Method to create an Arrow Network Diagram. Lets see how to make an arrow network diagram. Consider the following data in which there are 6 activities from A to F. Predecessors of each activity are written next to them. To create an arrow diagram draw a node to represent project start. The example 7 for the above network diagram can also be framed in terms of POST-OPR as given under: Example 9: Draw the network for the following in which POST-OPRs are given: Solution: Fig. 28.48 (a) shows the sequence of operations A, B, C and D. Now the operation E is preceded by C and the operation F is also preceded by C. The schedule of operations with number of events and the sequence of activities are shown in the following network diagram: 1. Activities E and F are having same tail event (3) or, in other words, activities E and F are emanating from one event, that is event 3 and, hence, event 3 is a ‘bursting event'.
Project management network diagrams are used for schedule preparation and analysis. They use a combination of nodes and arrows to pictorially depict activities and relationships among those activities. Since they are used for developing project management schedule, they are also called Project Schedule Network Diagrams and Logical Network Diagrams.
You will find an in-depth orientation of Project Network Diagrams in this article, which includes helpful pictures and and examples. You will also find a brief description of four type project relationships in this article. The article talks about three different ways to draw a project network diagram but mostly it is focused on Precedence Diagramming Method.
Network Diagrams drawn using Precedence Diagramming method is a long concept – Dependencies, Relationships, and Lead & Lag are all related concepts. I have written a series of small articles to make it more understandable. You should read all these articles to understand the concept completely. These articles are hyperlinked at the appropriate places in this article.
Project Management Network Diagrams
Project Network Diagrams are drawn to depict project dependencies or relationships between two activities and/or milestones. An activity ‘Y' is said to be dependent on another activity ‘X' if Y is reliant on X. You can read my other articles on project dependencies and four types of dependencies in project management to understand more about the dependencies.
There are three ways to draw a Project Network Diagram. These are:
- Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM)
- Arrow Diagramming Method (ADM)
- Conditional Diagramming Methods
Out of these PDM is the most popular. It is also called Activity on Node (AON) method. It is used by most of the modern software scheduling tools and is described in the PMBOK Guide.
Let us discuss PDM in detail.
Zero Sequence Network Diagram
Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM)
Schedule Network Diagram Definitions
Predecessor Activity/Milestone – It is simply called as a Predecessor. A Predecessor logically comes before the dependent activity/milestone in a Project Network Diagram.
Successor Activity/Milestone – It is simply called as a Successor. A Successor is the dependent activity/milestone. It logically comes after Predecessor(s) in a Project Network Diagram.
Node – All the activities/milestones (Predecessors and Successors) in a Project Network Diagram are represented on a Node.
Network Sequence Diagram
Activity – It is a small part of work in a project. It is represented on a Node and is usually drawn as a rectangle.
Milestone – It is a zero duration activity, which requires no work. A project can have start and finish milestones as well as intermediate milestones. It is also represented on a Node and is usually drawn as a small circle.
Arrow – Dependencies between activities/milestones are represented by arrows. Two related nodes are separated by a unidirectional arrow. Predecessors are shown towards the arrow tail while successors are shown towards the arrow head.
Sub-network – It is simply called as a subnet. It is a subdivision or a part of a complete Project Network Diagram.
Dependencies – A Successor (dependent node) can have more than one predecessors. Similarly a predecessor can have more than one successors.
Project Network Diagram Example
Project Management Network Diagrams
Project Network Diagrams are drawn to depict project dependencies or relationships between two activities and/or milestones. An activity ‘Y' is said to be dependent on another activity ‘X' if Y is reliant on X. You can read my other articles on project dependencies and four types of dependencies in project management to understand more about the dependencies.
There are three ways to draw a Project Network Diagram. These are:
- Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM)
- Arrow Diagramming Method (ADM)
- Conditional Diagramming Methods
Out of these PDM is the most popular. It is also called Activity on Node (AON) method. It is used by most of the modern software scheduling tools and is described in the PMBOK Guide.
