Effective Planning and Scheduling

Effective Planning and Scheduling

As project managers and leads, we all know how difficult it can be to accurately determine the duration of a project, yet that is exactly what is expected of us on a regular basis. This Course will not disclose the secret of creating an accurate schedule, because there isn’t one. However, it will provide the factors and fundamental elements that you should consider and address when creating any type of schedule.

Participants should complete the Intermediate Project Management Course prior to this course, or have equivalent knowledge. This course presumes that participants:

• Can define projects and project management
• Understand a project’s life cycle
• Are familiar with the basics of project planning and scheduling
• Know how to complete a Statement of Work and/or a project charter

This Course will help you teach participants how to:

• Define and create a Work Breakdown Structure
• Identify and understand task relationships
• Estimate task durations and determine project duration
• Construct a network diagram
• Calculate the critical path of a project
• Use the Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) to create estimates
• Plan for risks
• Create a communication plan
• Effectively allocate project resources
• Update and monitor the project schedule

Learning Objectives

Projects and Schedules

The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

Estimating Activity Durations

Camping Case Study

Identifying Task Dependencies

Aligning Resources with Activities

Project Planning

Scheduling Software

Uncertainty and Risk Management

Communication Strategies

Creating a Viable Schedule

Updating and Monitoring the Schedule