Essay on Project Management: Precedence Diagramming Method for Activity Scheduling

In project management, scheduling of activities is of utmost importance since it aids in planning the organization's workforce and production resources. As a way of facilitating a comprehensive scheduling process, organizations use distinct techniques to break down work into smaller and manageable activities. Precedence Diagramming Method is one of the commonly used scheduling techniques that work by not only categorizing activities in boxes and connecting them in their order of connectedness but also by showing their precedence relationship (Roseke, 2017). The latter comes in four distinct categories, including finish to start, start to finish, start to start, and finish to finish. While all the categories are different, they help in developing profound schedules.

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The finish to start precedence relationship is different and unique in the sense that the scheduled activity, for instance, activity B cannot start until activity A is completed (Mochal, 2008). Examples of such activities that assume a finish start precedence relationship include: concrete pouring starts after forms are built. Also, machinery runs after connections are done (Christianson, 2019).

Start to finish, on the other hand, is the relationship where activity B can only finish after activity A has started (Mochal, 2008). While this is a rare relationship ion project management, some instances rely on this precedence relationship. For instance, inspection cannot finish until the clients start to review the products. Also, concrete pouring cannot finish until heating has started (Christianson, 2019).

Start to start is the relationship where both activities, A and B, cannot start without the other starting (Mochal, 2008). In other words, activity A can only start after activity B has started. For instance, machines cannot start in a factory unless air pollution test starts. Also, mixing of chemicals in a company cannot start until air testing starts.

Ultimately, finish to finish precedence relationship is a relationship where both activity A and B cannot finish when the other has not finished (Mochal, 2008). For instance, electrical work in a company cannot finish until drywalling is complete. Also, pressure testing cannot end until fracking is complete.

Ultimately, my integrative project: new Email I.T platform adopts the finish to start precedence relationship, considering the fact that I have to finish creating the platform to start using the platform. Overall, precedence relationships are crucial in identifying how different activities are related and function in project management, thus easing the scheduling process.

References

Bernie Roseke, P. (2017). Types of Task Dependencies. Retrieved 2 December 2019, from https://www.projectengineer.net/types-of-task-dependencies/

Christianson, J. (2019). Project Management Networks Part 3: Task Relationships and Lags [Video]. YouTube: J Scott Christianson.

Mochel, T. (2008). Look at four ways to set precedence relationships in your schedule. Retrieved 2 December 2019, from https://www.techrepublic.com/blog/tech-decision-maker/look-at-four-ways-to-set-precedence-relationships-in-your-schedule/