Professional Documents
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Dammam - Module 4
Dammam - Module 4
Part 4: How the Schedule Impacts Costs By Ted Garrison Garrison Associates www.TedGarrison.com www.StrategicPlanningforContractors.com www.NewConstructionStrategies.com
It gives you a plan on where you are suppose to be so that you can adjust to get where you need to be. It allows you to plan for the future. The schedule is not an end in its self it s a tool to get results.
(c) 2008 Garrison Associates 3
Bar Chart
Advantages:
Simple easy to construct & read. Visual clarity great time line overview. Accepted.
Disadvantages:
Doesn t show interdependencies. Doesn t show critical activities. Difficulty in forecasting effect of changes. Doesn t show float.
(c) 2008 Garrison Associates 9
Therefore, you should focus on the critical tasks more than the critical path unless the critical path is truly critical.
(c) 2008 Garrison Associates 13
Network Diagrams
Advantages:
Shows dependencies Develops and shows critical path Identifies critical activities Identifies potential resource problems Allows management to set priorities. Shows impact of changes. Great analytical tool for different methods or sequences trouble shooting & bottlenecks
(c) 2008 Garrison Associates 14
Network Diagrams
Disadvantages:
More difficult to read. Can become very complex. Usually requires training. Requires significant commitment. Gets neglected because its too complicated.
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Schedule Analysis
Create list of tasks. (WBS) Keep contractual divisions separate. Keep trades separate. May even separate crews. Keep field work separate from shop work. Determine level of detail required. Things to consider:
Shop drawings, permits, inspections, curing time, delivery time of key items
(c) 2008 Garrison Associates 21
Scheduling Secrets
Schedules are for planning not for execution of the project, so don t micro manage your projects Don t focus on tasks focus on milestones, key or critical events Make milestones measurable in essence a specific deliverable Lay out time-fixed tasks first
(c) 2008 Garrison Associates 28
Scheduling Secrets
Create as much flexibility in the critical tasks as possible.
Critical path tasks High impact tasks such as roof so interior work can start.
Concentrate on starting every critical task as early as possible. Schedule the beginning of the project more aggressively.
(c) 2008 Garrison Associates 29
Scheduling Secrets
Get commitments from key personnel, vendors and subcontractors on time frames don t dictate if at all possible. Remain flexible in your approach to the project just because you have always done something one way doesn t mean it is the only way. Prepare a calendar of events that senior management or owners must perform.
(c) 2008 Garrison Associates 30
Slippage Problems
Often extra resources cause more slippage. Need to question why there is slippage. Usually slippage occurs from little things not major disasters.
These tend to sneak up on us.
Often easier to deal with major disasters respond with force or radical change or innovation.
(c) 2008 Garrison Associates 33
Staff Cutbacks
Staff cutbacks have come out of middle management. Some of this was due to technology reduction of duplication of effort. But middle management s other roles are to adjust to change and deal with problem when you eliminate them: Who does this work?.
(c) 2008 Garrison Associates 38
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Proactive Quadrant
(Higher and Higher)
Comfort Quadrant
(Rust-out)
Trivia Quadrant
(Waste-out)
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What is best for an individual project portfolio is not necessarily best for the portfolio itself.
Michael Dobson Author of Practical Project Management
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Action Steps
Please turn to the inside of the front cover of the resource guide. Write down 1 to 3 action steps that you want to immediately implement from Part 4 of this program.