DAY 1

Introduction and course overview

Planning and scheduling overview

The difference between planning and scheduling

MODULE 1: Planning

• A description of the major elements and benefits of planning. This includes an appreciation of the opportunity – influence curve and the establishment of a planning culture.
• Resource considerations and constraints. Identification of the needs for money, people and equipment versus the availability. Identification of key or driving resources.
• The importance of identifying stakeholders and their information needs. Their input is required during planning and their feedback is necessary for scheduling and control.
• Planning inputs and outputs. Inputs such as resource planning basis, resource quantities, OBS and outputs such as basis for project control plans, resource needs and availability.
• Project phases, sequencing and associated risks. For example, design – bid
• – build, fast track/design build, flash track / design build.
• The importance of understanding contract requirements and planning specifications. The scope of schedule and reporting requirements.
• Advanced planning topics such as BIM and 3D modelling. Applied to scenario modelling and what-if analysis.
• Establishing a work breakdown structure. Providing a framework to enhance communication and integrate project plans for costs, scope and schedule.
• Establishing an organization breakdown structure and its relationship to the WBS through a Responsibility assignment matrix.

DAY 2

MODULE 2: Scheduling

• Schedule development as a model building exercise.
• Schedule types including logic driven versus non-logic driven schedules.
• The need for and uses of a schedule.
• Forecasting and planning for management decision making and resource allocation.
• Schedule levels of detail. Built from the top down and updated from the bottom up.
• Schedule inputs and data. Driving schedule input by the schedule reporting output required.
• The schedule development philosophy. Focusing on the outcome and incorporating milestones, phases and sequencing.
• The schedule development process including identification of the reporting requirements and consideration of the users, update frequency, defining of activities and their relationships.
• Activity definition including defining what work is being performed towards what outcome/deliverable.
• Schedule types such charts and linear schedules and their advantages and disadvantages
• Probabilistic and deterministic scheduling. Consideration of uncertainty in project activity durations and the effect of uncertainty on the reliability of our duration estimates.
• Project Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT). The evolution and mechanics of using PERT.
• Schedule networks and the Critical Path Method (CPM). Applying logic to project activities to create a model of the project execution plan.
• Modern Project Management tools for processing CPM schedules, modelling risk, measuring earned value performance and modeling cost and resource loading.
• Precedence Diagraming Method (PDM) convention with node representing the activity and arrow representing the relationships.
• Schedule activity durations. The project scope, timeframes and the objectives of the schedule model determine the units of time in the schedule.
• Activity duration estimation. Consideration of historical productivity data, past experience or historical cost and schedule data, considering estimator’s bias, execution methods and learning curves.
• Activity sequencing considering physical relationships, safety considerations, resource relationships, preferential or optional logic versus mandatory logic.
• CPM model detail evolution. Summary level information and evolution into detailed level scheduling.
• Schedule basis documentation. Documenting schedule risks and assumptions as a key to success.
• Schedule work and resource calendars. The importance of appropriate calendar development to model the project time phasing.
• CPM schedule calculations. Understanding the schedule mathematics, the impacts of constraints, and the conventions used for early and late start and finish dates.
• Understanding total float and free float including the mechanics of the forward pass and backward pass performed by schedule software.
• Understanding schedule constraints to allow modelling of work restrictions and limitations.
• Understanding and analyzing critical path. The longest chain of activities within the project that drive the project completion date.
• Resource scheduling, loading and levelling. Modeling of costs, equipment, quantities and labor-hours to improve the quality and credibility of planning and forecasting.
• Schedule model quality analysis for verifying credibility of schedule model. Includes practical examination of the work sequences and technical analysis of the logic.

DAY 3