5 Steps to Develop a Bulletproof Project Schedule
Project scheduling is the key to ensuring the original project plan and final project outcome are at least close enough to call the project a success. It's the map that guides the ship. Good project managers look at the schedule constantly, sometimes on a daily basis, and take the actions....
The Critical Chain Method Explained
The Critical Chain Method is a relatively new concept in project management. It was developed and popularized by Dr. Elihayu M. Goldratt in his book Critical Chain (1997), which is written as a novel but outlines the methods used to ensure that projects complete on time. Critical Chain vs. Critical....
A Critical Path Analysis Example
In yesterday's post we outlined the critical path method which is one of the professional project manager's techniques to ensuring project deadlines are met. Today we will walk through an example with a complete solution using MS Excel. Our example project is to build a new driveway. We will be....
How to Calculate Critical Path
Ensuring your project finishes on time is a core component of project management. To pass any project management exam, you must know how to calculate the critical path. There are 6 steps to the Critical Path Method: Divide the project into tasks Estimate duration Create the network diagram Draw initial Gantt (bar)....
What is the Schedule Performance Index?
In project management, getting an early indication of problems is the silver bullet that allows the project manager to correct the problems before they start. The Schedule Performance Index, usually abbreviated as SPI, is one of the fundamental outputs of Earned Value Management. It tells the project manager how far....
What is Schedule Variance?
In project management, getting an early indication of problems is the silver bullet that allows the project manager to correct the problems before they start. Schedule Variance, usually abbreviated as SV, is one of the fundamental outputs of Earned Value Management. It tells the project manager how far ahead or....
Guide to Earned Value Formulas
Earned Value is a method used by project managers to calculate the current project status and predict future project performance. In this post we will outline each earned value formula. Planned Value (PV) Earned Value (EV) Actual Cost (AC) Schedule Variance (SV) Schedule Performance Index (SPI) Cost Variance (CV) Cost....
The Project Organization Chart
Obviously projects span a huge spectrum from big to small, innovative to routine, and technical to repetitive. But there is in fact a standard project organization chart within which all projects fall. The project management model within the PMBOK, as well as other project management methodologies, define this standard structure. The....
Estimating Activity Durations
Once the project has been divided into activities and resources assigned to those activities, the next step is to determine the activity durations. These durations are used to construct the project schedule. Like the tiny O-rings that brought down the space shuttle Challenger, one small underestimation can result in a chain reaction....
Types of Task Dependencies
In project management, all tasks have dependencies. If they didn't they wouldn't be part of the project, that is, a task that doesn't need to be completed to finish the project is not part of the project. It's an orphan adrift at sea. There are four types of task dependencies,....
