PERT / CPM

By Onele Mabhena, Donald Maviza, Yancy Nthakomwa, Basildon Shumba, Mthokozisi

Sibanda and Philani Mkhwananzi of Group 3
Yancy V Nthakomwa N0198789M
Donald Maziva N0198074X
Philani Mkwananzi N0199106M
Onele Mabhena N0199164Y
Basildon Shumba N0196321C
Mthokozisi Sibanda N019
What is PERT?
• Project Evaluation Review Technique (PERT)
• PERT was introduced as an event-oriented, probabilistic technique to
increase the Program Manager’s control in projects where time was
the critical factor and time estimates were difficult to make with
confidence.
• The events used in this technique represent the start and finish of the
activities. PERT uses three-time estimates for each activity: optimistic,
pessimistic, and most likely. An expected time is calculated based on a
beta probability distribution for each activity from these estimates.
What is PERT? cont’d
•  is a method used to examine the tasks in a schedule and determine a 
Critical Path Method variation (CPM). It analyzes the time required to
complete each task and its associated dependencies to determine the
minimum time to complete a project. It estimates the shortest
possible time each activity will take, the most likely length of time,
and the longest time that might be taken if the activity takes longer
than expected.
The Purpose of PERT Analysis
• PERT Analysis informs Program Managers and project personnel on
the project’s tasks and the estimated amount of time required to
complete each task. By utilizing this information a Program Manager
will be able to estimate the minimum amount of time required to
complete the entire project. This helps in the creation of more
realistic schedules and cost estimates.
Conducting a PERT Analysis
• The procedure is comprised of two steps. These two steps are:
• Step 1: Determine optimistic, pessimistic, and most likely estimates
• To conduct PERT Analysis, three-time estimates are obtained (optimistic,
pessimistic, and most likely) for every activity along the Critical Path.
• Optimistic Time (O): the minimum possible time required to accomplish a
task, assuming everything proceeds better than is normally expected.
• Pessimistic Time (P): the maximum possible time required to accomplish a
task, assuming everything goes wrong (excluding major catastrophes).
• Most likely Time (M): the best estimate of the time required to
accomplish a task, assuming everything proceeds as normal.
Conducting a PERT Analysis cont’d
• Step 2: Calculate PERT Estimate
• After completing Step 1, use the (optimistic, pessimistic, and most
likely) estimates in the formula below to calculate the PERT estimate
for the project
Formula: (P+4M+O)/6
PERT Example
Task Optimistic (O) Most Likely (M) Pessimistic (P)

