Critical or Driving Path Analysis

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1 Schedule Integrity Audit Tools... 2 Overview... 2 When to Audit... 3 Auditing Using SSI Tools... 4 Audit Examples... 4 Using SSI Audit Tools for Selected and Batch Audits... 5 Running a Selected Audit... 5 Running a Batch of Selected Audits... 5 Running the DCMA 14 Point Assessment... 6 *Regarding the Critical or Driving Path Analysis part of the DCMA 14 Point Assessment:... 6 Exercise Practice Running Predefined Audits... 7 Exercise Run a DCMA 14 Point Assessment with an Explicit Critical Path... 9 Using the Audit Builder Project Fields used for User Defined Audits Conditions used for User Defined Audit Rules Project Fields used for User Defined Audit Criteria Exercise Make User Defined Audits Rim Trail, Prescott, Arizona ssi@ssitools.com Page 1

2 Schedule Integrity Audit Tools Overview The difference between a project schedule and a task list is the extra measures the master scheduler and subject matter experts take when developing and maintaining the plan to ensure it can reliably predict future events. Industry experts generally agree on a set of best practices for schedule development and maintenance. A consensus of Government and Industry guidelines related to project scheduling can be found in the following documents: The Planning & Scheduling Excellence Guide Release 3.0: (PASEG 3.0) The GAO Schedule Assessment Guide The Integrated Program Management Report (IPMR) Data Item Description (DI-MGMT ) The Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide) Structured Solutions Schedule Integrity Audit Tools test your project for these best practices and more: Horizontal Integration the sequencing of items in a schedule using dependencies such that start and finish dates are derived by a task s duration and its predecessors. Free Flowing Schedules limited use of Hard Schedule Constraints (Must Start/Finish On, Start/Finish No Later Than) maximum use of non-date constrained tasks (As Soon as Possible) Valid Status no unfinished work in the past or finished work in the future. Tasks are Discrete Work Efforts having the ability to objectively measure their performance. Ability to perform Cumulative Schedule Variance Analysis using a Performance Measurement Baseline (PMB) taken when the plan was originally created. Ability to perform Current Period Schedule Variance Analysis to a schedule Snapshot taken periodically during execution. 386 Rim Trail, Prescott, Arizona ssi@ssitools.com Page 2

When to Audit Even if the baseline schedule conforms to industry best practices, audits and quality checks need to be performed frequently throughout project execution.

3 When to Audit Even if the baseline schedule conforms to industry best practices, audits and quality checks need to be performed frequently throughout project execution. Performing audits during periodic reporting cycles insures that the integrity of the plan is maintained it may also be a contractual requirement with consequences if the project fails to maintain good plan integrity. 386 Rim Trail, Prescott, Arizona ssi@ssitools.com Page 3

Auditing Using SSI Tools Schedule Integrity Audit tools in the SSI Analysis Tools menu gives project managers the ability to test a schedule for Selected Audit conditions, a Batch of conditions, a

4 Auditing Using SSI Tools Schedule Integrity Audit tools in the SSI Analysis Tools menu gives project managers the ability to test a schedule for Selected Audit conditions, a Batch of conditions, a collection of conditions known as the DCMA 14 Point Assessment and custom user defined conditions created using the Audit Builder. Audit results can be logged in a project and displayed using a filter or they can be exported to Excel as an Audit report. Audit Examples Specific Audits you can perform using SSI Tools include: Tasks with Dangling Finish (The finish of a task does not link to a successor) Invalid Status Hard Constraints and Unnecessary Date Constraints Progress Posted Out of Sequence Baseline Dependencies Out of Sequence Out of Sync Child and Parent Baseline Dates Out of Sync Child and Parent Baseline Cost Out of Sync Child and Parent Baseline Work Tasks that are Late to Their Baseline Start or Finish Tasks that are Late to Their Snapshot Start or Finish Tasks with High Duration, Lag or Slack User defined Audits required by a project or client 386 Rim Trail, Prescott, Arizona ssi@ssitools.com Page 4

Using SSI Audit Tools for Selected and Batch Audits Running a Selected Audit Sometimes you just need to know if tasks in the schedule meets a certain condition.

