Next: Define "When?"
Establishing a Project Schedule
To recap the project planning journey we’re on, thus far we've established the “Who’s?”, “Why’s?”, “What’s?”, “How Good’s?”, and “How’s?” of our project. We’ve determined who wants this project, what their high-level goals & objectives are, what we’re supposed to create and provide to achieve that mission, how good those deliverables have to be in order to be accepted, and even the acquisitions plans for creating and providing all that scope. Now it’s time to work through and answer the “When?” question; i.e., establish how long all this work will take by creating an integrated project schedule.
A schedule is essentially an ordered list of activities (sometimes called tasks) that are required to be performed to create and provide the scope of the project. For the simplest of projects, a basic list of activities can serve as the schedule. For more complex projects, however, we often create network diagrams of the activities, or, more commonly, a Gantt chart that graphically displays the sequential “flow” and interconnectivity of the activities.
A well-constructed and accurate schedule is vital to project management success. It provides the roadmap of things the project team must perform and affect to create and deliver the scope. Without a logical sequence of activities, a project will be inefficient at best—and failure prone at worst. A well-constructed schedule also provides milestones that can be used to track progress against. It also provides a guide to plan and prioritize upcoming work, identify threats and opportunities in the plan, and keep track of interconnected and dependent activities. The project’s critical path can also be discerned from a schedule, helping you and your team focus on the most important activities. A schedule can also provide invaluable planning information, such as resource loading, conflict avoidance, and, of course, serve as a basis for cost estimating. Further, a schedule is a primary reporting tool we use when interacting with our key stakeholders. Said simply, without a schedule, we can do none of these things.
So, how do we create an accurate and logical project schedule? A common mistake is building a schedule from the top-down. Sure, sometimes we’re given an end date we have to meet, but regardless, we always should build a schedule from the bottom-up. Tab A takes two weeks to go into Slot B, and only then can we consider working on Element C, and so on. You must work through the logic from the bottom up. Here are some other tips:
First, don’t worry about activity durations or who will perform what work. Instead, focus solely on identifying the required activities and how they’re logically interconnected. Work on each major sub-deliverable as if it’s a standalone entity. Then move on to the next one and repeat. The best way to do this is with flowcharts and/or block diagrams. Get a big white board and just start listing required activities and then connect them with arrows. Pouring the foundations should occur before erecting the walls, which comes before installing the roof, etc. Further, don’t do this all yourself. Get subject matter experts (SMEs) to develop the activities for their specific areas of responsibility.
Use progressive elaboration. Do not fill in every little detail at first. Focus on the big, major activity blocks. For example, start with “pour foundations” and “erect walls.” Get this logic sorted out and agreed upon, then you can come back and layer in more detail, like “excavate foundations,” “form and rebar,” “pour concrete,” “cure concrete,” and “clean up.” Don’t waste time on unnecessary details until the big picture view is complete and agreed upon.
Next, stitch the various sub-deliverable flowcharts together into a master network diagram. Focus on the overall logic and the inter-relationship between the various tracts. What activities have to be completed before other ones can begin? What are the key “hand off” points between tracts?
Next, create a proper Gantt-type chart. Use the master network diagram as a basis for assembling the full integrated schedule. Add activity durations at this point. Try to avoid hard or “fixed” dates; i.e., the logical connections between tasks should drive the overall schedule, not hard-wired dates. Artificial or fixed dates constrain this ability and, in fact, take away one of the primary benefits of scheduling software. Oh, and don’t build in artificial buffer or “spare” time into the activities; keep the activities durations equal to your team’s best estimates for how long the work will actually take.
Next, resource load the activities and optimize the schedule. Ensure no one is double booked, and that the logical and overall schedule makes sense. Look at the critical path and ask if this is reasonable or not. Then look at near-critical path activities, and so on. Make changes as required to improve the overall flow and efficiency of the work.
Finally, add tracking and reporting milestones throughout the schedule. These will be used as an aid to managing the work and ensuring that progress is continuing per plan. They also will help inform and manage the expectations of your key stakeholders.
Creating a project schedule is an essential step that requires careful planning and collaboration. By adopting a bottom-up approach, focusing on major activities first, and progressively adding detail, you can develop a realistic timeline that serves as a roadmap for successfully executing your project.