The Five Secrets of Project Scheduling

A PMO Approach
Michelle Colodzin
PMP, PMI-SP, MCTS, MS Project Black Belt

MetaVista Consulting Group

Introduction
What is a good project schedule?
A good project schedule is one that accurately models the work of the
project, encapsulates the full scope and nothing extra and which
maintains a consistent and appropriate level of detail

How is a good schedule built and maintained?

The Five Secrets of Project Scheduling provide a framework and
methodology for consistently producing and maintaining good project
schedules

How can a good schedule improve project performance?

A good schedule can provide advanced warning of possible schedule
slippage, resource issues, cost overruns and general project risks
giving the project manager time to avoid or mitigate potential problems

What is the role of the PMO in developing and maintaining good

project schedules?
The PMO can develop, champion and support good scheduling
practices, provide templates, train schedulers and project managers and
perform project and portfolio analysis on an organization-wide basis

The Five Secrets of Project Scheduling

The Five Secrets of Project Scheduling are five factors

(or secrets) that when used together will help project
managers and project schedulers consistently produce
and maintain good project schedules

These secrets are not new concepts - they provide a

context, framework and methodology, which when
followed consistently, result in better project schedules
that are easier to maintain and analyze

Taking full advantage of these secrets requires a

centralized group such as a PMO - overseeing and
enforcing their use throughout the organization

The Five Secrets of Project Scheduling

1. Create deliverables-based project schedules

2. Determine the appropriate level of detail

3. Implement a regular status update and reporting
process
4. Review and adjust the schedule regularly

5. Create and follow project scheduling standards

Secret # 1
Create Deliverables-based Project Schedules
Deliverables vs. Activities
Deliverables are products produced by a project all
projects have deliverables
Deliverables are tangible: documentation, physical computer
hardware, application accessible by users, etc.

Activities are performed by team members in order to

create a deliverable
Activities consist of one or more tasks: gather system
requirements, install hardware, install software, test system
access and features

Secret # 2
Determine the Appropriate Level of Detail

The best project schedules are those which contain all of

the required information and nothing more

There must be sufficient detail to accurately track and manage the

projects activities and deliverables
There must not be so much detail that the schedule becomes
unmanageable

Since each project is unique there is no single level of

detail that is appropriate for all projects or project
schedules

The level of detail required for a particular project must be

defined prior to the start of scheduling and followed
consistently throughout the life of the project

Secret # 3
Implement a Regular Schedule Status Update and
Reporting Process

A project schedule must be updated regularly to ensure

ongoing integrity and to enable monitoring of project
progress

The project scheduler is responsible for determining how

to gather task status information, how often the information
will be collected and the method for collecting and
validating the information

The first step in developing a regular update and reporting

process is to work with the project manager and key
stakeholders to determine the reporting requirements and
expectations

Secret # 4
Review and Adjust the Schedule Regularly

A good project schedule must not be static - it must reflect

actual changes occurring on the project

All projects experience unexpected events successful

projects have a process for incorporating these events into
the project schedule

All projects should establish and follow a schedule change

control process

For smaller projects, this may be informal and occur on an asneeded basis

For larger projects, this must be formal and occur regularly

Secret # 5
Create and Follow Scheduling Standards

The use of scheduling standards can significantly reduce

the time required and eliminate some of the complexity
involved in developing a realistic and maintainable project
schedule.

Scheduling standards help ensure consistency when

schedules are created by multiple schedulers and/or
project managers.

Scheduling standards provide the PMO with objective

measures to evaluate, monitor and provide feedback on
specific schedules and scheduling practices

What Are Scheduling Standards?

Scheduling standards are specific guidelines for
creating and maintaining project schedules within a
single or multiple related organizations
Scheduling standards are created or adopted by an
organization (such as a PMO) which then
champions, supports and monitors their use within
the project schedules developed for projects under
their sphere of influence or control.
It is a good practice to base specific scheduling
standards on an industry-accepted documents such
as the PMICOS standard and/or industry-accepted
best practices.

Why Follow Scheduling Standards?

They contribute to the development of realistic
and manageable project schedules
They help ensure consistency in the structure
and level of detail across project schedules
They help ensure that the information reported is
more easily compared and leveraged
They help ensure consistency in schedulerelated processes (such as reporting and
change control)

The Role of the PMO in Project

Scheduling

The PMO can by a key enabler of good project scheduling the

more active and widespread the influence of the PMO the better
the results from a centralized approach to scheduling

Key PMO Responsibilities related to scheduling:

Define, document and enforce scheduling standards

Define, document and enforce schedule-related processes

Length of reporting cycle

Triggers and/or time interval for reviewing and updating schedules

Specific reports to be submitted to the PMO

Develop and distribute tools and templates whenever possible

Train project managers in scheduling practices and tools

If possible, centralize scheduling services within the PMO and provide

scheduling resources to projects

The Benefits of an Active PMO in

Project Scheduling

The PMO can by a key enabler of good project

scheduling practices the more active and widespread
the influence of the PMO the more likely project
performance and success rates will improve throughout
the organization
Use of standard practices, tools and templates reduces
the time required to create and maintain project
schedules
Standard processes help facilitate the ongoing capture
and application of lessons learned across the
organization
Standard report formats and content enable faster and
more accurate comparison of status and issues across
multiple projects this is vital for organizations doing
portfolio management

Using the Five Secrets for the First Time

When implementing these secrets for the first time:
start small and focus on the strengths of the
organization
Develop a small set of scheduling standards,
simple processes, tools and templates
Capture lessons learned and build a repository
where schedulers and project managers can:
document and share their experiences and knowledge
Store and retrieve schedules which worked well in
similar situations
build and share new processes, tools and templates

Using the Five Secrets in a Mature PMO

Environment
Create a Centralized Scheduling Practice
Train project managers how to build and use a good project
schedule
Take on responsibility for scheduling all projects or providing project
schedulers to other parts of the organization

Benefits of Centralizing Scheduling in the PMO

Centralizing schedulers and scheduling helps ensure that
standards and processes are followed consistently
It offers better visibility into what is working well and where
improvements are needed
Increased overall project success rates due to better schedules that
are followed and managed consistently throughout the organization