Time, cost, and scope are the basic elements of project success, and play a vital role in the success or failure of the project. If time increases, it will inevitably increase the cost of the project; insufficient time may lead to a reduction in the scope of the project. In addition, according to the current research of project management experts on failed projects, we can find that: the construction period exceeds the plan, almost every problem that exists in the failed project. Therefore, effective implementation of project schedule control is an important guarantee for project success and is a task that every project manager must attach great importance to.
1. Plan control
The plan is the guide for the action and the key to its success. It is the ideal of every project manager to be able to execute 100% according to the plan, but the actual situation is that the project is often subject to various interferences, and the plan is constantly changing according to the actual situation. The project manager should realize the control of the plan, and the goal is to supervise the implementation of each sub-plan.
1. Planning of sub-projects
A project often involves multiple stakeholders, each with different responsibilities; the duration of the project is longer, and the work of each stakeholder is different in each time period. Therefore, projects are usually managed through multi-level plans. When the sub-item implementation plan is implemented, it is often carried out through rolling plans, progressive details, and iterative development. The project manager will periodically divide the tasks, and this cycle depends on the project situation, some of them are in units of weeks and some are in units of months.
When the project manager divides the tasks, he must clarify the staged goal of the work. This goal is based on the project benchmark plan, guided by the staged deliverables, and clarifies the key points of each sub-project.
2. Formulation of sub-projects
When each sub-item leader rolls out the sub-item plan, he must implement the project manager ’s staged goal requirements, and at the same time refine the work to the sub-item measurable deliverables to form an operational plan. The plan can be in any fixed form, according to the business workflow of each department.
3. Inspection of itemized plans
Check deliverables: The project manager regularly checks the completion of deliverables by the person in charge of each sub-item, and if necessary, checks its sub-item plan and implementation.
Check the critical path work: Pay attention to whether the items on the critical path are proceeding according to plan, it is related to whether the project is completed as scheduled.
Check the work of key figures: For those with heavier tasks, weaker abilities, and poorer execution capabilities, their work can increase the frequency of inspections to assist, guide, and supervise them to avoid the risk of failing to complete due tasks.
Benchmarking benchmark plan: After the project manager summarizes the completion of the sub-item plan, benchmarking with the benchmark plan, assessing project performance, and working together with project team members to formulate plan correction measures.
4. Plan to update
The consensus update plan should be released in a timely manner and sent to the project team members, as well as to those who have the need to control the progress of the project, and if necessary, to the stakeholders who can effectively monitor or assist the project members to complete the task.
Second, resource control
The project cannot be completed on schedule, a large part of it is due to resource problems, procurement resources are not in place, human resources are insufficient, production resources are conflicting, etc. No matter how perfect the plan is, no resources will be implemented. Therefore, the project manager needs to pay attention to the resource load of each part during the execution of the project.
Only after grasping the resource load of each part can resource coordination be carried out. The basic principle of resource balancing is "to request time from critical paths and resources from non-critical paths." Striving for resources is a game process, asking for people from functional departments and production line resources from production units. Without resources, it cannot be a reason for project delay.
3. Risk control
Formulate a set of project risk prevention system, including: risk identification, risk confirmation, risk response and other aspects of the complete content. Generally speaking, this part of the work will be defined and standardized by the company-level project management system.
In the early stage of project start-up, we must fully identify the risks that affect the progress of the project. During the execution of the project, we will continuously monitor and update the risks and take timely risk response measures. It is emphasized that the person in charge of each sub-item should take the initiative to identify and report, focusing on prevention, to avoid reprocessing when risks occur.
4. Establish a good communication management system among the stakeholders
Communication is the basis for grasping the information of all parties, making project decisions and project coordination. The communication requirements for effective schedule control mainly emphasize the following points:
(1) Communicate with the project department and the project client in time to understand their expectations and special requirements for the project to ensure that all the work of the project is carried out within the scope of the project. When the scope changes, the project plan makes timely adjustments accordingly The progress of the project meets the needs of all parties.
(2) Clarify the communication needs of all parties, so that stakeholders can get the corresponding information in a timely manner, such as: project regular meeting system, sub-project plan reporting system, project progress reporting system, project team information exchange platform, etc. Emphasis on active communication to prepare for the work in advance so as not to affect the progress of the project.
(3) Give full play to the role of the project team members and enable them to participate in problem solving, such as the handling of project deviations and the prevention of risks.
In short, the quality of the project schedule, the basis of planning, resources are the carrier, communication is the medium, everyone's concerted effort is the key!
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