Planning, scheduling; linked bar chart

Planning and scheduling

• Planning decides what work is to be done, how (method and sequence), by whom and with what resources, to achieve the project objectives. It answers what, how, who.
• Scheduling puts the planned activities on a time scale. It fixes the start and finish date of each activity, the project duration and the float, answering when. Planning comes first; scheduling follows from it.

Linked bar chart: construction of a house (10 activities)

Linked bar chart (time in weeks; > shows the link from the finish of a predecessor to the start of the successor):

                 0   4   8   12  16  20  24  (wk)
                +------------------------
A Site clearing |#>                      
B Excavation    | ##>                    
C Foundation    |   ###>                 
D Plinth beam   |      ##>               
E Walls+columns |        #####>          
F Roof slab     |             ###>       
G Plumb/electric|             ###>       
H Plastering    |                ###>    
I Floor,doors   |                   ###> 
J Painting      |                      ##
                +------------------------

Start times: A 0, B 1, C 3, D 6, E 8, F 13, G 13, H 16, I 19, J 22. Project duration = 22 + 2 = 24 weeks. Activities F and G are done in parallel; all others are in a series, so the chain A-B-C-D-E-F(or G)-H-I-J controls the completion.