Introduction to Network diagrams

Network diagramming is one way of graphically representing tasks in a project in a way which is easy for the managers and the team members to understand easily Representing Activities in terms of a network diagram was developed in the 1950's. Until then the only graphical representation of project activities was done by means of a gantt chart. It differs from gantt chart in it's representation and offers some unique advantages to project managers.

General structure of a networking diagram:

In a network diagram we would find various nodes which may represent
activities / tasks in a project connected to each other using arrows. These nodes are sequenced in a chronological fashion. There are essentially two ways of representing an activity in a network diagram. One way is to represent the activity on arrow (AOA)which goes between
two nodes in the network. Another method is to represent the activity on the node itself (AON).

Fig1.1: Sample Network Diagram

In the case of Smartworks project planner , activity is represented on the node itself. Each activity is represented by the following parameters:

i) Task Id : An Identifier which uniquely identifies a given task/activity in a project. This is usually a number such as 1003, 200 etc.
ii) Task name : Each task is given a descriptive name which normally
identifies the objective of that given task (e.g. Writing a White paper for network diagram, Reviewing white paper .. etc.)
iii) Start date : The date on which the planned activity is expected to start.
iv) End date : The date on which the planned activity is expected to finish.
v) Duration : The task duration
vi) Completion status : whether new , complete or partially complete
vii) Owner : the person responsible for completing the task

Some advantages of a network diagram

1. These diagrams display logical relationships among various activities in a project.

2. It lets the project manager see how the various activities flow towards completion in chronological order.

3. It provides how resources are utilized in a project for a given time period which could help the manager to perform resource leveling if necessary.