Professorial Lecturer: Project SCHEDULING

Dr. Domingo T. Balse, Jr, LPT Lecture Notes

Project SCHEDULING
After the completion of this unit, students can:
••Employ project scheduling concepts to engage team commitment and manage stakeholder expectations and graphically
illustrate the various project scheduling formats available.
•Identify critical path and float using visual and mathematical approaches.
• Demonstrate how to use Microsoft Project (This will not be included since the class has no computer laboratory to use.)

Introduction
When projects fall behind schedule or go over budget, it impacts the success and growth of your
business. Some factors are out of anyone’s control, but developing an accurate project schedule is something
every organization can and should prioritize. Project scheduling keeps team members aligned on key project
details like tasks to be completed, deadlines, the scope of the project, costs, and more.
Of course, while scheduling in project management is a no-brainer, actually developing a realistic and
effective project schedule is easier said than done. You have to gather and analyze the necessary data, get input
from relevant stakeholders, then establish an accurate timeline everyone buys into. And naturally, the larger the
project, the more difficult and complex the scheduling. To get a handle on the process of building project
schedules, let’s start with defining how scheduling fits into the broader concept of project management.

What is Scheduling in Project Management?

Scheduling in project management is the process of defining a project in detail and creating a plan for
when and how it will be completed. Building a project schedule, including a timeline with clear deadlines for
each task, gives team members visibility into the work they’ll be expected to complete and keeps everyone
involved on track.
Project schedules are broken down into tasks and milestones. The schedule should also identify all
necessary resources needed to complete the project and set a timeline for completion. Realistic constraints and
dependencies must be considered during these steps, each of which is critical for cost management purposes.
Scheduling in project management can be overwhelming, but creating a work breakdown schedule
beforehand can help. A work breakdown structure takes the form of a visual representation of the project’s scope
and deliverables. It lets the entire team see the tasks required to complete the project at a glance and serves as a
strong foundation for completing the project schedule.

Project Scheduling vs. Project Planning

Project scheduling and project planning go hand-in-hand, but they’re distinct processes. Project planning
is a high level process that involves defining the overarching framework of a project. It often involves creating a
work breakdown structure and takes place before project scheduling. Project scheduling dives deeper into the
details of a project, like tasks to be completed and specific timelines.

The Benefits of Scheduling in Project Management

Scheduling in project management can make a big impact on a company’s productivity. Here are just a
few of the advantages of creating an effective project schedule:

Aligning all team members on project goals

Without a project schedule, your team won’t know what they’re expected to do or when they’re expected
to do it. Scheduling keeps everyone aligned and moving towards the project’s goal quickly by eliminating
ambiguity. When employees can transition quickly from one task to the next and pass on their work to the next
team member as needed, projects get done on time and under budget.

Identifying roadblocks early

There’s nothing worse than getting halfway through a project and encountering an unexpected obstacle.
Beyond the additional expense and time it takes to overcome the new challenge, there’s the risk that you may

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 Professorial Lecturer: Project SCHEDULING
Dr. Domingo T. Balse, Jr, LPT Lecture Notes

need to rework part of the project you’ve already completed. Building a robust schedule in advance helps you
identify potential problems and plan for them before they derail your project.

Ensuring you allocate sufficient resources

You need to know with certainty what resources you’ll need to finish a project successfully, from
budgets to materials to labor and equipment. A detailed project schedule helps ensure that you haven’t missed
any necessary steps and that you know exactly what you’ll need to complete the project when you expect.
Each of these benefits leads to further positive outcomes for your business. For example, when your
organization empowers team members with visibility into project goals and the tools they need to succeed,
they’ll be even more motivated to accomplish their tasks. Motivated, engaged employees are one of the most
valuable assets any company can have, and they serve as examples for everyone at your organization to follow.

How to Visualize Project Schedules

There are many different ways to visualize project schedules, and that’s a good thing. Every project is
different, after all, and team members may prefer certain visualizations over others. Gantt charts, task lists,
and calendars are three of the most common ways to visualize project schedules:

Gantt charts. A Gantt chart breaks down the project schedule in bar chart fashion, with the bars representing
the timeline in which each task should begin and be completed. Dates typically run along the x-axis and
milestones/tasks run along the y-axis.

Task lists. Task lists do not use graphics, but they’re a simple, clean format in which to view a project schedule.

Calendars. Calendars serve as a familiar way for team members to view task start and finish dates while also
providing them with an easy way to visualize the entire project timeline.

6 Steps to the Project Scheduling Process

A quality project schedule is the result of a thoughtful, effective process. Follow these six steps for
successful project scheduling.

1. Define the Project

If you completed project planning in the form of a work breakdown structure prior to beginning the
project scheduling process, it will come in handy during this step. Take the framework you built for the project
and define the tasks and milestones necessary to get the work done. While you don’t want to spend time laying
out the steps of every workflow involved when building your schedule, you need to be granular enough to
separate out each task to ensure your timeline is accurate.

