Module 6 - Project Schedule Management
Module 6 - Project Schedule Management
Module 6 - Project Schedule Management
Learning Outcomes: At the end of this module, you are expected to:
Understand the different processes/s involved in the project
schedule management
Know the concepts and basics of the project schedule
management
LEARNING CONTENT
Introduction:
• Project scheduling provides a detailed plan that represents how and when the project will deliver
the products services, and results defined in the project scope
• Serves as a tool for communication, managing stakeholder’s expectations, and as a basis for
performance reporting
• The project management team selects a scheduling method, such as critical path or agile
approach
• The project-specific data, such as the activities, planned dates, durations, resources,
dependencies, and constraints, are entered into a scheduling tool to create a schedule model for
the project. The result is a project schedule
• The detailed project schedule should remain flexible throughout the project to adjust for
knowledge gained, increased understanding of the risk, and value-added activities.
• There are two main practicing for scheduling methods (Iterative scheduling with a backlog &
On-demand scheduling.)
• Iterative scheduling with a backlog is a form of rolling wave planning based on adaptive life
cycles where requirements are documents in user stories. This approach is often used to deliver
incremental value to the customer or when multiple teams can concurrently develop a large
number of features that have few interconnected dependencies. The benefit of this approach is
that it welcomes changes throughout the development life cycle.
• Adaptive approaches use short cycles to undertake work, these cycles provide rapid feedback
on the approaches and suitability of deliverables and generally manifest as iterative scheduling
and on-demand, pull-based scheduling
Lesson Proper:
Plan Schedule Management is the process of establishing the policies, procedures, and documentation
for planning, developing, managing, executing, and controlling the project schedule.
Key benefit of this process is that it provides guidance and direction on how the project schedule
will be managed throughout the project.
1. Project Charter
As it defines the summary milestone schedule that will influence the management of the
schedule
Meetings
Meeting may include: Project manager, Sponsor, team members and selected stakeholders
Define Activities is the process of identifying and documenting the specific actions to be performed
to produce the project deliverables.
1 Expert Judgment
2 Decomposition
• Technique used for dividing and subdividing the project scope and project deliverables
into smaller, more manageable parts. Activities represent the effort needed to complete
a work package.
• The activity list, WBS, and WBS dictionary can be developed either sequentially or
concurrently
4- Meetings
1- Activity List
• Includes the schedule activities required on the project.
• Projects that use agile/rolling wave techniques the activity list will be updated periodically
• activity list includes activity identifier and scope of work description for each activity
3- Milestone List
• Significant point or event in a project which has zero duration
• They can be mandatory (required by contract) or optional
4- Change Requests
• Once the project has been baselined, the progressive elaboration of deliverables into
activities may reveal work that was not initially part of the project baselines
• Change requests are processed through the Perform Integrated Change Control process
Sequence Activities is the process of identifying and documenting relationships among the project
activities.
Key benefit of this process is that it defines the logical sequence of work to obtain the greatest
efficiency given all project constraints.
2- Project documents
· Includes (Activity attributes, Activity list, Assumption log and Milestone list)
• Technique used for constructing a schedule model in which activities are represented by
nodes and are graphically linked by one or more logical relationships to show the
sequence in which the activities are to be performed
Start-to-start (SS): successor activity cannot start until a predecessor activity has
started
• Two activities can have two logical relationships at the same time. However Multiple
relationships between the same activities are not recommended. Usually the relationship
with highest impact is selected
• Mandatory dependencies: are legally or contractually required. They often involve physical
limitations. They often called “hard logic or hard dependencies”
Estimate Activity Durations is the process of estimating the number of work periods needed to
complete individual activities with estimated resources
Key benefit of this process is that it provides the amount of time each activity will take to complete
• This process is performed throughout the project
• Estimating activity durations uses information from (Scope of work, required resources, skill
levels, resources quantities, resource calendars, constraint, effort involved and resources
types)
• Duration estimate is progressively elaborated and it considers quality and availability of data
• Usually the number of resources and skill proficiency of resources may determine the activity’s
duration
• It’s not simple straight line or linear relationship when estimating the duration with resources
• Law of diminishing returns: When one factor used to determine the effort required to produce
a unit of work is increased while all other factors remain fixed a point will eventually be reached
at which additions of that factor start to yield progressively smaller or diminishing increases in
output.
