Schedule (project management)
Encyclopedia
In project management
, a schedule consists of a list of a project
's terminal elements with intended start and finish dates. Terminal elements are the lowest element in a schedule, which is not further subdivided. Those items are often estimated
in terms of resource requirements, budget
and duration
, linked by dependencies
and scheduled.
(WBS), an effort estimate for each task, and a resource list with availability for each resource. If these are not yet available, it may be possible to create something that looks like a schedule, but it will essentially be a work of fiction. They can be created using a consensus-driven estimation method like Wideband Delphi
. The reason for this is that a schedule itself is an estimate: each date in the schedule is estimated, and if those dates do not have the buy-in of the people who are going to do the work, the schedule will be inaccurate.
In many industries, such as engineering and construction, the development and maintenance of the project schedule is the responsibility of a full time scheduler or team of schedulers, depending on the size of the project. And though the techniques of scheduling are well developed, they are inconsistently applied throughout industry. Standardization and promotion of scheduling best practices are being pursued by the Association for the Advancement of Cost Engineering (AACE), the Project Management Institute
(PMI).
In order for a project schedule to be healthy, the following criteria must be met:
Project management
Project management is the discipline of planning, organizing, securing, and managing resources to achieve specific goals. A project is a temporary endeavor with a defined beginning and end , undertaken to meet unique goals and objectives, typically to bring about beneficial change or added value...
, a schedule consists of a list of a project
Project
A project in business and science is typically defined as a collaborative enterprise, frequently involving research or design, that is carefully planned to achieve a particular aim. Projects can be further defined as temporary rather than permanent social systems that are constituted by teams...
's terminal elements with intended start and finish dates. Terminal elements are the lowest element in a schedule, which is not further subdivided. Those items are often estimated
Estimation
Estimation is the calculated approximation of a result which is usable even if input data may be incomplete or uncertain.In statistics,*estimation theory and estimator, for topics involving inferences about probability distributions...
in terms of resource requirements, budget
Budget
A budget is a financial plan and a list of all planned expenses and revenues. It is a plan for saving, borrowing and spending. A budget is an important concept in microeconomics, which uses a budget line to illustrate the trade-offs between two or more goods...
and duration
Duration (project management)
Duration of a project's terminal element is the number of calendar periods it takes from the time the execution of element starts to the moment it is completed.Do not confuse duration with work. E.g...
, linked by dependencies
Dependency (project management)
In a project network, a dependency is a link amongst a project's terminal elements.There are four kinds of dependencies with respect to ordering terminal elements :# Finish to start...
and scheduled.
Overview
Before a project schedule can be created, a project manager should typically have a work breakdown structureWork breakdown structure
A work breakdown structure , in project management and systems engineering, is a deliverable oriented decomposition of a project into smaller components. It defines and groups a project's discrete work elements in a way that helps organize and define the total work scope of the project.A work...
(WBS), an effort estimate for each task, and a resource list with availability for each resource. If these are not yet available, it may be possible to create something that looks like a schedule, but it will essentially be a work of fiction. They can be created using a consensus-driven estimation method like Wideband Delphi
Wideband delphi
The Wideband Delphi estimation method is a consensus-based technique for estimating effort. It derives from the Delphi Method which was developed in the 1940s at the RAND Corporation as a forecasting tool...
. The reason for this is that a schedule itself is an estimate: each date in the schedule is estimated, and if those dates do not have the buy-in of the people who are going to do the work, the schedule will be inaccurate.
In many industries, such as engineering and construction, the development and maintenance of the project schedule is the responsibility of a full time scheduler or team of schedulers, depending on the size of the project. And though the techniques of scheduling are well developed, they are inconsistently applied throughout industry. Standardization and promotion of scheduling best practices are being pursued by the Association for the Advancement of Cost Engineering (AACE), the Project Management Institute
Project Management Institute
The Project Management Institute is a not-for-profit professional organization for the project management profession with the purpose of advancing project management.- Overview :...
(PMI).
In order for a project schedule to be healthy, the following criteria must be met:
- The schedule must be constantly (weekly works best) updated.
- The EAC value must be equal to the baseline value.
- The remaining effort must be appropriately distributed among team members (taking vacations into consideration).
External links
- How to Defend an Unpopular Schedule (IEEE Software, Vol. 13, No. 3, May 1996)