By Michael R Turner
Project scheduling is a fundamental aspect of project management It covers the planning of: -
1. What is to be done,
2. When it is to be done, and
3. Who is to do it.
There are a number of project scheduling tools in common use e.g., Microsoft Office Project and Primavera, being the most popular. But many project managers have minimal exposure to project scheduling since this key project role is often performed by specialist planners.
So exactly what is project scheduling? Well we all do it without thinking, people schedule every day of their lives. In order to get to work on time at say 9.00am, 9.00am sheer luxury! hang on I better get back to the plot, Now starting again to get to work at 9.00am it is necessary to schedule your morning activities from wake-up through to commuting so you can arrive at work on time. You must set aside sufficient time from the moment you wake up, to do all the things you need to do to prepare yourselves for work. So getting back to most people, whatever they wish to do in preparation for work, they must estimate the time involved and subtract it from the planned work start time, in order to be able to arrive at the planned start time. All this activity is a form of straightforward personal scheduling.
Those of us who drive to work each day may have the opportunity to observe some attention-grabbing scheduling phenomena. Quite often we will see men shaving themselves with one hand and driving the car with the other. Other times we will see a woman putting on her makeup while sitting at the traffic lights. In addition to the physical activities of shaving and applying make-up, what they are doing is performing concurrent activities (i.e., driving and shaving) in order to arrive at work on time - we better add here that multi-tasking like this is not recommended.
It may well be that things which they planned to do prior to leaving the house somehow did not get done. Now they are trying to recover from a "behind schedule" condition by performing those tasks concurrent with the drive to work. So, as we stated at the beginning of this article, scheduling is something that we do unconsciously every day. Why then should anyone bother to take time to study and apply the science of scheduling? - The answer lies in the degree of complexity required for achieving some outcomes. The personal scheduling that we all do in our normal existence is very basic and simple. We do it automatically without giving it any thought.
Then what's a schedule?
A simple definition is "A timetable for performing activities, utilising resources, or allocating facilities, which serves as a focal point for the management of the activities". Should the time come where we get involved in a project of considerable size, with multiple complexities spanning long periods of time and utilising considerable resources, our own or someone else's, then it becomes essential that we become very good at scheduling.
It is also a good idea that we utilise existing scheduling tools to assist us to schedule complicated projects, e.g., MS Project or Primavera are the most commonly used project management software.
Project Scheduling is a key control activity in project management and is often used, and most certainly should be used as the baseline for Time and Cost Management. If used for weekly progress reporting it becomes the hub of many critical aspects of project control and management.
We all schedule unconsciously every day.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michael_R_Turner
For his entire career Mark Woeppel has been challenging the status quo in organizations, helping to make changes that matter. He is a leader in developing and implementing project scheduling strategies. He is founder and president of Pinnacle Strategies, in Plano, Texas. Pinnacle Strategies offers project planning control training and project management consulting.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
How to Build a Project Schedule in 5 Easy Steps
By Andrew Makar
Congratulations! You've been assigned your first project and your boss wants to see a project schedule at next week's status meeting. Hearing of your new promotion, the PC support team has installed Microsoft Project on your desktop so you're ready to start building a project schedule! Unfortunately, your Introduction to Microsoft Project training class isn't schedule until next month and your boss is expecting a full schedule by next week. Fortunately, if you have a book on Microsoft Project and this article, you'll be able to complete your assigned task.
According to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK), there are five key processes to developing a project schedule. PMBOK's Time Management knowledge area explains each of the inputs, tools and techniques and output in detail so you should consult the PMBOK for supplemental information. Knowing that you need to get started with developing a project schedule, let's start with the five key steps.
Step One: Define Activities
The goal of the activity definition step is to identify all the tasks required to accomplish the product. This frequently results in identifying all the work products and deliverables that comprise the project. These deliverables are found as the components of a Work Break Down structure (WBS). The project schedule further decomposes these deliverables into the actual activities required to complete the work.
