Determine the Early Start (ES) and Early Finish (EF) of activities in a PDM network diagram

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Project Management Tutorial: Determine the ES and EF of activities in a PDM network diagram.
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[@chrislainma5997]

I skipped my class of 1h45min to watch a video of 5min that made me understand my whole course Thank you so much

[@Engineer4Free]

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[@omarazab8280]

My instructor taught that lesson in a one and a half hour class and I just understood it in a 5 min. video ! You are amazing thank you !

[@Engineer4Free]

haha, glad I could help!! =)

[@MohammadShadmanRahman]

same story

[@mollyhopkins2901]

I spent all day reading PMBOK and another PMP text book until my head was spinning & then I found this. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

[@Engineer4Free]

Glad I could help! You should check out engineer4free.com/project management for all of the PM videos that it did, you might also find them helpful too 🙂

[@TheReblman]

Simple and sweet lesson. Thanks a bunch =>

[@elizabethogle4568]

You explain this way better and more clear than my textbook for the class. THANK YOU!!!!

[@Engineer4Free]

Glad to hear I could help!! You should check out the rest of the PM videos I made here: engineer4free.com/project-management =)

[@Daniel_Montenegro]

You explained me in minutes what the course I enrolled in couldn't using: 30 pages, 2 Video Lessons and 1 Live Class. Thank you!

[@Engineer4Free]

haha, happy I could help!! =) Thanks for watching!

[@sarahlui2718]

This was a great explanation! How early start and early finish is calculated is so clear to me now and now I understand this is what the forward pass means. In so many teachings they always make it sound like something completely different. Thank you for making this video possible! Now to watch how Ls and Lf is done.

[@Engineer4Free]

Awesome glad to hear that I’m making sense!! :) :)

[@jessicaperezvelazquez9866]

Lifesaver! I didn't understand this concept in class the other day but this helped me so much, I understand it clearly now.

[@Engineer4Free]

Awesome!! You should also check out all the PM vids I did here: engineer4free.com/project-management 😊

[@ashwinnair4816]

Brilliant,Thank You so much

[@cristinacarreiro8969]

God this was explained so much better than what I learned in class! The book doesn't help either just gives a bunch of confusing equations lol thank you! You're a life saver! Thought I'd be on this assignment all day!

[@Engineer4Free]

Thanks for the comment Cristina! Glad I'm able to help you out =)

[@calhatieah]

I'm an engineer, and I used to think that I can explain ideas clearly. But after watching your videos, I've learned a lot from your gradual, cumulative and clear approach. Thanks a million!

[@Engineer4Free]

Thanks so much for this comment Marshal, I'm really glad to get this type of feedback =)

[@user-fw7yy5qj6h]

9 years and still better than my long complicated lecturer explanation, thanks bro

[@gouthamabhishek1395]

I pay F 6000$ per semester. And you made my life so easy without losing a penny. Your a legend!!

[@Engineer4Free]

I gochu =)

[@sebastian.herrera]

THANK YOU SO MUCH! BETTER THAN MY PROFESSOR!

[@Engineer4Free]

Thanks!! =)

[@soyusmaximus7176]

Thanks for this. I'm taking an online class, and of course the Professor just gives us some vague Powerpoint presentation to base our homework assignment off of, no lecture or reading.

[@Engineer4Free]

Sorry to hear that, I've got a lot of videos on this stuff, you can check out at engineer4free.com/project-management if you haven't already =)

[@19prashantpanigrahi44]

Awesome video very easy to understand through the the pictorial presentation in the square boxes! !!

[@Engineer4Free]

Glad you liked it!!!!!! =)

[@tannupriya-jh3kf]

you are a saviour. i have my exam coming and your videos helped me alot.

[@jesussalcedo2010]

FINALLY. Thank you for the explanation.

[@a1no1x]

Great videos, working on my CAPM now and this is a great resource! So thank you. Question, where are your durations coming from? Those are the PERT formula outputs?

[@olivernyathi4667]

well explained sir. This video is much helpful to me, i learnt something new. Thank you so much.

[@papoobhoy2320]

A complex topic has been taught in a highly appreciate able simple way.

