7 Project Scheduling
Essentially, all models are wrong, but some are useful.
– George Box, Founder of the Department of Statistics, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Objectives
After reading this lesson, you will be able to
- Discuss issues related to moving from the planning phase of a project to the scheduling phase
- Define terms related to scheduling
- List the scheduling methods most closely associated with geometric and living orders
- Explain concepts related to the critical path method, including potential pitfalls and techniques for schedule compression
- Explain concepts and techniques related to pull scheduling
- Describe ways to integrate pull thinking with the critical path method
- Discuss the importance of project milestones
The Big Ideas in this Lesson
- A project schedule is a shared time map for successful completion of the project. Depending on what constututes “success” for the project, the schedule may include several hard deadlines and be highly constrained, or may be completely flexible and unconstrained.
- Scheduling is a phase of project management that necessarily blends geometric and living order, often combining the preditability of critical path techniques with the agility offered by pull scheduling.
- Because a schedule is a communication and thinking tool, the level of detail with which it is prepared and communicated should be tailored for the needs of the project and team members.
- The critical path method—the consummate geometric, push tool—is essential for identifying activities that determine the expected duration of a complex project. However, an excessive focus on critical path analysis during project execution can divert needed attention and energy from pull-focused project delivery.
7.1 Crossing the Bridge from Planning to Scheduling
As you learned in the previous lesson, a project plan is a high-level view of the project that roughly maps out how to achieve the project’s ultimate goals, given the available time and resources. In living order, a project plan is provisional and open to revision as you learn more about the project. A schedule is a specific, time-based map designed to help the project team get from the current state to successful project completion.
You can think of a project plan as similar to a football coach’s strategy for winning a particular game, which might, for instance, include ideas for containing a highly mobile quarterback, or for double-teaming an exceptionally good wide receiver. By contrast, a schedule is all about tactics; it is similar to the specific plays a team uses to ensure that the right players are in the right places on the field at the right time. A team will know some of these plays backwards and forwards after endless practice; other plays will be the result of adaptation and inspiration as the game unfolds. In the same vein, in living order, a schedule typically requires regular adjustments to account for the changing realities of the project.
Above all else, a sche