once you have sequenced the activities, that may influence your selection of resources assigned to those activities which is required for estimating the duration of the activities.
In the real world, estimating duration of individual activities does not necessarily come after sequence.
Often, the various teams involved will provide their statement of work along with hours required and flow (duration) since not all tasks can simply be worked at 100% capacity where 40 hours = 1 week. Once the inputs are received, then the PM must logically sequence the tasks to determine the overall duration.
Similarly, we sometimes perform "green-room" activities where we gather the team, document the tasks and dependencies at the same time. You could also have a set of activities already sequenced from a previous similar project, and you need to determine how long the individual activities take for the new project.
Developing an integrated schedule on real projects is often a matter of laying out what you know up front, and then trying to fill in the blanks, sometimes working left to right (Then what happens next?), sometimes working right to left (What do you need from others before you can perform this task?), and sometimes in parallel (Where are the logical dependencies between these two series of activities?) Saving Changes...
Tejas SuraManaging Director| Cubic Turnkey Private LimitedMumbai, Maharashtra, India
More often, sequencing and activity duration estimating happen simultaneously. Sequencing is independent of durations in the sense that the logic of sequencing should be the same regardless of the duration.
Many times, sequencing is changed when the duration estimates are entered and the schedule seems to be not as per the desired duration in order to change the duration of the overall schedule.
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1 reply by Keith Novak
Jun 25, 2020 1:47 PM
Keith Novak
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Very good point. Whenever I have a project duration that is longer than the required due date, I start to challenge the dependencies. In the idealized low risk situation, we often plan one task to start after another has been completed, but when there is insufficient time, we look for what can be done in parallel, even though it involves some risk.
More often, sequencing and activity duration estimating happen simultaneously. Sequencing is independent of durations in the sense that the logic of sequencing should be the same regardless of the duration.
Many times, sequencing is changed when the duration estimates are entered and the schedule seems to be not as per the desired duration in order to change the duration of the overall schedule.
Very good point. Whenever I have a project duration that is longer than the required due date, I start to challenge the dependencies. In the idealized low risk situation, we often plan one task to start after another has been completed, but when there is insufficient time, we look for what can be done in parallel, even though it involves some risk. Saving Changes...
