Scheduling Best Practices Presented by: Ric Albani PMI Scheduling Forum December 1, 2009

Purpose Share findings and observations of common scheduling anomalies from experiences providing project oversight and project management support. Schedule Construction and Schedule Management

Schedule Construction Poor WBS and organization of content Not in accordance with project or product methodology Too many constraints Reliance upon hardcoded dates Too many “hangers” Dependencies are not being portrayed accurately

Schedule Construction (continued) Large total slack/float values Dependencies are not being portrayed accurately Applying logic at the summary task level Best practice is to apply logic where the work is being done Critical Path lacking credibility Usually results from one or more of the aforementioned anomalies

Schedule Management Resource Sheet not maintained Prevents meaningful resource analysis Lack of integration with other project processes Change control, risk & issue management Ineffective use of two-week look ahead Capacity planning Task coordination Reality check

Schedule Management (continued) Lack of variance analysis & corrective action Must have baseline in place Implying that slippage is okay Executive Management needs to enforce Disconnect with status reporting Too much text Reporting should reflect extracts from Schedule Should be based on WBS

Final Thoughts Schedule Management alone does not ensure success, but it increases likelihood of success. The schedule should be used as a foundational element to project management and project integration. A lack of understanding and experience of the Time / Schedule Management discipline and/or Scheduling Tool is a root cause. Underestimation of effort to maintain and manage, by supplier and/or client organization.

Ric Albani ric@rmaconsultinggroup.com 916.425.7724 www.rmaconsultinggroup.com