Schedule The Project

The purpose of this module is to help you learn how to develop a realistic, optimized project schedule, with leveled resources. You will also learn how to communicate the project schedule to various stakeholders.

Identify Scheduling Constraints

Key constraints on the project are often identified during the initiation and planning processes. It is imperative to be aware of these constraints when the project is being scheduled, so that the schedule baseline can be developed to meet them.

Constraints are limits on the options available within the project, so it is important to identify and be aware of them. Some constraints will relate specifically to certain activities, while others will be general. Examples of schedule constraints are:

• As soon as possible (no constraint)

• Start no earlier than... (cannot be ahead of schedule)

• Start no later than... (can create broken logic)

• Finish no earlier than... (cannot be ahead of schedule)

• Finish no later than... (can create broken logic)

• Must start on... (can create broken logic)

• Must finish on... (can create broken logic)

• As late as possible (only for projects scheduled backwards)

Level Resources

A schedule must be realistic and optimized. This means that the resources should not be overallocated, and there should not be any wasted time. The processes to create a realistic schedule involve leveling, optimization, and prioritization.

Once the tasks have been entered into the calendar it is important to check that resources are neither overallocated nor underused. These are represented by peaks and valleys in the resource usage histogram.

Avoid using auto-leveling features in software.

Many project management applications make resource leveling easier, but it is important to recognize that leveling decisions need to be made while considering the entire situation of an overallocation. This means that leveling should be done manually, based on decisions with the project team instead of

relying on a software to automatically level without having all of the information about the situation, people involved, nature of the work, etc.

Leveling will often increase the project duration, but it gives a realistic schedule.

Note again that leveling resources, and particularly removing overallocations, can increase the overall duration of phases or of the project.

Level the project chronologically from the start of the project to its end.

To level the resources on the project:

1. 1. Identify overallocated resources using a resource usage histogram or table. Starting at the earliest point in the project and proceed chronologically to the next overallocation.

2. 2. Analyze the concurrent activities to find ways to remove the overallocations.

Consider the sample resource assignments in Fig. 29. The tasks assigned to the Designer have been estimated and sequenced, but there are several overallocations. The level of overallocation is identifiable by adding up the number of hours of work assigned to each day. Durations do not include weekends, even though the tasks go over the weekend and there is no work performed.

1. Fig. 29. Resource Usage Gantt Chart

Leveling Options

There are several possible approaches to level resource overallocations:

1. Decrease assignment units 2. Apply a leveling delay 3. Apply a discretionary dependency 4. Reassign tasks 5. Re-estimate task effort 6. Apply overtime 7. Adjust the scope 8. Change the working time 9. Contour the assignments

Note that many of these options for leveling resources have significant a impact on other aspects of the project, such as increasing the overall duration of the project, affecting the critical path, project risks,

and quite possibly the project costs. Therefore it is necessary to take an integrated approach that assesses each solution for its appropriateness and value versus its costs.

Regardless of the options that are chosen, it is very beneficial to put a note on the task, resource or assignment to indicate what has been done to level the resource.

Choose the leveling technique with the team.

Choose the leveling technique with the person who is overallocated.

Leveling Technique

Meaning Example

Decrease assignment units

Reduce the percentage of units for the resource on concurrent tasks. This will have the side effect of increasing each activity's duration. This can cause overallocations later in the project.

Decrease Designer's units on Design module 1 and Design module 2 to 50% on each task. Both tasks become 10d duration and push out their successors. See Fig. 30.

1. Fig. 30. Decrease Units Example

Leveling Technique

Meaning Example

Apply a leveling delay

Delay the start of one of the tasks to a date when the resource won't be overallocated. This will push out any successors as well, but if the task's predecessors start to run behind schedule, the leveling delay will not move this task.

Put a 14 elapsed day delay on Design Module 3 to start it after the other two design tasks are complete. See Fig. 31.

1. Fig. 31. Leveling Delay Example

Leveling Technique

Meaning Example

Apply a discretionary dependency

Link the tasks to start one task after the other finishes. This will often change the critical path, and can create overallocations further along the timeline. Be sure to note that the link is discretionary.