Task A 2wks 4wks 5wks

Task B 1wks 2wks 3wks

Task C 2wks 3wks 4wks

Task B 3wks 5wks 8wks

Completion 8wks 14wks 20wks

PERT Example cont’d
• Using the formula (P+4M+O)/6
• (8 + 4(14)+20)/6 = 14 Weeks
What is CPM?
• CPM stand for Critical Path Method
• The Critical Path Method (CPM) is a way to determine the critical path
of a schedule. The critical path is the longest path of scheduled
activities that must be met to execute a project.
• This is important for Program Managers (PM) to know since any
problems on the critical path can prevent a project from moving
forward and be delayed.  Other schedule paths might have slack time
to avoid delaying the entire project, unlike the critical path.
The Objective of CPM
•  is to determine the critical path in order to focus resources more
efficiently. The method helps Program Managers (PM):
• Understand which tasks are on the critical path to determine a
completion date
• How best to manage tasks around the critical path to meet the
scheduled end date
• Focus on preventing schedule slips
• Gain insight when planning work packages and tasks
Determining the Critical Path
• The Critical Path is determined when analyzing a project’s schedule or
network logic diagram and uses the Critical Path Method (CPM).  The
CPM provides a graphical view of the project, predicts the time
required for the project, and shows which activities are critical to
maintaining the schedule.
Determining the Critical Path
• Step 1: List of all activities required to complete the project
• Step 2: Determine the sequence of activities
• Step 3: Draw a network diagram
• Step 4: Determine the time that each activity will take to completion
• Step 5: Determine the dependencies between the activities
• Step 6: Determine the critical path
• Step 7: Update the network diagram as the project progresses
• The CPM calculates the longest path of planned activities to the end of the
project and the earliest and latest that each activity can start and finish
without making the project longer. This process determines which activities
are “critical” (i.e., on the longest path) and which have “total float” (i.e., can
be delayed without making the project longer).
Basis for comparison PERT CPM
Meaning PERT is a project management CPM is a statistical technique of
technique, used to manage project management hat manages
uncertain activities of a project well defined activities of a project
What is it? A technique of planning and A method to control cost and time
control of time
Orientation Event- oriented Activity-oriented
Evolution Evolved as Research and Evolved as a construction project
Development project
Model Probabilistic model Deterministic model
Focuses on Time Time-cost trade off
Estimates Three time estimates One time estimate
Appropriate for High precision time estimate Reasonable time estimate
Management of Unpredictable activities Predictable activities
Nature of jobs Non-repetitive nature Repetitive nature
Critical and Non- critical activities No differentiation Differentiated
Suitable for Research and Development Non- research projects like civil
projects construction, ship building etc.
Work Breakdown Structure
• A Work Breakdown Structure is a hierarchical decomposition of work
tasks that need to be performed by project team members to
accomplish project goals and objectives and create the required
deliverable.
• It displays and defines the product, or products, to be developed
and/or produced. It relates the elements of work to be accomplished
to each other and to the end product
• WBS is an organized method to break down a product into sub
products at lower levels of detail. It’s used for planning, cost
estimating, execution and control.
Purpose of the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
• The purpose of the WBS is to break down projects into manageable pieces,
allowing for better planning, cost estimating, execution and control.
• The WBS is a means of organizing system development activities based on
system and product decompositions. It is a product-oriented family tree
composed of hardware, software, services, data, and facilities, which result
from systems engineering efforts during the development and production
of the system and its components, and which completely defines the
program.
• The WBS is prepared from both the physical and system architectures and
identifies all necessary products and services needed for the system. This
top-down structure provides a continuity of flow down for all tasks. Enough
levels must be provided to properly define work packages for cost and
schedule control purposes.
Two types of Work Breakdown Structures
• Program WBS: A program WBS is established to provide the framework
for program and technical planning, cost estimating, resource
allocation, performance measurement, and status reporting. The WBS
defines the total hardware, software, services, data, and facilities
system and relates these elements to each other and to the end
product. Program offices develop a program WBS tailoring the guidance
provided in MIL-HDBK-881 and MIL-STD-881D. The WBS is also an
integral part of the preparation of the Cost Analysis Requirements
Description (CARD).
• Contract WBS: are part of the program WBS and relate to deliverables
and tasks on a specific contract.
Constructing a Work breakdown structure
• Step 1: Gather Main Documentation: You must understand the project goals and objectives.
To do this, gather the project charter,  scope, objectives, and any requirements.
• Step 2: Identify Your Main Team Members: A WBS can’t be built in a vacuum. It takes a team
of specialized people to know how to break their sections down into discreet parts.
• Step 3: Define WBS Level 1: This level is a summary of the deliverable that must be met to
satisfy the project scope.
• Step 4: Create the WBS Levels: This is the step where you break down is WBS component into
discreet events. This is the most time-consuming and important step in the process. You need
to break down the work until each Element can be accomplished by a single individual or
organization.
• Step 5: Create the WBS Dictionary: The Dictionary describes each work element in the WBS.
• Step 6: Create the Integrated Master Schedule (IMS) and Integrated Master Plan (IMP): This
creates a complete plan of all the work that needs to be accomplished and by when.
How to Utilize a Work Breakdown Structure
• A Work Breakdown Structure is primarily used as a planning tool to help the Program
Manager and project personnel plan, define and organize a project into discreet
deliverables. It describes all the work that needs to be accomplished to help avoid
any confusion. There are three main components of a WBS that help with defining
the program. These are:
• Control Accounts: Control Account (CA) is a management control point at which
budgets (resource plans) and actual costs are accumulated and compared to earned
value for management control purposes. Any WBS Elements at which the project
plans to monitor and report performance.
• Planning Packages: These are steps that have been created but are not fully defined
yet into work packages.
• Work Packages: A work package is simply a task/activity or grouping of work and is
the point at which work is planned, progress is measured, and earned value is
computed. Natural subdivision of a Control Account. This information is described in
the WBS Dictionary.
Sources
• https://acqnotes.com/acqnote/tasks/pert-analysis
• https://acqnotes.com/acqnote/tasks/critical-path-critical-path-metho
d
• https://acqnotes.com/acqnote/careerfields/work-breakdown-
structure