
all the project aspects/stakeholders. The team should consist of;
 The project management and administration : Representation of the
community (beneficiaries) , Front line staff in the affected area.
 Donors/financiers

 Other interested parties – collaborators, politicians and local

administrators.

Before the actual evaluation process the project managers must choose the most appropriate
method of doing so. The choice of an evaluation method is determined by the stage of the
project implementation at which the evaluation is being undertaken.
The most common types of evaluation are; Ongoing (midterm) evaluation, Terminal
evaluation and ex- post evaluation.

Midterm Evaluation
This evaluation carried out when the project has overcome its teething problems, the flow of
its services and inputs to the target project has commenced, and its initial responses can be
observed.
It is an evaluation of how a project started.

Post project evaluation (post audit)

Post project evaluation is also known as Post Audit or Post Completion Audit. It is an
evaluation of the project after its completion. At the time of project appraisal, estimates are
made for project cost and for project completion time. After the project is completed, project
audit is carried out to assess the actual project cost and the actual time taken for project
completion. Thus, while project appraisal is an estimate for the 'future', post project evaluation
is an assessment of the 'past'. In respect of public projects, apart from studying the variations
in project cost and project completion time, post project evaluation also makes an assessment
of the actual social cost benefit factors and the extent up to which the project's objectives are
achieved.

Objectives of post audit

The knowledge gained during the process of project implementation is of great value to all
concerned. The project owner and the project management team learn a lot during the course
of project implementation and they become a store house of knowledge which they can share
with others or use them in their future ventures. The main objectives for this audit include:

 Building up an information base to help proper estimation of project cost and time.

 Educating all those concerned with the project about the realities of project
management.
 Establishing correct time-cost relationship.

 Creation of appropriate standards for work based on suitable work techniques.

 Sharing of project audit information among all concerned, in order to build up better
understanding and better comprehension of the project and its problem areas so that
lapses could be avoided in future.

Phases of post audit

Post audit is normally carried out in two phases, immediately after the completion of the
project and after the lapse of some time (say 2 or 3 years) since the completion of the project.

Reasons for Post audit carried out immediately after project completion
 Study the differences between the actual project cost and the estimated project cost.

 Study the difference between the actual time taken for project implementation and
the estimated time.
 Location of the areas that have contributed to the variances in project cost and time.

 Identify the reasons for such variances, classifying them into avoidable and
unavoidable variances.
 Analyzing the steps that could have been taken to avoid the avoidable variances
  Analyzing in depth the factors that have caused the unavoidable variances and
examining the possibilities of their removal in future by adopting suitable
methodology.

The post project evaluation, whether done immediately after the project completion or after
the lapse of sometime has the main aim of studying the pitfalls and gray areas and identifying
the required corrective measures. Post audit evaluations are of different types each targeting
a specific aspect of a project

Types of post audit evaluation

Technical evaluation: Technical evaluation refers to the evaluation of quality and quantity
of production, the operating costs in production etc. A comparison of these factors is done
between what is presented in the feasibility report/detailed project report and what has been
the actual achievement.
Financial evaluation: Financial evaluation is done to verify whether the actual project cost,
operating costs, profitability, cash/fund flows etc., are as per the estimates and projections
made at the time of appraisal.
Economic evaluation: Economic evaluation is more relevant for public sector and
community development projects since such projects are undertaken with social objective in
mind, apart from financial and other objectives.
 PROJECT REPORTS
A report is basically an account of something prepared for the benefit of others. Throughout
a project undertaking there is something happening to ensure quality is maintained and for
monitoring purposes. For each major undertaking an account must be given to the project
authorities. It is as a result of this that there are numerous project reports that need to be
compiled during the entire project undertaking. These reports are a fundamental part of any
project undertaking success as they influence decision and others will be turned into project
policies.
A report of any aspect of the project is done by the e project management group to the steering
committee and to the sponsor (financer). At the onset of any project reports will mainly be on
determining whether to actually undertake the proposed project. As the project progresses the
reports shift their focus to assessment of achieved results and sustain the trend. All the reports
needed in a project undertaking can be divided into three types, inception reports, progress
reports and completion reports. Each of these types of reports will be discussed below.

