Schedule & Project Resources

Having a clearly defined schedule in a project, with early buy-in from all stakeholders, is essential because it establishes a timeline that keeps tasks on pace, keeps resources  aligned, and expectations realistic. It maps out when each phase of the project must happen and identifies dependencies, like delivering parts before assembly.

How do you start?  Get your milestones embedded.  These are easy to arrive at as they are typically built backwards from a contractual deadline.  Once milestone dates are in place, you can easily identify all the planning activities leading up to that milestone and resource load those into the schedule.  Remember, you need buy in.  Therefore, once the planning activities and resources are identified in your schedule, review it with your project team to determine if it is achievable.  If so, you have a workable project.  If you don’t have buy in, it must be reconciled or ultimately the schedule you made might just be a paper exercise that won’t manifest itself in reality.

A solid schedule boosts efficiency by coordinating efforts, flagging bottlenecks and provides a yardstick to track progress. It’s the glue that holds the project together, delivering results on time and building confidence across the board.