Table Of ContentProject Planning and Control
Project Planning and
Control
Fourth Edition
Eur Ing Albert Lester,
CEng, FICE, FIMechE,
FIStructE, FAPM
AMSTERDAM BOSTON HEIDELBERG LONDON NEW YORK OXFORD
PARIS SAN DIEGO SAN FRANCISCO SINGAPORE SYDNEY TOKYO
Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann
Linacre House, Jordan Hill, Oxford OX2 8DP
200 Wheeler Road, Burlington MA 01803
First published by Butterworth & Co (Publishers) Ltd 1982
Second edition published by Butterworth-Heinemann 1991
Third edition 2000
Fourth edition 2003
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Contents
Preface to the fourth edition vii
Preface to the third edition xi
Preface to the second edition xv
Preface to the first edition xvii
Foreword to the first edition xix
Acknowledgements xxi
1 Project definition 1
2 Business case 5
3 Organization structures 16
4 Project life cycles 20
5 Work breakdown structures (WBS) 25
6 Estimating 38
7 Project management plan 42
8 Risk management 46
9 Quality management 56
10 Change and configuration management 58
11 Basic network principles 65
12 Precedence or activity on node (AoN) diagrams 81
13 Lester diagram 88
14 Float 96
15 Arithmetical analysis 104
16 Graphical analysis, milestones and LoB 112
17 Computer analysis 127
18 Simple examples 135
Contents
19 Progress reporting 147
20 The case for manual analysis 156
21 Subdivision of blocks 165
22 Project management and planning 172
23 Network applications outside the construction industry 181
24 Networks and claims 196
25 Resource loading 203
26 Cash flow forecasting 211
27 Cost control and EVA 220
28 Worked examples 256
29 Example of integration of tools and techniques 289
30 Hornet Windmill 312
31 MS Project 98 339
32 Project close-out 351
33 Stages and sequence 353
34 Abbreviations and acronyms used in project management 359
Glossary 363
Bibliography 371
Index 377
vi
Preface to the fourth
edition
About a year ago I was asked by a firm of insurance loss adjusters to
investigate the possibility of reducing the anticipated overrun caused by an
explosion at a power station. Based on previous experience of similar
problems, I asked the contractors (a firm of international design and build
constructors) to let me examine the critical path network which formed the
basis of the computer-generated bar charts previously sent to the loss
adjusters. My objective was to see whether the original sequence of
construction activities could be rescheduled to mitigate the inevitable delays
caused by long lead times of replacements and in some cases redesign of the
damaged components.
To my dismay, I discovered that there was no network. The planners
inputted the data straight into the computer, based on very detailed established
modular packages. These packages contained the sequences, interrelationships
and durations of the constituent activities.
It is a fact that most commercial computer programs recommend such a
procedure. The planner can then see the program on the screen in bar chart
form as he/she proceeds, but will only obtain a network printout (in
precedence format) after the data has been processed. In other words the
network has become virtually redundant as it has not been used to develop the
structure of the project before the data was inputted.
This procedure turns network analysis on its head and does not give a
project team the ability to discuss and refine the interrelationships to give the
optimum results in terms of time and cost. The very act of communally
drafting and developing the network generates not only an understanding and
appreciation of the problems, but also enables the overall time to be reduced
to an acceptable level by maximizing parallel working without necessarily
Preface to the fourth edition
increasing resources and costs. It is for this reason that I have retained the
chapter setting out the case for manual analysis. Even in this age of the
universal use of the PC for just about every management and operational
function of an organization, the thinking process, i.e. the basic planning and
sequencing of a project cannot be left to a machine.
One of the by-products of computerization was the introduction of
precedence or AoN (activity on node) networks. These types of networks
seem to militate against manual drafting for large projects, because drawing
and filling in of the many node boxes is very time consuming, when compared
to the drafting of arrow or AoA (activity on arrow) diagrams.
However, the big advantage of the AoN diagram is the substitution of node
numbers by activity numbers. This clearly simplifies the numbering system
and enables activities to be added or changed without affecting the numbers
of the other activities. Indeed most computer programs add the activity
numbers automatically as the data is entered.
There is no reason therefore why a simplified form of AoN network cannot
be used in the manual drafting process to give the same benefit as an arrow
diagram. A selected number of the arrow (AoA) diagram examples given in
Chapters 12 and 18 have therefore been augmented by these simplified
precedence diagrams, in the hope that the important part of network analysis,
the initial drafting, will be carried out. Unfortunately the description of the
activities will have to be written into the nodes, which will usually reduce the
number of activities that can be accommodated on a sheet of paper when
compared with an arrow diagram. A ‘marriage’ of the two methods, called the
‘Lester’ diagram is given in Chapter 13.
At the time of writing, Earned Value Analysis (EVA) has still not been fully
embraced by certain sections of industry. One reason for this may be the jargon
associated with this technique. When we developed our own EVA system at
Foster Wheeler as far back as 1978 we used the simple terms of Actual Cost,
Planned Cost and Earned Value. Unfortunately the American CSCSC system
introduced such terms as ACWP, BCWS and BCWP which often generated
groans from students and rejection from practitioners. It is gratifying to note
therefore that the campaign to eradicate these abbreviations has prompted the
British Standards Institution and the Association for Project Management to give
prominence to the original English words. To encourage this welcome trend, the
terms used in EVA methods in this book are in English instead of jargon.
Since publication of the third edition, the APMP examination has
undergone a number of changes. In order to meet the new requirements for
viii
Preface to the fourth edition
paper 2 of the examination, some new topics have been included in this
edition and a number of topics have been enhanced. However, no attempt has
been made to include the ‘soft’ topics such as team building and motivation,
which, while important, are really part of good general management and are
certainly not exclusive to project management.
A number of chapters have been rewritten and their order rearranged to
reflect as far as possible the sequence in which the various techniques are
carried out when managing a project.
A. Lester
ix
