Scheduling Tasks with Project Charts
The first step to becoming a more efficient project manager is to decompose your project into small tasks using mind maps, an issue which we discussed last week. Today we’re going to address the second step in the process, which is setting the schedule for all tasks and deliverables using project charts (also known as Gantt charts.)
If you followed my last article on decomposing broad tasks into smaller ones (read it here) then you will recall the general message from that article which is that it’s much easier to construct accurate timelines and delivery dates for projects when you can sum your total required work time from a number of small tasks because it’s much, much easier to estimate an accurate duration for smaller tasks than broader tasks.
Two Core Areas of Scheduling
In this article I want to touch on the art of accurately prioritizing tasks. There are two core areas of a scheduling that must be settled upon before you can begin to move forward with a project:
- Duration, the amount of time it takes to complete single tasks or groups of related task.
- Sequence, the order in which tasks are executed.
We figured out how to determine duration in our last article by using mind maps to decompose broad tasks into specific tasks, and that’s the hardest part of scheduling. The next area (sequencing) is what we’re going to address in this article and there are additional areas of scheduling that we will address in subsequent articles, like resources and milestones.
I’m going to use the example of shopping for a new SUV as our project for this article, since it’s a concise example. I’ll begin with a mind map which shows all of the tasks and subtasks that go into “shopping for a new SUV” project. Here it is:
Ok, so we have a good idea of the primary tasks that go into buying an SUV; first you do some research online, then you do some hands-on research, settle on a make and model, determine financing, determine insurance, and do some paperwork with the DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles.) Usually there are some trade-in negotiations but I decided to skip that step in this example.
Alright, with those details out of the way we can get on to meat of the matter.
Getting a Grip on Task Sequencing
We already know how long it’s going to take to execute each individual task because we decomposed our tasks into small tasks to which we can easily assign reasonably accurate durations. Therefore the next step we need to take is to determine the sequence in which we execute tasks. What’s the process for figuring out sequencing?
The bad news is that there is no simple, universal process for sequencing the tasks in every single type of project because each kind of project has a degree of what I call “natural sequencing,” meaning that there are some tasks are dependent upon the results of others.
It is important that we determine exactly what these dependencies are. Let’s consider the natural sequence of my SUV-purchasing example:
- Before we can register our car with the DMV we need to own the car.
- Before we can insure our car we with an insurance provider we need to own the car.
- Before we can purchase our car we need to have financing secured.
- Before we can secure financing we need to have a clear idea on what car we want and we need to know what our price range is.
- Before we know what car we want to purchase we need to test drive the different models and makes in order to make a smart purchasing decision.
- Before we test drive various cars we need to know which makes and models that we’re interested in.
Based on the steps I’ve described you can recognize the natural dependencies involved in the process of buying a car. I’m going to convert my mind map to a Gantt chart and illustrate these dependencies.
I pared down my Gantt chart to contain just the broad tasks. Take a look at the start dates – task 2 doesn’t start until task 1 ends, task 3 doesn’t start until task 2 ends, and so forth. This is how you illustrate dependencies and it is these dependencies which determine the sequence of your tasks.
The Importance of Co-Tasks
We’ve identified and planned for all of the dependencies in our project thus far, but now we need to consider “co-tasks.” Co-tasks are tasks that can be done in parallel if resources are available, and the reason that these are significant is because co-tasks can shorten the total time needed to complete a project.
Let me illustrate the point by adding some co-tasks to my Gantt chart.
Consider tasks 1.1-1.4, the ones shaded in light blue; they are all sub-tasks of “Online Research.” All of those tasks can be executed in parallel with each other – if you’re researching cars online you’re going to be weight all of those factors at the same time.
So why is this important? Let me ask you a hypothetical question: how long would it take you to purchase a new car given that you could only work on one and only one task on any given day? The answer is 21 days given all of the durations that I’ve used in my example. Follow-up question: how long does it take you to purchase a new car if you can streamline co-tasks in parallel? The answer is 12 days.
The point is that if you can correctly identify opportunities for co-tasks then you can expedite the entire project as it allows you to hit multiple birds with a single stone.
By recognizing dependencies and co-tasks in your project you can plan your project much more efficiently by capitalizing on opportunities to hit multiple birds with a single stone and by making sure you complete your tasks in the proper order. Next time we’ll take a closer look at milestones and deliverables!
If you want to try building your own project charts with dependencies and co-tasks then you can download a free trial of SmartDraw.
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