Effective Scheduling Techniques

What are the consequences to your project if the schedule is incorrect? How confident in the completion date would you be, given that most project schedules contain errors that greatly reduce the schedule accuracy and value? This course covers the critical skills necessary to create a correct project schedule that contains tasks and resources. 
 
WHO SHOULD ATTEND

This course is intended for Project Managers, IT Managers, Business Analysts, and others who are responsible for creating and modifying project schedules and use of scheduling software.

COURSE FEATURES

This one-day course covers the critical skills necessary to create a correct project schedule that contains tasks and resources. Topics include a brief review of scheduling fundamentals, types of schedules, estimating work and duration, checking a schedule for mistakes, and keeping your project on track. This course includes practical exercises using handouts, but participants who bring their laptops will have the option of doing the exercises on their computers. Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:  

• Effectively use Precedence Diagramming and the Critical Path Method
• Describe and use the types of task relationships
• Describe the proper use of constraints
• Explain the relationship among duration, work, and availability, and how picking the task type affects
  schedule calculations
• Use good scheduling practices to avoid the most common scheduling mistakes
• Debug a project schedule
• Describe the procedure that should be followed when preparing a project schedule

COURSE OUTLINE

Knowledge Review Quiz

Review Scheduling Fundamentals and Common Scheduling Mistakes
• Scheduling Processes
• Relationship Types
• Critical Path Method
• Understanding and Using Float
• Scheduling Best Practices

Exercise: Prepare Project Summary Schedule

Types of Schedules and When Used
• Milestone Schedule
• Summary Schedule
• Detailed Schedule
• Exercise: Create a Milestone Schedule

Project Tasks Duration
• Estimating Time Duration
• Duration Calculations
• Use of Buffers

Exercise: Arrange Schedule Tasks and Determine Duration

Debug a Schedule
• Exercise: Find the Mistakes in a Project Schedule
• Class Debrief

Keeping Your Project on Track
• Crashing
• Fast Tracking
• Resource Leveling

Program Number: PME007
Duration:  1 Day
Time:   8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Earn:   7 PDUs and 0.7 CEUs
Cost:     $495

KNOWLEDGE AREAS ADDRESSED

This course addresses the following knowledge areas of the Project Management Institute’s A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge:
• Project Scope Management
• Project Time Management