Using Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT)

Options for using program evaluation and review technique (PERT) principles in the business world

The Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) concept, developed originally by U.S. military planners, is very much in use today, in all kinds of businesses throughout the public and private sectors. But how do companies use the PERT technique (sometimes also called project evaluation and review technique) in their daily life? Well, as a management tool, PERT is used in different ways according to what a business wants to accomplish.

Managers and business decision makers are often tasked in figuring out how to integrate concepts like PERT into a business for real, verifiable results. Here are a few ways that PERT can play a role in your action plan today:

1. Use PERT in business demos -- create expert visuals to give presentations that will bowl over investors or top brass and promote your department or crew.

2. Use PERT software to help navigate uncharted waters and ensure a good end result for a critical project.

3. Use PERT principles like critical path and "evangelize" them to get your crew more knowledgeable about building a better mousetrap.

Use PERT visuals and charts

Here's the scenario: you are tasked with presenting a project, not in a science-teacher linear way, but in a dynamic representation of the complex processes you are working to create and/or control. That's where charts and models using program evaluation and review techniques, systems and principles can help break it down: visitors can see first hand how each step of your plan is tailored to a specific objective. PERT can be part of what gives your planning and presentation materials the stamp of authenticity they so badly need.

Use PERT software to get "virtual input"

Here's where planners can utilize the power of the processor. Plug different aspects of your project into a state-of-the-art PERT program. You'll be able to "see" them laid out in ways that cross-reference each other. This may help you figure out which ones are "primary," and with computational power, you should be able to do a little "modeling" on workstations to see how an initial project shift in terms of time, cost or scope might affect the outcomes later.

Use and evangelize PERT principles

PERT is a little like chess. Its "critical path" terminology and triage concepts identify a key goal or goals that you could compare to a chess king, and the smaller components of a plan are the knights, bishops and pawns. This kind of conceptual power can help you figure out when part of a plan should be sacrificed or "dumped," but that's not all PERT can do. It's like comprehensive chess theory, helping you to strategize every step in planning a complex process or design.

• Always think about how PERT principles can be applied to the future of your planning for enterprises that incorporate the best of what is out there. If you have a good result from using PERT tools or principles, don't hesitate to pass that on to others.

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