INTRODUCTION

What is project scheduling?

Scheduling in project management is the listing of activities, deliverables, and milestones within
a project. A schedule also usually includes a planned start and finish date, duration, and
resources assigned to each activity. Effective project scheduling is a critical component of
successful time management, especially for professional service businesses.

Furthermore, it involves analyzing the resource availability and implementing the scheduling

technique to ascertain timely delivery while maintaining the resource health index. Many
project managers successfully generate the right schedule, yet most of them find it challenging
to manage the resources intelligently.

It can cause delays and discrepancies in the deliverables as their talent pool is responsible for
executing these tasks. Thus, they must master each aspect of project scheduling.

What are the benefits of project scheduling?

Compare two scenarios– one, where your project details are all over the place, and second,
where you maintain a centralized data repository of your project plan. Which one do you think
will lead to proper project execution? Naturally, the latter.

This is what a project schedule does. It brings together all the project-related information in

one place that opens doors for seamless communication between the project manager and
stakeholders.

Project scheduling also enables task prioritization. The initial steps of project scheduling

comprise forming a work breakdown structure and dividing the project into simpler tasks.
Once the tasks are enlisted, the project manager can implement the appropriate technique to
evaluate the criticality of the tasks and arrange them in order of precedence.

In addition, the detailed description of each task and skill demand against them makes it easy
for managers to procure the right resources for the right job. Not just that, with real-time
information of the project’s progress, they can gauge the resource performance and take
remedial measures in case of any inconsistencies.

The internal team conflicts are minimized when the entire team, stakeholders, and managers
are on the same page. Resources are aware of the task dependencies and work diligently to
ensure that the overall delivery is not affected.
An overview of different Scheduling Techniques
Project scheduling techniques are beneficial to secure the project timeline and budget without
over or underutilizing the workforce. Your resource pool is the success driver of the project,
and thus, it is vital to keep their productivity and well-being in check. These scheduling
techniques come in handy to ensure that no resource is burned out or sitting idle.

Here’s a rundown of some of these techniques:

Critical Path Method (CPM)

This technique is purely based on mathematical analysis and lets you calculate the longest and
shortest possible project timeline. Let’s understand this better with an example. There are four
tasks in the project – A, B, C, and D. Task B and D can only begin after task A completes,
whereas task C has no such restriction.

In this case, since the progress of B and D banks on task A, it becomes the critical task. Task A
will be time-sensitive as any delay in its completion can delay the entire project’s course. On
the other hand, given that task C has no dependencies, it can be accomplished within a flexible
deadline. Task C, in this case, will have a float time (also referred to as ‘slack’). A float-time is
where one can prolong a task to a specific limit without impacting the overall project.

This is how a manager can calculate each task’s start and finish time, keeping in mind the
reliance and coming to a precise conclusion. A CPM technique is applicable to project tasks
when all the deliverables and interdependencies are clear.

What Is Scheduling in Project Management?

Scheduling in project management is the listing of activities, deliverables, and milestones within
a project. A schedule also usually includes a planned start and finish date, duration,
and resources assigned to each activity. Effective project scheduling is a critical component of
successful time management, especially for professional service businesses.
When people discuss the processes for building a schedule, they are usually referring to the
first six processes of time management:

1. Plan schedule management

2. Define project activities

3. Sequence activities

4. Estimate resources

5. Estimate durations

6. Develop the project schedule

How to do scheduling in project management

There are three main types of project schedules:

1. Master project schedule: A master schedule tends to be a simplified list of tasks with a

timeline or project calendar.

2. Milestone schedule or summary schedule: This type of project schedule tracks major

milestones and key deliverables, but not every task is required to complete the project.

3. A detailed project schedule: This is the most thorough project schedule, as it identifies

and tracks every project activity. If you have a complex, large, or lengthy project, it’s
important to have a detailed project schedule to help track everything.

Useful project scheduling techniques to know

The most common form of project schedule is a Gantt chart. Both a milestone schedule and a
detailed project schedule can be created as a Gantt chart. When choosing scheduling software,
look for project scheduling tools that allow you to create different views from the same
schedule. If you create a detailed project schedule with milestones as a Gantt Chart, make sure
it can be summarized up to that level for a simpler view that can be easily shared with your
team or stakeholders. This gives you the ability to present the same schedule in different
formats depending on the level of detail required and the target audience.

