Network Planning in Project Management

Abstract

Planning is a big part of project management, and the success of it is highly dependent on this process. The method Network planning will be used to reduce possible complexity of a project and smoothen the execution of the project planning. A project of a large scale that require coordination of multiple activities is a challenging task for a project manager. Succeeding a project is about simple forms of working and organising regardless of the size of the project. The method will therefore be used as an integration approach where the different activities are separated to get an overview of the process. Understanding the dependencies of the project and setting up millstones is also ideal to motivate the employees involved in the project.

Project networking is investigating a project as sets of interconnected activities with the purpose of assisting in planning, managing, and controlling projects. This article will mainly focus on the most well know network planning techniques: the Critical path method (CPM) and the Program evaluation and review technique (PERT). CPM and PERT was developed in the 1950’s and has since then been used widely in operation research. The goal of the tool is to manage a project, meeting its deadlines with a minimum total cost. The tools will help organising the project, getting an overview of the activities and estimate the total length of the project. There can be multiple paths to the end of the project, but those tools can help the manager find the most effective one. Initially the methods will need three types of information to describe the project: activity, precedence, and time. This will be elaborated in the article followed by a description of the tool, an example of how to use the tool, other alternative planning tools and the limitations of the tool.

This article will stand out from the other network planning articles by elaborating the theory behind network/graphs and the focus on the comparison of different planning tools that are not focused on network planning specifically.

Network Theory

The first section will describe the terminology of network planning.

Graph Theory

A graph that consists of multiple nodes and arcs are considered a network. This means that a network consists of nodes that are connected through arcs. In this article the exploration of networks will be centered around project planning, which means that the nodes correspond to the events in the project. The arcs correspond to the connection between the events and can be either directed or undirected. When an arc is directed, for example for A to B, it means that the network can only go from A to B and not from B to A. An example of a network is illustrated below.

Spanning Tree

Consider a network with a number of nodes \textit{n} and no initially arcs. By adding one arc at a time between the nodes, a tree will appear. The first arc can be between any of the nodes in the network, but along the way, an arc cannot be placed if it creates a cycle. A network of nodes connected through arcs are referred to as a spanning tree. A network therefore differs between being cyclic or acyclic

CPM/PERT

The goal of this method is to find a path between the nodes from the start node to the finish nodes with the minimum amount of costs. Other than that, it is possible to estimate the amount of time that the project will take to complete. This method accounts for the fact that some of the activities may be carried out simultaneously.

The method will start by addressing when the activities can start and finish if no delays occur.

Application of Network Planning

As mentioned earlier, some information is needed in order to use network theory for planning a project:

- Activity information: the project must be broken down into individual activities

- Precedence relationships: find immediate predecessor(s) for each activity

- Time information: know/estimate the duration of each activity

Other than that, a network will have one or more start node(s) and a finish node/node(s).

Alternative planning tools

What other tools could be relevant for project planning?

- GANTT

- Double Diamond

- Milestone Plan

Limitations

This article is based on project management, but it could just as well be applied for program and portefolio management.

- What are the pros and cons of this method?

- The CEP does not account for delays

- Would another method be more applicable for some projects

Ref test Ref test1 Ref test2 Ref test 3