Introduction to the Logical Framework Approach - Stockholm ...

Introduction to the LFA• Specify start, duration and completion of activities.Specifying the timing of project activities means to make estimates onthe duration of tasks, building those estimates into the activityschedule - indicating likely start and completion dates. To make surethat the estimates are realistic people having the necessary technicalknowledge or experience should be consulted. Often the time neededto carry out activities is underestimated due to a number of reasonswhich can be the omission of crucial activities of tasks, failure to allowsufficiently for interdependence of activities, a failure to allow forresource competition (i.e. scheduling the same person or piece ofequipment to do two or more things at once) and a desire to impresswith the promise of rapid results. 43• Define milestones.Milestones define targets to be achieved by the activities and providethe basis for monitoring. A simple milestone is the completion of a taskto a planned date. In an activity schedule the activities, sub-activitiesand tasks are listed in a consecutive way, therefore accomplishing acertain task in time can be seen as a milestone on the way toachieving outputs. 44• Assign tasks and responsibilities.Allocating tasks also means allocating responsibilities for achievingmilestones. It is a means of defining the accountability of the membersof a project team. Before allocating tasks the expertise required tocarry out the respective tasks has to be specified. By doing so it can bechecked whether all necessary human resources are available and theschedule is feasible.Activity schedules lay the ground for further planning (resource schedules)and later on for project management. They provide an initial benchmarkincluding estimates that might have to be revised in the light of changingcircumstances or actual implementation performance.A possible format for presenting an activity schedule is a Gantt Chart, which –apart from milestones and responsibilities – allows to get a rapid overview ofthe sequence, duration and interrelation of activities to be undertaken.Reader43 European Commission, 1999, p 38.44 See also COMIT, p. 85.33