Construct a

Project
Schedule
ITM130

Scheduling 101 - the Basic of Best Practices (pmi.org)

 Agenda

Welcome
Project Schedule Management Overview | PMBOK Video Cour
Ice breaking video se - YouTube

Lesson 1

Break 3.30 to 3.45

Lesson 1 continues

Break 4:45 to 5

Quiz
 Objective
Construct a Project Schedule
Develop a balanced plan
Use network diagramming methodologies
Create a project’s critical path
Project Schedule

A project
schedule is a
formal timetable
that enumerates
start dates,
deadlines, and
resources
required for a
 Introduction

A project schedule includes the sequence of activities, the duration planned

for each activity, and relationships or dependencies between the beginnings
and ends of different activities.

The project schedule is created after the scope planning has created WBS,
and before the project resource planning.

Depending on the complexity of a project, a schedule can be simple as a

checklist of tasks with deadlines or a complex multipage document.
 Introduction

Regardless of the size of the project, creating a schedule is one of the most important
project management steps.

Generally, creating a project schedule falls under the responsibilities of a project manager.
However, all stakeholders within a project should be involved in the process.

Stakeholders are those with an interest in your project’s outcome. They are typically the
members of a project team, project managers, executives, project sponsors, customers, and
users.

Stakeholders are people who will be affected by your project at any point in its life cycle,
and their input can directly impact the outcome. It’s essential to practice good stakeholder
management and continuously communicate to collaborate on the project.
 Introduction

Realistic and detailed project schedules are important because they help keep
projects within budget and on schedule.

They also avoid miscommunication between stakeholders and eliminate

ambiguities across project teams.
 Definition

A project schedule is a timetable that

organizes project tasks, activity durations,
calendar start and end dates, and sets
overall project milestones on a timeline.
 Schedule planning

A schedule is a model for

executing the project’s activities,
Schedule planning can use
including durations,
predictive or adaptive
dependencies, and other
approaches.
planning information as per
PMBOK 7th Edition.

Predictive approaches follow a

stepwise process as follows:
 Steps for Predictive approaches of Schedule planning

Step 1.
• Decompose the project scope into specific activities.

Step 2.
• Sequence related activities.

Step 3.
• Estimate the effort, duration, people, and physical resources required to complete the activities.

Step 4.
• Allocate people and resources to the activities based on availability.

Step 5.
• Adjust the sequence, estimates, and resources until an agreed-upon schedule is achieved
 Schedule

If the schedule model does not meet the initial desired end date,
schedule compression methods are applied.

Crashing is a schedule compression method that seeks to shorten

the duration for the least incremental cost.

Crashing can include adding people to activities, working

overtime, or paying to expedite deliveries.
 Schedule
Fast tracking is a schedule compression method in which activities
or tasks that are normally done in sequence are performed in
parallel, at least for a portion of their duration.

Fast tracking often entails applying leads and lags along a network
path.

A lead is where the work of a successor activity is accelerated,

such as starting a successor activity before the predecessor has
finished.

In Figure 2-16, there is a lead between the finish of Task 2 and the
start of Task 4.
Fast Tracking Examples
 Schedule
A lag is a delay of a successor activity.

An example of using a lag would be changing the type of relationship between activities, and then applying a lag.

For example, rather than waiting for an activity to finish before the next one starts (a finish-to-start relationship), change the
relationship to have the end of the successor activity finish a determined amount of time after the end of the predecessor (a finish-to-
finish relationship).

The network logic would show a lag between the finish of the predecessor and the finish of the successor activities.

There is an example of a finish-to-finish relationship with a lag in Figure 2-16 between Task 8 and Task 7.

