Introduction

It’s funny, really. The one activity that the common person associates with project management is planning, and the main output from this planning effort is a schedule. Yet, it is a challenge to find a project manager who can develop one accurately. Although scheduling is one of the two primary technical aspects of project management, it is a common technical weakness of many project managers.

Why is this? Well, from my own experience, I can state at least four reasons: lack of time for proper planning, lack of education on the schedule development process, lack of training with the scheduling software, and a belief that a detailed schedule is not necessary. I believe this issue is one of the fundamental reasons why many organizations started project management offices (PMOs)—internal support and governance organizations to improve project performance. Unrealistic project schedules have an adverse impact on resource management and project investment decisions.

Of course, as a reader you will know the proper process for developing a schedule, you will understand the necessity of a detailed schedule, and you will have plenty of ammunition to use when negotiating for project planning time. Combined with proper knowledge of the scheduling software you are using, you will possess a key strength for successful project managers and be a key asset to your stakeholders. Given that, let’s continue our review of the overall schedule development process.

We emphasize the vital importance of the project schedule, step through the process for developing a realistic schedule, and highlight the areas where people often go astray. This will lead to a schedule that your stakeholders will believe and accept, and it will provide you with the foundation to properly execute and monitor the project.

And yes, this process and these principles still apply for an agile project or hybrid agile project. While the approach for performing the work is iterative and detail planning for each iteration is an ongoing process, there is generally still a need for an integrated master schedule that accounts for all aspects of the project and maps the elements of the product roadmap to planned releases and iterations (sprints).