Sequencing

What is Activity Sequencing?

Activity sequencing is the process of organizing the tasks of a project in a logical and efficient order to achieve the objectives effectively. This is crucial because not all activities can or should be carried out at the same time, and some depend on the completion of others before they can begin.

In the case of your final year project, this process would be similar to ordering the phases of your work: planning, research, writing, revisions, and preparation for the presentation. Sequencing ensures that activities are carried out in the correct order, optimizing time and resources.

Activity Sequencing Techniques

There are several techniques and tools commonly used to sequence activities in projects. Some of the most popular ones include:

Gantt Chart:

• What is it?
  It’s a graphical representation of the project using horizontal bars. Each bar represents a task and its duration. This chart also allows you to visualize task dependencies.
  
  

• Advantage:
  It’s easy to understand and provides a clear view of each task’s start and end dates.
  
  

• How is it used?
  Activities are arranged according to the project plan, assigning dates and marking task dependencies.
  
  

• Tools:
  Microsoft Project, Trello, Asana, etc.
  
  

Critical Path Method (CPM):

• What is it?
  This technique is used to identify the most important tasks that cannot be delayed, as any delay in them would affect the total project duration.
  
  

• How is it used?
  Tasks that depend on each other are identified, then the “critical path” is calculated—this is the longest sequence of dependent activities. Any delay in these tasks will delay the entire project.
  
  

• Advantage:
  Helps identify the critical tasks that must be completed on time to avoid delaying the project.
  
  

• Tools:
  ProjectLibre, Microsoft Project, etc.
  
  

Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM):

• What is it?
  It’s a technique used to show the relationships between activities and how one task must wait for another to finish before it can begin.
  
  

• How is it used?
  Nodes are drawn for each activity, and arrows indicate the dependencies between them.
  
  

• Advantage:
  Useful for complex projects and shows dependencies more clearly than other methods.
  
  

• Tools:
  Primavera P6, Microsoft Project.
  
  

PERT Method (Program Evaluation and Review Technique):

• What is it?
  It’s a technique used when task durations are uncertain. It relies on three time estimates: optimistic, pessimistic, and most likely.
  
  

• How is it used?
  A network diagram is created with the activities, and average times are calculated for each task. This helps predict project deadlines.
  
  

• Advantage:
  Very useful in projects where activity durations are uncertain.
  
  

• Tools:
  Microsoft Project, PERT Chart Expert.
  
  

The 5 W’s Method (Who, What, When, Where, Why):

• What is it?
  Although not a formal sequencing technique, this method helps organize project activities by considering key aspects such as who is responsible, what needs to be done, when, where, and why it’s necessary.
  
  

• Advantage:
  Easy to apply and helps break down the project logically.
  
  

• How is it used?
  It’s applied during activity planning, ensuring all details are covered before beginning.
  
  

How Can We Apply These Techniques to Our Intermodular Project?

• Identify key activities:
  For example, in your case, the activities could be: choosing a topic, conducting a literature review, writing the introduction, developing the methodology, running tests or experiments, writing the conclusion, etc.
  
  

• Establish dependencies:
  Some tasks depend on others. For instance, you can’t write the introduction without having done some research first, or you can’t write the conclusion without having presented the results.
  
  

• Assign estimated time to each activity:
  Use tools like the Gantt chart or the PERT method to estimate the time likely needed for each task.
  
  

• Identify the critical path:
  If your project has a fixed deadline, identifying the tasks that cannot be delayed (the critical path) is vital for meeting deadlines.
  
  

Recommendation for Our Case:

If we are in the planning phase and need clarity on the order of activities, I suggest starting with a Gantt chart because it is very visual and will help you see the duration and dependencies of each activity. If the project has many complex dependencies between tasks, the Critical Path Method (CPM) could be very useful.