If the project team doesn't have an established scope statement, WBS, or sufficient scope definition, you may need to host a workshop or two to gather the requirements and further develop the project schedule. Since you need to produce a project schedule by next week, you will likely create tasks in your project schedule for "Analysis" or "Scope Definition". At this point in the project, it is OK to not have all the project details. You can build activities in your project schedule to gather the information. It is perfectly acceptable to build a plan for the analysis of the project before committing to the implementation or delivery phase of the project.
Assume for now you either have a WBS available or have enough information to build a sample set of tasks to further define the scope. Once you have all the activities defined, the next step is the sequence the activities.
Step Two: Sequence Activities
At this point you've entered all the task names and have further decomposed the deliverables listed in the WBS. The next step is to sequence the activities with dependencies. During this step, you'll identify any dependencies of related tasks and document them in the project schedule. You'll need to analyze each of the tasks to understand which task has a dependency on additional tasks. In your favorite project schedule development book, be sure to read about the different types of dependency relationships include Finish-to-Start and Start-to-Start dependencies. These relationships will impact your task start and finish dates.
Step Three: Estimate Activity Resources
The next step is to identify the resources and their availability to your project. Remember that not all team members will be 100% available to your project as some team members will be working on multiple projects. In this step, you'll also assign resources to each of the tasks. I usually assign resource to tasks using the standard Gantt Chart view in Microsoft Project. For each task at the lowest point in the WBS, click on the drop down box in the Resource Names column and select the available team member.
I recommend breaking down the tasks so you can assign one task to one resource to avoid adding multiple resources to a given task. It creates a larger project schedule, but it allows me better control in allocating and tracking resources as the project executes.
Step Four: Estimate Activity Durations
With resources assigned, the next step is to estimate each task's duration. The activity's duration is the number of working periods required to complete the task. In Microsoft Project, this can be defined in days, weeks, and even months! It is also important to understand the difference of the different duration types including Fixed Work, Fixed Duration and Fixed Units. Selecting the correct duration type impacts the resource availability and the forecasted task end date.
Step Five: Develop Schedule
The next step is to analyze the project schedule and examine the sequences, durations, resources and inevitable scheduling constraints. The goal of this step is to validate the project schedule correctly models the planned work. In this step you'll not only validate the duration estimates are accurate, but validate the resource allocations are correct.
Resource leveling is a key step in ensuring the project dates are realistic and the resources are appropriately assigned. Microsoft Project has an automatic resource leveling feature but I recommend against using it. Instead of automatic leveling, I recommend using a manual process to resolve resource overallocation. This manual process of resource leveling is time consuming but it results in a better end project with realistic end dates.
Once you've completed the schedule development, you'll be ready for a review with your boss for initial feedback. Once you meet with your boss to review the schedule, obtain his feedback and make the necessary changes. You'll want baseline the project schedule before you move to schedule execution. This will ensure the original dates are saved in Microsoft Project and you can compare the planned versus actual dates as the project progresses.
The next step in the PMBOK is Control the Schedule which will be the topic of a future article! I hope these simple steps have helped you get ready for your upcoming meeting. Good luck on the project!
Andrew Makar is an IT program manager who is focused on effectively translating project management theory into actual practice. Additional techniques on tactical project management including Microsoft Project Schedule Development and Management can be found at http://www.tacticalprojectmanagement.com He can also be reached at andy@tacticalprojectmanagement.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Andrew_Makar
For his entire career Mark Woeppel has been challenging the status quo in organizations, helping to make changes that matter. He is a leader in developing and implementing project scheduling strategies. He is founder and president of Pinnacle Strategies, in Plano, Texas. Pinnacle Strategies offers project planning control training and project management consulting.
Congratulations! You've been assigned your first project and your boss wants to see a project schedule at next week's status meeting. Hearing of your new promotion, the PC support team has installed Microsoft Project on your desktop so you're ready to start building a project schedule! Unfortunately, your Introduction to Microsoft Project training class isn't schedule until next month and your boss is expecting a full schedule by next week. Fortunately, if you have a book on Microsoft Project and this article, you'll be able to complete your assigned task.
According to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK), there are five key processes to developing a project schedule. PMBOK's Time Management knowledge area explains each of the inputs, tools and techniques and output in detail so you should consult the PMBOK for supplemental information. Knowing that you need to get started with developing a project schedule, let's start with the five key steps.
