Plan Schedule Management - Jest to proces ustalania zasad, procedur i dokumentacji potrzebnych do planowania, zarządzania, realizacji i kontroli harmonogramu projektu.
Define Activities - Proces polegający na identyfikacji i dokumentowaniu konkretnych działań, które mają być wykonane w celu dostarczenia produktów projektu.
Sequence Activities - W tym procesie działania projektowe są uporządkowane i połączone, aby pokazać logiczne zależności i kolejność, często przedstawiane w formie diagramu sieciowego.
Estimate Activity Durations - Proces szacowania czasu potrzebnego na realizację każdego działania, uwzględniający dostępność zasobów, złożoność i inne czynniki.
Develop Schedule - Tutaj harmonogram projektu jest finalizowany poprzez określenie dat rozpoczęcia i zakończenia dla każdego działania oraz stworzenie ogólnej osi czasu projektu, często przy użyciu metod takich jak Critical Path Method (CPM).
Control Schedule - Proces monitorowania i kontroli, w którym rzeczywista wydajność jest mierzona względem harmonogramu bazowego, co pozwala na dostosowanie działań, aby projekt pozostawał na właściwym kursie.

Jak już wspomniano, zarządzanie harmonogramem projektu to kluczowy aspekt sukcesu projektu. Obszar wiedzy o zarządzaniu harmonogramem zawiera sześć procesów, które podzielone są na pięć procesów planowania i jeden proces monitorowania i kontrolowania.

Procesy planowania:

Planowanie zarządzania harmonogramem: Określa, jak zarządzać i kontrolować harmonogram projektu. W tym procesie podejmujemy decyzje o narzędziach, metrykach i tolerancjach dla harmonogramu.
Definiowanie działań: Identyfikujemy i precyzyjnie określamy działania niezbędne do realizacji projektu. Jest to bardziej szczegółowe niż WBS, ponieważ każdy element WBS może obejmować kilka działań.
Sekwencjonowanie działań: Ustalanie zależności między działaniami i tworzenie diagramu sieciowego harmonogramu projektu. W tym kroku rozpoznajemy logiczne relacje między zadaniami (np. relacje "koniec-start").
Szacowanie czasu trwania działań: W tym procesie szacujemy czas potrzebny na realizację każdego z działań, wykorzystując różne techniki, takie jak szacowanie parametryczne czy szacowanie trójpunktowe.
Opracowanie harmonogramu: Kiedy znamy czas trwania działań oraz dostępne zasoby, tworzymy harmonogram projektu, korzystając z metod takich jak metoda ścieżki krytycznej (CPM) czy analiza sieci harmonogramu.

Proces monitorowania i kontrolowania:

Kontrolowanie harmonogramu: To proces, w którym monitorujemy postępy względem bazowego harmonogramu i podejmujemy działania korygujące w przypadku odchyleń. Narzędzia takie jak analiza wartości wypracowanej (EVA) i analiza trendów pomagają w ocenie postępów.

Project Schedule Management According to the PMBOK

Because a project is defined as a temporary endeavor (PMBOK 1.1), deadlines are baked into the success criteria of all projects. Since all projects have a defined end point, the circumstances around this end point can result in project success or failure.

Managing the project schedule can be one of the most formidable parts of project management. I’ve seen more damaged client relationships through this area of project management than any other. Time management is essential to attaining successful projects.

That’s why the Project Management Body of Knowledge’s (PMBOK) Schedule Management knowledge area contains the following 6 processes:

Plan Schedule Management
Define Activities
Sequence Activities
Estimate Activity Durations
Develop Schedule
Control Schedule

Plan Schedule Management

This involves the creation of a Schedule Management Plan, as well as to develop the expectations as to how the schedule will be met.

Inputs

Project charter
Project management plan
- Scope management plan
- Development approach
Enterprise environmental factors
Organizational process assets

Tools and Techniques

Expert judgment
Data analysis
Meetings

Outputs

Schedule management plan

Define Activities

In this step, the activities required to complete the project are defined and itemized. This is different from the work breakdown schedule (WBS) within the project scope management knowledge area in that the activities are more precise. That is, a WBS element will contain multiple activities. That being said, I’ve had small projects where I simply called the WBS and activities one and the same. The PMBOK allows for this on small projects.

Inputs

Project management plan
- Schedule management plan
- Scope baseline
Enterprise environmental factors
Organizational process assets

Tools and Techniques

Expert judgment
Decomposition
Rolling wave planning
Meetings

Outputs

Activity list
Activity attributes
Milestone list
Change requests
Project management plan updates
- Schedule baseline
- Cost baseline

Sequence Activities

At this step the dependencies between the activities are determined. For example, if a task can’t start until the previous one finishes, they have a finish to start relationship. The other alternatives are finish to finish, start to start, or the very rare start to finish. Also involved in this step is the determination of leads and lags, the amount of time required for extracurricular tasks at the beginning or end of the activity.

Inputs

Project management plan
- Schedule management plan
- Scope baseline
Project documents
- Activity attributes
- Activity list
- Assumption log
- Milestone list
Enterprise environmental factors
Organization process assets

Tools and Techniques

Precedence diagramming method
Dependency determination and integration
Leads and lags
Project management information system

Outputs

Project schedule network diagrams
Project documents updates
- Activity attributes
- Activity list
- Assumption log
- Milestone list

Estimate Activity Durations

In this step, the required time required to perform each activity is estimated. The three primary estimating techniques are utilized to determine an estimate for each task (activity) defined earlier: Analogous, Parametric, or Three point estimating. The task estimates are rolled up into an overall project estimate.