Types of Project Reports

Inception Report
Typically all tendered projects will have an inception phase and an inception report. This
simply means they all have a starting phase and starting reports.
During the inception phase the project document will be reviewed. The project document
is basically the project budget and the projects implementation plan. It is also during this
stage that the implementation plan will be specified. There will be an indication when
draft monitoring reports will be forwarded to the steering committee and to the donors.
If the process of the implementation plan specification reveals flaws in the plans that
require to be looked into they must be clarified and agreed and appropriate action taken.
The assessment of the project document is intended to verify the description of the
context, problems and to make sure assumptions made are realistic. Also reviewed will
be the implementing organization and other parties‘ability to provide inputs and support.
Once all these aspects have been looked into the project managers will then write a report
which they will submit to the steering committee for approval.
Progress Report
These are reports, which address project progress. They will normally be submitted quarterly
to the steering committee. They should be brief, and focus on problems and deviations, at the
same time not reporting issues previously reported. The project management group at the
initiative of the team leader prepares progress reports. Approved progress reports are
normally a pre-condition for the settlement of invoices. The scheduling of progress reports is
determined in the inception report.
Ideally the progress reports should correspond to the planned achievement of project outputs.

Completion report
A completion report is a summary of overall project achievement. It is the local project
managers and the team leader who prepares the draft completion report prior to the end of the
project. The primary purposes of the report are;
 To document the status of the project at the time of completion, that is to what
extent the outputs have been produced and the objectives achieved or are likely to be
achieved
 To provide an assessment of the need for possible further assistance from sponsor
or other sources in order to achieve the project objectives or as a result of unseen situations
 To contribute to the accumulation and dissemination of experience

 To provide a basis for evaluation, it is from these reports that a project will be
judged successfully or as being a project failure.

The team leaders are to submit the draft completion report to the steering committee. The
steering committee will discuss the draft completion report if the steering committee approves
the report. The draft completion report will be sent to sponsor. If the steering committee does
not agree with the report, it will be sent back to the local manager to be revised and then
submitted again to the steering committee. As a copy of the draft is sent to the sponsor the
local managers are left behind making the final completion report. From the final completion
report the local project managers will came up with a statistical summary on the project.

Approval of reports
Reports need to be approved by the steering committee and subsequently by the sponsor. The
general Procedures for the approval of the project reports are described below:-
The steering committee
• It may reject a report if it is of poor quality, i.e. If a report indicates that project
implementations is not meeting the expectations laid down in the project document
and the proposed solution seem inadequate the report will normally be rejected
Sponsor's approval of reports
• Sponsors will normally approve reports at the recommendation of the steering
committee.

However, sponsors may reject reports approved by the steering committee

Rejection of a report

This is a situation whereby the steering committee doesn’t ‘t approve the report submitted by
the local project managers. The steering committee might do this if;
• A submitted report does not comply with the sponsoring country /organization
requirements
• If the report does not give a fair assessment of the projects undertakings.

• The steering committee find the submitted report not serving the intended purpose a
sign that there may have been miscommunication between them and the local
management

PROJECT PLANNING

Project planning defines the project, assembling the team that will assist in project
implementation which includes skills for developing it.

Management is important because of clear communication, understanding the project

status and taking keen interest on the completion of the project.

Project management is the application of skills , techniques and knowledge to carry

out effectively and efficiently . It involves aligning project results to business goals.

Planning in project management starts by

 taking a feasibility study,

 conducting of cost benefit analysis,
 setting targets,
 defining goals,
 outlining steps for achieving the goals
 carrying out a risk assessment.
 A. Feasibility Study
A feasibility study is a comprehensive evaluation of a proposed project that evaluates all factors critical to
its success in order to assess its likelihood of success. Business success can be defined primarily in terms
of return on investment, which is the amount of profits that will be generated by the project.
A feasibility study evaluates a project's or system's practicality. As part of a feasibility study, the
objective and rational analysis of a potential business or venture is conducted to determine its strengths
and weaknesses, potential opportunities and threats, resources required to carry out, and ultimate success
prospects. Two criteria should be considered when judging feasibility: the required cost and expected
value.
In a feasibility study, a proposed plan or project is evaluated for its practicality. As part of a feasibility
study, a project or venture is evaluated for its viability in order to determine whether it will be successful.

