Chapter 5: Developing the Schedule

Once a project actually starts, it is important to monitor the progress to ensure that everything is going according to the plan. The key to good project control is measuring actual progress and comparing it to planned progress on a timely and regular basis and taking any needed corrective action immediately.

Establish project start and completion times

To establish a basis from which to calculate a schedule using the estimated duration for the activities, it is necessary to select an estimated start time for when the project is expected to begin and a required completion time for when the project must be done. These two times (or dates) define the overall window or envelope, of time in which the project must be completed.

The sponsor or customer often states the project required completion time in the project charter, request for proposal (RFP), or the contract – for example, the project must be finished by June 30, the feasibility study must be completed in time for the board meeting on September 30, or the annual reports must be in the mail by January 15.

The contractor, however, may not want to commit to completing the project by a specific date until the customer has approved the contract. In such cases, the contract may state, “The project will be completed within 90 days after signing of the contract.” Here, the overall project time is stated in terms of a cycle time (90 days) rather than in terms of specific calendar dates.

Developing Project Schedule

Once you have an estimated duration for each activity in the network and have established an overall window of time in which the project must be completed, you must determine (based on durations and sequence) whether the project can be done by the required completion time. To determine this, you can develop a project schedule that provides a timetable for each activity and shows:

1.      The earliest times (or dates) at which each activity can start and finish, based on the project estimated start time (or date).

2.      The latest times (or dates) by which by which each activity must start and finish to complete the project by its required completion time (or date).

Incorporating changes into the schedule

During the project changes may occur that have an impact on the schedule. As was noted earlier, these changes might be initiated by the customer or the project team, or they might be the result of an anticipated occurrence. Here are some examples of changes initiated by the customer:

1.      A home buyer tells the builder that the family room should be larger and the bedroom windows should be relocated.

2.      A customer tells the project team developing an information system that the system must have the capability to produce a previously unmentioned set of reports and graphics, which requires additional new elements in the database.

These types of changes represent revisions to the original project scope and will have an impact on the schedule and budget.