PERTanalyysi

PERTanalyysi is a Finnish term that translates to PERT analysis in English. PERT stands for Program Evaluation and Review Technique. It is a project management technique used for estimating task durations and identifying the critical path of a project. PERT analysis is particularly useful for projects with uncertain or variable task durations.

The core of PERT analysis involves breaking down a project into individual tasks. For each task, three time estimates are made: an optimistic time, a most likely time, and a pessimistic time. These estimates are then used to calculate an expected time for each task using a weighted average formula. This formula gives more weight to the most likely estimate.

Once the expected time for each task is determined, the project manager can construct a network diagram. This diagram visually represents the sequence of tasks and their dependencies. The critical path is the longest sequence of tasks in the network diagram that determines the shortest possible project duration. Any delay in a task on the critical path will directly delay the entire project.

PERT analysis also allows for the calculation of task and project variance, which measures the uncertainty in the time estimates. This helps in understanding the potential for delays and in setting realistic project deadlines. While PERT analysis provides valuable insights into project scheduling and risk, it relies heavily on the accuracy of the time estimates, which can be a challenge in practice.