ACTIVITY DEFINITION

An activity is an identifiable, quantifiable, measurable, and cost-able, discrete, lowest level

element of work, which must be performed during the course of the project for achieving the
project mission. Project activities definition process, the tools employed and the outcome of each
process are reflected in table below.

Activities definition Processing tools and Output

processes techniques
Identifying Project Activities  Project WB Structure  WBS
(PWBS)  Activity List
 Function WB Structure
(FWBM)
 Repetitive WB Matrix
(RWBM)
 WBS Templates (BWBT)
Estimating Activity Duration  One Time Estimation Activity Duration
Method
 Three Times PERT
Estimation Method
 Non Linear Distribution
Estimation Method
Defining Activity Database  Duration Supporting Activity Database
Resources
 Activity Cost Estimation

WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE (WBS)

A hierarchy decomposition of total scope of work to be carried out by project team to accomplish
the project objectives and create the required deliverables.

WBS is a name given to a technique in project management in which the project is broken down
into manageable chunks. WBS represents a task oriented family tree of activities and organizes,
defines, and graphically displays the total work to be accomplished in order to achieve the final
objectives of the project. This serves as the common framework for other exercises such as
planning, scheduling, cost estimating, budgeting, monitoring, reporting, directing and controlling
the entire project.

The process WBS involves splitting project works into manageable constituents till the desired
level. These levels may be sub project level, task level, work packages, activities, and operations
and depend upon the nature and complexity of the project. Definition and classification of
project work breakdown levels are given in the following table.
 Description Main criteria
Sub project level An independent, deliverable end product requiring processing of
multitasks having large volume of work
Task level An identifiable and deliverable major work containing one or more
packages
Work package level A sizeable, identifiable, measure, cost able and controllable work
package of activities
Activity level Identifiable lower level job, operation, or process, which consumes
time and possible resources
Operations level A lowest level day to day operation, or process, which is part of an
activity

Construction projects are best managed by work packages and best planned and monitored by
activities. Each activity consumes time and requires resources. After identifying various work
packages and activities, next job of the planner is to list all such activities and arrange them in a
chronological order as per sequence of operations and technological requirements. Dependency
of one activity on another is to be fixed and recorded accordingly. Such a list of activities, once
prepared, is also helpful in delegating responsibilities and calculating the manpower and other
resource requirements for each of the activities. The planner is then required to assess the activity
durations i.e. time each of the activities is likely to consume. Hence WBS is a tool that identifies
the functional elements of a project and their inter-relationship.

Example: the concreting work for roof slab of a residential building can be split up into various
elements as follows
Concreting for the roof slab

Erection of Bar of Placing of Pouring Curing Laying weather

form work bending reinforceme concrete poof course
nt

ESTIMATION OF RESOURCE REQUIREMENTS

Activity resource estimating is a process in which the project team carefully compiles a thorough
listing of the resources that will be needed in completing a project.

Once the activities have been identified in process WBS, it is necessary to find out what
resources will be needed to perform them. That is where this process Estimate Activity
Resources comes in. It is not only the amount of resources, but the schedule of when they are
available that are both needed to find out how long a particular activity will take.
Resource Estimation Techniques
1. Expert Judgment: Expertise should be sought during this process by those who have
specialized knowledge in estimating team and physical resources, or who have done such
estimation for similar, previous projects.

2. Bottom-Up Estimating: This estimation technique is bottom-up because it consists of

estimation of the resources required for each activity and then aggregating all of these
estimates into the level of work packages, control accounts, and then summary project levels.

3. Analogous Estimating: This estimation technique using information regarding resources

from a previous similar project. It is useful as a preliminary estimation when you have only
completed the top few levels of the WBS, because you need to have a complete WBS in
order to do the more accurate, but time-consuming Bottom-Up Estimating technique.

4. Parametric Estimating: This technique also uses information regarding resources from a
previous similar project. The difference is that there is a statistical relationship between
historical data and other variables which can be used to apply to the estimation of resources
in the current project. Here’s an example: if you are trying to complete an estimation of the
resources needed to build a house in a subdivision, you can do it by looking at the data on the
resources needed to build previous houses in the subdivision. This would be an example of
analogous estimating. However, if you took all of the data regarding those previously-built
houses and calculated how many resources would be required per 100 square feet, then you
would have a statistical relationship or a parameter you could then use to calculate the
resources required for the current project.

5. Project Management Information System (PMIS): This is the software tool (like
Microsoft Project) used to help manage the resources on a project.