A lag can also be applied between the start of one activity and the start of another activity (a start-to-start relationship).
 Dependencies

When compressing the schedule, it is important to determine the nature

of the dependencies between activities. Some activities cannot be fast
tracked due to the nature of the work—others can.
• The four types of dependencies are:

Mandatory Discretionary
External dependency. Internal dependency.
dependency. dependency.
• A relationship that is • A relationship that is • A relationship • A relationship
contractually required based on best between project between one or more
or inherent in the practices or project activities and non- project activities. This
nature of the work. preferences. This type project activities. This type of dependency
This type of of dependency may type of dependency may be modifiable.
dependency usually be modifiable. usually cannot be
cannot be modified. modified.
Dependencies
 Other definitions

Project schedules also define the team members and resources needed to
complete tasks.

Project scheduling is fundamental for planning and control in project

management.

All the work necessary to complete the deliverables is accounted for in the
project schedule; it also includes all associated costs as outlined in the
project budget.

Clearly, project schedule is an essential tool to deliver a project on time and

within budget.
HOOVER DAM
 HOOVER DAM
 Concrete dam in Black
Canyon, on the border
between Arizona and Nevada
 Named after Herbert Hoover,
who played an important role
in its construction
 Built by Six-Companies, Inc.
 Operated by Bureau of
Reclamation of the US Dept.
of the Interior
 Lake Mead is the reservoir
constructed behind the dam
 The Need for a Dam

 Turbulent Colorado River periodically flood vast areas of California and Arizona
 The flood destroyed canals built for irrigation and drinkable water
 Herbert Hoover proposed construction of the high dam to solve the problems
 Who is Herbert Hoover?
 Was Secretary of Commerce
under President Coolidge
 Graduated from Stanford
University
 A successful mining engineer,
humanitarian
 Elected as the 31st President of
the United States
 Questions That Were Raised

 What would be the location of the dam?

 Who would build the dam?
 How would the dam going to be financed?
 Which states would get the water and electricity?
 Scope

 Construction of the high dam would control the

periodic floods, store water for irrigation, municipal
and industrial use
 The customers would be the people getting water,
electricity from the dam
 Resources
 5200 workers on the construction with 3 shifts/day
 5 millions barrel of cement used in the concrete
 9,000 tons of structured steel components
 44,000 tons of large steel pipe and fittings
 Giant cooling towers
 Time Management

 Hoover met with the 7 state governors (AZ,CA,CO,NV,NM,UT,WO) to work out

suitable arrangement for their states’ use
 November 1922, Colorado River Compact was signed
 In 1928, the Congress passed the Boulder Canyon Act, allocating $175 million for
the dam construction
 Time Management

 Composite bid was accepted for $50 mil by Six Companies in March 6 1931
 Construction began in April 20 1931
 June 1931, sufficient housing facilities were in place
 Construction was completed in March 1, 1936
 The construction was completed 2 years ahead of schedule
 Cost Management

 The most difficult part of the project – period of Great

Depression
 It cost a total of $165 million - $49 million to build the Hoover
Dam
 Unskilled labor paid $4/day and minimum wage cost was
<$6/hr
 Paid back over a period of 50 years to Federal Treasury by
selling electricity
 Project Management

 One of the biggest engineering project at that time - also the greatest testimony to
functional organizations and old fashioned management control techniques
 Active management was left in 4 hands: Henry J. Kaiser, Charles A. Shea, Felix
Kahn and S.D. Bechtel
Project Management
 Project Management

 Frank Crowe (a.k.a Hurry Up) worked under Shea – acted as the man point
between Board of Directors and the operations personnel
 It was Shea’s responsibility to carry out the construction on time and budget
 Each department was headed by a manager and held accountable for their work
 Project Management

 Dam construction was divided into 3 areas:

* Diversion tunnels and penstocks
* Concrete arched structure
* Power plant
 Problems

 Workers’ strike (August 1931) – triggered by deaths of many of the workers’ wives
and children due to extreme heat and lack of sanitation in the campsite area
 Huge dam size required a lot of cement and engineers predicted it would take 125
years to dry and cure
 Heat generated in the chemical rxns in the drying process would physically alter the
landscape
 Solutions to the Problem

 Housing facilities were built, known as Boulder City

 Giant cooling tower/plant built to cool the entire dam – pumped ice water (37 oF) at
1000 gal/min as the concrete was poured
 With this approach, the dam was cooled in 20 months
 FAQs

 Height : 726.4 ft
 Weight: 6.6 million tons
 Total storage capacity : 30.5 million acre ft
 Power generating capacity: 2.8 million kW
 Has 17 generators
 Part of a system that provides water to over 25 million people in Southwest United
States
What factors should be considered…
… when making a project schedule?