Running a Batch of Selected Audits Other times you may need to test a project for many conditions all at once.

5 Using SSI Audit Tools for Selected and Batch Audits Running a Selected Audit Sometimes you just need to know if tasks in the schedule meets a certain condition. For example, you may only want to know which tasks require a status update in the current reporting period. Run audits one at a time using the tab named Selected Audit. Running a Batch of Selected Audits Other times you may need to test a project for many conditions all at once. After identifying tasks that meet these conditions you may need to generate a report showing specific tasks that have deficiencies that need to be addressed by the project team. Run a batch of audits using Batch Audits/Reports. 386 Rim Trail, Prescott, Arizona ssi@ssitools.com Page 5

Running the DCMA 14 Point Assessment In 2005, the US Defense Contract Management Agency implemented collection of schedule assessment conditions known as the DCMA 14 Point Assessment.

schedule that can be corrected for closer alignment with industry standard best practices.

6 Running the DCMA 14 Point Assessment In 2005, the US Defense Contract Management Agency implemented collection of schedule assessment conditions known as the DCMA 14 Point Assessment. Even if a project is not subject to DCMA audits or surveillance, running a self-evaluation of a project using the 14 Point assessment criteria may inform a project team if deficiencies exists in a schedule that can be corrected for closer alignment with industry standard best practices. The 14 Point Assessment checks Task Logic (or dependencies) for their existence and best use; Date Constraints to determine how well the project is able to be free flowing ; Float (or slack) to see if tasks meet target or contractual dates or if tasks have so much float that they may be missing key dependencies; Invalid Dates that show forecasted dates in the past or actual dates in the future; task Durations that may be so long that they can t be objectively measured during their performance; the continuity and integrity of the Critical (or driving) Path* and the project s Baseline Performance. *Regarding the Critical or Driving Path Analysis part of the DCMA 14 Point Assessment: Most projects will fail the DCMA 14 Point Critical Path assessment unless the tasks that makeup the Critical Path is explicitly identified. Justification for explicitly marking the critical path is that a Microsoft Project file may contain many projects. And each project in a Microsoft Project file may have one or more key events or deliverable items having their own Critical (or driving) Path. The best way to explicitly mark Critical or Driving Path items is to use the SSI Trace Tools and log the results in a Text or flag field. 386 Rim Trail, Prescott, Arizona ssi@ssitools.com Page 6

Click the Button named Filter Project for Items Listed Below if any audit conditions exist to record a note of the audit condition as a note in a Text field Dangling Finish Invalid Status Finish

7 Exercise Practice Running Predefined Audits Practice In-Session Exercise Open the Microsoft Project file named ExampleProject.mpp 1. Click Schedule Integrity Audits from the SSI Analysis Tools menu 2. Test the project for the Audit Conditions shown below using the tab named Selected Audit 3. Click the Button named Filter Project for Items Listed Below if any audit conditions exist to record a note of the audit condition as a note in a Text field Dangling Finish Invalid Status Finish is Late to Baseline Finish Running Audits One-by-one using the Selected Audit tab Filtering a project for audit conditions placing Notes in a Log field (be sure you can write to the selected Text field for Log Notes 386 Rim Trail, Prescott, Arizona ssi@ssitools.com Page 7

Save the Batch of Audits as MyBatchAudit 6.

8 4. Click the tab named Batch Audits/Reports and select the same audit conditions as above all at once (Hold the Control Key while selecting each of the three audits) 5. Save the Batch of Audits as MyBatchAudit 6. Export the Audit results to an Excel worksheet 386 Rim Trail, Prescott, Arizona Page 8

Exercise Run a DCMA 14 Point Assessment with an Explicit Critical Path Practice In-Session Exercise Open the Microsoft Project file named ExampleProject.mpp 1.