[@Engineer4Free]

Thanks! Glad you liked it 🙂

[@weldegebrealkahsay]

Thanks u teach me with the clear and necessary steps

[@creeksideapartments3977]

My professor spent 90 minutes and I learned only 20% of what he said, here we go with this video, I learned 100%!

[@Urdu_Hacks_Ideas]

I found such a wonderful explanation, very love and support from karachi Pakistan

[@F.R.A.N.K.I.E]

Bless you sir. This was such an easy explanation!

[@kelvintoroitich474]

you are my Lifesaver with my exams in a week time I'll be more than ready to tackle it

[@Engineer4Free]

How did it go!?

[@dessdagreatest5188]

You definitely did great explaining! thank you!

[@Engineer4Free]

You're very welcome!!!

[@yusuffasri2955]

man, thx a lot..... it was clear, simple & easy to understand

[@Engineer4Free]

Thanks for the feedback! Glad I can help 😁😁

[@Ksix1]

Excellent! Thank you.

[@atan7260]

you are a life saver. thank you

[@Engineer4Free]

Love saving lives :)

[@Eric-mn5ek]

Good explanation , clear and concise , Thanks

[@Engineer4Free]

You're welcome Eric, thanks for the feedback!!

[@mobilelegendsforyou5451]

Thank You,Sir ... It really helps

[@Engineer4Free]

You're welcome Jason, glad to hear it =)

[@andrese.ibarra1961]

Excellent tutorial. Congratulations

[@harshitajaiswal5720]

deserves more subscribers

[@qwertiee]

Your wish came true... Took a while but it came true :)

[@equivaldoroadreo9277]

Wauuuu that’s so easy to understand... thanks a lot...

[@Engineer4Free]

Awesome thanks for the feedback :)

[@MegaMissfitz]

its an early start this morning foamy! gonna try my very best to be there for 2.30ish 😙😙😙

[@Engineer4Free]

+MegaMissfitz 😙

[@muhammadmazhar7629]

very very thanks sir u make it very easy now I have no problem with it once again thanks a lot

[@Engineer4Free]

Awesome, thanks for the feedback and keep it up!! :)

[@user-br4tb7en1l]

I have a question. If Activities B & D had a SS relationship (where D starts when B starts), would the ES of activity D be 5? How would you draw the diagram and do the forward pass and backaward pass? Whether you reply to my comment or not, thanks for taking the time to make these videos and giving us access to them. 7 years later and these videos are super helpful to anyone that comes across them

[@zhanbaekhao21]

Did you find the answer? I am stuck in this question now😢

[@muhammadhassanali8182]

Thank you so much sir you explained me so easily… had an exam tomorrow❤

[@Engineer4Free]

Good luck bro!

[@tumelolehare7516]

Good day...how would you go about if if you had EARLY START. LATE START TASK DURATION. TOTAL FLOAT

[@shaheenadam8711]

Wow. You made it so easy. The text books can't explain it as you can.

[@Engineer4Free]

😉

[@Fear_Not_I_Is_Here]

Thank you!!

[@cherylsxox]

thank you!!!! Great overview.

[@Engineer4Free]

Thanks for commenting! If you haven't already, check out engineer4free.com/PM for the rest of the videos!

[@mahbubhassan7175]

My Teacher Taught me the same things in 2 hours class. How easily you teach us..thanks

[@FlorenceMwatsuma-zg5gp]

Thank you for this simple explanation

[@hoang-phuc]

Could you do a video about the Cyklogram (Linear Scheduling Method )? I searched many results but none of them talk about it fully.

[@Engineer4Free]

Hey sorry I don't have anything that covers those. I only have Activity on Arrow (AOA) and Activity on Node (AON) diagrams here: engineer4free.com/project-management

[@wasifkhan258]

great lecture.......

[@youcefgahgouhi763]

thank you for the explanation, which tool are you using ?

[@Engineer4Free]

Hey Youcef, you can find all of the hardware and software that I use at engineer4free.com/tools

[@youcefgahgouhi763]

@@Engineer4Free thx a lot

[@nokwandazamaswazi724]

thank you so much, this was helpful

[@Engineer4Free]

You're very welcome! The full playlist is here: engineer4free.com/project-management =)

[@ashokbarla9649]

Thanks for saving my Assignment. Cheers :)

[@mpemvukazikajalicekiso3004]

You're the best, thank you so much! :)

[@elorine5682]

Thanks for helping me complete my assignment

[@Engineer4Free]

You;re welcome, thanks for watching!!

