Part 46: Project Schedule Management Processes

Project Schedule Management includes

  • Plan Schedule Management
    • KEY BENEFIT: Provides guidance and direction for managing the project schedule
    • In this process, we
      • Establish policies, procedures, and documentation for planning, developing, managing, executing, and controlling the project schedule
      • We develop the Schedule Management Plan
    • Schedule Management Plan is part of the Project Management Plan
    • Schedule Management Plan can be formal or informal, detailed or broad

  • Define Activities
    • KEY BENEFIT: Break down work packages into smaller activities that can be estimated, scheduled, executed, monitored and controlled
    • In this process, we
      • Take the work packages from the WBS
      • Identify and document the actions we should take to produce deliverables
      • Remember, if we can’t break down the work, we can’t estimate how long it will take us to perform it.

  • Sequence Activities
    • KEY BENEFIT: Orders the project activities logically and efficiently
    • In this process, we
      • Take the activities from the Define Activities process
      • Identify and document relationships among project activities
        • Except for the first and last activity, each activity and milestone should be connected to a predecessor and a successor (or multiple predecessors and successors)
        • We can connect the activities through logical relationships, such as flow charts
        • The relationships should be realistic
        • Lead or lag time may be included when necessary.  For example, if we’re building a house, and we pour concrete for the foundation, we must wait a few days for the concrete to dry.  We can’t start building the subfloor right away, or the concrete will crack.

  • Estimate Activity Durations
    • KEY BENEFIT: Identifies the amount of time each activity will take to complete
    • In this process, we
      • Take the activities we defined during the Define Activities process
      • Estimate the number of work periods needed to complete each individual activity with the estimated resources
    • Before we can estimate a duration, we require:
      • Scope of work (how much work is required?)
      • Required resource types and their calendars (a resource many not be available at a specific time)
      • Quantities (how much resources do we need to complete the work?)
    • Duration is PROGRESSIVELY ELABORATED as more details become available
      • A duration could be subject to change
      • The quality and availability of the data affects the accuracy of the estimate (we may specific a wide range for the duration when we don’t have accurate information)
    • Some considerations
      • Law of Diminishing Returns
        • In a unit of work, one resource is typically a limiting factor (adding more of that resource decreases the time it takes to complete the work)
        • The relationship between the resource and the work rate isn’t always linear
        • For example, it takes ten hours for a painter to paint a house.  If we add a second painter, it will take the two painters five hours to paint the house. 
        • Can we add ten painters and finish the house in one hour?  Can we add 600 painters and finish the job in one minute?  Probably not.  Why?  Each painter must set up his tools and equipment and then clean up after.  Also, the job site will become crowded and many of the painters will just be standing around.
        • Also known as “Number of Resources”
      • Advances om Technology
        • If we improve our technology, we can produce more of a product/service with the same amount of resources
      • Motivation of Staff
        • Lazy workers produce less than motivated workers
        • Parkinson’s Law = work will expand to fill the time available to complete it
        • Student Syndrome = workers will procrastinate, they will only start working right before the deadline approaches

  • Develop Schedule
    • KEY BENEFIT: Generates a schedule from resources, durations, resource availabilities and logical relationships
    • In this process, we
      • Take all the information on activity resources & durations, and sequences, and we develop a project schedule
      • We determine planned start and finish dates for project activities
      • Project staff can review their activities and confirm that start and finish dates do not conflict with resource calendars or other projects
    • Developing the Schedule is an iterative process
      • We use the schedule model to calculate the start and finish date for each activity
      • We base our calculations on the best available information
      • We provide the schedule to our staff
        • They make sure that the start and finish dates fit within the resource calendars (are the resources available during the dates selected?)
        • They make sure that the activity sequences are in a logical order
        • This must be done before the schedule can be approved and turned into a Baseline
      • As more information becomes known, we must go back and revise the schedule
    • Practice Standard for Scheduling has more information on scheduling

  • Control Schedule
    • KEY BENEFIT: We keep the project on schedule (we maintain the schedule baseline).  By monitoring the project, we can identify when it deviates from the Schedule, and take corrective action.  This reduces the risks, because we can correct the project before it’s too late.
    • In this process, we
      • Monitor the status of project activities
      • Determine if the schedule has changed
      • Try to reduce factors that cause changes
    • If we have an Agile approach, we
      • Determine the project’s status by comparing the actual work delivered against the expected work
      • Conduct reviews to improve the process
      • Reprioritize the remaining backlog, if we are behind schedule
      • Determine the actual rate of producing & accepting deliverables (known as velocity) in each iteration