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PROJECT SCHEDULE MANAGEMENT
Project Schedule Management includes the processes required to manage the timely completion of the project. The Project Schedule Management processes are:
6.1 Plan Schedule Management— The process of establishing the policies, procedures, and documentation for planning, developing, managing, executing, and controlling the project schedule.
6.2 Define Activities— The process of identifying and documenting the specific actions to be performed to produce the project deliverables.
6.3 Sequence Activities— The process of identifying and documenting relationships among the project activities.
6.4 Estimate Activity Durations— The process of estimating the number of work periods needed to complete individual activities with the estimated resources.
6.5 Develop Schedule— The process of analyzing activity sequences, durations, resource requirements, and schedule constraints to create the project schedule model for project execution and monitoring and controlling.
6.6 Control Schedule— The process of monitoring the status of the project to update the project schedule and manage changes to the schedule baseline.
Figure 6-1 provides an overview of the Project Schedule Management processes. The Project Schedule Management processes are presented as discrete processes with defined interfaces while, in practice, they overlap and interact in ways that cannot be completely detailed in the PMBOK®^ Guide.
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.1 Inputs .1 Project charter .2 Project management plan .3 Enterprise environmental factors .4 Organizational process assets .2 Tools & Techniques .1 Expert judgment .2 Data analysis .3 Meetings .3 Outputs .1 Schedule management plan
.1 Inputs .1 Project management plan .2 Enterprise environmental factors .3 Organizational process assets .2 Tools & Techniques .1 Expert judgment .2 Decomposition .3 Rolling wave planning .4 Meetings .3 Outputs .1 Activity list .2 Activity attributes .3 Milestone list .4 Change requests .5 Project management plan updates
.1 Inputs .1 Project management plan .2 Project documents .3 Enterprise environmental factors .4 Organizational process assets .2 Tools & Techniques .1 Precedence diagramming method .2 Dependency determination and integration .3 Leads and lags .4 Project management information system .3 Outputs .1 Project schedule network diagrams .2 Project documents updates .1 Inputs .1 Project management plan .2 Project documents .3 Enterprise environmental factors .4 Organizational process assets .2 Tools & Techniques .1 Expert judgment .2 Analogous estimating .3 Parametric estimating .4 Three-point estimating .5 Bottom-up estimating .6 Data analysis .7 Decision making .8 Meetings .3 Outputs .1 Duration estimates .2 Basis of estimates .3 Project documents updates
.1 Inputs .1 Project management plan .2 Project documents .3 Agreements .4 Enterprise environmental factors .5 Organizational process assets .2 Tools & Techniques .1 Schedule network analysis .2 Critical path method .3 Resource optimization .4 Data analysis .5 Leads and lags .6 Schedule compression .7 Project management information system .8 Agile release planning .3 Outputs .1 Schedule baseline .2 Project schedule .3 Schedule data .4 Project calendars .5 Change requests .6 Project management plan updates .7 Project documents updates
.1 Inputs .1 Project management plan .2 Project documents .3 Work performance data .4 Organizational process assets .2 Tools & Techniques .1 Data analysis .2 Critical path method .3 Project management information system .4 Resource optimization .5 Leads and lags .6 Schedule compression .3 Outputs .1 Work performance information .2 Schedule forecasts .3 Change requests .4 Project management plan updates .5 Project documents updates
Project Schedule Management Overview
6.1 Plan ScheduleManagement 6.2 Define Activities 6.3 Sequence Activities
6.4 Estimate Activity Durations
6.5 Develop Schedule 6.6 Control Schedule
Figure 6-1. Project Schedule Management Overview
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Examples of Project Schedule Presentations
Network Diagram
Activity List Bar Chart
Project Schedule
Schedule Model
Project Information
Scheduling Method
Scheduling Tool
Output
Generates
Project Specific Data (e.g., WBS, activities, resources, durations, dependencies, constraints, calendars, milestones lags, etc.)