Types Of Feasibility Study

A feasibility analysis evaluates the project’s potential for success; therefore, perceived objectivity is an
essential factor in the credibility of the study for potential investors and lending institutions. There are
five types of feasibility study—separate areas that a feasibility study examines, described below.
1. Technical Feasibility
This assessment focuses on the technical resources available to the organization. It helps organizations
determine whether the technical resources meet capacity and whether the technical team is capable of
converting the ideas into working systems. Technical feasibility also involves the evaluation of the
hardware, software, and other technical requirements of the proposed system
2. Economic Feasibility
This assessment typically involves a cost/ benefits analysis of the project, helping organizations determine
the viability, cost, and benefits associated with a project before financial resources are allocated. It also
serves as an independent project assessment and enhances project credibility—helping decision-makers
determine the positive economic benefits to the organization that the proposed project will provide.
3. Legal Feasibility
This assessment investigates whether any aspect of the proposed project conflicts with legal requirements
like zoning laws, data protection acts or social media laws. Let’s say an organization wants to construct a
new office building in a specific location. A feasibility study might reveal the organization’s ideal
location isn’t zoned for that type of business. That organization has just saved considerable time and
effort by learning that their project was not feasible right from the beginning.
4. Operational Feasibility
This assessment involves undertaking a study to analyze and determine whether—and how well—the
organization’s needs can be met by completing the project. Operational feasibility studies also examine
how a project plan satisfies the requirements identified in the requirements analysis phase of system
development.
5. Scheduling Feasibility
This assessment is the most important for project success; after all, a project will fail if not completed on
time. In scheduling feasibility, an organization estimates how much time the project will take to complete.
When these areas have all been examined, the feasibility analysis helps identify any constraints the
proposed project may face, including:

Importance of Feasibility Study

 Improves project teams’ focus
 Identifies new opportunities
 Provides valuable information for a “go/no-go” decision
 Narrows the business alternatives
 Identifies a valid reason to undertake the project
 Enhances the success rate by evaluating multiple parameters
 Aids decision-making on the project
Identifies reasons not to proceed

B. Conducting cost –benefit analysis

This is a very important to business in such a way that the project is actually brought
into focus, one is able to know the cost whether the project will bring a return on
investment. It is simply looking at whether the business is worthwhile.

C. Setting expectations

Setting expectations is very important and this will include informing the
stakeholders accordingly. Should be informed about the work being done, their roles
and expectations in the ongoing project. All records should be documented.

D. Defining /Outlining goals

This includes identifying if the project is likely to be successful or not and what will
happen when the project is completed. This will keep the team focused and decisions
are made appropriately as the work progresses.
 Steps needed to achieve the goals

Work is divided into manageable pieces that can be assigned to specific members
of the team with strict timelines and deliverables. It will enable them towards
direction and the scope of the project is made clear.

E. Conducting a risk assessment

Project planning methodology will come in handy which are the practices, procedures
and rues used in any given discipline (project).

This will be of essence as the strategic to plan and control risk as much as possible
e.g. finances, people (personnel), physical structure and organizational structures.

Proper documentation should be made on possible occurrence of risk and its impact
and also provide interventions by undertaking contingency measures.

Project monitoring

This can be done formally by giving weekly updates by the teams, reporting to
stakeholders among others. Project manager must be good in reporting the events
and in particular about the progress.

Project evaluation

This is giving feedback on the project capturing the smallest details ever. It makes
the team to be motivated. Documentation is done for future reference so that it
provides comparative data that can be used in the future. Close the project by
appreciating all those involved and reward them for the achievement.

PROJECT SCHEDULING MANAGEMENT

Schedule management includes the processes required to ensure timely completion of the project.
Before a project schedule is created, a project manager should typically have a work breakdown structure
(WBS), the time estimate for each task, and a resource list with availabilities for each resource.
A Schedule is created using a consensus-driven estimation method; the reason for this is that a schedule
itself is an estimate: each date in the schedule is estimated, and if those dates do not have the buy-in of the
people who are going to do the work, the schedule will be inaccurate.
Setting overall completion dates must be done by the project team and key stakeholders. The project
manager assists by assimilating information about scope, budget, resources, and estimating times for
completion of project tasks.
Once an overall schedule is set, the project manager is responsible for monitoring the progress of the
project and revising the schedule if needed. This must be done in consultation with project team members
who are doing the work. There will typically be give-and-take as a project proceeds among budget,
features, and schedule. It is essential for the project manager to keep all participants informed as to
current schedule status

The schedule development process should generate a project schedule that meets the following criteria:

 Complete— the schedule must represent all the work to be done. This is why the quality and
completeness of the WBS is so important.
 Realistic— the schedule must be realistic with regard to time expectations and the availability of
beneficiaries to participate
 Accepted— the schedule must have "buy-in" from team members and stakeholders, especially the
beneficiaries.

