Project Management ToolBox: Tools and Techniques for the Practicing Project Manager

12

Schedule Control

There can't be a crisis next week. My schedule is already full.

Henry Kissinger

Major topics in this chapter are schedule control tools:

• Jogging Line
• B-C-F (Baseline-Current-Future) Analysis
• Milestone Prediction Chart
• Slip Chart
• Buffer Chart
• Schedule Crashing

Figure 12.1 The role of schedule control tools in standardized project management process.

With these tools we will step into schedule control, doing our best to keep in check project schedule updates caused by the project plan execution. Coordinated with tools of scope and cost control, the updates become an important input into the performance reporting and closure of the project (see Figure 12.1). In that effort, a significant role belongs to facilitating processes of the project implementation phase. The purpose of this chapter is to help practicing and prospective project managers accomplish the following:

• Learn how to use various schedule control tools in the proactive cycle of project control.
• Choose schedule control tools that match their project situation.
• Customize the tools of their choice.

Mastering these skills is crucial to project planning and building a standardized PM process.

The Jogging Line

What Is the Jogging Line?

In a traditional sense, the Jogging Line spells out the amount of time each project activity is ahead or behind the baseline schedule. In that manner, the line indicates ...