• Number of resources: Increasing the number of resources to twice the original number of the
resources does not always reduce the time by half, as it may increase extra duration due to risk
2- Project Documents
Includes (Activity attributes, Activity list, Assumption log, Lessons learned register, Milestone
list, Project team assignments, Resource breakdown structure, Resource calendars,
Resource requirements and Risk register)
Resource calendars influence the duration of schedule activities due to the resources
availability, type and attributes. Resource calendars specify when and how long
identified project resources will be available during the project
2- Analogous Estimating
• Technique for estimating the duration or cost of an activity or a project using historical
data. It uses parameters from previous projects such as (duration, budget, size, weight,
and complexity)
• Relies on actual duration of previous, similar projects
• This technique is used when there is a limited amount of detailed information about the
project.
• Generally, less costly and less time-consuming than other techniques but it is also less
accurate
3- Parametric Estimating
• Technique in which an algorithm is used to calculate cost or duration based on historical
data and project parameters
• Uses a statistical relationship between historical data and other variables to calculate
activity duration and cost
• Durations can be quantitatively determined by multiplying the quantity of work to be
performed by the number of labor hours per unit of work
• This technique can produce higher levels of accuracy
4- Three-Point Estimating
Using three-point estimates helps define an approximate range for an activity’s duration
• Most likely (tM): based on the duration of the activity given the resources likely to be
assigned
• Optimistic (tO): based on analysis of the best-case scenario for the activity
• Pessimistic (tP): based on analysis of the worst-case scenario for the activity
Then expected duration (tE) can be calculated. One commonly used formula is triangular
distribution tE= (tO + tM + tP) / 3 . In Beta Distribution (PERT) tE= (tO + 4tM + tP) / 6
• Triangular distribution is used when there is insufficient historical data or when using
judgmental data. This technique provides an expected duration and clarify the range of
uncertainty
6- Data Analysis
• Alternatives analysis: Helps in determining optimal approach for accomplishing project
work by comparing various levels of resources capability, scheduling techniques &
• Reserve analysis: determine the amount of contingency and management reserve needed
for the project. Duration estimates may include contingency reserves (schedule reserves,) to
account schedule uncertainty.
Contingency reserves are associated with the known-unknowns (unknown amount of
work). It may be a percentage of estimated activity duration or fixed number of work periods.
Management reserves are a specified amount of the project budget withheld for
management control purposes and are reserved for unforeseen work that is within scope of
the project. It addresses unknown-unknowns that can affect a project. However,
Management reserve is not included in the schedule baseline but it is part of the overall
project duration requirements.
7- Decision making
Includes voting, but in agile projects variation of voting is used called fist of five where
project manager asks the team to show their support by holding up closed fist (no support)
up to five fingers (full support). The manager continues it until the team achieve consensus
(three or more fingers)
8- Meetings
In agile approach sprint/iteration planning discuss backlog items (user stories).
2- Basis of estimates
· Provide clear and complete understanding how the duration estimate was derived
Key benefit of this process is that it generates a schedule model with planned dates for
completing project.
2- Project Documents
Includes (Activity attributes, Activity list, Assumption log, Basis of estimates, Duration estimates,
Lessons learned, Milestone list, Project schedule network diagrams, Project team assignments,
Resource calendars, Resource requirements and Risk register)
3 Agreements
3- Resource Optimization
Resource leveling: A technique in which start and finish dates are adjusted based on
resource constraints with the goal of balancing the demand for resources with the
available supply
• Resource leveling can be used when shared or critically required resources are available
only at certain times or in limited quantities or over allocated
4- Data Analysis
• What-if scenario analysis: process of evaluating scenarios in order to predict their effect
(positive or negative) on the project. It’s used to computer the different scenarios that might
affect the project.it helps in assessing the feasibility and address the impact on unexpected
situations
• Simulation: models the combined effects of individual project risks and other sources of
uncertainty to evaluate their potential impact on achieving project objectives. Most common
technique is Monte Carlo analysis. Where risk and other uncertainties are used to
calculate possible schedule outcome for the project. It involves calculating multiple work
package durations with different sets of activity assumptions using probability distribution.
