Developing the Project Schedule

Under project management, a formal project schedule is created as an initial step in carrying out a specific project, such as the construction of a mall, product development, or launch of a program. The process of establishing a project management schedule entails to listing milestones, activities, and deliverables with estimated start and finish dates, of which the scheduling of employees may be an element. Production process schedule is primarily used for the planning of the production or the operation, where on the other hand a resource schedule aids in the logistical planning for sharing resources among several entities.

In such cases, a production schedule is obtained by estimating the duration of each task and noting any dependencies amongst those tasks. Here the dependencies, refer to the tasks that must be completed in order to make other tasks possible, like renting a truck before loading materials on the truck.

The process of scheduling a project, requires the identification of all of the tasks necessary to complete the project, and the earliest time at which each task can be completed. Generally, while creating a schedule, a certain amount of time is usually set aside as a contingency for any  unforeseen days. This time that has been kept as a buffer is referred as “scheduling variance”, or float, and is a core concept for the critical path method (CPM).

Types of Schedules

A simple conceptual schedule that shows the major tasks and approximate start and end dates is developed when the scope of the project is to be determined. This allows senior management to make decisions about the scope of the project. There is not much requirement for detailing at this stage since there is a possibility that the entire tasks might be dropped from the scope, or the whole project might not be approved. There are primarily 2 types of schedules – Master schedule and  Detailed schedule

Master Schedule

In case the project gets approved, then a master schedule is created. It consists of major events and dates occurring in the project such as the starting date and the completion date. Often, the master schedule is a part of the contract. Any changes to the master schedule must be approved using a documented change process by taking an approval from the project sponsor and clients.

Detailed Schedule

In order to implement the master schedule, all the major tasks are required to be divided down into smaller activities and thereafter available resources are aligned to these activities. Some of the most detailed versions or portions of the schedule are likely to be developed few weeks prior to the execution of those activities and are referred as two-week plans. In which case, part of the master schedule that affect a particular vendor are sent to them so they can provide detailed activities that they would perform.

Schedule Inputs

Schedule inputs required to create a project schedule

1. Personal and project calendars – In order to create a project schedule on must maintain a personal and project calendar in order to understand the available working days, shifts, and resource availability required for project completion.
2. Project scope Description– Project scope description is a must as it helps to determine the key start and end dates, major assumptions behind the plan, and key constraints and restrictions. A project scope description may also include stakeholder expectations, that often helps in determining the project milestones.
3. Project risks – Project risk are crucial for a project schedule as it helps to ensure that there is enough extra time to deal with identified and unidentified risks using risk a
4. Activities and resource requirements – It is very important to identify the resource requirement and the activities involved in the project and also if there are other constraints to consider when developing the schedule. Therefore one must be clear with the resource capabilities and available experience – including company holidays and staff vacations which might also impact the schedule.

Scheduling Tools

1. Schedule Network Analysis – Schedule Network Analysis is a graphic representation of the project’s activities, the timeframe within which it gets completed, and the appropriate sequence of its execution. A project management software is generally used to create these analyses. Some of the commonly used formats are Gantt charts and PERT Charts.
2. Critical Path Analysis – Critical Path Analysis method is the process of looking at all of the activities that must be completed, and thereby calculating the ‘best fit line’ – or critical path – to take in order to complete the project in best possible time (minimum time). The critical path analysis method calculates the earliest and latest possible start and finish times for project activities, in order to estimate the dependencies among them to create a schedule of critical activities and dates.
3. Schedule Compression – Schedule compression is a tool that helps to cut-down the total duration of a project by reducing the time allotted for certain activities. This approach is undertaken in order to meet the time constraints, keeping the original scope of the project intact. Two methods are used to implement scheduled compression –
   1. Crashing – In this method we assign more resources to an activity, thereby reducing the time of completion. This process is based on the assumption that the time saved will offset the added resource costs.
   2. Fast-Tracking – This method involves rearranging activities to allow more parallel work. The approach focuses on doing things at the same time which would be normally done one after another. However, this method increases the risk of miss things, or failure to take meet

Project Review

Once the basic project schedule is properly outlined, there is a need to conduct a project review to ensure each activity is aligned with the required resources.

Some of the commonly used project review tools are,

1. ‘What if’ scenario analysis – This method involves comparing and measuring the effects of different scenarios on a project. Here, the process of simulation is used to determine the effects of assumptions – like possibility of resources not being available on time, or delays in other areas of the project. We can thereby measure and plan for the risks posed in these scenarios.
2. Resource leveling – Resource leveling is the process of rearranging the sequence of activities to address the possibility of resource shortage, so as to ensure that no excessive demand is put on the resources at any given In case there are limited resources available then it is suggested to change the timing of activities to ensure that the most critical activities have enough resources.
3. Critical chain method – This method is built to addresses resource availability. In the process of planning activities suggested to use latest possible start and finish dates. This helps to add extra time between activities, which can be used to manage work disruptions.
4. Risk multipliers – Risk is unavoidable, so it is important to prepare for its effects. Therefore it is suggested to add extra time to high-risk activities. Also to add a time multiplier to certain tasks or certain resources to offset overly optimistic time estimation is an option.

Once the initial schedule has been reviewed, and the necessary alteration made, it is suggested to let the other members of the team review it. The people to be included for further review are those who will be on the work – here the insights and assumptions are likely to be particularly accurate and relevant.

Project Activity or Project Task

Under project management, a project task is an activity that needs to be completed within a given timeframe or by a deadline to work towards the desired goals. Any task can be further divided into assignments which has a defined start and end date or a deadline for completion. One or more assignments on a task, puts the task under execution where,  completion of all assignments on a specific task considers the task to be completed. In which case the tasks can be linked together to create dependencies.

In order to complete a given task Tasks it would require the coordination of others. Coordinated human efforts and interaction helps in combining the integration of time, energy, effort, ability, and resources of multiple individuals in order to meet a common goal. Coordination is a critical mechanism that links together the efforts on the singular level to that of the larger task being completed by multiple members. Coordination allows for successful completion of the larger tasks that might be encountered. Tasks at times suffers the following drawbacks,

1. Task dependency: Since most tasks rely on others for its completion this can cause unnecessary delay. As it lead to the stagnation of a project when many tasks cannot get started unless others are finished.
2. No clear definition of ‘complete’: For instance, if a task is 90% complete, this does not mean that it will take only 1/8 of the total time already spent on this task to complete it. Even if this might appear mathematically true, but it is rarely the case when it comes to practice.