Schedule management consists of a series of tasks and steps designed to help manage the time constrains
of the project, the steps are:
- Defining the Schedule
- Publishing the Schedule
- Monitoring the Schedule
- Updating the Schedule

Defining Project Schedule

The creation of the project schedule requires the team to define the conditions that will lead to the
development of the schedule.
The first piece of information needed for this step comes from the WBS that has all the activities
identified for the project. The quality and completeness of the WBS will determine the quality of the
schedule, and this is a good time for the project team to review if all the project activities are accounted
for. Building the schedule is actually an easy part but once a project is published and issues and changes
start to creep, the schedule becomes difficult to manage since it’s the resources with the less flexibility.

Importance of Defining Project Schedule

The goal of defining the schedule is for the project team to have a complete understanding of all the work
that needs they must accomplish,
By defining the schedule, the project also develops an understanding of the constraints, dependencies and
sequence of the activities.

ACTIVITY SEQUENCE

 The first step in the creation of the project schedule is to define the sequence of the activities on
a list; this sequence follows the natural progress the project will follow in the project cycle. The
act of identifying which activity comes before or after another is the process of identifying
dependency relationships between the activities.
 The next step is to determine the type of relationship among all activities; there are four types of
relationships:
Finish to Start, in this relationship the successor activity cannot begin until the
predecessor task has completed, this is the most common type of relationship.
Start to Start, in this relationship the successor activity depends on the start of the
predecessor activity, used for starting activities in parallel but a delay of the first activity
delays the successor activity.
Finish to Finish, this relationship has the finish of the successor activity dependent on the
finish of the predecessor.
Start to Finish, the finish of the successor activity is dependent on the start of its
predecessor, it is seldom used.

Fig1. example of activity dependencies

ACTIVITY DURATION
The team will construct a list of all activities and assign an estimate of the duration of each activity; it
will use historical information from similar projects and consult with experts.
 Duration includes the actual amount of time worked on an activity. If an activity takes one week by one
person, the estimate may become two weeks if the person works only half time. This information is
important at the moment of determining the total time of the project and the resources available for a
project.

Generalized Activity Normalization Time Table (GANTT) chart

A Gantt chart is a visual representation of scheduled activities within a defined time interval
The purpose of Gantt chart is to emphasize scope of individual tasks. Hence set of tasks is given as input
to Gantt chart. Gantt chart is also known as timeline chart. It can be developed for entire project or it can
be developed for individual functions. In most of projects, after generation of timeline chart, project tables
are prepared. In project tables, all tasks are listed in proper manner along with start date and end date and
information related to it.
Advantages :

 Simplify Project –
Gantt charts are generally used for simplifying complex projects.

 Establish Schedule –
It simply establishes initial project schedule in which it mentions who is going to do what, when,
and how much time it will take to complete it.

 Provide Efficiency –
It brings efficiency in planning and allows team to better coordinate project activities.

 Emphasize on scope –
It helps in emphasizing i.e., gives importance to scope of individual tasks.

 Ease at understanding –
It makes it easy for stakeholders to understand timeline and brings clarity of dates.

 Visualize project –
It helps in clearly visualizing project management, project tasks involved.

 Organize thoughts and Highly visible –

It organizes your thoughts and can be highly visible so that everyone in enterprises can have basic
level of understanding and have knowledge about what’s happening in project even if they are not
involved in working.

 Make Practical and Realistic planning –

It makes the project planning practical and realistic as realistic planning generally helps to avoid
any kind of delays and losses of many that can arise.
Disadvantages :

 Sometimes, using Gantt chart makes project more complex.

  The size of bar chart dost not necessarily indicate amount of work done in project.
 Gantt charts and projects are needed to be updated on regular basis.

NETWORK ANALYSIS
It is a family of related techniques developed to aid management in the planning, co-ordination and
controlling of large complex projects using limited resources like personnel, material, money, time etc
in order to achieve some objective.
It can also be defined as a system of interrelationships between jobs and tasks for planning and control of
resources of a project by identifying critical path of the project.

In network analysis attention should be directed to some activities. these include:

Dummy activity

This is used in a network for

i. improving clarity of the network
ii. To facilitate a logical flow of activities in the network.

