write up what you learned from this chapter.

summary chapter Developing the Schedule

The scheduling function depends on the planning function.

The estimated types and quantities of resources required for an activity, together with the availability of those resources, will influence the estimated duration for how long it will take to perform the activity.

The estimated duration for each activity must be the total elapsed timethe time for the work to be done plus any associated waiting time.

The estimate should be aggressive yet realistic.

It may be easier to estimate the durations for near-term activities, but as the project progresses, the project team can progressively elaborate the estimated the durations as more information becomes known to allow for more accurate estimated durations.

A project schedule provides a timetable for each activity and shows the earliest start (ES) and earliest finish (EF) times and the latest start (LS) and latest finish (LF) times for each activity.

The total slack for a particular path of activities through the network is common to and shared among all activities on that path.

The critical path is the longest (most time-consuming) path of activities in the network diagram.

The key to effective project control is measuring actual progress and comparing it to planned progress on a timely and regular basis and taking any needed corrective action immediately.

Actual progresswhether faster or slower than plannedwill have an effect on the schedule of the remaining, incomplete activities of the project.

Any type of changewhether initiated by the customer, the contractor, the project manager, a team member, or an unanticipated eventwill require a modification to the plan in terms of scope, schedule, and/or budget.

Schedule control involves four steps: analyzing the schedule to determine which areas may need corrective action, deciding what specific corrective actions should be taken, revising the plan to incorporate the chosen corrective actions, and recalculating the schedule to evaluate the effects of the planned corrective actions.

One of the most important factors in effective scheduling is estimating activity durations that are as realistic as possible.