Effective Planning and Scheduling for Public Sector Project Management

Course Overview

The late delivery of projects has become the scourge of project professionals worldwide. Countless numbers of projects undertaken by organizations in the private and public sectors significantly overrun the project schedule and budget, and as a consequence fail to achieve the organization's financial and strategic objectives, often with sizable increases in costs and substantial financial losses to the organization.

This is due mainly to the failure of many project professionals to successfully apply the tools and techniques of modern project planning, scheduling, and control to their projects.

In addition to the financial losses suffered by the organization, many such projects also fail to deliver the required quality of outcomes intended for the project as a direct consequence of inadequate planning and control.

Course Objectives:

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

Gain knowledge of techniques used in resource planning and control.
Understand the time-cost trade-offs.
Identify risk sources and minimize their impact and learn how to sustain project momentum.
Learn how to administer project documentation and reporting.
Develop effective performance monitoring and control systems.
Integrate scope, time, resources and cost management into a dynamic, manageable plan
Develop project network diagrams for CPM and advanced PERT calculations to identify schedule and cost risks
Maintain continuous project performance and delivery control
Accurately estimate and allocate project costs and resources
Measure, forecast and control project performance by employing earned value techniques
Compressor accelerates the schedule when required by adverse circumstances
Manage and mitigate schedule, cost, scope, and resource risks associated with the project
Develop a line of balance schedules and velocity diagrams for repetitive or recurring work
Benefit from the financial effects of the learning curve on recurring work
Develop a project recovery plan for budget and schedule overruns
Produce clear and concise project progress reports

Course Content:

Unit 1: Project Scope Planning and Definition (Fundamentals)

Scope Planning
Work Breakdown Structures (WBS)
Work Packages
Statement of Work (SOW) - Technical Baseline
Scope Execution Plan
Triple Constraints - Time Cost, Scope
Project Quality Issues
Project Risk Analysis
Project Deliverables
Resource Requirements

Unit 2: Project Schedule Planning and Critical Path Method:

Precedence Network Diagramming
Job Logic Relationship Chart
Critical Path Analysis
Project Float Analysis
Lead and Lag Scheduling
Activity Duration Estimation
Milestone Charts
Gantt Chart - Schedule Baseline
Project Estimating Processes
Production and Productivity Planning
Resource and Cost Allocation

Unit 3: Resource Allocation and Resource Levelling:

Management of Resources
Planning and Scheduling Limited Resources
Resource Allocation Algorithms for Resource Prioritization
Solving Resource Contention
Resource Levelling when Project Duration is Fixed
The Brooks Method of Resource Allocation
Increasing the Workforce
Solving Interruptions to the Schedule
Scheduling Overtime

Unit 4: Accelerating the Project Schedule:

Circumstances Requiring Project Acceleration
Time-Cost-Scope Trade-off
Project Time Reduction
Direct Project Costs
Indirect Project Costs
Options for Accelerating the Schedule
Crashing the Schedule - How?
Pre-Accelerated Schedule
Developing a Crash Cost Table
Acceleration in Practice
The Optimal Acceleration Point
Gantt Chart for Accelerated Schedule
Network Activity Risk Profiles
Additional Considerations
Multiple Critical Paths
Project Cost Reduction

Unit 5: Project Contingency Planning:

Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT)
Path Convergence Analysis
Solving the Path Convergence Problem
Network Risk Profile Types
Normal Distribution
PERT, Probability and Standard Deviation Formulae
Calculating the Standard Deviation
Standard Deviation for Critical Path
Z-Values: The Probability of Project Completion at a Required Date
True Critical Path
Network Activity Risk Profiles
Application: Estimating Project Duration

Unit 6: Line of Balance Scheduling - The Planning of Recurring Activities:

Preparing a Line of Balance Schedule
Velocity Diagrams and Linear Scheduling
Velocity Diagram Production Rate Calculations
Linear Sequence of Activities as a Series of Velocity Diagrams
Balancing the Schedule
Calculations for a Line of Balance Schedule
Line of Balance Formulae
Target Units per Week
Determining Crew Size
Actual Rate of Output
Time to Complete One Activity
Elapsed Time for Recurring Activity
The slope of the Line from Activity Start to Activity Finish
Balanced Project Schedule without Buffers (Finish-Start)
Inserting Buffers
Comparison of Unbalanced with Balanced Schedules
Measuring Planned Progress on Schedule
Velocity Diagram Reflecting Expected Conditions
Actual Progress and Work Conditions
Variable Conditions

Unit 7: Project Execution Management, Control, and Reporting:

Progress Tracking and Monitoring
Project Cost Management
Earned Value Control Process
Schedule Variances
Cost Variances
Progress Control Charts - Trend Analysis
Schedule and Cost Variance Forecasting
Labour Management and Cost Control
Materials Management and Cost Control
Earned Value Analysis
Earned Value Reporting

Unit 8: Project Recovery Plan Development:

Project Variance Analysis and Quantification
Schedule Performance Index (SPI)
Cost Performance Index (CPI)
Setting Schedule and Cost Control Limits
Project Recovery Data Assessment
Schedule and Cost Recovery Analysis
Schedule and Cost Recovery Plan
Project Recovery Baselines and Controls

Targeted Groups:

Project Managers
Cost Estimators
Project Schedulers
Project Designers
Project Planner
Senior Managers who want to understand best practices in project management
Those who are interested in knowing more about scheduling and planning in a project environment