Description:

This two day course is the second of a series of three which collectively provide a deep understanding of project scheduling, an essential project implementation skill.

The management of time is at the very heart of project management. Critical Path Analysis (CPA) is the method most frequently used for the purpose of modeling the project based on time, resource, cost and often including risk. This method was widely accepted for commercial use with the introduction of PERT in the 1950’s and developed many varieties before arriving at the popular concepts today. The current methods allow a great deal of flexibility in the management and control of time on our projects.

This two day event is intended to build on the solid understanding of critical path analysis gained from our introductory course. It will look at resourcing, costing and the control of the schedule as the project starts and the schedule takes centre stage. The very pulse of successful projects is measured in terms of productivity, how much our resources contribute to value. The course will consider productivity, how it is measured and how it is intimately connected to the schedule to ensure realistic predictions. It also consider the progressing of projects and the influence of the supply chain on the critical path.

What is crucially important to the project team is the ability to demonstrate the realistic nature of the schedule and its dependability in planning long term operations. Once again communication is vitally important to keep everyone together and to demonstrate that the schedule reflects agreements made with the supply chain regarding key dates and performance.

The control of the schedule is a vital activity if the project is to be successful. This is a challenging and very busy role and the planner will have to satisfy many people most of the time. It is a period full of ideas, cooperation and compromise in the face of complex problems and the project depends on it being right.

An Attendance Certificate will be provided on completion of the course.

Vital Benefits:

The power tools of planning are productivity management and communication. Master both and you will be a successful manager of time. The course provides the following vital benefits:

• A clear understanding of the nature of productivity
• An understanding of the nature of communication across a diverse group of people
• Recognition that this role is vital to the success of the project
• An understanding of the need to show direction and leadership in complex situations and under pressure
• A clear concept of control of the schedule as opposed to administration of the schedule

Objectives:

We have stated how important the schedule is and how vital it is to keep it relevant. In order to be successful you will need to be able to communicate with ease and understand the driving role of productivity. In this course, it is our objectives to:

• Clearly demonstrate once again that this challenging role is vital to the success of the project
• Provide an improved understanding of communication in all its forms as a power tool of scheduling
• Highlight the importance of accurate progress reporting and the development of performance indices
• Illustrate the essential connection of the schedule to the supply chain
• Introduce the negotiation skills with the supply chain

Topics:

The course will cover the following topics:

• A introduction to resource management
• Understanding of productivity and how it can be measured
• A discussion of the tools available for scheduling and resource management
• Resource histograms and the process of time and resource limited smoothing
• Advanced communication and presentation issues
• An introduction to costs as a resource in scheduling
• Practical limitations and consideration in progress control
• Negotiating with the supply chain
• Reviewing progress of the supply chain
• Reporting regular progress and negotiating the consequences of delay

Who to Attend:

This two day course will cover the crucial process of progressing, reporting and updating the schedule and the essential negotiation to maintain control of the project key dates. This is an important course and covers material which is important to the project success. We recommend it to:

• The client staff
• The project managers
• The project staff
• Line managers
• The professional services teams
• The senior supply chain managers
• Everyone who wants to know more about scheduling
• Anyone who sees project management as a career