9 Exercise Run a DCMA 14 Point Assessment with an Explicit Critical Path Practice In-Session Exercise Open the Microsoft Project file named ExampleProject.mpp 1. Select the task named Receive Authority to Operate (on or near Row 12) 2. Select Trace Tools from the SSI Analysis Tools menu 3. Select the options and setting shown below and click Show Driving Path 4. Close the Trace Tools and Click Schedule Integrity Audits from the SSI Analysis Tools menu 5. Select the tab named Run 14 PA on the Schedule Integrity Checks form 6. Set the options shown below and click Run 14 Point Assessment 386 Rim Trail, Prescott, Arizona ssi@ssitools.com Page 9

worksheet showing each task with a deficiency 386 Rim

10 7. Review the Excel Report and click the links in columns showing a failed condition (red) to see a worksheet showing each task with a deficiency 386 Rim Trail, Prescott, Arizona ssi@ssitools.com Page 10

11 Using the Audit Builder Schedule Integrity Metrics Tools must be robust, scalable and adaptable to the needs of an organization. They also need to be current to the definition of Best Practices by various Government and Industry agencies. Best Practices descriptions and criteria are found in various documents and guidelines such as: The Planning & Scheduling Excellence Guide (PASEG) The Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) The GAO Schedule Assessment Guide Integrated Program Management Report (IPMR) Data Item Description Contract Data Requirements List (CDRL) descriptions US Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) 14-point Schedule Assessment DCMA Data-Driven Earned Value Management System (EVMS) Compliance (a Pilot to establish integrity and performance metrics) Additionally, a project or company may have its own audit or quality checklist representing their own policy or methods for developing and maintaining good schedule integrity. SSI s Audit Builder allows a team to meet current, evolving and user specific auditing needs. User Defined Audits can be run one at a time or added to a batch of audits and reports. 386 Rim Trail, Prescott, Arizona ssi@ssitools.com Page 11

12 The Audit Builder allows users to pick from a list of pre-defined audits that can change if needed. A user can update the list of audits shown by SSI Tools by deleting unwanted audits or adding new ones. User defined Audits are saved in a viewable, editable file named SSI_UserDefinedAudits.xlsx. This file is located in the installation directory of SSI Tools (C:\SSI_Tools\ SSI_UserDefinedAudits.xlsx) by default. SSI recommends that you backup this file if you intend to edit its content. A backup of this file is also included in the Backup folder below the SSI Tools installation folder. SSI Tools includes some Audit conditions that are not available in Microsoft Project filters (such as Is Not Unique Is Contained Within, Begins With, Ends With ). The structure of a User Defined Audit must include: Audit Name and Audit Description Task Types to inspect (Tasks, Milestones and Summaries) Audit Criteria 1 with a Project Field, Audit Rule and Audit Criteria User Defined Audits may also include: Audit Criteria 2 (with an And or an Or condition for the second criteria). If using the And condition, both conditions must be true for the item to be reported. If using the Or condition, either condition will cause the item to be reported. Flag or Status Exclusions o Exclude Flag - exclude tasks with a flag value = Yes o Exclude if Status is exclude tasks depending on their current progress or completion status Project Fields used for User Defined Audits Project Field Note on its Use % Complete % Work Complete Active Baseline(x) Duration Replace the characters "(x)" with a number from 1-10 Baseline(x) Finish Replace the characters "(x)" with a number from 1-10 Baseline(x) Start Replace the characters "(x)" with a number from 1-10 Baseline Duration Baseline Finish Constraint Date 386 Rim Trail, Prescott, Arizona ssi@ssitools.com Page 12

