Project Schedule Management Overview

Project Schedule Management

• Delivering projects on time is one of the biggest challenges for managers.
• Time has the least flexibility and continues to pass regardless of project progress.
• Schedule issues are the most common reason for conflicts on projects.
• The second half of a project is particularly susceptible to schedule conflicts.

Importance of Project Schedules

• Individual work styles and cultural differences can cause schedule conflicts.
• The Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator helps assess individuals' attitudes toward structure and deadlines.
• Some prefer following schedules and meeting deadlines, while others do not.
• Effort refers to the number of workdays or work hours needed to complete a task.
• Effort does not usually equal duration.
• Individuals performing the work should participate in creating estimates, and experts should review them.

Three-Point Estimate

• Instead of providing a discrete number for activity estimates, a three-point estimate is often more helpful.
• This estimate includes optimistic, most likely, and pessimistic estimates.
• Three-point estimates are needed for PERT and Monte Carlo simulations.

Program Evaluation Review Technique (PERT)

• PERT is a network analysis technique used to estimate project duration when there is uncertainty about individual activity durations.
• PERT uses probabilistic time estimates, which are based on optimistic, most likely, and pessimistic estimates (three-point estimate).

Developing the Project Schedule

• Schedule development utilizes results from other time management processes to determine project start and end dates.
• The main output of the schedule development process is the project schedule, often displayed using a Gantt chart.
• Important tools and techniques include Gantt charts, critical path analysis, and critical chain scheduling.

Calculating the Critical Path

• First, a comprehensive network diagram is developed.
• Duration estimates for all activities on each path in the network diagram are added.
• The longest path identifies the critical path.
• If any activity on the critical path takes longer than planned, the entire project schedule will slip unless corrective action is taken.

More on the Critical Path

• There may be more than one critical path if multiple paths have the same length.
• The critical path can change as the project progresses.

Critical Path Analysis for Schedule Trade-offs

• Understanding the critical path throughout the project allows project managers to make informed trade-offs.
• This proactive approach helps manage the project schedule.
• Critical path knowledge allows for the application of schedule compression techniques to shorten the project schedule.
• Crashing activities involves finding the greatest amount of schedule compression for the least incremental cost.
• Fast tracking allows activities normally done sequentially to be performed in parallel.

Free and Total Slack

• Free slack (free float) is the time an activity can be delayed without delaying the early start of subsequent activities.
• Total slack (total float) is the time an activity can be delayed without impacting the planned project finish date.
• A forward pass through the network diagram determines the early start and finish dates.
• A backward pass determines the late start and finish dates.

Importance of Critical Path Data Updates

• Updating project schedule information is crucial for meeting time goals.
• The critical path may change as actual start and finish dates are entered.
• If a project completion date slip is anticipated, negotiations with the project sponsor should be initiated.

Critical Chain Scheduling

• The Theory of Constraints emphasizes the limitations of complex systems, often due to a single constraint.
• To improve a system, the constraint must be identified and managed.
• Critical chain scheduling considers limited resources when developing a project schedule and incorporates buffers to protect the project completion date.
• The goal is to minimize multitasking, where a resource works on multiple tasks simultaneously.

Buffers and Critical Chain

• A buffer is additional time allocated to complete a task.
• Murphy’s Law states that if something can go wrong, it will.
• Parkinson’s Law states that work expands to fill the time allowed.
• Traditional estimates often include a buffer for each task, which may or may not be used.
• Critical chain scheduling removes buffers from individual tasks and creates:
  • A project buffer: additional time added before the project's due date.
  • Feeding buffers: additional time added before tasks on the critical path.

Schedule Planning for Agile Projects

• Agile teams focus on completing the most valuable work within each iteration, instead of creating a detailed schedule for all activities.
• This approach is called time-boxing.
• Some agile teams also use the Kanban method for project scheduling.

This quiz covers essential aspects of project schedule management, including the challenges of delivering projects on time and understanding the importance of individual work styles and cultural differences. It also explores the three-point estimate method for effectively determining project timelines. Test your knowledge on how to manage schedules and mitigate conflicts in projects.