The Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) is a project management system that uses a dynamic flow diagram to coordinate project elements and their influences on cost, time, and mutual. It offers a more adaptive overview than traditional timelines and charts, and is used in organizations of all sizes. PERT charts consist of nodes, arrows, and paths that identify key project elements and their sequence. The critical path method (CPM) determines critical activities on which all other activities depend. PERT planning helps managers recognize potentially problematic areas and processes, and identify clear milestones and deadlines.
The Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) is a project management system that resembles a dynamic flow diagram of interrelated processes. It is used to coordinate diversified project elements and their respective influences on cost, time and mutual. This technique offers a more adaptive overview of these dynamic elements than traditional static project timelines and charts. Originally developed for large-scale military-industrial projects, the program evaluation and review technique is employed in organizations large and small that require coordination of resources, teams, costs, and timelines to achieve specific results.
A PERT chart provides an overview of a project development process. In practice, the execution of tasks depends on ongoing project requirements, team decisions, and other external constraints. The main task when developing a PERT plan is to determine the critical activities on which all other activities depend. This is sometimes referred to as the critical path method (CPM).
The graph itself is made up of three main elements – nodes, arrows and paths – put together in various tree formations. Nodes identify key project elements, such as a departmental review, R&D trial, or public launch of a new product. These nodes are connected with arrows, and the arrows determine the sequence of stages through which a project will go. Some nodes will have multiple arrows depending on their results, with / or decisions or possibly simultaneous activities. The advantage is that the observer can immediately see which elements of the project will be directly affected by the processes of a given node.
A project’s journey isn’t necessarily linear or static, as might be found in the neat vertical bars of a Gantt chart. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link, so a chart using the program evaluation and review technique is only as timely as its longest path. This path represents the minimum amount of time to complete a project; as such it is called the critical path. This path will be the area of greatest concern for a project manager dealing with unforeseen delays and unexpected costs.
In general, the PERT graph displays sequences of processes that may occur simultaneously or may depend on the completion of a previous activity. By clearly assessing these nodes, a manager can better recognize potentially problematic areas and processes that are most likely to introduce slippage into even highly complex projects. By comparing paths of lesser importance to the critical path, managers can identify not only clear milestones and deadlines, but also areas of “slack,” which offer more room to maneuver.
By forcing project managers to establish a solid understanding of the critical elements in a project and by overseeing the dependency relationships between nodes, the program evaluation and review technique provides a clearer understanding of a complex project. This could result in greater team coordination, more efficient communication activities, and more effective evaluation of processes or objectives. Computers help in the analysis of more complex plans. Given clear start/end times and goals, they process known items using algorithms to produce the most complete predictions possible.
Given the complexity and dynamic nature of PERT planning, best results may occur with industry-proven methods where processes and expectations are widely known. However, unforeseen circumstances or difficulties, jars of creep and butterfly effects sometimes make short work of any well-laid plan. A well-trained project manager can use the program evaluation and review technique to not only coordinate a large amount of elements, but also minimize the most likely areas of risk in order to produce a successful project outcome.
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