[@asteriakadhili3173]

Wow simple and straightforward.

[@Engineer4Free]

Glad I could help =)

[@fatma6320]

Thank you

[@Engineer4Free]

Glad I could help! More videos here: engineer4free.com/project-management =)

[@nurulfateehah8411]

My supervisor want to know the earliest time to start maKe cakes with condition 120 cakes must be finished before 3pm to bake in oven...with addition 5 operators...is this method suitable with the problem? If not,can u suggest...thank in advance

[@ricardorojas4414]

excellent, thanks.

[@Engineer4Free]

Thanks, glad you liked it!

[@kynebalais4]

Thaaankyouuu for dis vid. 😍

[@videoscheveres2]

Is there a software that makes these diagrams?

[@jamescavalari3977]

If activity A starts at the beginning of day 1, which is called "0", and it ends at the end of day 5, then activity B would start at the beginning of day 6. So when you write "5", it represents the END of day 5, which is the same as the BEGINNING of day 6? So the numbers in all of the boxes in the top left and top right corners represent the END of the day of the number. (I don't know if this is a question, or if I'm just typing this just to type it.)

[@meghavarghese303]

Thank you sir soooo much now am done with this...

[@teshaleyohannes3917]

Very Nice ,Thank You so much

[@Engineer4Free]

You are most welcome! The full playlist is here: engineer4free.com/project-management =)

[@siddique5097]

you're the boss cuz.

[@Engineer4Free]

🤜🤛

[@harinijayasankar8884]

Is it ok to mark activities at the nodes like you have done instead of being over the arrows???

[@Engineer4Free]

There are two styles of network diagram, one where the activities are the nodes, and one where the activities are the arrows. Check out video #12 here: engineer4free.com/project-management to see a comparison of the two styles.

[@Villaintino]

Thank you sooooooooooo much!

[@Engineer4Free]

your welcomeeeeeeeee!!

[@Ene.O]

Thank you sir.

[@Engineer4Free]

You're welcome Oche!

[@hasithawickramasinghe7153]

Bunch of thanks

[@Engineer4Free]

You're welcome!! 😁

[@samsim4197]

dayummmmm that was good thank you

[@Engineer4Free]

haha, you're welcome Sam! =)

[@egaldamez2]

You deserve more likes boi

[@Engineer4Free]

Thanks Bru. Tell some friends that could use my videos 🙂

[@frickitsnickk]

Could you possibly do a video on resource allocation and leveling?

[@Engineer4Free]

Hey thanks so much for commenting. You made me realize that I made a video on that already but forgot to add it to the website. It's updated now! See videos #25 and #26 on www.engineer4free.com/project-management

[@frickitsnickk]

Thanks so much!

[@jor5204]

I'm a field guy, that is trying to better his scheduling skill. What program are you using for this tutorial , how are you able to have your chart then able to fill-in the boxes without txt style? Its like excel and note shelf in one. .

[@Engineer4Free]

Heyo, sorry to report but it's all just hacked together in a drawing program + some video editing tricks. I just draw one boxe template and then copy past them, it's not official PM software. But you can see all the hardware and software that I use here: engineer4free.com/tools and also check the whole PM playlist: engineer4free.com/projectmanagement 🤙

[@schadrackkabongo3182]

thanks for makeking me understand

[@Engineer4Free]

Happy I was able to help you :)

[@schadrackkabongo3182]

thanks alot

[@muhammadimrananwar4470]

Perfect information

[@Engineer4Free]

Thanks Muhammad! =)

[@AbhishekPandey-se3wv]

Thanks a lot😊

[@Engineer4Free]

You're welcome :) thanks for watching!

[@mariamkhaled7594]

what if there was more than one path to an activity with different value of sum of durations, do i choose the largest or the smallest value to be my earliest start?

[@Engineer4Free]

I'm sorry, I don't understand what you're asking. There are more videos here: engineer4free.com/project-management I recommend watching videos 4 - 9

[@GilmandaSAtkinson]

hi! why would some start with day "0" vs. Day "1"?

