What project
management is good at is making the complex simple, or at least manageable. There
are, of course, lots of different ways to achieve that goal, many of which are
employed during the life cycle of a project.
A project network diagram is one such tool that helps
simplify a complex project plan, enabling a project manager to see the big
picture. It’s important to have an overview of any project, see when it starts
and finishes, and quickly note all the points in-between that intersect and how
they work together.
But some might avoid network diagrams, thinking of them
as those dense schematics that depict the nodes and connections in a computer
network. That would be a mistake. Project managers need tools, and
the project network diagram is a great one.
What Are
Project Network Diagrams?
A project network diagram is a visual
representation of the workflow of a project. A network diagram is a chart that
is populated with boxes noting tasks and responsibilities, and then arrows that
map the schedule and the sequence that the work must be completed. Therefore,
the network diagram is a way to visually follow the progress of each phase of
the project to its completion.
Project managers use a network diagram to track the
project, allowing them to see the progress of each element. Then they can share
the status with the rest of the project group. This is especially helpful for
those who better understand information that
is delivered visually. For those team members, network diagrams
will help with the performance of their tasks and increase the project’s
productivity.
Another aspect of the network diagram is that it
literally illustrates the project’s scope.
That’s because the network diagram collects all the actions and outcomes of the
project.
Types of
Network Diagrams: ADM & PDM
Network diagrams can be divided into two types, the arrow
diagram method (ADM) and the precedence diagram method (PDM).
As expected, the arrow diagram method uses
arrows to represent the project activities, with the tail of the arrow being
its start and the point the finish. The length of the arrow is the duration of
the activity. The arrows connect nodes or boxes that are symbols of the start
and finish of the activity in sequence.
In the precedence diagram method,
each node or box is an activity. There are arrows, but in this case, they
represent the relationship between the activities. That relationship can be one
of the following:
·
Finish to
start: This means an activity cannot start
before another activity is finished.
·
Start to
start: Use this when two activities can begin
simultaneously.
·
Finish to
finish: Use this when activities must finish
together.
·
Start to
finish: Use this when one activity cannot
finish until another one starts.
Advantages
and Limitations of Network Diagrams
Now that you know what a network diagram is, let’s take a
more critical look at the pros and cons.
Pros of
Project Network Diagrams
Starting with the pros, network diagrams are a boon
to project planning. The
technique collects all the necessary tasks that are needed to complete the
project successfully. This attention to detail before starting a project will
help identify the critical activities and where float, or the time a task can
be delayed, might exist.
Having made a network diagram is also a great way to set
deadlines and, having all the tasks laid out on one chart, it makes it easier
to order the material resources and equipment needed to accomplish them. This
description of resources will help with cash-flow and assembling the right
team. Additionally, having the tasks on a network diagram, and being able to
see where they’re dependent on other tasks, can help resolve issues as they
arise during the project.
Cons of
Project Network Diagrams
There are also limitations. Making a project network
diagram takes time and costs money to produce. Also, the network diagram,
depending on the project, can be overly complex and difficult to discern
visually. That defeats one of its main purposes. Of course, there can be errors
when making it or other unknown factors that can influence it outside of the
data collected; all of this can make the network diagram misleading and
potentially damaging to your project.
Some don’t believe in the necessity of a network diagram,
that there are other tools that cover the same ground. For example, there is
the Gantt chart,
which is also a graphic representation of the project timeline with tasks,
duration and dependencies. But a Gantt chart can also allocate resources,
update project status and track tasks and time.
Free Tools
for Making Network Diagrams
There’s only one way to know if a network diagram is for
you or not: try it. Lucky for you there are a lot of free online choices.
Google Draw
Google has a tool for everything you do, so it almost
goes without saying that they have one for network diagrams. Google Draw is
completely free, it can help you make flowcharts, UML
diagrams, entity relations, mock-ups and, of course, network diagrams.
Data is stored on the Google Drive, but it can also store
data on Dropbox and OneDrive. Google draw can import from a variety of
different file formats, and it has 27 languages and is easy to share. It’s fast
and has real-time collaborative support when connected to a Google account.
On the downside, there aren’t a lot of templates and
shapes to choose from. It can be a bit of an uphill battle to learn if you
don’t have a design background. Google Draw is best if you want to collaborate
with other Google features and only make network diagrams occasionally.
Dia
Dia is an open source tool that can be used to make
network diagrams. It’s fairly easy to learn and can make basic network
diagrams. Dia saves XML formatted documents, which are reduced automatically to
save space. It’s available for Linux, Mac and Windows.
Dia is free and makes a good entry-level option for
people looking to get familiar with making network diagrams, as well as UML
diagrams and flow charts.
The software has a good user interface, which helps
users, and is also easy and fast to install because of its small file size.
However, the software doesn’t have visual appeal. It’s a bit too simple, and
some have criticized it as ugly because of its black and white design, which
could be improved with color.
Gliffy
While Gliffy is free, the free version is very limited.
If you like it, you’ll probably want to pony up for the full version, with a
subscription cost. The cost is tiered, $14.85 every three months for a single
user, which can make 200 diagrams, but none of which integrate with Google
Drive. A single user business account is $29.85 for three months, which
includes unlimited diagrams, but it still won’t integrate with Google Drive.
For that you’ll need the business team package, which costs $59.88 a year. The
fact that the diagrams are easy to make and collaborate with will probably help
with the transition from free to paid.
Gliffy is a web-based app and not suited if you’re
looking to make more technical diagrams. However, for a project management
network diagram, this is a good first step into network diagramming.
After you’ve given these free network
diagramming apps a spin and get a feel for how they handle, take a look
at the list of cloud-based project management software on projectmanagementcompanion.com.
Try them free for 30-days with this trial.
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