For example, CPM
Figure 6-2. Scheduling Overview
TRENDS AND EMERGING PRACTICES IN PROJECT SCHEDULE MANAGEMENT
With high levels of uncertainty and unpredictability in a fast-paced, highly competitive global marketplace where long term scope is difficult to define, it is becoming even more important to have a contextual framework for effective adoption and tailoring of development practices to respond to the changing needs of the environment. Adaptive planning defines a plan but acknowledges that once work starts, the priorities may change and the plan needs to reflect this new knowledge.
Some of the emerging practices for project scheduling methods include but are not limited to:
u u Iterative scheduling with a backlog. This is a form of rolling wave planning based on adaptive life cycles, such as the agile approach for product development. The requirements are documented in user stories that are then prioritized and refined just prior to construction, and the product features are developed using time-boxed periods of work. 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. This scheduling method is appropriate for many projects as indicated by the widespread and growing use of adaptive life cycles for product development. The benefit of this approach is that it welcomes changes throughout the development life cycle. u u On-demand scheduling. This approach, typically used in a Kanban system, is based on the theory-of- constraints and pull-based scheduling concepts from lean manufacturing to limit a team’s work in progress in order to balance demand against the team’s delivery throughput. On-demand scheduling does not rely on a schedule that was developed previously for the development of the product or product increments, but rather pulls work from a backlog or intermediate queue of work to be done immediately as resources become available. On-demand scheduling is often used for projects that evolve the product incrementally in operational or sustainment environments, and where tasks may be made relatively similar in size and scope or can be bundled by size and scope.
6.1 PLAN SCHEDULE MANAGEMENT
Plan Schedule Management is the process of establishing the policies, procedures, and documentation for planning, developing, managing, executing, and controlling the project schedule. The key benefit of this process is that it provides guidance and direction on how the project schedule will be managed throughout the project. This process is performed once or at predefined points in the project. The inputs, tools and techniques, and outputs of the process are depicted in Figure 6-3. Figure 6-4 depicts the data flow diagram for the process.
Figure 6-3. Plan Schedule Management: Inputs, Tools & Techniques, and Outputs
Figure 6-4. Plan Schedule Management: Data Flow Diagram
Inputs Tools & Techniques Outputs
Plan Schedule Management
.1 Expert judgment .2 Data analysis .3 Meetings
.1 Project charter .2 Project management plan
- Scope management plan
- Development approach .3 Enterprise environmental factors .4 Organizational process assets
.1 Schedule management plan
Plan Schedule Management
Enterprise/ Organization
Develop Project Charter
- Schedule management plan
- Project charter
Project management plan
- Scope management plan
- Development approach
- Enterprise environmental factors
- Organizational process assets
Project Management Plan
Project Management Plan
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6.1.1 PLAN SCHEDULE MANAGEMENT: INPUTS
6.1.1.1 PROJECT CHARTER
Described in Section 4.1.3.1. The project charter defines the summary milestone schedule that will influence the management of the project schedule.
6.1.1.2 PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLAN
Described in Section 4.3.2.1. Project management plan components include but are not limited to:
u u Scope management plan. Described in Section 5.1.3.1. The scope management plan describes how the scope will be defined and developed, which will provide information on how the schedule will be developed. u u Development approach. Described in Section 4.2.3.1. The product development approach will help define the scheduling approach, estimating techniques, scheduling tools, and techniques for controlling the schedule.
6.1.1.3 ENTERPRISE ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS
The enterprise environmental factors that can influence the Plan Schedule Management process include but are not limited to:
u u Organizational culture and structure, u u Team resource availability and skills and physical resource availability, u u Scheduling software, u u Guidelines and criteria for tailoring the organization’s set of standard processes and procedures to satisfy the specific needs of the project, and u u Commercial databases, such as standardized estimating data.
6.1.1.4 ORGANIZATIONAL PROCESS ASSETS
The organizational process assets that can influence the Plan Schedule Management process include but are not limited to:
u u Historical information and lessons learned repositories; u u Existing formal and informal schedule development, management- and control-related policies, procedures, and guidelines; u u Templates and forms; and u u Monitoring and reporting tools.
