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What is the difference between Lead and Lag ?

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Question ajoutée par Utilisateur supprimé
Date de publication: 2015/06/10
Vinod Jetley
par Vinod Jetley , Assistant General Manager , State Bank of India

Lead

Lead is the acceleration of a successor activity. In other words, the second activity can begin (and be conducted in parallel) as the first activity.

Lead is only found activities with finish-to-start relationships: A must finish before B can start.

In order to leverage a lead, which will compress the total combined duration of both activities, the dependency must be discretionary, meaning that there is no physical limitation on completing A before B begins.

Lag

Lag is the delay of a successor activity and represents time that must pass before the second activity can begin. There are no resources associated with a lag.

Lag may be found in activities with all relationship types: finish-to-start, start-to-start, finish-to-finish, and start-to-finish.

Example

The photo shoot will take four days and the photo editing will take six days. Instead of waiting until the end of the4-day photo shoot to begin editing the pictures, we start editing after the first day of shooting. This brings the total duration from ten days down to seven days by leveraging the lead.

The photo proofs are sent to the customer upon completion of the shoot, however, there is a15-day lag associated with the customer review before the printing of the photos can begin.

Summary

Lead and lag are both used in the development of the project schedule.

Lead is an acceleration of the successor activity and can be used only on finish-to-start activity relationships.

Lag is a delay in the successor activity and can be found on all activity relationship types.

Ali Mohamed Ahmed
par Ali Mohamed Ahmed , site engineering , شركة مقاولات

Also I support  answer of Mr.  Vinod <<<Thanks

Yaqoub Alomar
par Yaqoub Alomar , Civil Engineer , Al-Zubeir municipality

 

LEAD sheet material used on roofs.

 LAG. To be behind and not keeping up. 

Lag to wrap typically hot water piping to retain heat there in.

Utilisateur supprimé
par Utilisateur supprimé

Thanks Mr. Vinod Jetley  : It is a valuable answer . 

Emad Mohammed said abdalla
par Emad Mohammed said abdalla , ERP & IT Software, operation general manager . , AL DOHA Company

When developing a Balanced Scorecard (or any other performance management system), it is recommended to use a combination of Leading and Lagging Indicators.  Kaplan and Norton call these “Performance Drivers” and “Outcome Measures”.

 

The idea is that Lagging Indicators without Leading Indicators tell you nothing about how the outcomes will be achieved, nor can you have any early warnings about being on track to achieve your strategic goals.

Similarly, Leading Indicators without Lagging Indicators may enable you to focus on short-term performance, but you will not be able to confirm that broader organisational outcomes have been achieved.  Leading Indicators should enable you to take pre-emptive actions to improve your chances of achieving strategic goals.

Implicit in the design of any balanced performance management framework, such as the Balanced Scorecard (BSC), is the cause and effect chain of goals and strategies.  So, “investing in organisational capability” leads to “efficient and effective processes”, which deliver the products and services that “satisfy customers” and ultimately lead to “profit” in the private sector, or “positive stakeholders/funders” in the public sector.

Because there is this cause and effect chain, there is a corresponding chain of Leading and Lagging Indicators.  For example, “Satisfied/Motivated Employees” is a (well-proven) Leading Indicator of “Customer Satisfaction”.  Similarly, “high-performing processes” (e.g. to6 Sigma levels) would be expected to be a Leading Indicator of “Cost Efficiency”.

Arguably, the BSC perspectives focussed on Organisational Capability (or Learning & Growth) and Processes contain Leading Indicators of external performance that are contained within the Finance and Customer perspectives.

However, it’s not as easy as that, because within each BSC perspective, you will usually want a combination of Leading and Lagging Indicators.  For example, you are likely to want to measure “Employee Satisfaction” and could readily identify a Leading Indicator of this such as an index of “Leadership Capability”, or maybe “No. of days training per employee”.

It is sometimes said that Leading Indicators will be measured more frequently than Lagging Indicators, but that may not be helpful as a definition.   You could measure “Complaints Received” or “Customer Satisfaction” every day, both of which might be described as Lagging Indicators.  Equally, you could measure process “Error Rates”, or “On-Time Delivery” every day and these are probably Leading Indicators.

The view that Lagging Indicators cannot be adjusted until it is too late is also not necessarily very helpful.  In the example above, knowing that you have an error rate of25% is already too late!

One definition that might help is that Leading Indicators are often captured at the level of individual processes, whereas Lagging Indicators may be the result of changes in a number of Leading Indicators.  So, a process cycle-time or error rate might be Leading Indicators, measured at the process level and Customer Satisfaction would be a Lagging Indicator, measured at the organisation level.

If you are measuring “activity” (i.e. at a process level), it is more likely that you are using Leading Indicators.  The closer you move to process inputs and activities, the closer you get to Leading Indicators of downstream, (Lagging) performance.  If you are measuring aggregated effects, or outcomes, at an organisational level, you are more likely to be using Lagging Indicators.