1 2 rs
a ct o
1. Project schedules consist of
multiple factors that need to be
quantified before the formal
schedule is finalized.

righ l
t
l
fact ting a
le F

ors
2. Getting each of these factors right,
ltip

G et helps to ensure you are creating a

Mu

realistic schedule that will lead to

a successful project.
 Pro
S ch j ect
ed u &
le p
lan
s
1 2
S ch
ed u
le b
a seli
ne
… project schedule?

D el
iver
a bl
es
What is included in a …

3 4

R eq
uire
men
ts
 Project Schedule
Project schedules are created during the project
planning phase and are crucial to the creation of a
project plan, where the schedule plan, schedule baseline,
deliverables and requirements are identified.

The project schedule is designed to guide the project

team throughout the execution phase of the project.

Then, during the execution phase, the schedule baseline

is compared against the acutal project progress.
The following are included in the creation of a
Project Schedule

7
The following are included in the creation of a
Project Schedule

1 • Deliverables

7
The following are included in the creation of a
Project Schedule

1 • Deliverables

2 • Tasks: start & end dates, dependencies, duration and

project timeline
3

7
The following are included in the creation of a
Project Schedule

• Deliverables
• Tasks: start & end dates, dependencies, duration and
2 project time line
• Project Calendar
3

7
The following are included in the creation of a
Project Schedule

• Deliverables

• Tasks

• Project Calendar
3

4
• Work Packages

7
8
The following are included in the creation of a
Project Schedule

• Deliverables

• Tasks

• Project Calendar

• Work Packages
4

5 • Budgets

7
The following are included in the creation of a
Project Schedule

• Deliverables

• Tasks

• Project Calendar

• Work Packages

5 • Budgets

6 • Resource availability

7
The following are included in the creation of a
Project Schedule

• Deliverables

• Tasks

• Project Calendar

• Work packages

• Budgets

6 • Resource availability

7 • Schedule risk and analysis

 Case Study: Wedding Deliverables

Presentation Title 47
Deliverables
Decompose into
Work Packages
Shop for shoes Wait for RSVPs
Create guest list Mail the invitations
Tailoring and fitting Finalize the menu
Shop for dress Print the invitations
Find caterer Choose the bouquet
Cater the wedding

48
Case Study: Wedding Deliverables

49
 Deliverables
1 Deliverables are the outputs of a project. Different tasks within your project
schedule will produce different outputs as they are completed.

Deliverables can be tangible or intangible. Exactly what a deliverable looks like

depends on the stage of the project and the tasks it consists of.
ables

The finished product or service you provide to your client is obviously one of the
Deliver

most important project deliverables.

However, well-planned projects often have other deliverables for internal or

external stakeholders throughout the course of the project. As you might expect,
deliverables for external stakeholders (usually your client) are external
deliverables.

Similarly, deliverables for internal stakeholders (usually any stakeholder other

than your client, such as employees, contractors, etc. are internal deliverables.
 A few key characteristics of a project

1 deliverable are:

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•
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ternal deliv : if it goes
erable.
 Deadlines
2 • Deadlines in project scheduling are just what you’d expect: due dates for
task and project completion. The concept is simple, but deadlines and
timeframes are vitally important to successful projects.
es

• Setting realistic deadlines means finding a balance between budget, available

Deadlin

resources, and client expectations.

• Of course, this is easier said than done. All too often, despite the best efforts
of stakeholders, projects miss their deadlines. This, in turn, hurts customer
satisfaction, morale, and budgets.

