SCHEDULE CONTROL

Schedule control is concerned with:

• Determining the current status of the schedule.

• Influencing the factors that create schedule changes.

• Determining that the schedule has changed.

• Managing the actual changes when and as they occur.

Schedule control is a portion of the integrated change control process (Section 4.6).

6.6.1 Schedule Control: Inputs

The project schedule (Section 6.5) used for control is the approved project schedule, which is referred to as the project schedule baseline. The project baseline schedule is a component of the project management plan (Section 4.3). It provides the basis for measuring and reporting schedule performance.

.2 Performance Reports

Performance reports (Section 10.3), which provide information on schedule performance, such as which planned dates have been met and which have not. Performance reports may also alert the project team to issues that may cause schedule performance problems in the future.

.3 Approved Change Requests

Only approved change request that have been previously submitted through the change control system are used to update the project schedule (Section 4.6).

.4 Schedule Management Plan Described in Section 6.5.

6.6.2 Schedule Control: Tools and Techniques

The reporting of progress and current schedule status includes information such as the actual start and finish dates and remaining durations for unfinished activities. If progress measurement, such as earned value, is also used then the percent complete of in-progress activities can also be included. To facilitate the periodic reporting of project progress, a form created for consistent use across various project elements can be used throughout the project life cycle. The form can be paper based or electronic.

.2 Schedule Change Control System

A schedule change control system defines the procedures by which the project schedule can be changed. It includes the paperwork, tracking systems, and approval levels necessary for authorizing changes. Schedule change control is operated as part of the integrated change control system (Section 4.6).

.3 Performance Measurement

Performance measurement techniques (Section7.3) help to assess the magnitude of any schedule variations that do occur. An important part of schedule control is to decide if the schedule variation requires corrective action. For example, a major delay on any activity not on the critical path may have little effect on the overall project, while a much shorter delay on a critical or near-critical activity may require immediate action.

.4 Project Management Software

Project management software provides the ability to track planned dates versus actual dates and to forecast the effects of schedule changes, real or potential, which makes it a useful tool for schedule control.

.5 Variance Analysis

Performance of the schedule variance analysis during the schedule-monitoring process is a key function of schedule control. Comparing target schedule dates with the

actual/forecast start and finish dates provides useful information for the detection of deviations and for the implementation of corrective actions in case of delays. The float variance is also an essential planning component to evaluate project time-performance.

Particular attention has to be given to critical and non-critical activities such as, analyzing the ten non-critical paths in order of ascending float values.

.6 Schedule Comparison Bar Charts

To facilitate analysis of schedule progress, it is convenient to use a comparison bar chart, which displays two bars for each scheduled activity. One bar shows the current status and the other shows the status of the prior schedule update. This shows graphically where the schedule has progressed as planned or where further slippage has occurred.

6.6.3 Schedule Control: Outputs

A schedule update is any modification to the schedule information that is used to manage the project. Appropriate stakeholders are notified of significant changes as they occur.

Schedule updates might or might not require adjustments to other components of the project management plan.

Revisions are a special category of schedule updates. Revisions are changes to the schedule start and finish dates in the approved project schedule. These changes are generally incorporated in response to approved scope changes or changes to estimates.

New target schedules are developed to display approved revisions to the work plan. In some cases, schedule delays can be so severe that development of a new target schedule is needed to provide realistic data for directing the work and measuring performance and progress.

Development of a revised baseline for a project can only occur as a result of a significant revision in the project scope and approved changes. Care must be taken to save the original project schedule before creating the new baseline, to prevent loss of historical data for the project schedule. Preparing and issuing a new baseline should only be used as a last resort in controlling the schedule.

.2 Requested Changes

Schedule variance analysis, the review of progress reports, and the results of performance measures can result in requested changes to the project schedule.

.3 Recommended Corrective Actions

Corrective action is anything done to bring expected future schedule performance in line with the approved project schedule. Corrective action in the area of time management often involves expediting, such as special actions taken to ensure completion of an activity on time or with the least possible delay. Corrective action frequently requires root-cause analysis to identify the cause of the variation. Schedule recovery from the variance can be planned and executed using activities delineated later in the schedule and the analysis may therefore need to also address activities other than the activity causing the deviation.

.4 Organizational Process Assets

Lessons learned documentation of the causes of variances, the reasoning behind the corrective actions chosen, and other types of lessons learned from schedule control is documented, so that they become part of the historical database for both the project and other projects of the performing organization.

Chapter 7