Developing and Controlling the Project Schedule (PMBOK® Guide Fifth Edition)

Overview/Description
The project schedule is critical to project management. It contains the planned start and finish dates for project activities and milestones. It also confirms which activities are dependent on others, therefore enabling the project manager to prioritize the order in which activities are to be completed. Developing the project schedule is an ongoing process throughout the project lifecycle, as there are many factors that can either accelerate or delay deliverables in a project. It is essential in successful project management to be able to quickly identify possible impacts, evaluate the effect on all project activities, and adjust the project activities as required to minimize risk. This course covers developing and controlling the project schedule in the project management discipline, and introduces best practices outlined in A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) – Fifth Edition, published by the Project Management Institute (PMI®). Specifically, learners will learn how to analyze activity sequences, durations, and resource and schedule constraints to create the project schedule. Learners will also calculate the critical path using a forward and backward pass, calculate the float, and calculate the critical chain in order to monitor progress and make changes to the project schedule as required. This course provides a foundational knowledge base reflecting the most up-to-date project management information. It will enable learners to effectively put principles to work in their own organizations, and assist in preparing them for the PMI® certification exam. This course is aligned with the PMBOK® Guide – Fifth Edition, published by PMI®, Inc., 2013. Copyright and all rights reserved. Material from this publication has been reproduced with the permission of PMI®.

Target Audience
Existing project managers wishing to get certified in recognition of their skills and experience, or others who wish to train to become accredited project managers

Expected Duration (hours)
2.0

Lesson Objectives

Developing and Controlling the Project Schedule (PMBOK® Guide Fifth Edition)

match the inputs to developing a project schedule with the reasons they are needed for creating a project schedule

match schedule network analysis techniques with their characteristics

apply the critical path method in a given scenario

recognize different types of project schedules and the purposes for each type

recognize examples of the various outputs of the Develop Schedule process

identify information and documents that are required to control the project schedule

match schedule control tools and techniques with uses

recognize examples of the outputs of the Control Schedule process

calculate schedule variance for the given project information

determine if a project is on schedule by calculating the schedule performance index