• By creating a well-planned project schedule, you increase the probability

that you can set and meet realistic deadlines.
 Resources
3
• In project management, resources are all of the people, capital, tools, and
technology needed to carry out a project and the associated tasks.
ces

• While time constraints related to deadlines are an important part of creating a

R e so u r

project schedule, it’s crucial not to overlook your resource constraints.

• As a project manager, you’ll need to carefully allocate resources to ensure

they’re in the right place at the right time. For simple projects, resource
management may come down to assigning tasks to a few employees. For
complex projects, you may need to coordinate access to facilities and
equipment across multiple project teams with varying schedules.
 Dependencies
4 • In many cases, projects involve tasks that cannot begin until a prerequisite
task is completed. Dependencies define the relationship between different
tasks throughout a project.
encies

• For example, suppose you’re managing a construction project with the intent
D e p en d

to build a house. Before you can install insulation, you need to finish running
electrical wiring. Before you run electrical wiring, you must complete the
frame and exterior walls of the house.

• In this case, the insulation depends on the electrical wiring being installed.
Similarly, the wiring depends on the frame and exterior walls being
complete.
 Milestones

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track.
The Project Scheduling Techniques
Estimating the duration of project tasks as accurately as possible is
key to creating a realistic schedule. To do this requires the use of
various project scheduling techniques.

Project Managers can interview their team and other stakeholders to

get their perspective on how long certain tasks can take, and can
refer to historic data from similar past projects.

Additionally, project managers can use project scheduling

techniques to increase the accuracy of their data estimates and
minimize schedule risks.
 Project Scheduling Techniques
Estimating the duration of the project tasks.

Inputs from sta

ke
holders

Program Ev
aluation and
Review Tech
nique (PERT
e thod (CPM) )
Cr itic al pa th m

The critical path method (CPM)

• is an equation that shows the longest possible timeline for the project.

The Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT)

• also visualizes the flow of tasks for better estimates, but shows task dependencies as well
PERT
Also known as PERT chart or PERT/CPM Chart

A PERT chart, sometimes called a PERT

diagram, is a project management tool used
to schedule, organize and coordinate tasks
within a project. It provides a graphical
representation of a project's timeline that
enables project managers to break down
each individual task in the project for
analysis.
Network Diagram

Illustrates task relationships.

Used to determine the critical path
Software such as Microsoft Project can be used to
create a network diagram.
 Network Diagram for
Wedding

Presentation Title 60
 The critical path

When multiple paths exist through the network

diagram, the path with the longest duration is called
the critical path.

If any task on the critical path is delayed, the project is

delayed.

Tasks NOT on the critical path have slack available.

This is the amount of time the task could be delayed
without delaying the completion of the project.
The critical path example
 The critical path example

In this example the critical path is A,B,C,D,E,F,I,L, and the earliest

completion date for the project is the sum of the estimated times for all the
stages on the critical path – 28 weeks
 Project Scheduling Techniques

Project managers will also use schedule compression techniques

• such as schedule crashing and fast tracking which can reduce the schedule duration
without impacting the project scope.
• Simulation, resource-leveling heuristics, creating a task list, using a project calendar and
using a Gantt chart are all other tools that can help with estimation, collection and
tracking of project tasks.

A work breakdown structure (WBS)

• shows how many tasks and deliverables there are to get to your final deliverable. It’s a
network diagram that has your project goal on top with “branches” underneath that show
all the steps needed to get you there.
• This tool makes sure you don’t leave out anything when devising your schedule.
• A workback schedule is another technique that allows you to break down the project
scope and identify all the tasks, activities, deliverables and milestones
 A Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

• Technically, a work breakdown structure (WBS) is a deliverable

related to a project. However, it is important enough to call out
separately since it’s an important part of a project schedule.
• Different estimation techniques, such as PERT, or program
evaluation and review technique), can keep your estimates
honest.
• The Project Management Institute describes a WBS as: “a
deliverable-oriented hierarchical decomposition of the work to
be executed by the project team to accomplish the project
objectives and create the required deliverables. It organizes
and defines the total scope of the project.”