 

Remember, the overall purpose of selecting metrics is to enable you to track performance towards your goals.  So, you should aim to identify and then control those metrics that drive you towards your ultimate goals.

Naveed Iqbal
par Naveed Iqbal , Assistant Manager , K-Electric Ltd.

Gaining an Understanding

Precedence Diagrams help you to determine the project activity flow. Through the project activity flow, you can identify the critical path and compute the float of each activity. The schedule is created by using the Precedence Diagram and understanding the relationship between activities. It doesn’t mean the type of dependencies, such as Finish-to-Start, rather it means the relationship between two dependent activities. The concept of Lead and Lag is critical in defining this relationship.

Regardless of the type of planning methodology or technique, such as Agile or Rolling Wave, the concept of Leads and Lags is applicable.

 

Lead

Lead refers to a relationship whereby the successor activity begins before the predecessor activity has completed. For example, suppose you are baking a cake. As part of this, you will need to get the mixture ready and insert the dish into the oven. “Get the Mixture Ready” is the predecessor of “Insert the Dish into the Oven.” Pre-heat the oven is a task that is a part of the “Insert the Dish into the Oven” activity. Therefore, the “Insert the Dish into the Oven” activity should start before you’ve completed the “Get the Mixture Ready” activity. Assuming the pre-heating takes20 minutes, then the “Insert the Dish into the Oven” activity should start20 minutes before you have completed the “Get the Mixture Ready” activity. Therefore, the “Insert the Dish into the Oven” activity has Lead of20 minutes.

 

Lag

Lag refers to a relationship whereby the successor activity cannot start right after the end of its predecessor. For example, after you’ve baked the cake, you might want to serve it cold. Therefore, before serving it to the guests you will need to put the cake into a fridge and wait for it to cool. This means that the activity “Serve Guests Cake” will not start right after its predecessor “Insert the Dish into the Oven.” There is a delay. This delay is called Lag.

 

Hope that answers your question well.

Alex Al Yazouri
par Alex Al Yazouri , General Manager , Al Mushref Cooperative Society

I support the comprehensive answer of Mr. Jetley on Lead and Lag.

khaled elkholy
par khaled elkholy , HR MANAGER , misk for import & export

n so many recent discussions I realised that even though Lead & Lag are easy concepts confusion around it exists with many of PMP® aspirants. Especially when we use these two dependencies in network diagrams and even more when these are associated with different types of relationships. Let’s try to understand today these two techniques inside out and resolve all so called confusions revolving around this What is Lag? As per PMBOK® Guide Fifth Edition “The amount of time whereby a successor activity is required to be delayed with respect to a predecessor activity” Important points about this definition which many of us tend to miss are as below. These points are the main source of confusions With respect to is an important aspect. It defines which activity is dependent on other and eventually decides the effect of lag. E.g. in below diagrams activity B is dependent on A, vice versa is not true Lag always describes delay, which means addition of time and denoted by “+“ sign in the network diagram This can be a predefined delay which is required to put in between the activities to fine tune the project and to meet the quality. Classic example of this is we need lag between plaster of wall and paint so that cement can set up first Obliviously it’s rare that project puts lag without any reason as no one wants to delay the project without proper justification. So Lag is definitely put to accomplish some pre-defined requirement or some strategic goal (specific time to launch the product) We have4 types of relationships and lag can be applied with any. Refer below diagram. Dark/shaded area is effect of applying lag to the Activity B with respect to Activity A activity_B If we understand all the aspects of Lag, it’s very easy to put it for Lead too. Let’s see how What is Lead?As per PMBOK® version5 “The amount of time whereby a successor activity can be advanced with respect to a predecessor activity” Important points about this definition which many of us tend to miss are as below. These points are the main source of confusions With respect to is an important aspect. It defines which activity is dependent on other and eventually decides the effect of lead. E.g. in below diagrams activity B is dependent on A, vice versa is not true Lead always describes advancement, which means reductionin time taken and denoted by “-“ sign in the network diagram Lead can be predefined advancement which is required to put in between the activities to fine tune the project and to meet the quality. Classic example of this is starting of document editing immediately once one portion of document is ready. No need to wait till creation of full document as documents having say5000 pages if we wait for that long and then again take time to edit may lose its purpose Lead is also used while using schedule compression technique like fast tracking. Though when put as part of schedule compression, it has risk associated (Rework) with it but we can’t avoid project challenges e.g. starting development when one portion of design is ready (earlier planned to start development at the end of full design) We have4 types of relationships and lead can be applied with any. Refer below diagram. Dark/shaded area is effect of applying lead to the Activity B with respect to Activity A activity _A I realised after handling so many questions on Lead and Lag that the main point we fail is, to visualize the situation when one type of dependency is applied along with the relationships. Let’s see some key questions which create confusion. Q: What does relationships means? i.e. FS, FF, SS, SF A: We need to just remember, for relationship first letter defines predecessor behaviour and second successor. E.g. for Finish to Start, Finish of predecessor and start of successor dependency. We need to start reading it that way. Q: What “+” & “-“denotes in network diagrams A: “+” is used for lag and “–“ is used for lead. E.g. if the relationship is SS+2, naturally we should read it as Start of Activity B with Lag of2 with respect to start of Activity A Q: Why we need to put Lead & Lag? A:It varies, as explained above, sometimes it’s applied due to predefined constraint (in case of Lag majorly) and sometimes its applied to achieve project deadlines (In case of Lead) Q: Is lead same as fast tracking? A:Lead is a type of dependency which is used while schedule compression technique fast tracking because in fast tracking we need do reschedule the activities originally happening in serial, to happen in parallel so that deadline can be met/compressed. Lead in network diagram helps in achieving that This is precisely the compilation of Lead and Lag on the whole. I hope this blog will help you in clarifying your fundamentals about Lead and Lag and help you in solving network diagram question in a better way. Please feel free to put your follow up questions on our Forum

