schedule quality webinar, 7 february 2017
TRANSCRIPT
Summary
Introduction
Quality
Schedule
SQ Standards & Tools
SQ Assessments
Conclusions
Introduction
Purpose of this webinar
Schedule Quality (SQ) matters
SQ plays an important role in BIM & digitization
Raise your awareness and appetite in SQ
Involve you in the SQ improvement process
Introduction (Cont’d)
Some facts
Introduction (Cont’d)
Some facts
SQ is still grossly underestimated
Poor quality Schedules are still being produced
Projects-Programmes performance is still very poor
Some PMs-PDs question the need to create a
Schedule
SCHEDULE QUALITY IS A REALLY IMPORTANT MATTER
Quality
Definition
The standard of something as measured against other
things of a similar kind
The degree of excellence of something
How does it affect us?
In our private life
In our work life
Quality (cont’d)
Quality in our private life
Important but not affordable
Quality (cont’d)
Quality in our private life
Variety may be considered more important
Quality (cont’d)
Quality in our private life
Quantity may be considered more important than Q
Quality (cont’d)
Quality in our work life
An Important component of success
Quality (cont’d)
Quality in our work life
It may affect our rate of growth
Quality (cont’d)
Quality in our work life
Q may lead to more realistic commitments
QUALITY IN OUR WORK LIFE IN NOT AN OPTION
Schedule
Definition
Schedule is a thing, created by a planner in close co-
operation with the Project team, for the purpose of
providing reliable and timely answers to the typical
questions that PMs/PDs need in order to manage a
Project successfully
Schedule (Cont’d)
Key questions
What does Schedule Quality (SQ) really mean?
How can it be measured?
How can the SQ scoring be accepted globally?
Schedule (Cont’d)
A definition of a Schedule Quality could be:
It provides all the main elements of information
required to manage a project
The information must be reliable and traceable
All the elements of information must be promptly
available
Data must be structured according to the audience
that is going to utilize it
Schedule (Cont’d)
Examples of answers that a Schedule is supposed to provide:
Question Answer
What is the Project Scope? WBS (Work Breakdown Structure)
When should activity xyz start & finish?
Start & Finish dates (early & late)
Which activity or milestone is critical? Total float (criticality)
How many resources does the Project need in the next 4 months?
Resource profiles (Human, Material , Plant)
When is the project supposed to spend 60% of the budget?
“S” curve associated with the Baseline Schedule (cost loaded)
Is the project ahead or behind schedule?
SPI - Earned Schedule Analysis (Baseline vs Current)
SQ Standards & Tools
Standards
SQ is still a blurred concept in many organisations
Recently some official SQ standards have been
introduced (DCMA, GAO, NASA)
Some software houses have invested in dedicated
SQ tools
SQ Standards & Tools (Cont’d)
SQ specialised tools
Acumen Fuse
XER toolkit
Primavera
Excel
SQ Standards (Cont’d)
DCMA 14 points Acumen Fuse
1. Logic 1. Missing Logic
2. Leads 2. Logic Density™
3. Lags 3. Critical
4. Relationship Types 4. Hard Constraints
5. Hard Constraints 5. Negative Float
6. High Float 6. Insufficient Detail™
7. Negative Float 7. Number of Lags
8. High Duration 8. Number of Leads
9. Invalid Dates 9. Merge Hotspot
10. Resources
11. Missed Tasks
12. Critical Path Test
13. Critical Path Length Index (CPLI)
14. Baseline Execution Index (BEI)
SQ Assessment
All the pre-requisites for a “computer aided SQ
assessment” appear to be there:
There is a common understanding of why SQ matters
Standard metrics exist and bespoke ones can be
established
Powerful tools are available
What is missing? Why are there still many
Projects that perform poorly?
SQ Assessment (Cont’d)
Human contribution:
Language clarity
Correctness of dependencies
Adequacy of coding system
Correct assignment of code values
Understanding the operating environment
Definition of Activities that are measurable
SQ Assessment (Cont’d)
Some examples (Language clarity)
SQ Assessment (Cont’d)
Some examples (dependencies)
ConclusionsA realistic assessment of the present situation
In spite of reliable reports on projects failures there is insufficient
understanding and buy-in by Top Management
Studies on the reasons of Project failures should be taken in due
consideration
Middle management should not provide unreliable and distorted
information to Top Management
Objective difficulties of adopting a consistent approach in large projects
delivered by large players
Some tools are still considered rather expensive
Not many good trainers are available
ConclusionsAn optimistic look into the future
High quality and credible schedules will acquire more and more visibility
The above will encourage the development of Quality measurement
methodologies and tools of what I call the “Planning System”
The Quality of Progress Reporting is receiving some attention and is likely
to raise soon
In a world where BIM and digitisation are rapidly growing, the quality of
the schedule will play an increasingly important role
BIM and digitisation (4D, 5D and 6D) will accelerate the migration towards
an inevitable “merge” of disciplines, which have operated in parallel for
too many years, into something more cohesive and integrated
Somebody will find a name (and acronym) for this new and smarter way of
working
Conclusions (Cont’d)
Long life to a high quality schedule !
This presentation was delivered
at an APM webinar
To find out more about
upcoming webinars please visit
our website
www.apm.org.uk/events