Darryl L. Sink and Associates, Inc. (DSA) helps organizations design and develop learning and performance solutions that get results. DSA works cooperatively with organizations to:
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One of the most difficult tasks of an instructional development team is to complete a project on time. One secret to completing a project on time is to schedule the project so that more than one task can be worked on at a time. This way all team members are contributing so that the project proceeds as fast as possible. One way to help with this process is to use PERT Charts. PERT stands for Project Evaluation and Review Technique. It is a method to graphically represent the interrelationship among project tasks. This graphic representation can be used to facilitate communication, planning, and control. If you have not created a PERT Chart before here is what a simple one looks like for the beginning parts of an instructional development project. Comment: Is this diagram in the tip? If so, good. If not we need to put it in.
Benefits of PERT Charts
Steps for Developing a PERT Chart
a. Start at the beginning.
b. Add other tasks.
. What comes before this?
. What comes after this?
. What can be done in parallel?
Critical path: Longest path of tasks that may be done consecutively
Slack time: Extra time available for some tasks that are not on the critical path
Note: Got a due date you are forced to meet? Start with the due date and construct the PERT chart in reverse. That is, decide what the last task is and what depends on that task being complete. Put that task before the last task then repeat this procedure to discover all the dependencies. These will make up the critical path.
Look at our tip on how to turn your PERT Chart into an Action Calendar. DSA offers a Two Day in company workshop titled “Project management For Instructional Design and Development Projects”.