[@Engineer4Free]

+Gilmanda S. Atkinson it can really be done either way. Check with your professor which way they do it, and follow that method!

[@craigdsouza764]

Gilmanda, I think If you start with 1 you’re actually adding a day of calculation. Say 0+1 is 1 day of completion and 1+1 day will give you 2 days completion. Engineer4free is this right? :)

[@nmc4494]

thanks bro, it's saved me :D

[@Engineer4Free]

Happy to help =)

[@ezramainassara]

Sir, I love the way it is been simplified but now what is the value for the ES and EF??

[@Engineer4Free]

The values for ES and EF are all written in tne boxes for each activity. Please rewatch and observe the legend

[@mpendulocibi8282]

What software are you using to draw the network?

[@Engineer4Free]

Hey, you can find a full list of the software/hardware that I use at www.engineer4free.com/tools

[@hasinisamudrika3981]

Great and thank you

[@Engineer4Free]

You’re welcome Hasini 🙂

[@aqibfayyaz1619]

Great Thank you

[@Engineer4Free]

Welcome =)

[@utkarshbansal8587]

Thank you legend, you help me pass.

[@Engineer4Free]

Awesome, thanks dude. Glad to hear it!! 👍

[@Chrisymcmb]

Thanks!

[@Engineer4Free]

You're welcome, thanks for watching!

[@GIJOOOO]

Thank u

[@Engineer4Free]

Thanks for watching!

[@marinanekesa3534]

Thank you

[@Engineer4Free]

You're welcome. You can find the whole playlist at engineer4free.com/project-management too =)

[@redbutterflyinspo4654]

Life saver 🙌🏽

[@sibahlegcaleka6888]

thank you

[@Engineer4Free]

You’re welcome Sibahle!

[@akashislive8466]

Thank you sir :)

[@yuffei7]

what happens if i dont have the durations and predecessors? and the project needs to be completed by 15 weeks?

[@Engineer4Free]

That is beyond the scope of the method in this video where we go FROM a table of dependencies (which inherently includes those two pieces of information) TO a network diagram that then reveals more information about the activities and project. If you are referring to a problem from an academic source then plz clarify/provide some more info and I might be able to help. It might be as simple as your professor asking you to to try to estimate durations and define the relationships based on what makes sense to you, while fitting it all into 15 weeks. If you are dealing with a real project and are lacking information, then consult a professional with project management experience in your industry.

[@GELV294]

Solid

[@prabaseelan1999]

Thank u so much

[@laviniamonique2592]

what if you started with 1 instead of zero. does that change your early start time?

[@Engineer4Free]

There are two conventions for these diagrams. One starts with a 1 and the other starts with a 0. Each convention is off by one for every value when compared to the other for things like ES, EF, LS, LF, but activity duration, float/slack, project duration will have the same values either way. If you are learning to start with a 0, then just do that. If you are learning to start with a 1, then just do that. The numbers 0,1,2,3,4, etc in the network diagram are just labels that represent points in time. If you start with 0, then 0 marks the beginning of the first day, 1 marks the end of the first day and beginning of the second day. If you start with 1, then 1 marks the beginning of the first day, 2 marks the end of the first day and beginning of second day. And so on. Whether you call the end of the first day 1 or 2, it's still the end of the first day. Does that make sense?

[@laviniamonique2592]

@@Engineer4Free Thank you, yes, I actually learned the CPM through your tutorial very easily, (very clear and concise by the way), but then I got a question wrong because the author of the exam started with 1 which changed the ES day (my answer) as you guessed it, by 1. I'll stick with starting with zero. Thank you.

[@mail2cmin]

​@@Engineer4Free Thank you for the clarification. But I have a confusion that if the Early Finish of the activity A and the Early Start of the activity B are same, which means two activities are starting on the same day, which is not possible as per the dependency. Will this not result in less total duration of the project?

[@murtadha_aboud]

what the name of book you use ????

[@Engineer4Free]

These videos are based off of lecture slides from a university course on project scheduling, not a book

[@Maniwar619]

If a project deliverable ends on day 5, wouldn't the next one have to start on day 6? What time on day 5 is the project expected to be finished if that's not the case?

