Using Activity Lists for Project Management

Are you the type of person who makes a list so you don't forget anything? Lists are great: They help you to remember any items that you consider important.

Managers can use lists when planning a project. Lists help managers remember any items that are important for the completion of a project. One such list, used by project managers, is the activity list.

An activity list is a description of all the activities that will be performed during a project. It is a helpful input to activity duration estimating for a project.

As a project manager, you can use an activity list to provide your project team members with a detailed description of all activities they will perform on a project. This description helps project team members understand how the work is to be done.

The activity list is actually an extension of the work breakdown structure (WBS). The WBS is a hierarchical list of what must be done to complete the project. Like the activity list, it includes a description of each of the project deliverables and activities, so that the project team members will understand how the work is to be done. The layout of the WBS includes details about the following elements:

• the overall program
• the specific project
• the project's deliverables
• the activities involved in completing the deliverables.
  

Project managers use the WBS when creating their activity lists to ensure that the list is complete, and that all necessary activities are identified for each deliverable. The WBS also ensures that any activities that are not required as part of the project scope are excluded.
The activity list, like the WBS, should include descriptions of each activity. This ensures that the project team members understand their jobs and do them as required.

Remember, an activity list is a great way of remembering all of the activities that must be performed during a project. In addition, project managers can use this input to determine which activities are involved in the project when estimating activity duration.