Create a Finish-to-Start link from Build Module 1 to Build Module 2, even though these tasks do not have to be completed consecutively. See Fig. 32.

1. Fig. 32. Discretionary Link Example

Leveling Technique

Meaning Example

Reassign tasks

Assign the task from the overallocated resource to an available resource. This must consider the skill level of the new resource in case it changes the effort estimate. It will also consider the productivity and availability of the new resource.

Reassign Build Module 3 from Designer to Developer. Since Developer is not as proficient as the Designer, the effort estimate will increase from 24h to 30h, and the Developer can only give 75% of her time to the task, so the duration will increase to 5d. See Fig. 33.

1. Fig. 33. Reassign Task Example

Leveling Technique

Meaning Example

Re-estimate task effort

Review the accuracy of the activity's original work estimates or identify ways to improve efficiency and thereby reduce work requirements.

Consult with Designer about work estimate to complete Design Module 3. Based on learning curve from previous tasks, reduce the effort estimate to 24h and the duration to 3d. This also affects the start date of Build Module 3 because it is a successor. See Fig. 34.

Too much overtime can cause burnout, reduced quality and increased cost.

Leveling Technique

Meaning Example

Apply overtime

Assign work as overtime work because overallocations are based on regular working time definitions. This often requires reducing the assignment units as well. Two major considerations with applying overtime are employee burnout and cost.

Assign 12h of Design Module 3 work as overtime and reduce the units to 50% to spread it out over 6d. Assign 24h of Build Module 1 as overtime to be done concurrently with Design Module 3. This makes the Designer work 12 hours/day for six days. This also affects the start date of Build Module 3 because it is a successor. The Designer is now leveled in the example. See Fig. 35.

1. Fig. 35. Apply Overtime Example

Leveling Technique

Meaning Example

Adjust the scope

Review the deliverables and tasks to identify ways to change the effort estimate.

Not shown. Change the design of Module 3 to remove a feature, and re-estimate work at 24h.

Change the working time

Change the number of available working hours per day. This is often done in conjunction with re-assigning the work by implementing shift-work for the resources.

Not shown. Create two 8-hour shifts per day and re-assign Build Modules 1, 2 & 3 to the Development team to complete all three tasks in 7 days.

Contour the assignments

Manually change hours planned to be worked on individual days to create a contoured usage graph instead of a flat contour. This technique should only be used for minor overallocations as a last resort. This can also include splitting a task.

Not shown. Manually schedule Design Module 1 with 2h on the first Tuesday, and 6h on Wednesday. Then Manually schedule Design Module 2 with 6h on Tuesday and 2h on Wednesday.

Optimize the Schedule

When leveling the resources it is also important to look at the project schedule for opportunities to shorten its overall duration. This can be accomplished by adjusting the leveling technique that was chosen or by applying extra resources to the most cost effective activities to speed their completion. The same techniques are used for optimization as for leveling.

For example, consider the Tester's task assignments in Fig. 36, which were leveled by reducing the units to 50% for both tasks. The total duration to complete both tasks is 10 days.

1. Fig. 36. Reduced Units

If the leveling technique was a discretionary link between the tasks or a leveling delay, both tasks could be completed in 9 days, saving a day on the project (Fig. 37).

1. Fig. 37. Leveling Delay

Define Task Priorities

Clearly setting out the task priorities helps resolve any scheduling and/or resource conflicts by establishing which activity must be given priority. Higher priority tasks will receive resources or schedule time before lower priority tasks.

Set Duration of Monitor & Control Project

Once the resources have been leveled, set the duration of the project management task, "Monitor and control project” to ensure that this task is being performed throughout the entire duration of execution. This many require some minor leveling after it has been done.

Identify Milestones

Milestone: significant event, without duration, used for rough progress tracking and reporting to management.

Milestones are significant events used for rough progress tracking and reporting to management.