Inputs

Project management plan
- Schedule management plan
- Scope baseline
Project documents
- Activity attributes
- Activity list
- Assumption log
- Lessons learned register
- Milestone list
- Project team assignments
- Resource breakdown structure
- Resource calendars
- Resource requirements
- Risk register
Enterprise environmental factors
Organizational process assets

Tools and Techniques

Expert judgment
Analogous estimating
Parametric estimating
Three-point estimating
Bottom-up estimating
Data analysis
- Alternatives analysis
- Reserve analysis
Decision making
Meetings

Outputs

Duration estimates
Basis of estimates
Project documents updates
- Activity attributes
- Assumption log
- Lessons learned register

Develop Schedule

Once the duration of each activity, and the resources are known, the schedule can be developed. This involves using methods such as the critical path method, critical chain method, and others, to determine the overall completion date of the project. Float times for each activity are also important.

Inputs

Project management plan
- Schedule management plan
- Scope baseline
Project documents
- Activity attributes
- Activity list
- Assumption log
- Basis of estimates
- Duration estimates
- Lessons learned register
- Milestone list
- Project schedule network diagrams
- Project team assignments
- Resource calendars
- Resource requirements
- Risk register
Agreements
Enteprise environmental factors
Organization process assets

Tools and Techniques

Schedule network analysis
Critical path method
Resource optimization techniques
Data analysis
- What-if scenario analysis
- Simulation
Leads and lags
Schedule compression
Project management information system
Agile release planning

Outputs

Schedule baseline
Project schedule
Schedule data
Project calendars
Change requests
Project management plan updates
- Schedule management plan
- Cost baseline
Project documents updates
- Activity attributes
- Assumption log
- Duration estimates
- Lessons learned register
- Resource requirements
- Risk register

Control Schedule

This might be the most important process in the entire PMBOK. What is the most effective way to ensure the project deadlines are met? The PMBOK gives you the mechanics, but a good dose of experience and judgment will complement these techniques immensely.

Inputs

Project management plan
Project documents
- Lessons learned register
- Project calendars
- Project schedule
- Resource calendars
- Schedule data
Work performance data
Organizational process assets

Tools and Techniques

Data analysis
Critical path method
Project management information system
Resource optimization
Leads and lags
Schedule compression

Outputs

Work performance information
Schedule forecasts
Change requests
Project management plan updates
- Schedule management plan
- Schedule baseline
- Cost baseline
- Performance measurement baseline
Project documents updates
- Assumption log
- Basis of estimates
- Lessons learned register
- Project schedule
- Resource calendars
- Risk register
- Schedule data

Schedule Management – Introduction to Processes

In this first lecture about schedule management, I would like to briefly discuss this knowledge area.

As you see, the schedule management knowledge area includes five planning processes and one monitoring and controlling process.

Schedule Planning Processes

The first planning process is “Plan Schedule Management.” Here, we plan how to manage and control the project’s schedule.

The next planning process is “Define Activities,” where we identify all the activities necessary to complete the project’s schedule.

The third planning process is “Sequence Activities.” In this process, we create the project schedule network diagram and learn the dependencies and types of relationships between activities.

Another planning process is “Estimate Activity Durations.” Here, we discuss various estimation techniques, including one-point, parametric, and three-point estimating.

The last planning process is “Develop Schedule.” In this process, we cover network analysis techniques, focusing on the Critical Path Method (CPM), a key schedule network analysis method. The exam may include questions on this technique, so I will explain it in detail so you can perform CPM calculations effectively.

Monitoring and Controlling Process

The “Control Schedule” process is the only monitoring and controlling process within schedule management. Here, we measure schedule progress against the baseline schedule.

Plan Schedule Management

In this lecture, we will focus on the “Plan Schedule Management” process, where we plan how to manage and control the schedule. As I mentioned, there are six processes in this knowledge area, and plan schedule management involves planning for the other five processes.

For example, in the “Define Activities” process, we specify the activities needed for the schedule. However, in “Plan Schedule Management,” we determine how we will define those activities.

Key Activities in the Plan Schedule Management Process

Scheduling Software: Determine which scheduling software will be used. Will we use existing software within the organization, or will we purchase new software to meet specific needs? For example, if our organization uses MS Project, but the client requires reports in Primavera, we may need to consider purchasing Primavera or converting reports to that format.
Metrics: Decide on the metrics to be used in the project, such as whether durations will be measured in days or weeks.
Scheduling Tolerances: Set control thresholds or allowable delays, such as how many days of delay are acceptable, and define upper and lower limits.
Scheduling Approach: Choose a suitable scheduling approach for the project, whether in an adaptive or predictive environment.
Level of Accuracy: Define the desired level of accuracy for the schedule, such as 5% or 10%.
Variance, Change, and Revision Controls: Determine methods for managing variances, changes, and revisions, including what to do when variances occur and how to establish a new baseline if necessary.
Iteration and Release Lengths: For agile or adaptive environments, define the length of releases and iterations. We’ll plan only for the next iteration, leaving a high-level plan for the remaining work.
Report Formats: Decide on the format of schedule and progress reports. Will we use existing reporting formats, or will we create new ones? This process allows for these decisions.

Output of the Process

The only output of this process is the “Schedule Management Plan,” which documents all this information.