13 Project Field Note on its Use Constraint Type Contact Dependency Lag Dependency To Dependency From Duration Effort Driven Estimated Finish Finish(x) Replace the characters "(x)" with a number from 1-10 Flag(x) Replace the characters "(x)" with a number from 1-10 Free Slack Manual Name Number(x) Replace the characters "(x)" with a number from 1-20 Outline Code(x) Replace the characters "(x)" with a number from 1-10 Outline Level Outline Number Physical % Complete Predecessors Resource Names Start Start(x) Replace the characters "(x)" with a number from 1-10 Successors Text(x) Replace the characters "(x)" with a number from 1-30 Total Slack Type WBS Conditions used for User Defined Audit Rules Audit Rule Note on its Use Begins With Does Not Begin With Contains Does Not Contain A value in a project field is contained with a text string entered by the user. For example, the constraint type Must Start On is contained within this text string Must Start On, Must Finish On, Start No Later Is Contained Within Than, Finish No Later Than 386 Rim Trail, Prescott, Arizona ssi@ssitools.com Page 13

14 Audit Rule Ends With Does Not End With Equals Is Not Equal Is Greater Than Is Greater Than or Equal to Is Less Than Is Less Than or Equal to Is Not Unique Is Null Is Not Null Note on its Use. SSI Tools determines if the project field is a date, a numeric value or alpha characters for better handling of this condition. SSI Tools determines if the project field is a date, a numeric value or alpha characters for better handling of this condition. SSI Tools determines if the project field is a date, a numeric value or alpha characters for better handling of this condition. SSI Tools determines if the project field is a date, a numeric value or alpha characters for better handling of this condition Project Fields used for User Defined Audit Criteria Audit Criteria Note on its Use Values entered by the user Text, Dates or Numbers A value entered by the user by typing its value in the Audit Criteria field Values taken from tasks or the project [% Complete] [% Work Complete] [Active] [Baseline(x) Duration] Replace the characters "(x)" with a number from 1-10 [Baseline(x) Finish] Replace the characters "(x)" with a number from 1-10 [Baseline(x) Start] Replace the characters "(x)" with a number from 1-10 [Baseline Duration] [Baseline Finish] [Constraint Date] [Constraint Type] [Contact] [Deadline] [Dependency Lag] [Duration] 386 Rim Trail, Prescott, Arizona ssi@ssitools.com Page 14

15 Audit Criteria Note on its Use Values entered by the user [Effort Driven] [Estimated] [Finish] [Finish(x)] Replace the characters "(x)" with a number from 1-10 [Flag(x)] Replace the characters "(x)" with a number from 1-20 [Free Slack] [Manual] [Name] [Number(x)] Replace the characters "(x)" with a number from 1-20 [Outline Code(x)] Replace the characters "(x)" with a number from 1-10 [Outline Level] [Outline Number] [Physical % Complete] [Predecessors] [Resource Names] [Start] [Start(x)] Replace the characters "(x)" with a number from 1-10 [StatusDate] [Successors] [Text(x)] Replace the characters "(x)" with a number from 1-30 [Total Slack] [Type] [WBS] 386 Rim Trail, Prescott, Arizona ssi@ssitools.com Page 15

Enter the Audit Name, Description, Task Type and Audit Criteria 1 shown below 5. Click Save Changes as a New Audit 6. Select the tab named Selected Audit 7.

16 Exercise Make User Defined Audits Practice On your own Open your own Project or the Microsoft Project file named ExampleProject.mpp 1. Click Schedule Integrity Audits from the SSI Analysis Tools menu 2. Select the tab named Audit Builder on the Schedule Integrity Checks form 3. Click Clear Form to Make a New Audit 4. Enter the Audit Name, Description, Task Type and Audit Criteria 1 shown below 5. Click Save Changes as a New Audit 6. Select the tab named Selected Audit 7. Run the Audit you just created and filter the project to see the results 8. Close the Schedule Integrity Checks form and save changes to User Defined Audits Open your own Project or the Microsoft Project file named ExampleProject.mpp 9. Make your own User Defined Audits with one or more criteria 386 Rim Trail, Prescott, Arizona ssi@ssitools.com Page 16

DCMA Schedule Analyzer forproject. Getting Started Guide

DCMA Schedule Analyzer forproject Getting Started Guide Version 3.2 (June 2015) Copyright 2011-2015 forproject Technology, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The information contained in this document is the exclusive