Project scheduling, which is an essential topic under the APM PMQ syllabus, is an important part of the project management process.
The definition of project scheduling is as follows:
A schedule is the timetable that shows the forecasted start and finish dates for any activities events that might occur within the project.
Once the project manager has clearly defined the scope of the project (any work that will need to be completed), understands any quality requirements and any risks, and has made estimates of the length of time activities will take, the next stage is to put a schedule together.
Time scheduling
This is the collection of techniques that is used to develop and then present those schedules that indicate when the work will be done. The results of these types of techniques are normally presented on a timeline as activities or bars. This is known as a Gantt chart.
It is essential to have an understanding of scheduling, and this means also fully understanding all of the terminology that is associated with any critical path analysis – which is the main technique when it comes to scheduling,
Scheduling is part of project planning and can be split into two different types; critical path and critical chain. Let’s take a quick look at each of these in turn.
Critical path
The critical path approach has a greater emphasis on those activities within a project and an understanding of the need for them all to be completed in a logical order over the shortest time period. This is a sequence of activities that takes place through a precedence network going from start to finish, where the sum of its durations determines a duration overall.
Critical path analysis is a scheduling technique that is activity-based that sets out the overall duration of any work that has been identified for the project based on both estimates and dependencies that are logical. This type of analysis is usually undertaken using desktop scheduling software. However, it is also an important skill that project professionals need to understand in order to be able to ensure that project schedules are built using logic that is complete and defensible.
A project manager needs to have a proper understanding of the critical path of a project and its processes in order to be able to concentrate on managing the activities that are listed on it. They should do this with the understanding that all of the elements on the path are completed on time, and with no slippage on any of the activities that might exceed the total float. This way, a project can be completed successfully and on time.
Critical chain
In scheduling, this is a resource based approach that is useful when the time element is critical. It comes from the critical path that protects all critical chains of activities using buffers. This approach attempt to ensure that resources are being used constantly whilst also avoiding common workplace practices like:
• Trying to multitask with several activities
• Not beginning any planned work at the earliest opportunity and committing to it until it is completed
These are both practices that can result in any time contingencies within the estimate being lost over the course of the project.
The convention is to start on the earliest possible dates, i.e. Early Start. Would you agree?