PERT Chart

For complex public relations projects, it is essential to have an effective planning tool. Large-scale projects consume a substantial chunk of a public relations department's budget as well as its human resources, so a practitioner wants to do everything possible to ensure that the project runs smoothly. Planning is an essential feature for large and/or complex public relations actions. Planning helps deliver a quality product on time and on budget. The program evaluation and review technique (PERT), sometimes called the critical path method (CPM), is an excellent resource for planning and monitoring complex projects. The system originally was developed for tracking missile development programs for the United States government. The PERT Chart is much like the Gantt Chart (see, Gantt Chart), but it presents information as a network chart rather than as a bar chart. Like the Gantt Chart, a PERT Chart requires a practitioner to identify all the tasks to complete, the time each task takes, and the sequence of the tasks.

PERT Charts are designed to help practitioners plan the time that a public relations action takes and track its progress. They provide a method for organizing, scheduling, and coordinating tasks. Planning experts argue that PERT Charts provide a better visual depiction of tasks and contingencies than Gantt Charts. However, since they require the user to learn certain terms and symbols, they can be more difficult to interpret than a Gantt chart. There are advantages and disadvantages to each. In general, PERT Charts are more technical; numbered circles or boxes represent the tasks, and arrows connect tasks and indicate if tasks are sequential or concurrent. If an arrow runs between two tasks, such as between “conduct an interview with the CEO” and “write the story about the [Page 646]CEO,” the tasks are sequential. Diverging arrows, such as for “select paper for newsletter” and “write newsletter stories,” indicate that the tasks are concurrent.

PERT Charts also deal with external contingencies, or factors beyond the practitioner's control that can still affect the time a public relations project takes to complete. For example, a practitioner hires a printing company to produce brochures for a product launch. The brochures must be shipped to the company. External contingencies include the ability of the printer to complete the brochure on time and to have the brochure shipment arrive on time. A strike or fire at the printing company could delay the completion of the brochure. Bad weather could delay the arrival of the shipment. Practitioners must consider the external contingencies when planning how long a project takes. The skilled practitioner builds in extra time as a hedge against external contingencies.

PERT Charts also use the terms critical path and dummy activities. The critical path is the longest path through the chart and indicates the maximum time needed to complete the project. Let us assume a project takes 70 days to complete—it has a critical path of 70 days. The path is critical because any delay in a task on this path delays the project. For instance, assume that tasks four and eight are on the critical path while three, five, and seven are not. (PERT Charts label tasks by number.) Slight delays in tasks three, five, or seven do not affect the completion date because they are scheduled to take less time (30 days) than the critical tasks (70 days). Clearly a very long delay in any tasks can disrupt a project, but any delay in a critical path task delays a project's completion. A PERT Chart provides an easy way to identify the critical path for a project.

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