Project Scheduling & Controls Essentials April 11, 2010

Learn how to create and use one of the most valuable project management tools: a project schedule. Defining project success often involves completing on time and on budget, and project budgets are often driven by resource costs and the scheduling of those resources. This intensive 5-day course prepares participants to create realistic schedules, resource load those schedules, and update and track project progress. With this valuable skill, project managers and planners will have improved control of their projects as they will be able to identify and build in risk responses, understand the full impact of scope changes on their projects, and identify trends early in the project life cycle.

Our instructors are seasoned project scheduling professionals, who have experience in a wide variety of industries and with a number of scheduling software packages. Examples used include construction, IT, and telecommunications. In addition to scheduling theory, practitioners’ tips and tricks will be demonstrated.

This is a hands-on course, in which participants will use a “live” project to create a schedule, update it, manage it and report on its performance. Participants will bring their own laptops already loaded with their own scheduling software to create and update a schedule. Some of the subsequent exercises use files supplied by the instructor.

This professional level course is appropriate for those seeking to obtain their professional credential in planning and scheduling, such as PMI-SP® (PMI’s Scheduling Professional) or AACE PSP (AACE International’s Planning & Scheduling Professional) credentials.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Participants will gain practical knowledge and skills to:

* Create effective project schedules.
* Implement project schedule and corresponding cost controls.
* Evaluate project metrics and prepare project performance reports.
* Use earned value management.
* Apply best practices in scheduling projects.
* Prepare to sit for the scheduling examination from PMI or AACE.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND

Project Scheduling & Controls is appropriate for individuals who:

* Want to pursue a career in project planning and project controls.
* Want to enhance their resume and marketability in project management.
* Work in a project management environment, in any industry or discipline, and want to increase their scheduling knowledge.
* Want to prepare for the PMP-Scheduling Professional®,or the AACE Planning & Scheduling Professional credentials.

PREREQUISITE

University degree, or a technology or business diploma. Minimum of two years experience in a project environment. An introductory course in project management such as PM Essentials is advisable. It is expected that you have taken an introductory course in scheduling software or have hands-on experience with Microsoft Project, such as Microsoft Project Essentials, or Primavera, or another similar scheduling software tool.

MATERIALS

You will receive a course binder containing a copy of the presentation slides. You will need your laptop with a scheduling software package already installed (Primavera, Microsoft Project, SureTrak, or similar).

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN

DAY 1: Context of Project Planning & Scheduling

* Role of the project scheduler
* Scheduling credential requirements
* Principles of schedule development & control
* Workshop: Developing case study WBS
* Logic diagrams & dependencies
* Critical path, float, constraints, milestones, baselines
* Crashing, fast-tracking

DAY 2: Creating a Project Schedule

* Workshop: Create case study schedule
* Duration & effort
* Analyzing the bar (Gantt) chart

Performance Reporting

* Adding constraints
* Project health check
* Workshop: Communicating case study schedule
* Fast-tracking the schedule
* Basic fixed duration tracking

DAY 3: Resource Management

* Assigning resources
* Crashing the schedule
* Identifying resource conflict
* Workshop: Resource levelling 101
* Manpower loading curves

Earned Value

* The theory
* Information gathering
* Workshop: Applying earned value to the case study
* Performance reporting
* Organizational behaviour

Official Website: http://www.procept.com/pmcourses/project_scheduling.html