Guidelines for Milestones

To be effective, the milestones should have the following attributes:

• Must be a significant event without effort or duration in the schedule, not a task;

• Must only be 1 milestone per reporting period;

• Milestones must be linked to the critical path. Milestones have no duration, so they will not affect the duration of the critical path. If a milestone is not linked into the critical path, it will not accurately represent the project's schedule performance when reporting it.

One milestone per month linked to the critical path.

Typical milestones can be:

• Accomplishment of a key phase or deliverable (e.g. Design phase complete or Module 1 complete);

• Completion of a certain number of hours or percentage of work (e.g. 30/60/90 percent or 4000 hours);

• Expenditure of certain amount or percentage of funds (e.g. $50k or 25% spent); or

• Award or completion of a contract.

Ask management what milestones should be reported, and make suggestions.

Talk to the sponsor and management to determine which milestones they would prefer to be reported during the project.

Communicate the Schedule

The baseline schedule can then be communicated to various stakeholders. There are many types of schedule displays. Each type of schedule is appropriate for a different audience. For example, a detailed schedule may contain several hundred tasks and milestones, but this would be too much information for executive-level stakeholders, who generally prefer a summary. If they request more detailed information, it is readily available.

Different schedule displays should be used for different stakeholders.

Conversely, team members would probably want a schedule containing detailed information about the activities they are responsible for. This will give them a clear understanding of the dependencies between their tasks and those of other staff.

Types of Schedule Displays

The following table identifies common schedule displays and the audience they are suitable for:

1. Table 15. Schedule Types by Audience

Schedule Level Types Audience

ManagementMilestone tableMilestone chart

Executives Management Sponsor Client External Stakeholders

SummarySummary Gantt ChartSummary Schedule TableNetwork Diagram

Project Manager Functional Managers

DetailDetailed Gantt ChartTask Assignment TableCalendar

Project Team Members Functional Team Members

Gantt Chart

Gantt charts display tasks graphically, using bars to represent the start, duration and finish dates of tasks on a continuous timeline. There are also summary bars which represent the duration of the network of its sub-tasks. The Gantt chart can be displayed at a summary or detailed level, depending on the audience.

1. Fig. 38. Gantt Chart Example

Schedule Table

Along with the Gantt chart this is the most common format of project schedule. A tabular format enables quick integration with the Work Breakdown Structure and other tabular information, including resources, estimates, and predecessors. Note that it is essential to include the duration, start and finish dates for all tasks.

Calendar

A calendar display of the project schedule represents the tasks as bars on a traditional calendar instead of a continuous timeline like a Gantt chart. A calendar schedule is often used by team members to manage their day-to-day task assignments rather than displaying the overall project schedule in this form.

1. Fig. 40. Calendar Example

Milestone Tables & Charts

Use milestone charts to communicate the schedule to management.

Milestone charts are commonly used for reporting the project to management or clients, as they are easy to understand and clearly show the current state of schedule progress.

Network Diagrams with Dates

A network diagram with start and finish dates is a useful method of identifying task relationships. It clearly displays the project schedule and the interdependencies, which a Gantt chart alone cannot do.

1. Fig. 41. Node With Dates

Summary of Scheduling

1. Involve the team. 2. Review the tasks, deliverables and resource assignments. 3. Identify the mandatory dependencies at the work package level. 4. Create overall start and finish milestones. 5. Sequence all work packages in a network diagram. 6. Enter the dependencies into software. 7. Double-check the network to ensure there are no missed links or hanging activities. 8. Perform a forward pass analysis to identify ES, EF and the duration of the critical path. 9. Perform a backward pass analysis to identify LS, LF, total slack, free slack and the critical path. 10. Double-check the software critical path and slack to the manual network diagram. 11. Level the resources and optimize the schedule with the team. 12. Set the duration of Monitor and Control project to ensure that all execution work is being monitored and controlled. 13. Re-check the leveling. 14. Identify milestones for each reporting period and link them to the critical path. 15. Set the baseline schedule. 16. Determine the schedule displays for each stakeholder (e.g. Summary Gantt chart, Table, Milestone chart/timeline, Milestone table, Task assignment reports, etc.). 17. Communicate the schedule to stakeholders.