A dummy activity consumes no time or resources. its duration is zero. a dummy activity is represented by
a dotted arrow/line.
Activity floats

floats give a measure of the flexibility which exists for either individual activities or a path of activities in
a network in relation to whether we can extend project completion time as measured by the critical path.
These are the total, free and independent floats.

a) Total float(TFij)
This indicates the amount of time by which a non-critical activity can be delayed without affecting
the project duration dates. it is equal to the difference between the total time allowed on a
performance of an activity and the actual time required for its performance. for critical activities,
the total float is zero. For non-critical activities, the total float can be computed using the following
formula: TFij = Lcj – esi – Dij
Where
TFij = total float
Lcj= latest completion time at the head of the activity
esi = earliest start time at the tail of the activity
Dij = means the duration of the activity.
b) Free float (FFij)
This indicates how far a non-critical activity can be delayed beyond its earliest start time without
affecting the earliest start time of the activities immediately following it. critical activities have
zero free float. For non-critical activities, free float can be determined as follows:
FFij = esj – esi – Dij
Where
FFij = free float esj = earliest start time at
the head of the activity.
esi = earliest start time at the tail of the activity.
Dij = duration of the activity.

c) Independent float (IF)

This is the amount of time an activity can be delayed without delaying the project completion time
if all preceding activities are completed as early as possible and subsequent activities are started
as soon as possible. it is given as follows: IFij = esj –Lci – Dij
Where
IFij = independent float
 esj = earliest start time at the head of the activity.
Lci = latest completion time at the tail of the activity
Dij = duration of the activity

Event slack

An event slack is the maximum time an event can be delayed without delaying the overall project
completion time. for an event , its given as Lci – esi
note:Total float ≥ free float ≥ independent float
When asked to calculate float or slack without specifying, take that to mean the total float.

USE OF NETWORK ANALYSIS TO SOLVE A MANAGEMENT

PROBLEM

Phase I: formulation

identify the project

Determine and list all the activities in the project.
estimate the duration and cost of all activities listed above listing all resources required.
Establish a logical flow of all the activities – first, second, and so on.

Phase II: Scheduling

Draw the network diagram of the project indicating various events and their duration.
Determine the earliest and the latest occurrence of each event.
Calculate activity floats.
Determine the critical path for network – the critical path is defined as an unbroken continuity of activities
sequence from start to finish which is the longest path (and) which represents the minimum time the project
can be completed.

A delay of an activity on the critical path inevitably delays the whole project.

note: There can be more than one critical path in one network.
Phase III: Implementation and control

i) analyse the effects of delays in the project time, reduction of costs (activity crashing).
ii) check off the progress of implementation with the plans.
iii) reassign or reschedule the resources that are used by the project as appropriate.
iv) revise the network and set a new schedule where necessary.

Rules to construct network diagrams

1. as a rule, no two activities can begin and end at the same event node as they would not be uniquely
identified. (Use a dummy activity to ensure uniqueness).
Diagram 8.1
Dummy

a complete network can have only one beginning event node and one ending event node.
Diagram 8.2

start stop

2. every activity must have one preceding or “tail” event and one succeeding or “head” event.
note that many activities may use the same tail event and many may use the head event.
Diagram 8.3

tail head
event event
 3. “Loops” are a series of activities which lead back to the same event and are nOt allowed because
a network is a progression of activities always moving onwards in time.
Diagram 8.4

4. all activities must be tied into the network i.e. they must contribute to the progression or be
discarded as irrelevant. activities which do not link into the overall project are termed “danglers”.
Danglers should not be used.
Diagram 8.5

Dangler

5. networks proceed from left to right.

6. networks are not drawn to scale
7. use straight lines, not bent or curved ones.
8. the arrows should not cross each other unless it is completely necessary.
9. the length of the arrow is not proportional to its duration.