Apart from using a Gantt chart, there are a number of other project management scheduling
techniques that your team can choose from, depending on your project needs. Two other
popular project management scheduling techniques include the critical path method (CPM) and
the program evaluation and review technique (PERT). 

Critical path method is an approach commonly used in construction project management that
bases the project schedule on the project’s critical path, i.e., the number of tasks involved in
the project and the order in which those tasks must be completed. The critical path is the group
of tasks essential to the project’s success, put in sequential order. There can be other tasks
involved in a project too, but if they are not on the critical path, they’re known as float tasks.

The program evaluation and review technique (PERT) involves using a visual mapping tool
known as a PERT chart to plan the overall project schedule. A project’s PERT chart contains a
number of boxes, which each represent a project activity or task. Within each box, there are
seven sections, each referring to a different piece of information about the task, such as its
duration, its slack, and how early or late the task can start or finish. A PERT chart is similar to a
Gantt chart but contains more detail, meaning that PERT is more suited to initial timeline
planning, while Gantt charts are better used to track time during the course of the project. 

Whichever of the project management scheduling techniques your team chooses, it’s important
to thoroughly research your chosen method and ensure it’s right for your team and your
project.

Benefits of project scheduling in project management

Project scheduling provides the following benefits:

 Assists with tracking, reporting, and communicating progress

 Ensures everyone is on the same page with tasks, dependencies, and deadlines

 Highlights issues and concerns, such as a lack of resources

 Identifies task relationships

 Monitors progress and identify issues early

SITUATION

R&F Constructions was tasked to create a brief project description for

constructing a house. The client want to finish it as soon as possible for it will be
used by a newly-wed couple. The couple will reside there after their wedding. The
client demands for a project schedule. After a little discussion about the project,
the client asked these questions:

What are the necessary activities be undergone in building a house?

How long will the project take?

The client also tasked the R&F Constructions to present a chart/figures in

presenting the schedule of the project.

Additional Question: What appropriate chart/figures will be used in presenting

the project?

R&F Constructions was tasked to provide a quick project summary for

constructing a house. Due to its impending use by a newlywed couple, the client
is eager to see its completion as soon as possible. The newlyweds plan to make
that their permanent home as soon as the ceremony is over.   The customer
demands that there be a timetable for the project. Following some preliminary
discussion over the job, the client asked the following questions:

What are the necessary activities be undergone in building a house?

How long will the project take?

The client also tasked the R&F Constructions to present a chart/figures in

presenting the schedule of the project.

Additional Question: What appropriate chart/figures will be used in presenting

the project?
Insights, Perspective, and Analysis

Project scheduling is just as important as cost budgeting as it determines the

timeline, resources needed, and reality of the delivery of the project. On the
other hand, project managers that have experience are better able to properly
dictate the tasks, effort and money required to complete a project. To illustrate
the timeline of the project, R&F Construction provided a Gantt chart with a
condensed project description for building a house. For modest projects with few
tasks and links between priorities, a Gantt chart is a well-known management tool
for scheduling and planning. It is important for R&F Construction to have a
schedule. It is necessary to know when it will begin and when it will end as well as
any spare time that may allow for a delay. The chart indicates that the project will
take 9 months to complete. Since this project has only seven activities, the Gantt
Chart is the best concept for planning a project schedule for R&F Construction.

Conclusion/Recommendations

Conclusion

• In project scheduling, the project manager develops a specific time for each
task, based on available resources and whether or not the task is dependent on
other predecessor tasks.

• The project manager is responsible for keeping the project on budget and on
time. The project manager does not manage the project as a whole; rather, he or
she manages the individual tasks and subtasks that comprise the project.

• Project managers must be alert, technically competent, analytical and highly

resourceful.
Recommendation

• Project Managers can use a range of tools and techniques to develop, monitor
and control project schedules. Increasingly, many of these can be applied digitally
such as:

 PERT/CPM – chart that shows a project as a network diagram with tasks

connected by arrows.

 Schedule Network Analysis – the schedule network is a graphical display of

all logical interrelationships between elements of work in chronological
order from initial planning through to project closure.