ESTIMATION OF ACTIVITY DURATION

Activity Duration Estimating is the determination of the time required to complete the activities
that make up the project.

Duration estimation methods: Generally any of the three methods are employed for assessing,
the duration of construction activities. These are termed as one-time estimate, three-time PERT
estimate and non-linear distribution estimate.

1. One-time estimate: The estimation of duration is based on one or more of the following
 Planning data
 Past experience on execution of a similar project.
 Average time assessed by a group of executives.
 Example: In excavation of 3000cft of common earth, if output of a man is taken as 100cft per
day and six men can be effectively employed on the job, the duration of the activity would be
5 days.
In most of the construction work, it is generally possible to assess the duration of an activity
with reasonable certainty by using experience or the departmental planning data. The one
time estimate for activity durations is used in these projects. Further the one time estimate is
task oriented and the activity duration can be correlated to the cost and the resources
employed. The method of the one-time estimate is simple and can easily be followed by all
concerned with the planning or execution of construction work.

2. Three time PERT estimate: When the exact duration of an activity, like research and
development, is not certain, the three-time estimate is used to compute its expected
duration. The following relation is used to calculate the expected duration of such an
activity.

To+4Tm+Tp
Te=
6
Where, T e =expected completion time
To = optimistic time, assuming that everything goes extremely well with no delays
Tp = pessimistic time, assuming that everything goes wrong
Tm = most likely time, assuming normal conditions.

Example: Let us take the activity of sanctioning of a government project. It has to pass
through many channels and depends upon many factors. Let us assume that the sanction is
most likely to take 8 weeks, and if all goes well, the earliest it can happen in 6 weeks, but in
case , it will certainly come through in 16 weeks. The expected duration of the activity can be
calculated as follows:

6+(4x8)+16
Te= = 9 weeks
6
The three-time estimate can effectively be used in certain areas of construction projects
where time is the main criterion and the resources employed are of secondary consideration.
Some of these are as follows.
 The planning of projects especially, at the feasibility stage.
 The skeleton networks enclosed with the tender documents
 The contracted works, where time is the main consideration for the management.
 The complex structures, where the exact duration estimate is difficult to assess.

3. Non-linear distribution estimate: The one-time activity duration estimation methodology

given above, assumes average daily uniform manpower (or effort) of work throughout the
execution of activity. But execution of some activities may need effort in a non-linear
 pattern. Such non-linear distributions may follow triangular, trapezoidal, binomial, beta,
gama, normal or other pattern. In such cases, the activity duration estimation needs to be
modified accordingly.

ESTIMATION OF ACTIVITY COST

Activity cost estimates refer to the quantitative process of assessing the possible costs to
complete different activities involved in a particular project management strategy with the
resource estimates and constraints in mind. In estimate cost process, the cost of each activity is
determined, including the cost of human hours, the cost of equipment, and the cost of materials
used as well as the contingency cost (i.e., the cost to cover the identified risks).

Cost Estimation Techniques

1. Analogous Estimating: This technique is employed to estimate the project cost when limited
detail about the project is available. Therefore, this technique does not provide a very reliable
estimation. The primary benefits of this technique are its lower cost and quick results.
In analogous estimation, the cost of the project is estimated by comparing it with similar
projects previously completed by your organization. Here, you will look into your
organization’s historical records (i.e., an organizational process assets) for prior completed
projects similar to your own. You will select the project which is closest to your project and
use your expert judgment to determine the cost estimate of your current project. The
analogous estimating is also known as the top-down estimating.

2. Parametric Estimating: Like analogous estimating, parametric estimation uses historical

data to calculate cost estimates; however, it also utilizes statistical data. It takes variables
from similar projects and applies them to the current project.
For instance, in a previous project, we take the cost of concrete per cubic meter, then
calculate the concrete requirement for the current project and multiply it with the cost
obtained from the previous project. This will provide the total cost of concrete for your
current project.
In the same way, you can calculate the cost of other parameters (men, materials, and
equipment).The accuracy of this process is better than the analogous estimation because it
employs more than one data set.

3. Three-Point Estimating: This technique is employed to reduce the biases and uncertainties
in estimating assumptions. Three estimates are determined instead of finding one estimate,
and then their average is taken to reduce the uncertainties, risks, and biases. PERT (Program
Evaluation and Review Technique) is the most commonly used method in three-point
estimation technique.