The figure below shows an example of a project network diagram that includes the duration estimates and
dependencies.
 FIG 2. Project Network Diagram

To calculate the path using the diagram above use the duration of each activity and all the possible paths
on the network.
Path A, Activities 1-2-4-7, total time = 90 days Path B, Activities 1-2-5-7, total time = 80 days Path C,
Activities 1-3-6-8, total time = 70 days

The critical path is on Path A

EXAMPLE 2

SOLUTION

Forward passes

A – The EF= ES - t =0(Earliest finishing time of the predecessor +7 (activity time) =7

B – The EF= ES - t =0(Earliest finishing time of the predecessor +9 (activity time) =9
C – The EF= ES - t =7(Earliest finishing time of the predecessor A +12 (activity time) =19
D – The EF= ES - t =9 (Earliest finishing time of the predecessor A,B (take highest)+ (activity time) =17
E – The EF= ES - t =17(Earliest finishing time of the predecessor D +9 (activity time) =26
F – The EF= ES - t =26(Earliest finishing time of the predecessor C,E +6 (activity time) =32
G – The EF= ES - t =26(Earliest finishing time of the predecessor E +5 (activity time) =31

Backward passes
G – The LS= LF-t =32(latest starting time for its successor -5 (activity time) =27
F – The LS= LF-t =32(latest starting time for its successor -6 (activity time) =26
E – The LS= LF-t =26(latest starting time for its successor F,G(take the lowest)26 -9 (activity time) =17
D – The LS= LF-t =17(latest starting time for its successor -8 (activity time) =9
C – The LS= LF-t =26(latest starting time for its successor -12 (activity time) =14
A – The LS= LF-t =9(latest starting time for its successor C,D -7 (activity time) =2
B – The LS= LF-t =9(latest starting time for its successor -9 (activity time) =0
CRITICAL PATH
Activity with zero slack are called critical activities and they form critical path which is the longest path
B-D-E-F
EXAMPLE 3
Find the critical path and critical duration of the following data
ACTIVITY PRECEDENCE DURATION
A - 5
B - 4
C A 8
D B 8
E B 8
F B 5
G C,D 8
H E,J 22
I F 2
J F 12
PATHS
A-C-G 5+8+8=21
B-D-G 4+8+8= 20
B-E-H 4+8+22 =34 CRITICAL PATH
B-F-J 4+5+12 =21
B-F-I-H 4+5+2+22=33
 DECISION MAKING
Decision making can be regarded as an outcome of mental processes (cognitive processes) leading to the
selection of a course of action among several alternatives. every decision-making process produces a final
choice. The output can be an action or an opinion of choice.

Decision Theory
Decision theory – is a body of knowledge related analytical techniques of different degrees of formalities
designed to help a decision maker choose a set of alternatives in light of possible consequences. it is a
theory that applies in conditions of uncertainty, risks and certainty.
Almost everything that a human being does involves decisions. We make choices all the time. some
decisions are easy others are not.
consider the following and the problem they give:
1. shall i bring an umbrella today? - this decision depends on something i don’t know, namely
whether it will rain.
2. I am looking for a house, shall I buy this house? This house looks fine, but perhaps I’ll
find a better house if I go searching
3. shall i smoke the next cigarette? One single cigarette is no problem, but if i make the same
decision sufficiently many times it may kill me. a decision maker may have more than one
objective. the term goal is sometimes used to denote a very general objective, usually long term.

Decision making process.

It is the process of choosing among alternative courses of actions which are feasible.
Process:
• identify the objectives
• search for alternative courses of action
• Gather data about the alternatives
• select alternative courses of action
• compare actual and planned outcome
• respond to divergencies for the plan.

Decision theory generally involve 4 steps

Example: consider a manufacturing company that is thinking of several methods to increase its
production.

Steps:
1. List all the viable alternatives for the company considered above. there may be the following
options.
 a) expand the present plant
b) construct a new plant
c) subcontract the plan for extra demand.
2. identify the expected future events. Often, it’s possible to identify most of the events that can
occur i.e. states of nature.
The difficulty is to identify which particular event will occur. For the manufacturing company, the
greatest uncertainty will be about product demand. the future events related to a demand will be
i) high demand
ii) Moderate demand
iii) Low demand
iv) no demand
3. construct a payoff table – the decision maker makes a payoff table representation profits or benefits
for each combination course of action of a data and states of nature. the possible payoffs for the
manufacturing company expansion

4. select optimum decisions criteria - Decision makers will choose criteria which result in target profit.
The criteria may be economic, qualitative or quantitative

