Project Schedule Management

Because a project is defined as a temporary endeavor (PMBOK 1.1), deadlines are baked into the success criteria of all projects.  Since all projects have a defined end point, the circumstances around this end point can result in project success or failure.

Managing the project schedule can be one of the most formidable parts of project management. I’ve seen more damaged client relationships through this area of project management than any other. Time management is essential to attaining successful projects.

That’s why the Project Management Body of Knowledge’s (PMBOK) Schedule Management knowledge area contains the following 6 processes:

1. Plan Schedule Management
2. Define Activities
3. Sequence Activities
4. Estimate Activity Durations
5. Develop Schedule
6. Control Schedule

Plan Schedule Management

This involves the creation of a Schedule Management Plan, as well as to develop the expectations as to how the schedule will be met.

Inputs

1. Project charter
2. Project management plan
   • Scope management plan
   • Development approach
3. Enterprise environmental factors
4. Organizational process assets

Tools and Techniques

1. Expert judgment
2. Data analysis
3. Meetings

Outputs

1. Schedule management plan

Define Activities

In this step, the activities required to complete the project are defined and itemized. This is different from the work breakdown schedule (WBS) within the project scope management knowledge area in that the activities are more precise. That is, a WBS element will contain multiple activities. That being said, I’ve had small projects where I simply called the WBS and activities one and the same. The PMBOK allows for this on small projects.

Inputs

1. Project management plan
   • Schedule management plan
   • Scope baseline
2. Enterprise environmental factors
3. Organizational process assets

Tools and Techniques

1. Expert judgment
2. Decomposition
3. Rolling wave planning
4. Meetings

Outputs

1. Activity list
2. Activity attributes
3. Milestone list
4. Change requests
5. Project management plan updates
   • Schedule baseline
   • Cost baseline

Sequence Activities

At this step the dependencies between the activities are determined. For example, if a task can’t start until the previous one finishes, they have a finish to start relationship. The other alternatives are finish to finish, start to start, or the very rare start to finish. Also involved in this step is the determination of leads and lags, the amount of time required for extracurricular tasks at the beginning or end of the activity.

Inputs

1. Project management plan
   • Schedule management plan
   • Scope baseline
2. Project documents
   • Activity attributes
   • Activity list
   • Assumption log
   • Milestone list
3. Enterprise environmental factors
4. Organization process assets

Tools and Techniques

1. Precedence diagramming method
2. Dependency determination and integration
3. Leads and lags
4. Project management information system

Outputs

1. Project schedule network diagrams
2. Project documents updates
   • Activity attributes
   • Activity list
   • Assumption log
   • Milestone list

Estimate Activity Durations

In this step, the required time required to perform each activity is estimated.  The three primary estimating techniques are utilized to determine an estimate for each task (activity) defined earlier:  Analogous, Parametric, or Three point estimating.  The task estimates are rolled up into an overall project estimate.

Inputs

1. Project management plan
   • Schedule management plan
   • Scope baseline
2. Project documents
   • Activity attributes
   • Activity list
   • Assumption log
   • Lessons learned register
   • Milestone list
   • Project team assignments
   • Resource breakdown structure
   • Resource calendars
   • Resource requirements
   • Risk register
3. Enterprise environmental factors
4. Organizational process assets

Tools and Techniques

1. Expert judgment
2. Analogous estimating
3. Parametric estimating
4. Three-point estimating
5. Bottom-up estimating
6. Data analysis
   • Alternatives analysis
   • Reserve analysis
7. Decision making
8. Meetings

Outputs

1. Duration estimates
2. Basis of estimates
3. Project documents updates
   • Activity attributes
   • Assumption log
   • Lessons learned register

Develop Schedule

Once the duration of each activity, and the resources are known, the schedule can be developed. This involves using methods such as the critical path method, critical chain method, and others, to determine the overall completion date of the project. Float times for each activity are also important.

Inputs

1. Project management plan
   • Schedule management plan
   • Scope baseline
2. Project documents
   • Activity attributes
   • Activity list
   • Assumption log
   • Basis of estimates
   • Duration estimates
   • Lessons learned register
   • Milestone list
   • Project schedule network diagrams
   • Project team assignments
   • Resource calendars
   • Resource requirements
   • Risk register
3. Agreements
4. Enteprise environmental factors
5. Organization process assets

Tools and Techniques

1. Schedule network analysis
2. Critical path method
3. Resource optimization techniques
4. Data analysis
   • What-if scenario analysis
   • Simulation
5. Leads and lags
6. Schedule compression
7. Project management information system
8. Agile release planning

Outputs

1. Schedule baseline
2. Project schedule
3. Schedule data
4. Project calendars
5. Change requests
6. Project management plan updates
   • Schedule management plan
   • Cost baseline
7. Project documents updates
   • Activity attributes
   • Assumption log
   • Duration estimates
   • Lessons learned register
   • Resource requirements
   • Risk register

Control Schedule

This might be the most important process in the entire PMBOK.  What is the most effective way to ensure the project deadlines are met? The PMBOK gives you the mechanics, but a good dose of experience and judgment will complement these techniques immensely.

Inputs

1. Project management plan
   • Schedule management plan
   • Schedule baseline
   • Scope baseline
   • Performance measurement baseline
2. Project documents
   • Lessons learned register
   • Project calendars
   • Project schedule
   • Resource calendars
   • Schedule data
3. Work performance data
4. Organizational process assets

Tools and Techniques

1. Data analysis
   • Earned value analysis
   • Iteration burndown chart
   • Performance reviews
   • Trend analysis
   • Variance analysis
   • What-if scenario analysis
2. Critical path method
3. Project management information system
4. Resource optimization
5. Leads and lags
6. Schedule compression

Outputs

1. Work performance information
2. Schedule forecasts
3. Change requests
4. Project management plan updates
   • Schedule management plan
   • Schedule baseline
   • Cost baseline
   • Performance measurement baseline
5. Project documents updates
   • Assumption log
   • Basis of estimates
   • Lessons learned register
   • Project schedule
   • Resource calendars
   • Risk register
   • Schedule data

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