Resources for Project Scheduling
An essential component of Project Management is the schedule. The schedule allows stakeholders to see the project's scope as it relates to time. Creating a project schedule involves identifying all the deliverables activities, their level of importance, and the start and end dates (Walden University, n.d.-a). These activities and events must be prioritized and scheduled because each activity uses time (Walden University, n.d.-a). Project activities that are not accounted for correctly can cause the project's estimated time and budget to increase (Walden University, n.d.-b), which is the very thing the project manager is responsible for managing. The schedule should also reserve time for possible contingencies (Walden University, n.d.-b). Once created, the schedule must be updated consistently. To help with the scheduling process, Project Managers can seek advice from several websites and blogs; below are two examples:
Resource
1
Website:
ProjectManager
Article:
Project Scheduling: How to Make a Schedule
Link: https://www.projectmanager.com/guides/project-scheduling
Description:
The
ProjectManager website provides multiple guides, blogs, templates, and software
for project management success. However,
the scheduling guide is the focus of this review. This guide provides the reader
with an in-depth explanation of what a schedule is, how to maintain it, and
the best practices for scheduling. While the website does promote its own
software, what I found helpful were the free templates and hyperlinks within
the guide, leading to additional resources.
Resource 2
Website: Smartsheet
Article: 15 Free Project Calendar Templates
Link: https://www.smartsheet.com/content/project-calendar-templates
Description:
Smartsheet
offers free project scheduling templates created for use with Excel,
Word, PowerPoint, and Google Sheets. There
are project timelines, schedules, Gantt charts, and more templates. What I
liked about Smartsheet is that they offer templates based on the office software
suite you may use. The templates are available
immediately once downloaded, and they come with instructions.
Reference
Walden University, LLC. (Producer). (n.d.-a). Creating a project schedule [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.ed
Walden University, LLC. (Executive Producer). (n.d.-b). Practitioner voices: Planning for contingencies [Video file]. Retrieved from https://waldenu.instructure.com