What Is a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) In Project Management? (projectmanager.co

m)
 Work Breakdown Structure
Figure 17.2

Project
Project X
X

Level 1

Level 2

Level 3

Level 4

17-66
 Difference

• Given that description, you may ask, “What is the

difference between a WBS and a project schedule?

• A WBS focuses on project deliverables and is not

concerned with time constraints or dependencies.

• With the WBS, you can get a clear idea of the work
required to produce your project’s outputs.

• A project schedule brings time and decencies into the mix

and enables you to properly allocate resources and set
deadlines.
 PERT and CPM

PERT: Program Evaluation and

Review Technique
CPM: Critical Path Method

 Graphically displays project activities

 Estimates how long the project will take
 Indicates most critical activities
 Show where delays will not affect project
 The Network Diagram
 Network (precedence) diagram – diagram of project
activities that shows sequential relationships by the use of
arrows and nodes.
 Activity-on-arrow (AOA) – a network diagram convention
in which arrows designate activities.
 Activity-on-node (AON) – a network diagram convention in
which nodes designate activities.
 Activities – steps in the project that consume resources
and/or time.
 Events – the starting and finishing of activities, designated
by nodes in the AOA convention. 17-69
The Network
Diagram (cont’d)
 Path
 Sequence of activities that leads from the starting
node to the finishing node
 Critical path
 The longest path; determines expected project
duration
 Critical activities
 Activities on the critical path
 Slack
 Allowable slippage for path; the difference the
17-70
length of path and the length of critical path
 Advantages of PERT
 Forces managers to organize
 Provides graphic display of activities
 Identifies
 Critical activities 4
 Slack activities 2

1 5 6

17-71
 Limitations of PERT
 Important activities may be omitted
 Precedence relationships may not be correct
 Estimates may include
a fudge factor 4

 May focus solely 2

on critical path
1 5 6

142 weeks

3 17-72
The components of a Gantt chart
 The components of a Gantt chart
Task list: Runs vertically down the left of the gantt chart to describe project work and may be organized into groups
and subgroups

Timeline: Runs horizontally across the top of the gantt chart and shows months, weeks, days, and years

Dateline: A vertical line that highlights the current date on the gantt chart

Bars: Horizontal markers on the right side of the gantt chart that represent tasks and show progress, duration, and start
and end dates

Milestones: Yellow diamonds that call out major events, dates, decisions, and deliverables. A white diamond
represents a slipped milestone such as projects completed later than originally planned.

Dependencies: Light gray lines that connect tasks that need to happen in a certain order

Progress: Shows how far along work is and may be indicated by percent complete and/or bar shading

Resource assigned: Indicates the person or team responsible for completing a task
 Advantages of Gantt Chart

The main advantage of using Gantt charts is that they

provide a standard format for displaying planned and
actual project schedule information.

In addition, they are easy to create and understand.

Disadvantages of Gantt Chart

The main disadvantage of Gantt

charts is that they do not usually
show relationships or
dependencies between tasks.
 Making of a Project Schedule
Project scheduling occurs during the planning phase of the project life cycle. When
beginning to put together a schedule for your project, you should ask yourself four things
to start:
What needs to be done?

When will it to be done?

Who will do it?

Where will it be done?

The answers to these questions will greatly inform your project schedule moving forward,
as you will use this information to plan start and end dates, link activities, set the
duration, create milestones and manage resources.
 The steps for creating …
Project Schedule

Quantify your Estimate the

project’s tasks time required to Pick your
and required complete the milestones Set deadlines
resources tasks

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Determine Find the critical path Document risks Review and
dependencies and complete your
assumptions project schedule
How to create your own project schedule?

Now that you Before you dive in, you

understand what a should already have a
project schedule is clear understanding of the
and the key project’s scope and
components, we cant objectives.
start creating one.
 Steps for Project Schedule
1 Quantify

3 • To begin, you will need to quantify all of the tasks associated with competing your
project. At the same time, be sure to detail the associated deliverables and required
resources.
4
• Quantifying all of your project’s tasks and deliverables enables you to make
5 accurate estimates going forward.

