14 Points to Evaluate Any Project Schedule

1. Logic Check evaluates if any tasks are missing a successor or a predecessor in the
schedule. Logically, all activities should have at least one predecessor or successor
tasks or else you risk creating an orphaned task. A quality schedule should not have
more than 5% of its tasks missing logic. The logic check formula is (# of Tasks
missing Logic) / (# of Incomplete Tasks) * 100.
2. Leads Check looks for negative lags (i.e., leads) in the schedule. A quality schedule
should have zero leads, as they can impact a project's critical path.
3. Lags Check ensures the use of lags is minimized in the project schedule, as lags can
impact the critical path. A quality schedule would have fewer than 5% of the tasks
with lags. The lag check formula is (# of Tasks with Lag) / (Incomplete Tasks).
4. Relationship Types Check validates 90% of the tasks have Finish to Start
relationships. Using Finish to Start relationships provides a logical flow to the
schedule.
5. Hard Constraints Check is any activity that has a Must Finish On, Must Start On, Start
No Later Than, or Finish No Later Than constraint. You often see these constraints in
the "pick-a-date" project management. You ideally want your schedule to be a
dynamic schedule that flows easily when the project is updated. The hard constraints
check identifies any Incomplete task that has a hard constraint. A quality schedule will
not have more than 5% of its tasks with hard constraints.
6. High Float Check identifies all tasks with a total float of more than 44 working days.
A task with such a high float usually indicates a predecessor or a successor was
missing. The formula is (# of High Float tasks) / (# of Incomplete Tasks). The
percentage should not exceed 5%.
7. Negative Float Check identifies any tasks that have a float less than zero. This check
helps identify any tasks that may hinder the completion of other tasks in the schedule.
There should be zero tasks with negative float.
8. High Duration Check identifies any task that has a baseline duration greater than 44
days. As competent PMs, we know such tasks should be broken down into more
discrete tasks. The formula is (# of High Duration tasks) / (# of Incomplete Tasks) and
should not exceed 5%.
9. Invalid Dates Check identifies any total task that has a scheduled start or finish date
before the project status date and an actual start or finish date after the project status
date. Forecasted start and finish dates should always appear after the project status
date. The schedule also can’t contain an actual start or finish date in the future. There
should be zero tasks that fall into this category in a quality schedule.
10. Resources Check identifies all the tasks that do not have resources (people or costs)
assigned. A quality schedule has all resources assigned to tasks in the schedule.
11. Missed Tasks Check is used to identify any task that was scheduled to complete by the
project status date and finished after the baseline finish date. The reality is projects
will have late tasks, but you want to ensure your current schedule re-aligns to the
baseline schedule. The formula is (# of tasks with forecasted finish before the status
date and actual or forecasted finish after baseline schedule date) / (baseline count).
12. Critical Path Test Check assesses the integrity of the schedule network using the
critical path. An intentional delay of 600 days is entered into the remaining duration
 of a critical path test. The expected result is the project is delayed by 600 days since
you added a delay directly on the critical path. The schedule passes the test if the
project finish date matches the added duration date finish date.
13. Critical Path Length Index (CPLI) determines if the project finish date is realistic
given the forecasted finish date. The critical path length index is calculated using the
formula (Critical Path Length + Total Float) / (Critical Path Length). The value should
be greater than 1.0 to pass the test.
14. Baseline Execution Index (BEI) is similar to Earned Value's Schedule Performance
Index as it compares the number of completed activities to date to the number of tasks
planned to be completed by the project status date. The BEI is calculated # of
Complete Tasks / BEI Baseline Count and should be greater than 1.0.

Regularly monitoring your project’s schedule performance can provide early indications of
possible activity-coordination problems, resource conflicts, and possible cost overruns. To
monitor schedule performance, you need to know how to collect information and evaluate it
and how to ensure its accuracy.

Your project’s Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is a deliverable-oriented decomposition of

the work required to produce your project’s deliverables. The lowest level of detail of each
branch of the WBS is a work package, and each work package, in turn, is composed
of activities (pieces of work performed during the project).

You can describe an activity’s schedule performance either by noting the dates it began and
ended or by describing how much of it has been done.

If you choose to describe your project’s schedule performance by noting the status of
individual activities, collect either or both of the following data items to support your
analyses:

• The start and end dates for each activity in your project

• The dates when milestones (such as contract signed, materials

received, or environmental test completed) are reached

Assess your project’s schedule status by comparing actual activity start/end dates and actual
milestone dates to their planned dates:
Create a combined activities and milestones report.
A combined activities and milestones report includes information s from your project plan:

• The activity or milestone identification code and name

• The person responsible for ensuring the activity or milestone occurs

• The dates the activity should start and end or the milestone should occur

Alternatively you can use a progress Gantt chart. You shade an appropriate portion of each
bar to represent deliverable progress. This sample chart presents project performance as of
the end of week 4 of the project. According to the chart, the design phase is complete, the
development phase is one week behind schedule, and the testing phase is one week ahead of
schedule.

Create a progress Gantt chart.

The most meaningful way to assess progress on a WBS component is to note the
component’s intermediate deliverables that you’ve achieved to date.

You also need to collect the schedule performance data, develop a standard format and
process for recording your work accomplishments. Standard formats and processes improve
the accuracy of your information and take less time to complete. I frequently use the
combined activities and milestones report format.
Consider the following factors when you schedule your activity monitoring:
• Is the activity on a critical path?

• Is the activity on a path that’s close to being critical?

• Is the activity risk high?

• Have you already encountered problems with this activity?

• Are you approaching the activity’s planned completion date?

Recording and reporting on progress this way has several advantages:

• Recording achievements at the time they occur increases the likelihood that the data
are accurate.

• The agreed-upon submission schedule reduces the chances that I’ll surprise people
with unexpected requests for progress data.

• Having people continuously review their proposed schedules and record their
accomplishments heightens their awareness of goals and increases the chances that
they’ll meet their commitments.

• The purpose of project control is to encourage people to perform according to your

plan, not just to collect data. The more aware the team members are of their work in
relation to the overall schedule, the greater the likelihood that they’ll hit the schedule.
If they don’t know or care about the target date, they’re unlikely to hit it.

Monitor schedule performance at least once a month. Experience has shown that waiting
longer does the following:

• Allows people to lose focus and commitment to the activity and increases the chances
that the activity won’t end on schedule

• Provides more time for small problems to go undetected and, thus, evolve into bigger
problems