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Most failed projects were doomed from the very beginning. Without proper planning supported by detailed scope, scheduling will, at best, reflect how quickly the point of failure will be reached. At worst, it might give a false sense of security that the project was planned properly and is proceeding as planned; causing sponsors to not catch issues in time and cancelling the project too late.
Like installing 4 flat tires on a brand new car, there’s only so much that can be accomplished by having a schedule with a complete dependency network, bottom-up estimates, resource workload leveling, major milestones and health indicators if the underlying Work Breakdown Structure is fundamentally flawed.
However, from a solid foundation, scheduling can make all the difference in delivering the right product (scope/quality) in a timely manner (schedule) and within the agreed upon budget (cost). That foundation, of course, MUST be a complete WBS that the sponsor and project team agree reflect the deliverables to be produced and the work needed to get there.
Once a good WBS is in place, the challenges of scheduling set in. This presentation examines how we ensure that the foundation for the project and industry standards for scheduling are reflected in the schedule and that we deliver ‘truth in advertising’ throughout the life of the project. Microsoft Project will be used to demonstrate scheduling best practices.
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