[@Engineer4Free]

Mani Berenji Totally understand your confusion. If an activity finishes at the end of day 5, the succeeding activity would start at the beginning of day 6. The way I number my networks diagrams is as follows: 0 represents the beginning of day one. 1 represents the end of day one, but also the beginning of day two. So when you see an activity ending on say, "1" that means it ends at 5:00pm on the first day. If a succeeding activity also starts on "1" then that means it is starting at 8:00am on the second day. It seems a bit odd that two different points in time (end of day one and start of day two) have one number to represent them, but image if we had 24 hour work days, then it would be quite obvious that the end of day one and start of day two are marked by the same number. Continuing with this logic, on the network diagram, "2" represents the end of day two and the start of day three. "3" represents the end of day three and the start of day four, and so on. To prove that I'm not crazy, lets look at activities A and B in this video. Activity A is 5 days long, and Activity B is 4 days long. If our "days" start and finish at some arbitrary but defined times (lets say 8am and 5pm, respectively), then activity A will occupy the first 5 full days. The workers performing activity B won't show up at 5pm on Day 5 to start work... they will show up at 8am on Day 6! Then activity B will take 4 full days, and be finished at the end of the 9th day of the project. With that extremely long winded explanation of why 5+4=9, we can actually make sense of the numbering. You can now observe on the network diagram in the video that the beginning of day one of the project was represented with a 0 (not a 1), then the end of day five AND the beginning of day 6 were represented with a 5, and the end of day 9 was represented with a 9. One last thing if I have somehow still managed to keep your attention.... If we were to represent the beginning of day six with a 6, we would have to +4 for the duration of B, and we would have B ending on the end of day ten, which is wrong because 5+4=9 and does not =10. Sorry for such an insanely long explanation, but it all just comes down to the convention that I have used to define points in time using numbers in the network diagram. I highly recommend watching this really short video I made on Gantt charts, because it gives a way more concise and visual explanation of the numbering system: www.engineer4free.com/4/how-to-draw-a-gantt-chart

[@ryanlimes1499]

overlap

[@19571]

I understand clearly now.

[@mail2cmin]

I have a confusion that if the Early Finish of the activity A and the Early Start of the activity B are same, which means two activities are starting on the same day, which is not possible as per the dependencies. Will this not result in less total duration of the project?

[@Engineer4Free]

If you are given the table of dependencies, you will generate the ES values yourself. If the project is using basic finish to start relationships like this, then the ES of a successor will be the EF of the predecessor, not the ES.

[@igorblucke]

@@Engineer4Free I am sorry, I came to ask the same question. If A lasts 2 days (monday and tuesday) then its EF is 2. But if B needs to start at the end of A (end of Tuesday), shouldn't its ES be day 3? as in Wednesday morning? So ES=EF+1? Thank you so much!

[@igorblucke]

Found the answers in previous comments, all good thanks :)

[@Engineer4Free]

@@igorblucke Hoooookai good! I've typed out the answer to that question many times 😅

[@sangellama6159]

Awesome

[@Engineer4Free]

Thanks! =)

[@Oksel997]

I try to do this, but im getting the wrong numbers compared to my book when it comes to ES... It says that if Activity A is 2 durations Activity B and C will start 1 day after activity A..

[@Engineer4Free]

The numbers in the network diagram are labels. These labels confusingly represent two times each (except for 0 which only represents one time). It comes from the way Gantt charts are drawn. See this video: www.engineer4free.com/4/how-to-draw-a-gantt-chart 0 represents the beginning of the first day. 1 represents the end of the first day, and the beginning of the second day. 2 represents the end of the second day, and the beginning of the third day, and so on. This is why in the linked video, Activity A has a duration of two days, and it starts on the beginning of the first day (1) and ends on the end of the second day (2), but then Activity B starts on the beginning of the third day (2) and so on. Hopefully that helps to clarify what's going on!

[@avkk1401]

Super Video

[@justvallier8818]

our saviour!

[@Engineer4Free]

I gochu! Make sure to check out the full project management playlist here: kzbin.info/aero/PLOAuB8dR35oeyKU0ojIxD8Muf6Mwc8ugW

[@subbaraopalivela9953]

Nice

[@Engineer4Free]

Thanks Subba. You can check out the rest of the videos at engineer4free.com/project-management 👍