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The schedule management plan can establish the following: u u Project schedule model development. The scheduling methodology and the scheduling tool to be used in the development of the project schedule model are specified. u u Release and iteration length. When using an adaptive life cycle, the time-boxed periods for releases, waves, and iterations are specified. Time-boxed periods are durations during which the team works steadily toward completion of a goal. Time-boxing helps to minimize scope creep as it forces the teams to process essential features first, then other features when time permits. u u Level of accuracy. The level of accuracy specifies the acceptable range used in determining realistic activity duration estimates and may include an amount for contingencies. u u Units of measure. Each unit of measurement (such as staff hours, staff days, or weeks for time measures, or meters, liters, tons, kilometers, or cubic yards for quantity measures) is defined for each of the resources. u u Organizational procedures links. The work breakdown structure (WBS) (Section 5.4) provides the framework for the schedule management plan, allowing for consistency with the estimates and resulting schedules. u u Project schedule model maintenance. The process used to update the status and record progress of the project in the schedule model during the execution of the project is defined. u u Control thresholds. Variance thresholds for monitoring schedule performance may be specified to indicate an agreed-upon amount of variation to be allowed before some action needs to be taken. Thresholds are typically expressed as percentage deviations from the parameters established in the baseline plan. u u Rules of performance measurement. Earned value management (EVM) rules or other physical measurement rules of performance measurement are set. For example, the schedule management plan may specify: n u Rules for establishing percent complete, n u EVM techniques (e.g., baselines, fixed-formula, percent complete, etc.) to be employed (for more specific information, refer to the Practice Standard for Earned Value Management [17]), and n u Schedule performance measurements such as schedule variance (SV) and schedule performance index (SPI) used to assess the magnitude of variation to the original schedule baseline. u u Reporting formats. The formats and frequency for the various schedule reports are defined.
6.2 DEFINE ACTIVITIES
Define Activities is the process of identifying and documenting the specific actions to be performed to produce the project deliverables. The key benefit of this process is that it decomposes work packages into schedule activities that provide a basis for estimating, scheduling, executing, monitoring, and controlling the project work. This process is performed throughout the project. The inputs, tools and techniques, and outputs of this process are depicted in Figure 6-5. Figure 6-6 depicts the data flow diagram of the process.
Figure 6-5. Define Activities: Inputs, Tools & Techniques, and Outputs
Figure 6-6. Define Activities: Data Flow Diagram
Inputs Tools & Techniques Outputs
Define Activities
.1 Expert judgment .2 Decomposition .3 Rolling wave planning .4 Meetings
.1 Project management plan
- Schedule management plan
- Scope baseline .2 Enterprise environmental factors .3 Organizational process assets
.1 Activity list .2 Activity attributes .3 Milestone list .4 Change requests .5 Project management plan updates
- Schedule baseline
- Cost baseline
- Project charter
Define Activities
Enterprise/ Organization
- Activity list
- Activity attributes
- Milestone list
- Change requests
Project management plan
- Scope management plan
- Scope baseline
- Enterprise environmental factors
- Organizational process assets
Project Project Documents Management Plan
Project management plan updates
- Schedule baseline
- Cost baseline
Project Management Plan
Perform Integrated Change Control
6.2.2.2 DECOMPOSITION
Described in Section 5.4.2.2. Decomposition is a 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 Define Activities process defines the final outputs as activities rather than deliverables, as done in the Create WBS process (Section 5.4).
The activity list, WBS, and WBS dictionary can be developed either sequentially or concurrently, with the WBS and WBS dictionary used as the basis for development of the final activity list. Each work package within the WBS is decomposed into the activities required to produce the work package deliverables. Involving team members in the decomposition can lead to better and more accurate results.
6.2.2.3 ROLLING WAVE PLANNING
Rolling wave planning is an iterative planning technique in which the work to be accomplished in the near term is planned in detail, while work further in the future is planned at a higher level. It is a form of progressive elaboration applicable to work packages, planning packages, and release planning when using an agile or waterfall approach. Therefore, work can exist at various levels of detail depending on where it is in the project life cycle. During early strategic planning when information is less defined, work packages may be decomposed to the known level of detail. As more is known about the upcoming events in the near term, work packages can be decomposed into activities.