د Waleed
par د Waleed , Management - Leadership-Business Administration-HR&Training-Customer Service/Retention -Call Center , Multi Companies Categories: Auditing -Trade -Customer service -HR-IT&Internet -Training&Consultation

I believe that Mr. Vinod has well explained this ...

Thank you

khaled elkholy
par khaled elkholy , HR MANAGER , misk for import & export

n so many recent discussions I realised that even though Lead & Lag are easy concepts confusion around it exists with many of PMP® aspirants. Especially when we use these two dependencies in network diagrams and even more when these are associated with different types of relationships. Let’s try to understand today these two techniques inside out and resolve all so called confusions revolving around this What is Lag? As per PMBOK® Guide Fifth Edition “The amount of time whereby a successor activity is required to be delayed with respect to a predecessor activity” Important points about this definition which many of us tend to miss are as below. These points are the main source of confusions With respect to is an important aspect. It defines which activity is dependent on other and eventually decides the effect of lag. E.g. in below diagrams activity B is dependent on A, vice versa is not true Lag always describes delay, which means addition of time and denoted by “+“ sign in the network diagram This can be a predefined delay which is required to put in between the activities to fine tune the project and to meet the quality. Classic example of this is we need lag between plaster of wall and paint so that cement can set up first Obliviously it’s rare that project puts lag without any reason as no one wants to delay the project without proper justification. So Lag is definitely put to accomplish some pre-defined requirement or some strategic goal (specific time to launch the product) We have4 types of relationships and lag can be applied with any. Refer below diagram. Dark/shaded area is effect of applying lag to the Activity B with respect to Activity A activity_B If we understand all the aspects of Lag, it’s very easy to put it for Lead too. Let’s see how What is Lead?As per PMBOK® version5 “The amount of time whereby a successor activity can be advanced with respect to a predecessor activity” Important points about this definition which many of us tend to miss are as below. These points are the main source of confusions With respect to is an important aspect. It defines which activity is dependent on other and eventually decides the effect of lead. E.g. in below diagrams activity B is dependent on A, vice versa is not true Lead always describes advancement, which means reductionin time taken and denoted by “-“ sign in the network diagram Lead can be predefined advancement which is required to put in between the activities to fine tune the project and to meet the quality. Classic example of this is starting of document editing immediately once one portion of document is ready. No need to wait till creation of full document as documents having say5000 pages if we wait for that long and then again take time to edit may lose its purpose Lead is also used while using schedule compression technique like fast tracking. Though when put as part of schedule compression, it has risk associated (Rework) with it but we can’t avoid project challenges e.g. starting development when one portion of design is ready (earlier planned to start development at the end of full design) We have4 types of relationships and lead can be applied with any. Refer below diagram. Dark/shaded area is effect of applying lead to the Activity B with respect to Activity A activity _A I realised after handling so many questions on Lead and Lag that the main point we fail is, to visualize the situation when one type of dependency is applied along with the relationships. Let’s see some key questions which create confusion. Q: What does relationships means? i.e. FS, FF, SS, SF A: We need to just remember, for relationship first letter defines predecessor behaviour and second successor. E.g. for Finish to Start, Finish of predecessor and start of successor dependency. We need to start reading it that way. Q: What “+” & “-“denotes in network diagrams A: “+” is used for lag and “–“ is used for lead. E.g. if the relationship is SS+2, naturally we should read it as Start of Activity B with Lag of2 with respect to start of Activity A Q: Why we need to put Lead & Lag? A:It varies, as explained above, sometimes it’s applied due to predefined constraint (in case of Lag majorly) and sometimes its applied to achieve project deadlines (In case of Lead) Q: Is lead same as fast tracking? A:Lead is a type of dependency which is used while schedule compression technique fast tracking because in fast tracking we need do reschedule the activities originally happening in serial, to happen in parallel so that deadline can be met/compressed. Lead in network diagram helps in achieving that This is precisely the compilation of Lead and Lag on the whole. I hope this blog will help you in clarifying your fundamentals about Lead and Lag and help you in solving network diagram question in a better way. Please feel free to put your follow up questions on our Forum

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