Project Schedule Management Whats, Whens, and Whys

by Project Management Process Group

1. Plan Schedule Management

• WHAT Plan Schedule Management Is. Plan Schedule Management implies making clear how the project schedule will be developed, executed, and controlled, as well as how changes will be integrated into the project schedule.
• WHY Plan Schedule Management Is Important. The schedule management plan guides the project manager and the project team by means of oversight, standardization, and best practices, ensuring that the project schedule is well developed, monitored, and controlled.
• WHEN Plan Schedule Management Is Executed. A project manager should perform the Plan Schedule Management process before the other six processes of the Project Schedule Management Knowledge Area.

2. Define Activities

• WHAT Define Activities Is. Define Activities implies determining how the project work breaks down into activities.
• WHY Define Activities Is Important. When performing the Define Activities process, a project manager breaks down the work packages into smaller, more manageable units of work – activities – that can be easily assigned, estimated, scheduled, and controlled.
• WHEN Define Activities Is Executed. The Define Activities process is often implemented after a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is stabilized. However, a project manager can create a WBS and define activities in parallel, taking down the WBS one more level to show activities, instead of work packages.

3. Sequence Activities

• WHAT Sequence Activities Is. Sequence Activities implies building project schedule network diagrams that visualize the logical order between all the activities and milestones already defined and point out their dependences.
• WHY Sequence Activities Is Important. If a project manager sequences correctly the interactivity of logical relationships among activities, then the network diagrams generated during the Sequence Activities process will facilitate the development of a realistic, achievable project schedule.
• WHEN Sequence Activities Is Executed. A project manager uses the Sequence Activities process once the schedule activities that will be chained together are identified.

4. Estimate Activity Durations

• WHAT Estimate Activity Durations Is.  Estimate Activity Durations implies forecasting the number of all human resources and materials needed to complete each activity of the project and then trying to estimates work effort, work resources, and number of work periods required to complete each activity, with progressive elaboration.
• WHY Estimate Activity Durations Is Important. Activity duration estimates are paramount inputs for the project schedule model.
• WHEN Estimate Activity Durations Is Executed. A project manager performs the schedule management activities processes in this order: Define Activities, Sequence Activities, and Estimate Activity Durations. Henceforth, activity durations are estimated after knowing what resources are available and before developing project schedule.

5. Develop Schedule

• WHAT Develop Schedule Is. Develop Schedule implies taking all the information gathered in the previous schedule management processes – Define Activities, Sequence Activities, and Estimate Activity Durations – and combining them into one final schedule for the whole project. It is the core of Project Schedule Management.
• WHY Develop Schedule Is Important. Once the project schedule is approved in the schedule baseline for the project, a project manager can track against the latter in later processes and measure the project success against it.
• WHEN Develop Schedule Is Executed. The Develop Schedule process is performed after Sequence Activities and Estimate Activity Durations.

6. Control Schedule

• WHAT Control Schedule Is. Control Schedule implies keeping all of the documents elaborated during the Develop Schedule process up to date and turning work performance data into work performance information.
• WHY Control Schedule Is Important. In the Control Schedule process, a project manager determines the current schedule status of the project and responds appropriately to any observed and measured variance.
• WHEN Control Schedule Is Executed. A project manager uses the Control Schedule process until all project activities are completed, that is until the end of the project life.

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