2. Sequence Project Tasks and Milestones

Once you’ve determined which tasks and milestones are necessary to complete the project, you need to
get them in the right order. Certain tasks may be dependent on the completion of previous tasks. If a dependency
is not accounted for during this step, other team members will have to wait to complete their tasks, impacting the
timeline. Even if there are no dependencies, team members need to know when they’re expected to accomplish
specific tasks.

3. Define the Critical Path

The critical path refers to the longest sequence of tasks that must be completed on time to avoid delaying
the entire schedule. A delay to any one of these tasks will push back project completion by the same amount of
time. Accurately defining the critical path ensures you know what tasks must be completed when to keep the
project on schedule. It’s necessary to account for the dependencies identified above when defining the critical
path. You should also consult with the team members who will be completing the relevant tasks.

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 Professorial Lecturer: Project SCHEDULING
Dr. Domingo T. Balse, Jr, LPT Lecture Notes

4. Allocate Necessary Resources

Do team members need access to certain equipment to complete a task? Would onboarding a new hire
on a certain team help them complete their assigned tasks more quickly? Gather the data you need to fully
understand the project’s resource demands and your organization’s capacity limits, then work to align them so
your schedule is achievable. Accounting for the cost of resources as well as any additional time needed to obtain
them before the project begins will keep your schedule tethered to reality.

5. Build a Timeline
You’re now ready to build out your timeline with solid dates for each part of the project. Your timeline
should reflect the critical path and sequences you laid out above to accommodate any constraints or
dependencies identified. And don’t forget to account for weekends, team members’ scheduled time off, holidays,
and other factors that might impact available work hours. While you can expect your schedule to evolve due to
scope changes, unexpected variation in productivity, and other potential issues, you’ll want to make sure it’s as
accurate as possible to begin with.

6. Track Progress and Adjust the Schedule as the Project Progresses

You’ve completed your schedule and the project is underway. Hiccups and unforeseen issues are bound
to occur, so you should track the progress of each task and milestone. If it appears adjustments to your schedule
are needed, make them quickly to keep everything on track. Establishing good project controls is key here so
you can maintain the integrity of your schedule even in the face of significant problems.

Strategies for Scheduling in Project Management

All but the simplest projects involve many moving parts and dependent tasks, so creating a project
schedule that accounts for them and displays them for all team members is a must. Follow these tips to ensure
you’re developing project schedules that contribute to organizational success:
1. Bring in relevant stakeholders from the beginning. Leveraging the knowledge of team members on the
ground helps avoid miscommunication, identify potential issues, and ensure you’re creating a timeline everyone
buys into.

2. Reference historical data. Practice makes perfect and history repeats itself! Look back at previous project
timelines as a benchmark. Learn from them to consistently improve project schedules.

3. Ensure all required tasks (and subtasks) are included. Unforeseen tasks, even small ones, can affect the
scope of the entire project. You need to identify all required components of a project to create a useful schedule.
While there’s no need to list out the process used to complete each task in your timeline, if there are discrete
subtasks required to complete a larger task, account for them. If available, use a template to help avoid
preventable omissions.

4. Build in float to handle delays. Consider likely and unlikely risks to the schedule, and build in time to
account for these potential delays so you don’t have to make significant alterations to project schedule or scope
when they occur. If the timeline for a particular task seems ambitious, adding additional time to the schedule
may be warranted.

5. Clearly define the critical path. Getting this step right will ensure a thorough and accurate project timeline.
Clearly identifying, prioritizing and resourcing tasks along the critical path makes completing the project
successfully more likely.

Finding the Right Project Scheduling Software

If the idea of embarking on project scheduling feels daunting, you’re not alone. While organizations that
carry out the largest, most complex projects have the resources to leverage specific scheduling tools, those
carrying out smaller projects are left with more uncertainty.

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 Professorial Lecturer: Project SCHEDULING
Dr. Domingo T. Balse, Jr, LPT Lecture Notes

What is MS Project schedule?

Microsoft Project is project management software that's used to create schedules, project plans, manage
resources and keep track of time. It has features such as Gantt charts, kanban boards and project calendars for
project management professionals.

How to create a project plan in Excel

References
1. Brown, Karen. A and Hyer, Nancy Lea (2010); Managing projects: A team-based approach; International Edition, McGraw-Hill.
2. Kumar, V. S. (2009). Essential leadership skills for project managers. Paper presented at PMI® Global Congress 2009—North America, Orlando, FL.
Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute.
3. Lester, Albert (2007); Project Management, Planning and Control; 5th Edition, Elsevier.
4. Project Management Institute (PMI) (2013); A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK®), 5th edition.

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