Capturing Schedule Updates

Kenneth has 14 years of healthcare experience in government and private industry. Over eight years of experience managing healthcare IT projects, operations, contracts, and personnel. His work experience includes project management, contracts and procurements, data analysis, claims adjudication, business writing, and business process modeling. Kenneth was certified in 2006 as a Project Management Professional.

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Topics: Schedule Management, Scheduling

Laying out a schedule for a project is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to managing projects successfully. In order to stay on schedule and finish by the baseline date, you need to be able to capture schedule updates from the project team and do it in a manner that helps you manage and control the execution of the project tasks.

Capturing the schedule updates should be part of the processes that govern the project, and the project manager should ensure that this process is well thought out and will be effective through the entire lifecycle of the project. The following points should be covered in detail by the process that outlines how the schedule will be updated and maintained…

Baseline
The first step is to establish a firm baseline schedule. Without the baseline, there is no line in the sand or sense of urgency for the project. The baseline shows when the project team plans to finish their work. The baseline should not be created in a vacuum, but include input from the project team who will actually be doing the work.

Unfortunately, many projects are started by proposal writers and salespeople--and they will tell the customer just about anything to get the work. If it is up to the project team to meet an unrealistic deadline, evaluating the scope and the resources that are available will be the first step to creating a baseline schedule that …

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