The Five Secrets of Project Scheduling A PMO Approach

1. The Five Secrets of Project SchedulingA PMO Approach Michelle Colodzin PMP, PMI-SP, MCTS, MS Project Black Belt MetaVista Consulting Group

2. 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

3. 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

4. The Five Secrets of Project Scheduling • Create deliverables-based project schedules • Determine the appropriate level of detail • Implement a regular status update and reporting process • Review and adjust the schedule regularly • Create and follow project scheduling standards

5. Secret # 1Create 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

6. Secret # 2Determine 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 project’s 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

7. Secret # 3Implement 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

8. Secret # 4Review 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 as-needed basis • For larger projects, this must be formal and occur regularly

9. Secret # 5Create 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

10. 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.

11. 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 schedule-related processes (such as reporting and change control)

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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

16. Conclusion • These secrets are not new concepts – however, many organizations overlook or downplay their importance • Using the five secrets requires discipline and consistency – this can best be provided through a PMO • Developing, championing and managing scheduling processes through a PMO: • accelerates organizational learning • improves schedule quality • improves the likelihood of project success throughout an organization

17. For further information contact Michelle Colodzin via e-mail or phonemcolodzin@metavista.com530-798-1656