A quality Integrated Project Schedule (IPS) is great, but quality updates to that IPS schedule are also very important for measuring progress accurately. An IPS is like a map, and is only part of the reason for accurate progress measurement. Accurate updates are absolutely essential for properly locating where on the IPS map your project is located. Many projects suffer from poor updating procedures. And inaccurate updates forfeit all your effort in producing a good quality Integrated Project Schedule.
Integrated Project Schedule Updates
This article briefly explains how to ensure that the IPS schedule updates are accurate and truly reflection of schedule progress.
Accurate schedule updates are essential to locate the position of your project in your schedule. As a general rule schedules need to be updated bottom-up, activity by activity. This is sage advice, but how can you confirm that schedule updates are accurate?
To establish that schedule updates are accurate you need to compare the actual situation on the ground to the reported schedule updates. If they differ your updates are not reflective of your true project situation. Take a sampling of project data and confirm that
- People in charge of work were properly interviewed
- Workers intimate with the work agree that reported progress reflects the actual situation
You want people familiar with activity execution to provide their honest assessment on whether the updates reflect the real position of the project in the IPS. Again, a sampling of project data across functions is sufficient to ascertain the accuracy of the schedule update report. Construction onsite visits are not usually necessary, but a proper interview and reliable feedback from those engaged in the work is pivotal.
In addition to accuracy it is also important for schedule updates to be both timely (current) and complete. Several failure modes are possible among inaccurate, out dated, and/or incomplete schedule progress information. And schedule updates may misrepresent the true schedule situation for numerous reasons including: delays, bias, or irrelevance.
Additionally there may be information flow problems; the project management team may never receive any updates. Progress may represent money spent, but not physical progress or earned value. The project Integrated Project Schedule may be too detailed and complicated to support feasible schedule updates for a reasonable updating effort. Planners may not capture all relevant and available information from its reliable source. And retrieved schedule update data are not confirmed by an independent source. These are all missteps that can derail an accurate schedule update process.
Good communication is key for accurate project reporting. The planner or scheduler is a critical juncture in the communication flow of project data. The scheduler gathers and consolidates feedback from team member stakeholders executing the work. So the scheduler collects project data spread throughout the organization, organizes the project data, and finally presents the project data as a packaged schedule update report. This all requires good communication channels.
Summary
Accurate schedule updates are never divorced from those in charge of the work. It is generally safe to bet that the people directly overseeing the work do not disguise reality. Planners must capture all relevant, timely, available, and accurate schedule update information from its reliable source, again, the foreman or ground workers.
Good communication between the scheduler and line managers or ground workers is pivotal for quality schedule updating procedures. And the accurate capturing of schedule updates is a common trait of successful projects.
For additional information on how to update your schedule consider reading “Advanced Scheduling Handbook for Project Managers” by Jeremie Averous and Thierry Linares.