Step One: Define Activities
The goal of the activity definition step is to identify all the tasks required to accomplish the product. This frequently results in identifying all the work products and deliverables that comprise the project. These deliverables are found as the components of a Work Break Down structure (WBS). The project schedule further decomposes these deliverables into the actual activities required to complete the work.
If the project team doesn't have an established scope statement, WBS, or sufficient scope definition, you may need to host a workshop or two to gather the requirements and further develop the project schedule. Since you need to produce a project schedule by next week, you will likely create tasks in your project schedule for "Analysis" or "Scope Definition". At this point in the project, it is OK to not have all the project details. You can build activities in your project schedule to gather the information. It is perfectly acceptable to build a plan for the analysis of the project before committing to the implementation or delivery phase of the project.
Assume for now you either have a WBS available or have enough information to build a sample set of tasks to further define the scope. Once you have all the activities defined, the next step is the sequence the activities.
Step Two: Sequence Activities
At this point you've entered all the task names and have further decomposed the deliverables listed in the WBS. The next step is to sequence the activities with dependencies. During this step, you'll identify any dependencies of related tasks and document them in the project schedule. You'll need to analyze each of the tasks to understand which task has a dependency on additional tasks. In your favorite project schedule development book, be sure to read about the different types of dependency relationships include Finish-to-Start and Start-to-Start dependencies. These relationships will impact your task start and finish dates.
Step Three: Estimate Activity Resources
The next step is to identify the resources and their availability to your project. Remember that not all team members will be 100% available to your project as some team members will be working on multiple projects. In this step, you'll also assign resources to each of the tasks. I usually assign resource to tasks using the standard Gantt Chart view in Microsoft Project. For each task at the lowest point in the WBS, click on the drop down box in the Resource Names column and select the available team member.
I recommend breaking down the tasks so you can assign one task to one resource to avoid adding multiple resources to a given task. It creates a larger project schedule, but it allows me better control in allocating and tracking resources as the project executes.
Step Four: Estimate Activity Durations
With resources assigned, the next step is to estimate each task's duration. The activity's duration is the number of working periods required to complete the task. In Microsoft Project, this can be defined in days, weeks, and even months! It is also important to understand the difference of the different duration types including Fixed Work, Fixed Duration and Fixed Units. Selecting the correct duration type impacts the resource availability and the forecasted task end date.
Step Five: Develop Schedule
The next step is to analyze the project schedule and examine the sequences, durations, resources and inevitable scheduling constraints. The goal of this step is to validate the project schedule correctly models the planned work. In this step you'll not only validate the duration estimates are accurate, but validate the resource allocations are correct.
Resource leveling is a key step in ensuring the project dates are realistic and the resources are appropriately assigned. Microsoft Project has an automatic resource leveling feature but I recommend against using it. Instead of automatic leveling, I recommend using a manual process to resolve resource overallocation. This manual process of resource leveling is time consuming but it results in a better end project with realistic end dates.
Once you've completed the schedule development, you'll be ready for a review with your boss for initial feedback. Once you meet with your boss to review the schedule, obtain his feedback and make the necessary changes. You'll want baseline the project schedule before you move to schedule execution. This will ensure the original dates are saved in Microsoft Project and you can compare the planned versus actual dates as the project progresses.
The next step in the PMBOK is Control the Schedule which will be the topic of a future article! I hope these simple steps have helped you get ready for your upcoming meeting. Good luck on the project!
Andrew Makar is an IT program manager who is focused on effectively translating project management theory into actual practice. Additional techniques on tactical project management including Microsoft Project Schedule Development and Management can be found at http://www.tacticalprojectmanagement.com He can also be reached at andy@tacticalprojectmanagement.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Andrew_Makar
For his entire career Mark Woeppel has been challenging the status quo in organizations, helping to make changes that matter. He is a leader in developing and implementing project scheduling strategies. He is founder and president of Pinnacle Strategies, in Plano, Texas. Pinnacle Strategies offers project planning control training and project management consulting.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)