Project Time Management 101

by Project Management Process Group

1. Plan Schedule Management

• WHAT Plan Schedule Management Is. The Plan Schedule Management process makes 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 Time Management knowledge area.
• HOW Plan Schedule Management Operates.

Source: PMBOK® Guide, 5th ed., Chapter 6, section 6.1, p. 145.

2. Define Activities

• WHAT Define Activities Is. The Define Activities process is all about determining how the project work breaks down into activities.
• WHY Define Activities Is Important. When performing the Define Activities process, project managers break the work packages into smaller, more manageable units of work—activities— that thay can easily assign, estimate, schedule, and control.
• WHEN Define Activities Is Executed. The Define Activities process is often implemented after the Work Breakdown Structure is in a stable form. However, project managers can create a WBS and define activities in parallel, taking the WBS down one more level to show activities, instead of work packages.
• HOW Define Activities Operates.

Source: PMBOK® Guide, 5th ed., Chapter 6, section 6.2, p. 149.

3. Sequence Activities

• WHAT Sequence Activities Is. The Sequence Activities process builds 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. Project managers use the Sequence Activities process once they have identified the schedule activities that they will chain together.
• HOW Sequence Activities Operates.

Source: PMBOK® Guide, 5th ed., Chapter 6, section 6.3, p. 153.

4. Estimate Activity Resources

• WHAT Estimate Activity Resources Is. In the Estimate Activity Resources process a project manager forecasts the number of all the resources—human and materials—needed to complete each activity of the project.
• WHY Estimate Activity Resources Is Important. The activity resource requirements, output of the Estimate Activity Resources process, are necessary to decide the length of time each activity will take to complete.
• WHEN Estimate Activity Resources Is Executed. Estimate Activity Resources should be closely coordinated with the Estimate Costs process and the project manager should perform both after he/she has in hand activity list and activity attributes.
• HOW Estimate Activity Resources Operates.

Source: PMBOK® Guide, 5th ed., Chapter 6, section 6.4, p. 161.

5. Estimate Activity Durations

• WHAT Estimate Activity Durations Is. The Estimate Activity Durations process tries 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. The activity duration estimates are a paramount input into creating the project schedule model.
• WHEN Estimate Activity Durations Is Executed. A project manager performs the Activity processes in this order: Define Activities, Sequence Activities, Estimate Activity Resources, and Estimate Activity Durations. So, she/he estimates activity durations after knowing what resources are available and before developing the schedule of the project.
• HOW Estimate Activity Durations Operates.

Source: PMBOK® Guide, 5th ed., Chapter 6, section 6.5, p. 166.

6. Develop Schedule

• WHAT Develop Schedule Is. The Develop Schedule process is the core of Time Management. It’s the process where a project manager takes all the information gathered in the previous processes—Define Activities, Sequence Activities, Estimate Activity Resources, and Estimate Activity Durations—and combines them into one final schedule for the whole project.
• WHY Develop Schedule Is Important. Once the project schedule is approved into 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 the processes:
  • estimate activity resources
  • estimate activity durations
  • sequence activities
• HOW Develop Schedule Operates.

Source: PMBOK® Guide, 5th ed., Chapter 6, section 6.6, p. 173.

7. Control Schedule

• WHAT Control Schedule Is. The Control Schedule process is a monitoring and controlling process that keeps all of the documents elaborated during the Develop Schedule process up to date and turns 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.
• HOW Control Schedule Operates.

Source: PMBOK® Guide, 5th ed., Chapter 6, section 6.7, p. 185.