Project Scheduling and Controls

This program is offered in two stand alone modules:

• Project Scheduling and Controls Essentials (3 days)
• Advanced Project Scheduling and Controls (2 days)

You can choose to attend the full program or any module independently.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND

Project Scheduling & Controls is appropriate for individuals who:

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

MATERIALS

You will receive a course binder containing a copy of the presentation slides. Course files in Microsoft Project will be available. It is advisable for you to bring your laptop with a scheduling software package already installed (Primavera, Microsoft Project, SureTrak, or similar).

Project Scheduling and Controls Essentials (3 days)

Are your deliverables consistently late? This course is for your Project Controls Officers or for those who need to 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 3-day course is Part 1 of our intensive 5-day program on Project Scheduling and Controls. It 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 improve control of their projects.

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

We continue our tradition of experiential learning, with hands-on exercises, in which participants will use a “live” project to create a schedule, update it, and track it. Participants will practice transferring project logic into a bar chart, which is best achieved using software; therefore, it is advisable that participants bring their own laptops already loaded with scheduling software to create and update a schedule. Although scheduling software will be discussed and used, it is not the intent to teach to any specific scheduling software package.

This unique 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

At the end of this course participants will be able to:

• Create effective project schedules.
• Identify and value critical path and float (slack).
• Use standard scheduling terminology.
• Update and track project schedules.
• Apply best practices in scheduling projects.
• Start their preparation for the scheduling examination from PMI® or AACE®.

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 Project Management Essentials is advisable. It is advisable for you to have taken an introductory course in scheduling software, such as Microsoft Project Essentials,or have hands-on experience with Microsoft Project or Primavera, or another similar scheduling software tool.

If you don’t meet these prerequisites, please consider our Certificate in Project Scheduling & Controls.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN

DAY 1: Context of Project Planning & Scheduling

• Role of the project scheduler
• Principles of schedule development
• Workshop: Developing case study WBS
• Estimating effort and duration
• Tracking assumptions
• Logic diagrams & dependencies
• Critical path, float, constraints, milestones, baselines
• Assignment: Bar (Gantt) chart for Kiddie roller coaster project
• Scheduling credentials' requirements

• Duration & effort-driven scheduling
• Workshop: Create case study schedule
• Integrating schedules
• Project schedule reality check
• Baselining the schedule
• Creating templates
• Fast-tracking the schedule
• Introducing principles of schedule control
• Schedule Evaluation criteria
• Assignment: Schedule evaluation

DAY 3: Updating & Traking the Schedule

• Identifying progress
• Updating and maintaining the schedule
• Measuring schedule variances against the baseline
• Workshop:Identifying the impact of a change
• Quantifying delay
• Assignment: Corrective action recommendation

• Assigning resources
• Identifying resource loading
• Workshop: Assigning resources
• Earned value theory
• Workshop: Using earned value

Advanced Project Scheduling and Controls (2 days)

How good are your estimates? This course is for your Project Controls Officers to continue their learning of the intricacies of resource loading and levelling, earned value and schedule risk management. This 2-day course is Part 2 of our intensive 5-day program on Project Scheduling and Controls. Participants will manage resource assignments and update and track project progress using earned value management, identify schedule uncertainties, build in defendable schedule contingency, and manage that contingency. With these valuable skills, project managers and planners will have improved control of their projects as they will be able to identify the full effect of the unexpected and the full impact of scope changes on their project schedules.

Our instructors are seasoned project scheduling professionals, who have experience in a wide variety of industries and with a number of scheduling software packages (Microsoft Project and Primavera, among others). Examples used will 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 update the project schedule, manage it and report on its performance. Although scheduling software will be discussed and used, it is not the intent to teach to any specific scheduling software package.

Procept is first in offering this professional level course, 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:

• Schedule resources
• Create realistic project schedules by including schedule risk
• Evaluate project metrics and prepare project performance reports
• Use earned value management to identify change
• Apply best practices in scheduling projects
• Prepare to sit for the scheduling examination from PMI or AACE

PREREQUISITE

Project Scheduling and Controls Essentials

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN

DAY 1: Risk Management & Earned Value

• Levelling resources
• Scheduling resources
• Crashing the schedule
• Assignment: Identifying opportunities for crashing the case study schedule
• Identifying control accounts
• Calculating the performance baseline
• Measuring progress of a control account
• Assignment: Calculate S-curve for case study

• Identifying & estimating schedule risks
• Responding to schedule risks
• Responding to contract schedule risks
• Contingency planning
• Workshop: Risks & responses
• Schedule risk analysis techniques
• Monte Carlo analysis
• Performance reporting
• Assignment: Final report on case study

• The short-term look-ahead schedule
• Workshops: Prepare a short-term look-ahead
• Final presentations
• Critical chain
• Scheduling for “Agile” project management
• Alternatives to CPM scheduling
• Lessons learned
• Establishing scheduling policies and standards