• At this stage, you may need to collaborate with internal project teams to
6
understand the various subtasks required.

7 • You will also want to make sure your client has the same external deliverable
expectations you do. For complex projects, this stage will include the creation of the
WBS.
8
 Tips for quantifying your project’s tasks
Engage your stakeholders: Project team members can provide you with the
technical expertise needed to clearly quantify projects tasks and required
resources. Hold meetings or have your list reviewed by stakeholders to ensure
accuracy.

Be clear about deliverables: Mismatched expectations can cause huge problems

down the line. Make sure the customer is on board with your external deliverables
and that project teams are on board with internal and external deliverables.

Understand the resources required for your tasks: A person can’t be in two different
places at the same time. Similarly, two tasks may require the same piece of equipment.
Make sure to quantify what resources are needed for your tasks to avoid double-
booking your team members or resources.
 Steps for Project Schedule
1

2 Dependencies

3 Now that you know what tasks you need to complete, you can begin to map dependencies. There
are a few different types of dependency relationships:
4

8
 Dependency relationships
Finish-to-start: This is the most intuitive dependency type. To start one task,
you must finish a prerequisite task.

Start-to-start: The start date of a task is tied to the start date of another task.

Finish-to-finish: The finish date of a task is tied to the finish date of another task.

Start-to-finish: The start date of a task determines the finish date of another task.
 Steps for Project Schedule
1

2 Dependencies

4 Now that you know what tasks you need to complete, you can begin to map dependencies.
There are a few different types of dependency relationships:
5 1. Finish-to-start
2. Start-to-start
3. Finish-to-finish
6 4. Start-to-finish

7 Mapping out the dependencies for all of your tasks is an important prerequisite for realistic
scheduling and resource allocation. Collaboration with your internal stakeholders is vital to
getting this part of your project schedule right.
8
 Tips for determining dependencies:

Use a network diagram: A picture is worth a thousand words. Spelling out

dependencies with words alone can be confusing and lead to errors. In a
nutshell, a network diagram is a graphical representation of dependencies that
can make project scheduling easier.

Don’t set timelines yet: Remember, at this point, you haven’t begun to generate time
estimates or set deadlines. At this step, you are setting the stage to create accurate
timelines.
 Steps for Project Schedule
1

3 Time

5 Now that you understand the dependencies that exist between tasks, its time to estimate
how long they will take.
6
Doing so will help you set realistic deadlines and identify the critical path later on. You will
need input from relevant stakeholders to complete this step.
7

8
 Tips for estimating the time required to complete tasks:

Track your time once the project starts: Even for experts, estimating the time
complex tasks will take is difficult. Do your future self a favor and track how
much time tasks take on all of your projects. This will provide you with a
precident for future estimates.

Experiment with different time estimation techniques: Most of us have an

optimistic bias when it comes to estimating the time required to complete a project.
Different estimation techniques, such as PERT (Program Evaluation and Review
Technique), can keep your estimates honest.
 Steps for Project Schedule
1

4 Critical Path
After you’ve laid out your dependencies, you’ll be able to determine
the critical path for your project.
5
In short, the critical path is the set (or sets) of dependent tasks that
dictate if your project is completed on time.
6 • Many paths in a project can have some slack built in, meaning
that even with some delays, the project can still meet deadlines.
• That isn’t the case for the critical path. Unless you can work
7
some magic, a delay in the critical path means a delay in
project completion.
8
 Tips for finding the critical path:

r o je ct c a n h a v e multiple
Your p Critical path
l p a th s : C o m p le x problems s can chang
critica al paths. throughout e
v e m u lt ip le c r it ic a project: T
ca n h a world is nev he real
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As a p your networ ut a s
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identify set of tasks i f o ne
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blockers.
 Steps for Project Schedule
1

