Tracking a Schedule – Scheduling Blog Series Part 8 Intended Audience If you schedule has these properties: 1.       Number of resources -times- number of activities > 60, 2.       Activities with predecessors > 75% of all activities, 3.       Meeting the end date is important, Then you should allow schedule software to predict the end date.  Introduction…

Intended Audience This blog is for anyone who schedules, whether using scheduling software, spreadsheets, or pencil and paper. This blog describes a process and is illustrated by the software we sell.  Introduction We share here a schedule developed by a team of students (including me) from a graduate-level Project Planning and Control Course.  We see…

Criteria for Needing Scheduling Software and Expertise Winston Churchill wrote in his book The Gathering Storm about events leading to WWII.  He described why he created a statistics department in his Admiralty.  He did it to collate data about ship movements and logistics so that information could improve decision-making when events demanded action.  The germ…

Introduction Wouldn’t you like to know whether your projects are “on-cost” and “on-time” anytime during the project?  Earned Value allows this determination to happen.  Earned value is an abstract concept, but it is more understandable to the business person when it’s compared to an income statement’s revenue recognition.   Some project scheduling software allows the computation…

Schedule Blog Series Part 4: Devil’s in the Duration Introduction A project schedule is constructed with activities.  Activities represent individual pieces of work, when organized properly, define how the project is to get completed.  Activities embody a name, duration, and optionally other data.  This article will discuss determining duration. Type of Project Influences Duration Determination…

Part 3 – Planning the Schedule Introduction This article discusses schedule preparation so that the project manager can proceed confidently into project scheduling.  The article discusses using a proven tool, the two-dimensional Work Breakdown Structure. A schedule needs to represent all analyses, engineering, materials, equipment, software, testing, demonstration, documentation, and other work needed to complete…

Even semi-powerful scheduling software can, when used properly, offer management critical insights to project health that is otherwise unattainable.  Good software can keep a company from going bankrupt or losing its reputation.  It can also help main a positive cash flow and demonstrate to clients and sponsors that commitments are being met. I have seen…

This is first in a series to help make you a scheduling professional. Not only does a schedule become more readable when organized appropriately, it becomes easier to link predecessors and successors because they become located near each other.  It also helps resources understand the planning better and thereby helping them buy-into the schedule.  Let’s…

Here’s a new invention – pencil and paper! Sketch your strategic goals and actions with them. When you’re ready to implement, input them into our Program Leader project management software. It’s KPIs of time and cost performance will give you info that pencil and paper can’t. We liked the attached related article and hope it…

Employees, these days, are spending more time at the office. They are exceeding the 40-hour workweek. This doesn’t mean they’re more efficient with the outcome of their job. Leaders and managers can hone in on improving their underlings’ productivity and still save time. The following article will help with this endeavor at the office. Top…