Considering the Outputs of Schedule Development

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After all the challenges of examining, sequencing, and calculating the project activities, a working schedule is created. Schedule development, like most of project management's planning processes, moves through progressive elaboration. As the project moves forward, discoveries, risk events, or other conditions may require the project schedule to be adjusted. In this section, we'll discuss the project schedule and how it is managed.

Examining the Project Schedule

The project schedule includes, at a minimum, a date for when the project begins and a date when the project is expected to end. The project schedule is considered proposed until the resources needed to complete the project work are ascertained. In addition to the schedule, the project manager should include all of the supporting details. Project schedules can be presented in many different formats, such as:

• Project Network Diagram Illustrates the flow of work, the relationship between activities, the critical path, and the expected project end date. PNDs when used as the project schedule should have dates associated with each project activity to show when the activity is expected to start and end.

• Bar charts These show the start and end dates for the project, and the activity duration against a calendar. They are easy to read. Scheduling bar charts are also called Gantt charts.

• Milestone charts Plot out the high-level deliverables and external interfaces, such as a customer walk-through, against a calendar. Milestone charts are similar to a Gantt chart, but with less detail regarding individual activities. The following is an example of a milestone chart.

  

Utilizing the Schedule Management Plan

The schedule management plan is a subsidiary plan of the overall project plan. It is used to control changes to the schedule. A formal schedule management plan has procedures that control how changes to the project plan can be proposed, accounted for, and then implemented. An informal schedule management plan may consider changes on an instance-by-instance basis.

Updating the Resource Requirements

Due to resource leveling, additional resources may need to be added to the project. For example, a proposed leveling may extend the project beyond an acceptable completion date. To reach the project end date the project manager elects to add additional resources to the critical path activities. The resources the project manager adds should be documented, the associated costs accounted for, and approved.

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