Chapter 6
Planning the Schedule
TOPICS COVERED
Project Time Management
Plan Schedule Management
Define Activities
Sequence Activities
Estimate Activity Resources
Estimate Activity Durations
Develop Schedule
Project Time Management
Project Time Management includes the processes required to manage timely completion of the project.
The project schedule is one of the most important documents a project manager develops. One of the most common questions project managers hear is, “When will it be done?” The schedule can help answer that question. But in order to answer it realistically, the schedule has to be accurate and relevant. Taking the time to gather the information necessary to develop a good schedule will pay off throughout the project. For smaller projects, the planning processes in time management can be linked together and combined into one process. For projects that have approximately 75 to 100 activities or less, don’t worry about going through each step individually. However, as projects get larger, you will need to pay attention to each individual process to make sure your information is relevant and accurate.
The phrase “garbage in, garbage out” could have been written specifically for schedule development. In fact, professional schedulers call the schedule a schedule model. It is a model that describes what is possible if all the data in the scheduling tool is accurate. Don’t mistake the model for reality!
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