Let us discuss PDM in detail.
Zero Sequence Network Diagram
Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM)
Schedule Network Diagram Definitions
Predecessor Activity/Milestone – It is simply called as a Predecessor. A Predecessor logically comes before the dependent activity/milestone in a Project Network Diagram.
Successor Activity/Milestone – It is simply called as a Successor. A Successor is the dependent activity/milestone. It logically comes after Predecessor(s) in a Project Network Diagram.
Node – All the activities/milestones (Predecessors and Successors) in a Project Network Diagram are represented on a Node.
Network Sequence Diagram
Activity – It is a small part of work in a project. It is represented on a Node and is usually drawn as a rectangle.
Milestone – It is a zero duration activity, which requires no work. A project can have start and finish milestones as well as intermediate milestones. It is also represented on a Node and is usually drawn as a small circle.
Arrow – Dependencies between activities/milestones are represented by arrows. Two related nodes are separated by a unidirectional arrow. Predecessors are shown towards the arrow tail while successors are shown towards the arrow head.
Sub-network – It is simply called as a subnet. It is a subdivision or a part of a complete Project Network Diagram.
Dependencies – A Successor (dependent node) can have more than one predecessors. Similarly a predecessor can have more than one successors.
Project Network Diagram Example
The figure drawn below depicts a sample Project Network Diagram. It is drawn using PDM technique.
- There are 3 activities – A, B and C
- There are 2 Milestones – S and F
- S is the Start milestone
- F is the Finish milestone
- A has only 1 Predecessor – Milestone S
- A has only 1 Successor – Activity B
- B has only 1 Predecessor – Activity A
- B has only 1 Successor – Milestone F
- C is neither related to A nor to B
- C has only 1 Predecessor – Milestone S
- C has only 1 Successor – Milestone F
- Planned duration of each activity is mentioned in their respective Nodes
4 Types of Logical/Project Relationships in PDM
To understand the logical relationships between two activities, we should look at each activity as a set of two distinct events. These are:
- Start Event (S)
- Finish Event (F)
So, for two related activities, we will have two sets of S and F events respectively. For these two sets, we can have four type of logical relationship between them.
PDM includes 4 types of logical relationships between two dependent activities/milestones. These are:
- FS Relationship – Start Event of a Successor is dependent Finish event of Predecessor. You can refer to Finish-to-Start (FS) Relationship to understand it thoroughly.
- SS Relationship – Start Event of a Successor is dependent Start event of Predecessor. You can refer to Start-to-Start (SS) to understand it thoroughly.
- FF Relationship – Finish Event of a Successor is dependent Finish event of Predecessor. You can refer to Finish-to-Finish (FF) Relationship to understand it thoroughly.
- SF Relationship – Finish Event of a Successor is dependent Start event of Predecessor. You can refer to Start-to-Finish (SF) Relationship to understand it thoroughly.
In all the above relationships, Predecessor's event is written first and Successor's event is written later e.g. FS means Finish of Predecessor and Start of Successor.
Note: Since milestones have zero duration, their Start and Finish events are same.
You can also look at Max Wideman's Glossary for alternative definitions.
2 Types of Modifiers in PDM
PDM supports two Modifiers, which can applied to each relationship. These are:
- Lead
- Lag
These Modifiers do not change the nature of a logical relationship. They just change the Start and Finish events of the dependent activities. A lead accelerates the Successor activity whereas a Lag delays it. You can refer to my other article on Lead and Lag to understand them completely.
Final Thoughts
Project Network diagram is one of the many ways to represent project schedule. It is the most powerful way to analyze logical relationships between different activities and milestones. Some of the other popular methods to represent the project schedule are:
- Bar Charts (popularly known as Gantt Charts)
- Milestone Charts
- Project Calendars
Over To You
Do you use network diagrams while making project schedule? How do you use them? What other alternative methods do you use for making your project schedules?
I would love to hear from you.
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