Three PERT estimates are as follows:

 Most Likely Cost (Cm): Considers a typical case and everything goes as usual.
  Pessimistic Cost (Cp): Considers the worst case and assumes that almost everything goes
wrong.
 Optimistic Cost (Co): Considers the best case and concludes that everything goes better
than presumed.
PERT estimate formula is:

Ce = (Co + 4Cm + Cp) / 6

Where Ce = Expected Cost

Estimates derived from this technique are better than the two techniques presented earlier
because it minimizes the biased view from the data and provides a more accurate estimate.

4. Bottom-up Estimating: The bottom-up estimating technique is also called the “definitive
technique.” This technique is the most accurate, time-consuming, and costly technique for
estimating the cost of a project. Here, the cost of every single activity is determined with the
highest level of detail at the bottom level and then rolls up to calculate the total project cost.
Here, the total project work is broken down into the smallest work components. Each
component cost is estimated, and finally, it is aggregated to determine the project’s cost
estimate.

ACTIVITY SEQUENCING
Sequence Activities is the process of identifying and documenting relationships among the
project activities. The key benefit of this process is that it defines the logical sequence of work to
obtain the greatest efficiency given all project constraints.

Inputs Tools and techniques Outputs

Project management plan Precedence diagramming Project schedule network
method diagram
Project document Dependency determination
Enterprise environmental Leads and lags
factors
Organizational process assets

 Activity Sequencing - INPUTS

1. Project management plan:
The two components of the project management plan used in this process are:
a) Scope management plan–this is the knowledge area management plan that covers scope
management, in particular the scheduling methodology (for example, Critical Path Method)
 and the scheduling tool (for example, Microsoft Project) to be used in developing the project
schedule model are specified.

b) Scope baseline– This actually consists of three separate documents, the

i. Project scope statement, which has the scope broken down from the level of requirements
to the deliverables that will fulfill those requirements
ii. WBS–the work breakdown structure, with the scope of the deliverables further broken
down into manageable parts called work packages.
iii. WBS dictionary–this contains information about the work packages, for example, who
will do the work, what resources are needed, etc.

2. Project Documents
a) Activities list–all activities needed for the project, based on the decomposition process done
on the work packages. These are to be sequenced in the upcoming process.
b) Activity attributes–information about the activities
 any clearly defined predecessor or successor relationships among activities
 any specified leads or lags between activities
 any specified logical relationships between activities (does the successor activity need to
start before or after the predecessor activity ends, for example)
c) Milestone list–milestones can be specified as early as the project charter, but can also be
made specific as a result of the last process

3. Enterprise Environmental Factors (EEF) : Enterprise Environment Factors (EEFs) include

all policies, practices, procedures, and legislations that exist both inside and outside of the
organization that will impact the way you manage a project. Here are a few examples of
EEFs are the structure of the organization, Quality standards , Government standards, Market
standards and conditions, Codes of conduct, Staffing guidelines, Project management
information systems (PMIS)

4. Organizational Process Assets (OPA): The definition of OPA is any or all process related
assets, from any or all of the organizations involved in the project that are or can be used to
influence the project’s success. These process assets include formal and informal plans,
policies, procedures, and guidelines.

a) Templates to be used for creating a network of the project activities during the upcoming
process
b) Policies, procedures and/or guidelines for developing logical relationships between activities
c) Lessons learned repository–if there have been similar previous projects done by the
organization, this can help with the process of sequencing the activities in the current project

 Activity Sequencing – TOOLS AN D TECHNIQUES

1. Precedence diagram method(PDM):
The precedence diagram method is a tool for scheduling activities in a project plan. It is a
method of constructing a project schedule network diagram that uses boxes, referred to as
nodes, to represent activities and connects them with arrows that show the dependencies. It is
 also called the activity-on-node (AON) method. The Precedence Diagramming Method uses
four types of dependencies. Those dependencies are as follows:

a) Finish to Start (FS)

b) Finish to Finish (FF)
c) Start to Start (SS)
d) Start to Finish (SF)

a) Finish to Start (FS): In this type of dependency, the second activity cannot be started until
the first activity completes. This type of dependency is the most commonly used dependency
in the diagramming techniques.

For example, to paint a wall you first need to build a wall. In this case, the first activity is
building the wall and second activity will be painting. You cannot start painting the wall
unless the wall is ready.

b) Finish to Finish (FF): Here, the second activity cannot be finished until the first activity
finishes. In other words, both activities should finish simultaneously.