4
At this point, you’ll have a solid foundation for your project
schedule. From here, you can take a step back and pick your
5 Milestones
milestones. It can be easy for project management beginners to
trivialize milestones.
6 After all, if everyone executes as planned, all that matters are the
deliverables and deadlines, right? While that makes sense at a high
level, as a project manager, you need to make sure everyone is on
7 track to deliver. Milestones help you do that

8
 Tips for picking your
Milestones:

Spread milestones throughout your project: Improving monitoring and visibility is one
of the core benefits of creating milestones. Therefore, it’s important to ensure you spread
out milestones to make sure you’re executing consistently throughout the project. It’s
easy to focus on the end-of-project deliverables. However, early and mid-project
milestones such as contract signings and approvals are key to making sure you stay on
schedule.
Remember that milestones aren’t tasks: A milestone is a marker, not a task. This is
important to remember because milestones don’t take time to complete; they simply
indicate when a phase within a project begins or ends.
 Steps for Project Schedule
1

3
• Assumptions are often stigmatized as negative. However, in project management,
4 you must make assumptions regularly.
• For example, if your procurement team tells you that materials will arrive on
February 1, that’s an assumption you’re banking on.
5 • Inherent to any assumption is an amount of risk. For example, say there is a 10%
risk those materials don’t show up until February 8. That means there’s a 10%
6 Risk chance that one assumption could delay your project by a week.
• When you quantify and document all of your risks and assumptions, you’re able
to forecast your project’s overall risk, create contingencies and backup plans, and
7 reduce the impact of one of your assumptions falling through

8
 Tips for documenting your risks and assumptions:

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 Steps for Project Schedule
1

3
• Now you should have a firm grasp of the time your project
4 will take as well as the risks and assumptions underlying
your estimates. At this point, you can set the deadlines for
your project.
5
• Deadlines are a simple enough concept, but getting them
right is a challenge. There is constant tension between
6
speed and quality.
• As the project manager, it’s your job to create realistic
7 Deadlines
deadlines that balance the demands of different
stakeholders.
8
 Tips for Project Deadlines
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 Steps for Project Schedule
1

4
• At this point, your project schedule is effectively complete. This step is where
5 you review your schedule for accuracy and have stakeholders sign off on the
schedule’s feasibility.
6 • A few items to check for during the process are:
1. Only in-scope tasks are included in the schedule
2. Resources are available for the dates and times you allocated them
7 3. Milestones are spread out throughout the project
4. Deadlines have a cushion that is proportional to the risks and assumptions
8 Review tied to the underlying tasks.
 Tips for reviewing and completing your project schedule:

r ti s e to
m ’s expe
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Execution

of Your
Project
Schedule
 How to Manage your Project Schedule
During Execution

• Once you’ve got all the pieces of your schedule together, the last
thing you want to do is manually punch it into a static document
like a Google sheets or a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. Project
management software can automate much of the process for you.

• There are project scheduling tools on the market that are great for
simple scheduling duties, but when you’re leading a project, big
or small, you need a tool that can adapt to the variety of
scheduling issues you’re going to need to track. Watch the video
below to learn how scheduling software can help you lead your
project to a successful conclusion, or continue on to read our full
walkthrough.
 Project Scheduling
Tools

• Project scheduling tools are used to help managers organize and

execute their project’s tasks and resources within a given budget.
Software offerings range from rudimentary to sophisticated, and
provide users with a wide spectrum of features that facilitate the
scheduling of their project.

• Software devoted to scheduling a project can assist in the larger

role of planning and estimation of the duration of each task.
Outside of scheduling, software can also include tools that manage
costs, budget, resource allocation, collaboration, communication
and reporting.
Practice
Question
 MCQ

Q. The _________ method predicts total

project duration?

Gantt Chart

Critical Path

PERT
Click on the
button to
select the
correct
answer!
 MCQ

Q. The _________ method predicts total

project duration?
Good! Tha
t's Right!
Correct An
sw e r :
The critical
path is the l
that must be o n g es t s eq u
completed t ence of task
o execute a s
project

lic k h ere to
C
!
continue
 MCQ

Q. The _________ method predicts total

project duration?
That's Not
Q uite Right!

