SCHEDULING TIPS

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October 23, 2020 - CPM Scheduling Tip #0009

Tip #9: Weather matters

Communicate, communicate, communicate. And then, communicate some more. Contractors and Owners/Developers are better served when variables are discussed and planned around; weather is a variable that warrants up front discussion. Talk about how many days can be expected in the region. Then talk about project start times and what will be happening when - be ready to address this later if the start date adjusts. A foot of snow on Wednesday could lead to two days of snow removal and site dry time even if it is sunny the next two days. Wind is weather, don't forget how wind limits crane activity. Talk early and often about your expectations of how weather will be addressed on the project; don't wait until the first event!

October 16, 2020 - CPM Scheduling Tip #0008

Tip #8: Don't quote an overall duration to a client or potential client without knowing THEIR project

You may have just built a similar project around the corner or in the next town over, but people generally tend to latch on to shorter durations and lower costs and have a hard time understanding why THEIR project may take longer and/or cost more. Take the time to understand the design, constraints, resources, logistics, and build team then work out an educated range of time. Or, build a proper schedule from the start even if the current stage of design is programmatic or conceptual. Spell out the detail and list your assumptions; it'll be much easier to explain variances down the road.

October 09, 2020 - CPM Scheduling Tip #0007

Tip #7: Reminder, use P6

I know I just said it a few weeks ago, but it needs to be said again. And, I'll likely keep saying it... Use the proper tool for the job.

October 02, 2020 - CPM Scheduling Tip #0006

Tip #6: Hire the right person for the job

You wouldn't have your General Practitioner perform a Coronary Triple Bypass, would you? A specialist can minimize risk and exposure saving you in the long run.

September 25, 2020 - CPM Scheduling Tip #0005

Tip #5: Don't recover inside the update

This happens usually with teams updating their own schedules without a scheduling professional or someone who has the proper training. Funny thing, with many contracts, you don't need a certificate or any credentials to update a schedule, no matter the software. Crazy, right? While some contracts require a Scheduler be designated for the project and their credentials vetted and approved, the vast majority of project contracts do not specify WHO updates the schedule only that it be updated at specified intervals. For many General Contractors, the schedule creation and maintenance falls upon the Superintendent or Project Manager. While folks in these roles may be somewhat familiar with the software, they may not know all the best practices involved in proper schedule creation and maintenance thereby opening the door to adverse risk.

One of the biggest mistakes I see untrained "updaters" (I won't call them schedulers, 'cause they aren't schedulers) make with schedule maintenance is recovering inside the update. They apply actual start/finish dates or remaining duration, click the schedule button, see that their end date pushed out a few weeks or a month (or more) and they immediately start hacking away so they can still show an "on time" finish. If you're doing this, please stop and call me to help. It is a terrible practice and one that will bite your team in the butt.

September 18, 2020 - CPM Scheduling Tip #0004

Tip #4: Know when to re-baseline

You may have developed the most perfect schedule from the beginning, hit every start and finish date on the mark, and never need to re-baseline. If that's the case, your team is good, lucky or both.

For the rest of us, there will most likely be a time when you need to re-baseline. The schedule is a contract attachment; if your team has deviated from the original contract schedule for any reason and aren't hitting critical path milestone dates, it may be time to re-baseline. Maybe your team figured out a different or more efficient way to hit the next critical path milestone, or maybe the design team changed something that allows for a different approach; even if your contractual completion date hasn't changed you may need to re-baseline in order to compare future progress.

Don't know if you should re-baseline? Give me a call.

September 11, 2020 - CPM Scheduling Tip #0003

Tip #3: Submit the CPM Schedule as a Submittal

Make sure the CPM Schedule is the first Submittal on your Submittal Register and Submittal Schedule. Put together the best CPM Schedule your team can assemble. Coordinate it with logistics plans. Get buy-in from the Subcontractors and Suppliers. Put multiple sets of eyes on it and dial it in as best as your team can. This is your time scaled TO-DO LIST. Make it THE NUMBER ONE TOOL to communicate to the entire team what needs to be done, who is going to do it, when it is going to be done, where it will be done, what has to happen before, and what needs to happen next.

It may sound odd to submit the schedule as a formal submittal to some, but many contracts require this. Why? Because it establishes expectations for the entire project and all project team members. These expectations, once agreed to with an approval of the submittal, can then be set as the baseline to which the rest of the project is compared. Avoid disputes down the road and follow this tip whether required by contract or not. Worst case is a dispute arises at some point down the road and at least all parties have already agreed to the original baseline plan.

September 04, 2020 - CPM Scheduling Tip #0002

Tip #2: Just use P6...

...or Asta Powerproject. I'm not sponsored by either (as of the date of this post!) so I have no financial stake in this statement. As with anything you're working on, do yourself a favor and use the right tool for the job. You wouldn't use a tack hammer to frame a house, you'd use a pneumatic nail gun. The power to group, sort, and filter across an enterprise is worth it. Maintaining and comparing baseline schedules is extremely important, so use a tool that is good at doing this. Use a tool that is widely accepted across this industry. Don't get caught with your pants down in a dispute or claim situation having used the wrong tool for your project controls. Just use P6.

August 28, 2020 - CPM Scheduling Tip #0001

First tip... Learn the definitions of Early Start, Early Finish, Late Start, Late Finish, Total Float, and Free Float

That's it. Stop making plans in spreadsheets, on electronic calendars, or (yep, I'll say it) MS Project! Learn the definitions of the terms above and learn how they are calculated based on activity relationships, durations, calendars, and constraints. Once you have these fundamentals down, you'll be creating and maintaining CMP SCHEDULES rather than chicken-scratch PLANS.