Have you ever been handed a project schedule and thought, “how can I determine if this schedule is the most accurate reflection? ” Maybe you thought which questions can I ask myself or your scheduler. If you want to learn what you could do, keep reading on; I am about to share with you simple steps that you could use to validate your project schedule. If you know me, my views are from a Civil Engineering and Construction background.
As per blog post by Linky Van der Merwe, she provide us with these 10 tips:
- Deliverables.
Did you show critical deliverables at the highest level of your WBS? When you complete all the subtasks, will you have the deliverable in hand? If you have not defined this, you might run the risk that your project scope is not clearly defined. The undefined scope could lead to scope creep with the associated consequences. - Scope and breakdown.
Does your WBS represent the complete project? Have you defined the work packages to the appropriate level for the type and size of the project? For example, construction projects have a much higher risk, with the associate cost attached. Time spent creating your schedule should be very detailed but not too complicated, thereby delaying execution. - Milestones.
Have you clearly defined your milestones? Did you provide enough checkpoints when moving from one project stage to the next? - Governance
Did you allow enough time for the project governance task? Did you build enough time for project management tasks in the schedule? - Structure
Does the WBS map to a methodology, and does it make sense? For example, are you using Lean, CCPM, Agile, or which approach? - Estimates
Did the person most familiar with the task estimate the task itself? Check the accuracy of the job after the work has been performed. - Risk
Did you document any risks for the tasks? - Dependencies
Are the task dependencies implemented with the correct logic? Does the overall sequence of phases/deliverables make sense? - Resources
Have all the resources been identified in the resource sheet? Is there any duplication of resources? Are all resources named ultimately and consistently using a naming convention? - Task, Assignments, durations.
Are there any assignments on summary tasks? Does each detailed lesson have at least one human resource assigned?
Finally, it is good practice to have your schedule validated by someone other than the person on your planning team. What do you think? Will these ten tips help you create a much more improved program? Or do you think it is only specific to certain teams or projects? What other controls do you have in place to ensure the most accurate and reliable project schedule? Let me know what you think about these points. I would love to hear from you and learn more from you.