A Gantt cha
r t i s a p r oj e
tool that illu c t m a n a ge m
strates work e nt
over a perio completed
d i n r e l a t i on
planned for t o t he t i m e
the work.

lic k h ere to
C
!
continue
 MCQ

Q. The _________ method predicts total

T project duration?
hat's Not Q
uite Right!

PERT is use
d to get acc
complicated urate time e
projects. stimates for

lic k h ere to
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!
continue
 Assignment 1
Bringing projects in on schedule while adhering to cost and quality requirements to reduce risks among the greatest challenges for
project managers. Every deliverable in a project is time-sensitive and managing time effectively is essential to the success of any project.
After the first 3 lectures, please conduct research on Project Schedule management.

Please answer for the following questions in the Microsoft Word in APA format with an abstract page:
• What are the key benefits of developing Schedule?
• Explain why project scheduling is an essential component of project management.
• Explain the Inputs, Tools and techniques, and output of this process?

Also, prepare a schedule for a project of your groups’ choice, with the following:
• Define your project goals.
• Identify all stakeholders.
• Set the project’s start and completion dates.
• Break the course project into tasks that need to be carried out. Some project activities that you would probably face in the real world may not be needed in the course project,
such as ordering supplies from vendors, interacting with clients, buying software and so on. Feel free to include any such tasks, however, as the primary focus of this assignment
is to teach you proper scheduling technique.
• Identify the resources (mainly personnel) associated with each task. Don’t forget that for this individual assignment you are the project manager. Distribute the remaining roles
among other members of your group.
• For each task, estimate the period that it will take to complete. You can approximate smallest, largest, and expected task durations.
• Determine the order in which tasks will be performed.

Now you are ready to complete this assignment’s tasks:

• Summarize your results from the above steps into a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS). Look at the sample of WBS with explanations.
• Produce a Gantt chart for your project. Take a look at the additional detailed Gantt instructions with a step-by-step example.
• Produce a PERT diagram for your project.
• Identify and mark a Critical Path on the activity network designed in section b).
Questions
What is the certification program called that the Project
Management Institute provides? Project Management
Professional.

Project Management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools

and techniques to project activities to meet project requirements.

A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique

product, service, or result.
Questions
What is the first process in planning a project schedule?

• Defining activities

A project schedule is a formal timetable that enumerates start dates,

deadlines, and resources require for a project.

Depending on the complexity of a project, a schedule can be as simple

as a checklist of tasks with deadlines or a complex multipage
document.
Questions
Regardless of the size of the project, creating a schedule is one of the most important
project management steps.

Realistic and detailed project schedules are important because they help keep projects
within budget and on schedule.

A project schedule is a timetable that organizes project tasks, activity durations,

calendar start, and end dates, sets overall project milestones on a timeline.

You cannot start editing a technical report until someone else completes the first draft.
What type of dependency does this represent? Finish-to-start.

The main advantage of using Gantt Charts is that they provide a standard format for
displaying planned and actual project schedule inrormation.
Questions
The main disadvantage of Gantt charts is that they do not usually show relationships or
dependencies between tasks.

What symbol on a Gantt chart represents a slipped milestone? A white diamond.

What type of diagram shows planned and actual project schedule information? A tracking Gantt
Chart

Critical path method is a network diagramming technique used to predict total project duration.

Critical path scheduling is a method of scheduling that considers limited resources when creating a
project schedule and includes buffers to protect the project completion date.
Questions
Controlling is the final process in the project schedule management.

The critical path method predicts total project duration.

A project manager for a software development project, you are helping to develop the project
schedule. You decide that writing code for a system should not start until users sign off on the
analysis work. What type of dependency is this? Discretionary

Project schedules are created during the project planning phase.

 Reference

Project Management Institute. (2021). A guide to the project management

body of knowledge (PMBOK® guide)—Seventh edition. Newtown Square.

Project Management Institute. (2021). A guide to the project management

body of knowledge (PMBOK® guide)—Sixth edition. Newtown Square.