Schedule development for new project managers

Preparing a schedule

As a new project manager, scheduling seems to consume lots of time. Learning the software, building the schedule, re-doing the schedule, managing it, statusing it and reporting on it. Schedules are a very important part of project management, though still only a management tool.

The Project Management Book of Knowledge (PMBOK) details scheduling under Time Management. According to PMBOK, developing a schedule includes defining and sequencing activities, estimating the activity resources and durations as inputs. Because every organization uses different tools to schedule, I’m going to assume that as a new project manager, you’re getting access to whatever your organization uses: MS Project, Basecamp, Primavera, or lipstick on a mirror. Let’s talk about how to start developing a workable task list and schedule.

Determine tasks

For many folks, determining what tasks are needed is difficult.  You’ve already spent time developing a work breakdown structure, right? Start in one section and work down. Look at the top deliverable and figure out all the activities that need to go into getting that done. Your WBS has the midpoint deliverables to use for guidance.

A sample conversation

This might be a conversation I have with a technical writer. “So, we need to deliver a user manual on XYZ software. You’re in charge of chapter 1 – Basics of XYZ Software. What’s the first thing you’re going to do?” Depending on what they say, eventually we should be agreeing on chapter objectives and takeaways. Once we have the objectives and takeaways, we can start determining the subheads (milestones) in the chapter. Once those are known, the writer can determine how much research needs to be done, how long the writing should take, editing time frames, and final draft approvals.

Your task list for this chapter might look like this:

1. Complete initial outline for Chapter 1
2. Approval of initial outline
3. Chapter 1 section development
   • Write Introduction
   • Research Section 1
   • Write Section 1
   • Research Section 2
   • Write Section 2
   • Research Section 3
   • Write Section 3
   • Write Summary
4. Chapter 1 initial draft complete
5. Complete initial edit of Chapter 1
6. First draft of Chapter 1 published.

This is a very basic example of what the task list might look like. The next step is to have the writer tell you how long they think each of these sections will take to complete.

Task structure

In my experience, it’s a standard to begin tasks with a verb – complete, develop, publish.  Some companies prefer the verb at the end of the statement, and some mix the two styles. It really doesn’t matter – just pick one and stay consistent. In the example above, I’ve used the initial verb style until the final deliverable in published.  Remember, if there is no deliverable at the end of a task list, what exactly are you doing and why?

Time estimates

Time estimation is 98% art and 2% science.

Your initial team is probably not trying to  “pad” their time estimates. The teams I’ve been involved in had a tendency to under-estimate rather than over-estimate. I think this is because they all like to think that they are overachievers and they are great at their job. Which they probably are!

Life gets in the way

Unfortunately, life tends to get in the way. Try asking about their confidence in the number of hours/days they feel something will take. “You say this code takes 2 hours to complete, 4 hours to test, and usually needs 2 testing cycles. How confident are you that this can be completed in about 10 hours – 30%, 70%, 95%?” You’ll be amazed at how many more variables turn up. When they get to around 90% confident, you’re probably good.

The person doing the work should provide estimates. 

Avoid allowing a manager to give estimates for their staff. This has “danger” written all over it. A project manager needs commitments from the folks that are doing the work. Without that, the team doesn’t have any attachment to the work. If there is no personal committment to finishing the work, then the work doesn’t happen.

Most managers are just trying to protect the time of their staff members. Unfortunately, that hour spent working with the worker probably saves multiples of that hour in the execution stage. Get the estimates from the actual person that will be doing the job.

Scheduling can be as complicated as the project manager wants to make it. Next time, some tips and techniques for better scheduling.

If you haven’t read the previous posts, you might want to do that for background.

Project initiation, Project scope and deliverables, Work breakdown structure

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