{"id":7329,"date":"2012-01-05T08:09:05","date_gmt":"2012-01-05T15:09:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/?p=7329"},"modified":"2011-09-05T08:31:28","modified_gmt":"2011-09-05T15:31:28","slug":"handling-delays-in-a-project-schedule-part-iii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/?p=7329","title":{"rendered":"Handling delays in a project schedule (Part III)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Certified Business Coach and Corporate Exit Strategist<\/p>\n

This is the second part of a three part article discussing \u201chow does a project manager intelligently handle delays?\u201d<\/p>\n

Last article we focused on acknowledging the natural flow of a project which includes periodic speed bumps and roadblocks.\u00a0 In today\u2019s article we\u2019ll focus on using critical path analysis to assist with project management.\u00a0 Diagramming the critical paths of a project accomplishes several things:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Identifies imaginary dependencies<\/li>\n
  2. Highlights invisible bottlenecks<\/li>\n
  3. Allows you to untangle the issues before they materialize.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Take a look at the below flowchart example:
    \n<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

    Critical Path Identification:<\/strong><\/p>\n

    This flowchart illustrates a work flow by sorting which items can be conducted in parallel and which needs to be done serially (i.e. has some dependencies among them).\u00a0 By plotting out the parallel tasks in columns and the serial tasks in row, you forecast how long this current plan will take to execute.\u00a0 The longest time through each phase (or column) is the critical path time.<\/p>\n

    At first glance, you may think that it will take a maximum of :<\/p>\n

    1 day to execute phase Task 1 list; maximum of 3 days to execute phase Task 2 lists; maximum of 2 days to execute phase Task 3, 2 days for phase Task 4 lists, 1 day for Task 5 and 2 days for Task 6.\u00a0 This totals 11 days.<\/p>\n

    \u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    But from the above chart, you can see that there are three arrows going into and out of Task 3.\u00a0 Anytime you have three or more lines going to or from a single task,\u00a0 you have created a bottleneck.<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0 Task 3 cannot start it\u2019s coding duties until all three of the previous tasks have completed and been delivered.\u00a0 Also, the rest of the team is in a \u2018stop production\u2019 mode until Task 3 is completed.\u00a0 This is something we need to \u2018nip in the bud\u2019 before any resources, design specifications and develop clocks are started.<\/p>\n

    Coding resource allocation in your Critical Path Charts:<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Another helpful trick is to color-code your resources directly into your Critical Path Charts.\u00a0 In this example, each developer or resource has a different color assigned:<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

    Once you have color-coded your critical path charts with your resources, you can now re-evaluate the time it will take your team to actually complete the phases.\u00a0 You now see that (although your original estimate was three days to complete phase Task 2 lists) it will take at least 5 days to get through the phase Task 2 iteration because Dave is assigned to both Task 2a and Task 2b.\u00a0 The tasks themselves are not dependent upon each other (and therefore could<\/strong> have been done in parallel), but Dave can only concentrate on one task at a time.<\/p>\n

    Once you have identified this issue, you can choose to:<\/p>\n