Sunday, May 11, 2008

What Not to Do When Preparing a Project Schedule - By Joe Lukas, PMP, PE, CCE


1. Avoid too much detail - use a high-level project schedule based on the project deliverables. More detailed sub-schedules can be prepared for each phase or for major deliverables and linked to the project schedule.
 
2. Don't Link Summary Tasks - only link the lowest level tasks.
 
3. Watch for hangers - when a task lacks a predecessor and/or successor, the task has a hanger, which is an unintended break in the schedule logic.
 
4. Don't enter start or finish dates - let your scheduling software calculate the task's start and finish dates!
 
5. Avoid Constraints - be aware of how constraints impact your schedule!