6.2.2.4 MEETINGS
Meetings may be face-to-face, virtual, formal, or informal. Meetings may be held with team members or subject matter experts to define the activities needed to complete the work.
6.2.3 DEFINE ACTIVITIES: OUTPUTS
6.2.3.1 ACTIVITY LIST
The activity list includes the schedule activities required on the project. For projects that use rolling wave planning or agile techniques, the activity list will be updated periodically as the project progresses. The activity list includes an activity identifier and a scope of work description for each activity in sufficient detail to ensure that project team members understand what work is required to be completed.
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6.2.3.2 ACTIVITY ATTRIBUTES
Activity attributes extend the description of the activity by identifying multiple components associated with each activity. The components for each activity evolve over time. During the initial stages of the project, they include the unique activity identifier (ID), WBS ID, and activity label or name. When completed, they may include activity descriptions, predecessor activities, successor activities, logical relationships, leads and lags (Section 6.3.2.3), resource requirements, imposed dates, constraints, and assumptions. Activity attributes can be used to identify the place where the work has to be performed, the project calendar the activity is assigned to, and the type of effort involved. Activity attributes are used for schedule development and for selecting, ordering, and sorting the planned schedule activities in various ways within reports
6.2.3.3 MILESTONE LIST
A milestone is a significant point or event in a project. A milestone list identifies all project milestones and indicates whether the milestone is mandatory, such as those required by contract, or optional, such as those based on historical information. Milestones have zero duration because they represent a significant point or event.
6.2.3.4 CHANGE REQUESTS
Described in Section 4.3.3.4. 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. This may result in a change request. Change requests are processed for review and disposition through the Perform Integrated Change Control process (Section 4.6).
6.2.3.5 PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLAN UPDATES
Any change to the project management plan goes through the organization’s change control process via a change request. Components that may require a change request for the project management plan include but are not limited to:
u u Schedule baseline. Described in Section 6.5.3.1. Throughout the project, work packages are progressively elaborated into activities. This process may reveal work that was not part of the initial schedule baseline, necessitating a change to delivery dates or other significant schedule milestones that are part of the schedule baseline. u u Cost baseline. Described in Section 7.3.3.1. Changes to the cost baseline are incorporated in response to approved changes in schedule activities.
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Every activity except the first and last should be connected to at least one predecessor and at least one successor activity with an appropriate logical relationship. Logical relationships should be designed to create a realistic project schedule. It may be necessary to use lead or lag time between activities to support a realistic and achievable project schedule. Sequencing can be performed by using project management software or by using manual or automated techniques. The Sequence Activities process concentrates on converting the project activities from a list to a diagram to act as a first step to publish the schedule baseline.
6.3.1 SEQUENCE ACTIVITIES: INPUTS
6.3.1.1 PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLAN
Described in Section 4.2.3.1. Project management plan components include but are not limited to: u u Schedule management plan. Described in Section 6.1.3.1. The schedule management plan defines the method used and the level of accuracy along with other criteria required to sequence activities. u u Scope baseline. Described in Section 5.4.3.1. The project WBS, deliverables, constraints, and assumptions documented in the scope baseline are considered explicitly while sequencing activities.
6.3.1.2 PROJECT DOCUMENTS
Project documents that can be considered as inputs for this process include but are not limited to:
u u Activity attributes. Described in Section 6.2.3.2. Activity attributes may describe a necessary sequence of events or defined predecessor or successor relationships, as well as defined lead and lag and logical relationships between the activities. u u Activity list. Described in Section 6.2.3.1. The activity list contains all schedule activities required on the project that are to be sequenced. Dependencies and other constraints for these activities can influence the sequencing of the activities. u u Assumption log. Described in Section 4.1.3.2. Assumptions and constraints recorded in the assumption log may influence the way activities are sequenced, the relationship between activities, and the need for leads and lags, and may give rise to individual project risks that may impact the project schedule. u u Milestone list. Described in Section 6.2.3.3. The milestone list may have scheduled dates for specific milestones, which may influence the way activities are sequenced.