Decision making environment

1. Certainty – in this environment, there exists only one state of nature i.e there is complete
certainty about the future. complete information is also available as to which state of nature
is going to occur. it is thus easy to analyse the situation and make good decisions. the
decision-making process is just picking the best alternative.
unfortunately, certainty environment is a very simplistic environment which is rarely
applicable in real life situation.
2. Uncertainty – More than one state of nature exists but the decision maker lacks sufficient
knowledge to allow him assign probabilities with the various states of nature. uncertain events are
those events that cannot be predicted with statistical confidence i.e the decision maker does not
know the relevant variables nor their probability therefore decision making in this environment
depends on the risk attitude of the decision maker i.e. risk averse or a risk seeker or risk neutral.
A risk averse avoids risk at all cost; the individual is conservative and assumes the worst
situation will occur.
A risk seeker takes high risks in expectation of high returns. he assumes that the best
outcome will occur.
A risk neutral person is not affected by risks. such people will make decisions based on
something else but not risk.
3. Risks – Here more than one state of nature exists and the decision maker has sufficient
information to allow him probabilities to each of these states of nature. therefore, it involves
situations or events which may/may not occur but its probability of occurrence can be calculated
statistically. There are frequency of occurrence predicted from first records.
4. Competition – In this environment, the decisions of the firm are affected by the decision of
other firms with opposing interests.

MULTISTAGE DECISION MAKING

Decision trees
It is a graphic representation of the decision alternatives, states of nature, probabilities
attached to the state of nature and conditional losses.
It consists of a network of nodes. two types of nodes are used; decision node represented by
a square and states of nature (chance of event) node represented by a circle.
Alternative courses (strategies) originate from the decision node as main branches (decision
branches)
At the end of each decision branch there’s a state of nature mode from which emanates
chance events in the form of sub-branches (chance branches)
The respective pay offs and probability associated with alternative course and chance events
are shown alongside those branches. at the terminal of those branches are shown the
expected value of outcomes.
the general approach used in decision tree analysis is to work backward through the tree from
right to left compiling the expected value of each chance node and then choosing the particular
branch leaving a decision node which leads to the chance node with the highest expected value.

Steps in decision tree analysis

1. identify the decision point and the alternative courses of action at each decision
point systematically.
2. at each decision point determine the probability in payoff associated with each
course of action.
3. commencing from the extreme right, compute the expected pay off (eMv) from
each course of action
4. choose the course that gives the best payoff for each of the decision.
5. Proceed backwards to the next stage of decision point.
6. repeat above steps until the 1st decision point is reached.
7. identify the courses of action to be adopted from the beginning to the end under
the different possible outcomes for the situation as a whole.
Advantages of Decision Tree Approach
i. it structures the decision process and helps decision making in orderly and
systematic and consequent manner.
ii. it requires the decision maker to examine all possible outcomes whether desirable
or undesirable.
iii. it communicates the decision making to others in an easy clear manner illustrating
each assumption about the future.
iv. It displays the logical relationship between the parts of a complex decision and
identifies the time sequence in which various actions and subsequent events occur.
limitations
i. Decision tree diagram becomes more complex as the number of decision alternatives
increases and more variables are introduced.
ii. It becomes highly complicated when interdependent alternatives and dependent variable
are present in the problem.
iii. It analyses the problem in terms of expected value and thus yields an average value
solution
iv. There is often inconsistency in assigning probabilities of different events

LINEAR PROGRAMMING
Linear programming -is a branch of mathematics that uses linear inequalities to solve decision-
making problems involving maximums and minimums; or, a mathematical procedure for
minimising or maximising a linear function of several variables, subject to a finite number of
linear restrictions.
Linear programming is a suitable method for modelling an allocation problem if the objective and
the constraints on the resources can all be expressed as linear relationships of the variables. the
techniques have a number of distinct steps.
The linear programme must first be formulated mathematically. This means that the variables over
which we have control and the objective must be identified. The objective and the constraints on
the resources are then written down as linear relationships in terms of the variables.
Once the linear programme is complete, all of the feasible combinations of the variables are
identified. The combination which optimises the objective may then be selected. If only two
variables are involved, a graphical solution is possible. if, however, we have a multivariable
problem, we must resort to an algebraic method for which a computer package will be used.
Once the optimum solution has been identified, it must be evaluated. This will include a sensitivity
analysis.
as with any other mathematical aid to decision making, the solution from the linear programme is
just one piece of management information which contributes to the final decision.

Linear programming models are used to allocate scarce resources in a way which meets a business
objective. The objective might be to maximize weekly profit or to minimize daily costs. the steps
in formulating a linear-programming model are:
step 1: identify the decision variables step

step 2: identify the linear objective function and the constraints

step 3: express the objective function in terms of the variables
step 4: express the constraints in terms of the variables
EXAMPLE