Project Scheduling: 7 Steps for Creating a Project Schedule

Project scheduling is a process for planning and tracking an initiative from beginning to completion. To effectively accomplish this, you need time management strategies and scheduling methods to make sure that employees finish tasks on time to deliver a successful final product. A company can create a project schedule to keep an initiative on schedule and to let stakeholders know when a product will be ready.

You can use a simple project scheduling process to outline and plan your next initiative. To create an effective project schedule:

1. 1. Define processes and procedures: The first step in project scheduling is determining the guidelines and procedures for how the project will move forward. Specify who is in charge and how team members will request approval. You should also be clear about how the team members will communicate during the project and who has the authority to make changes to the project schedule. This will dictate the workflow throughout the lifecycle of the project.
2. 2. Provide overview of activities: Provide a list of the major and minor project tasks throughout the entire project. It will be most helpful if you can list the project activities in the order in which team members need to complete them.
3. 3. Identify task dependencies: Once you have listed out each task, review which assignments team members need to complete before others can move forward. Complex projects may have many dependent tasks that will require a detailed project plan to make sure that deliverables are being met on time to avoid bottlenecks.
4. 4. Determine duration of tasks: Give an estimated timeframe required to complete each specific task after you consult each project team member to determine how much time they will need. Estimating durations will be useful later when you need to determine milestones and deadlines based on the project start date and end date.
5. 5. Evaluate costs and resources: Budget management and resource allocation are a critical step for making sure you will meet your project goals. Make sure you have the funds to complete each individual task and that you have the right tools and strategies for resource management.
6. 6. Establish deadlines: Once you have each project listed and know how long they will take you will be able to better define the project timeline. Create deadlines for each task and overall deadlines for major parts of the progress. Your team will use this to track project progress and keep ahead of tasks.
7. 7. Describe the final delivery: The last step is to identify how the final product will arrive. This is the final deadline and will be the end-product of the project. You should use a high level of detail to identify how you track project success.

You can create a successful project management plan by following a few common strategies. A good schedule management strategy will:

1. 1. Be flexible. While you should try to stick to your plan as closely as possible, it’s okay to deviate from the plan if new variables arise. Review your project schedule in real-time and be ready to change things up as the first task starts to meet the needs of the project.
2. 2. Learn from existing methodologies. There are many existing strategies that can be helpful when planning your own project. For example, you can try the critical path method (CPM), the project evaluation review technique (PERT), or the critical chain method which will help you determine task dependencies and baseline milestones for completion. You can also use kanban boards or GANTT charts—project schedule templates that you can fill out to organize your initiative.
3. 3. Use project scheduling tools. Use project management tools that have built-in work packages that make the planning process easier. Many software products will track the project lifecycle throughout the entire task duration and will outline the whole project with major tasks and subtasks. Project scheduling software is a great tool for determining the project scope and for maintaining a list of tasks with due dates for the entire team. A good project management software will have a dashboard for each member of the team to see which project phase they are in and a roadmap to completion.

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