6.3.1.3 ENTERPRISE ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS
The enterprise environmental factors that can influence the Sequence Activities process include but are not limited to: u u Government or industry standards, u u Project management information system (PMIS), u u Scheduling tools, and u u Organization work authorization systems.
6.3.1.4 ORGANIZATIONAL PROCESS ASSETS
The organizational process assets that can influence the Sequence Activities process include but are not limited to:
u u Portfolio and program plans and project dependencies and relationships; u u Existing formal and informal activity planning-related policies, procedures, and guidelines, such as the scheduling methodology that is considered in developing logical relationships; u u Templates that can be used to expedite the preparation of networks for project activities. Related activity attributes information in templates can also contain additional descriptive information useful in sequencing activities; and u u Lessons learned repository containing historical information that can help optimize the sequencing process.
6.3.2 SEQUENCE ACTIVITIES: TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES
6.3.2.1 PRECEDENCE DIAGRAMMING METHOD
The precedence diagramming method (PDM) is a 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.
PDM includes four types of dependencies or logical relationships. A predecessor activity is an activity that logically comes before a dependent activity in a schedule. A successor activity is a dependent activity that logically comes after another activity in a schedule. These relationships are defined below and are illustrated in Figure 6-9:
6.3.2.2 DEPENDENCY DETERMINATION AND INTEGRATION
Dependencies may be characterized by the following attributes: mandatory or discretionary, internal or external (as described below). Dependency has four attributes, but two can be applicable at the same time in the following ways: mandatory external dependencies, mandatory internal dependencies, discretionary external dependencies, or discretionary internal dependencies.
u u Mandatory dependencies. Mandatory dependencies are those that are legally or contractually required or inherent in the nature of the work. Mandatory dependencies often involve physical limitations, such as on a construction project, where it is impossible to erect the superstructure until after the foundation has been built, or on an electronics project, where a prototype has to be built before it can be tested. Mandatory dependencies are sometimes referred to as hard logic or hard dependencies. Technical dependencies may not be mandatory. The project team determines which dependencies are mandatory during the process of sequencing the activities. Mandatory dependencies should not be confused with assigning schedule constraints in the scheduling tool. u u Discretionary dependencies. Discretionary dependencies are sometimes referred to as preferred logic, preferential logic, or soft logic. Discretionary dependencies are established based on knowledge of best practices within a particular application area or some unusual aspect of the project where a specific sequence is desired, even though there may be other acceptable sequences. For example, generally accepted best practices recommend that during construction, the electrical work should start after finishing the plumbing work. This order is not mandatory and both activities may occur at the same time (in parallel), but performing the activities in sequential order reduces the overall project risk. Discretionary dependencies should be fully documented since they can create arbitrary total float values and can limit later scheduling options. When fast tracking techniques are employed, these discretionary dependencies should be reviewed and considered for modification or removal. The project team determines which dependencies are discretionary during the process of sequencing the activities.
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u u External dependencies. External dependencies involve a relationship between project activities and non- project activities. These dependencies are usually outside of the project team’s control. For example, the testing activity in a software project may be dependent on the delivery of hardware from an external source, or governmental environmental hearings may need to be held before site preparation can begin on a construction project. The project management team determines which dependencies are external during the process of sequencing the activities. u u Internal dependencies. Internal dependencies involve a precedence relationship between project activities and are generally inside the project team’s control. For example, if the team cannot test a machine until they assemble it, there is an internal mandatory dependency. The project management team determines which dependencies are internal during the process of sequencing the activities.
6.3.2.3 LEADS AND LAGS
A lead is the amount of time a successor activity can be advanced with respect to a predecessor activity. For example, on a project to construct a new office building, the landscaping could be scheduled to start 2 weeks prior to the scheduled punch list completion. This would be shown as a finish-to-start with a 2-week lead as shown in Figure 6-10. Lead is often represented as a negative value for lag in scheduling software.
Figure 6-10. Examples of Lead and Lag
Complete Punch List
Write Draft
Landscape Building Lot
Edit Draft
FS – 2 Weeks (Lead) SS – 15 Days (Lag)