For example, let us say that you are coding a program for a client, and the client is providing
you with the characteristics of the program. In this case, you cannot finish coding for your
program until the client gives you his complete requirements. Here, both activities should
finish simultaneously.

c) Start to Start (SS): Here, the second activity cannot be started until the first activity starts.
Both activities should start simultaneously.
 Suppose you have to apply a primary coating on a wall. To apply the coating, you also need to
clean the wall. Therefore, one team will start cleaning the wall and second team will paint it.
Both activities can be started at the same time.

d) Start to Finish (SF): In this type of dependency, the second activity cannot be finished until
the first activity starts.

For example, let us say you have to move into a new home, and your old home has to be
demolished. In this case, you cannot move to your new home until it is ready. Hence, the
second activity (construction of new home) must be finished before the first activity starts
(you start moving into a new home); i.e. if you are moving into your new home, you cannot
start vacating your old home until the new house is completely ready.

Different Precedence diagram Methods

 Arrow diagramming method
 Project network
 Critical-path method
 Gantt chart
 Program evaluation and review technique

2. Dependency determination

Dependencies are well-defined as connections among the activities that decide the sequence
in which project activities should be executed. Dependency is a technique used in identifying
the appropriate type of dependency used to create the relationship between two activities. The
activities are termed as predecessor (which refers to the first activity) and successor (the
activity that precedes the first).There are numerous types of dependencies: mandatory and
discretionary, internal and external, or some combination of these dependencies.

a) Mandatory dependencies
 Mandatory Project Dependencies are legally or contractually required. They are, sometimes,
inherent in the nature of the work like physical limitation. Mandatory dependencies are also
commonly described as Hard logic.
 Consider 2 activities A and B. If B has a Mandatory Dependency on A then it means action
on B cannot be performed until Action on A has been completed.
 For example, work on the first floor (Activity B) cannot begin until the foundation of the
building (Activity A) is complete.

b) Discretionary dependencies
 Discretionary Project Dependencies are defined by the Project Team. There could be more
than one way to define a sequence between 2 activities. The Project Team may prefer one
sequence over the other. The team would choose their preferred sequence because of best
practices or lessons learned from prior experiences. These are also called Preferred Logic,
Preferential Logic or Soft Logic.
 Consider 2 activities A and B. A and B can be independently performed or one can be
performed after the other. The Project Team can choose to make B dependent on A.
 For example, the team may choose to build the door and window frames before the full
structure of the wall is in place.

c) External dependencies
 External Project Dependencies are defined between non-project Activities and project
activities. The non-project activities are done by people who are external to the Project Team
e.g. representatives from Client’s organization, Vendors’ organization or any other external
groups. The project activities, on the other hand, are done by the Project Team. The Project
Team usually does not have control over non-project activities.
 Consider 2 activities A and B. If B has an External Dependency on A then it would signify
that B is a project activity while A is a non-project activity.
 For example if construction work has to be started, the building plans has to approve by the
client’s side.

d) Internal dependencies
 Internal Project Dependencies are defined between two project activities. The Project Team,
usually, has complete control over project activities.
 Consider 2 activities A and B. If B has an Internal Dependency on A then it would signify
that both A and B are project activities.
 For example, installing drywall must be completed before painting the wall can begin. This
is an example of an internal dependency because both tasks are part of the project. In this
case, it is also mandatory because it is based on a physical limitation. It is not possible to
paint the wall before it is dry-walled.

3. Leads and Lags

 Lags and leads are ways to put time between two activities in order to accurately define the
logical relationship.
 Leads are the amount of time a successor activity can be advanced with respect to a
predecessor activity, resulting in subtracted or negative time (negative lags).
 Lags are the amount of time a successor activity is required to be delayed with respect to a
predecessor activity, resulting in added or positive time.
 If there is a given lead or lag for an activity, it can be seen that increasing the lead of the
successor activity will reduce the total duration of the two activities. Likewise, decreasing the
lag of the successor activity will also reduce the total activity of the two activities. However,
looking at the definitions above, and given that the lag is usually a requirement, and a lead is
the amount of time that a successor activity can be advanced, it is more likely that you will
be able to increase a lead rather than decrease a lag.
 Activity Sequencing – OUTPUTS

Project Schedule network diagram

It is also called as logical Network Diagrams or project network diagrams. A schedule

network diagram outlines a project and the logical order in which different activities must be
completed and also to analyze logical relationships between different activities and
milestones. It provides a clear sequence of events for the efficient completion of a project.