6- Schedule Compression
Schedule compression techniques are used to shorten or accelerate the schedule duration
without reducing the project scope in order to meet schedule constraints, imposed dates, or
other schedule objectives. A helpful technique is the negative float analysis. Techniques that
can be used:
• Crashing: Technique used to shorten the schedule duration for the least incremental cost
by adding resources. Examples (overtime, additional resources). Crashing works only for
activities on the critical path where additional resources will shorten the activity’s duration.
Crashing does not always produce a viable alternative and may result in increased risk
and/or cost.
1- Schedule Baseline:
· Approved version of a schedule model that can be changed only through formal change
procedure and used as comparison to actual results. And is part of project management
plan
Project schedule is usually presented in graphical form using one or more of the following
formats:
• Bar charts (Gantt Charts): Represent schedule information where activities are listed on
the vertical axis, dates are shown on the horizontal axis, and activity durations are shown
as horizontal bars placed according to start and finish dates.
• Milestone charts: similar to bar charts, but only identify the scheduled start or completion
of major deliverables and key external interfaces
• Project schedule network diagrams (Pure logic diagram): commonly presented in the
activity-on-node diagram format showing activities and relationships without a time scale.
usually show both the project network logic and the project’s critical path schedule
activities. Another presentation of it is time-scaled logic diagram: include a time scale
and bars that represent the duration of activities with the logical relationships
3- Schedule Data
· collection of information for describing and controlling the schedule incudes (milestones,
activities, attributes and documentation for assumptions and constraints). May also
resource histograms and cash flow projections, order and delivery schedule.
4- Project Calendars
· Identifies working days and shifts that are available for scheduled activities. It distinguishes
available working dates from periods that are not available for work. Project may have
more than one project calendar. Calendars may be updated
5- Change Requests
• Modifications to the project scope or project schedule may result in change requests
• Preventive actions may include recommended changes to eliminate or reduce the
probability of negative schedule variances.
Control Schedule is the process of monitoring the status of the project to update the project schedule
and managing changes to the schedule baseline.
Key benefit of this process is that the schedule baseline is maintained throughout the project
2- Project Documents
· Includes (Lessons learned register, Project calendars, Project schedule, Resource
calendars and Schedule data)
1- Data Analysis
• Earned Value Analysis: Schedule performance measurements such as schedule variance
(SV) and schedule performance index (SPI) are used to assess magnitude of variation to
original baseline
• Iteration Burndown Chart: This chart tracks the work that remains to be completed in
the iteration backlog. It analyzes the variance with respect to an ideal burndown based on
work committed. A forecast trend line used to predict the likely variance, and diagonal line
represent ideal burndown and daily actual remaining work is then plotted
• Performance reviews: Measure, compare, and analyze schedule performance against the
schedule baseline
• Trend analysis: Examines project performance over time to determine whether performance
is improving or deteriorating. Graphical analysis maybe used.
• Variance analysis: Variance analysis looks at variances in planned versus actual start and
finish dates, planned versus actual durations, and variances in float. Also determine cause
and degree of variance relative to baseline. And decide if corrective and preventive action is
required.
• What-if scenario analysis: assess the various scenarios guided by the output from the
Project Risk Management processes to bring the schedule model into alignment with the
project management plan and approved baseline
2- Schedule Forecasts
• estimates or predictions of conditions and events in the project’s future based on
information and knowledge available at the time of the forecast
3 Change Requests
WARNING: No part of this E-module/LMS content can be reproduced or transported or shared to others
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REFERENCES
TEXTBOOK: A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide). Newtown
Square, Pa.: Project Management Institute, Inc., 2017. Print.
REFERENCES
1. Kerzner, Harold. (2023) Project Management Metrics, KPIs and Dashboards: a guide to
measuring and monitoring project performance. John Wiley and Sons, Inc.
2. Cabrera, Ma. Elena et al. (2022) Essentials of Project Management. GIC Enterprises & Co.,
Inc.
3. Griffis, F.H. (2022) Leadership, ethics and project execution: an evidence-based project
success model.
4. Kerzner, Harold. (2022) Project Management case studies.
5. Portny, Jonathan. (2022) Project Management for Dummies.
6. Roberts, Paul. (2021) Absolute Essentials for Project Management.