Scheduling Made Easy: How Finish Any Project On Time

Name: Scheduling Made Easy: How Finish Any Project On Time
Rating: 4.6 (75 reviews)

How to effectively create and manage a project schedule using the critical path method (CPM) for project scheduling.

Highest Rated

Created byPeggy Yee

Last updated 8/2022

English

English [Auto],

What you'll learn

Explain why scheduling is a key skill for project management
Understand how to use a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) to organize a project schedule
Create a Network Logic Diagram to sequence activities
Use the Critical Path Method to determine the most important activities for a project
Explain the importance of a baseline schedule to measure project performance

Course content

6 sections • 23 lectures • 1h 20m total length

The Benefits of Scheduling2:43
Learn to set up and manage a schedule for any project to finish on time, proactively organizing tasks, assigning responsibilities, and identifying needed materials and potential risks.
About The Instruction and How To Best Use This Course2:49
Peggy shares scheduling strategies from civil engineering to keep projects on time and on budget. Apply work breakdown structures, network logic diagrams, and the critical path method to manage progress.

Breaking Your Project Into Manageable Pieces Using a Work Breakdown Structure7:05
Learn to break your project into a work breakdown structure, turning deliverables into work packages and tasks with balanced levels of detail for effective scheduling and control.
Work Breakdown Structure Example: Breaking Down A Kitchen Renovation Project4:20
Apply a work breakdown structure to a kitchen renovation by breaking major deliverables—planning, design, construction—into tasks like budgeting, hiring architects, selecting appliances, and ordering materials, forming schedulable, estimable work packages.
Case Study: Creating A Work Breakdown Structure for Thanksgiving Dinner2:14
Explore a case study that guides you in creating a work breakdown structure for Thanksgiving dinner. Break the project into three deliverables—planning, cooking, and serving—with twelve work packages to manage.
Homework: Create Your Own Work Breakdown Structure0:35
Work Breakdown Structures

Best Practices for Defining Activities3:52
Define activities as the specific tasks required to complete deliverables, with enough detail to schedule, monitor progress, and align with milestones through team collaboration.
Understanding Activity Relationships and Sequencing Activities8:00
Identify dependencies and link activities into a network diagram to sequence work, using finish-to-start relationships and noting predecessors, successors, and lead or lag times.
Understanding How Resources and Durations Impact Your Activities6:02
Learn how limited resources and varying durations shape the completion time of activities, and how to communicate assumptions and use contingency to keep projects on schedule.
Creating Your Network Logic Diagram3:49
Create a network logic diagram from a work breakdown structure, define predecessor and successor relationships with finish-to-start links, avoid redundant arrows, and visualize the schedule with a Gantt chart.
Case Study: Activities and Network Logic Diagram for Thanksgiving Dinner4:11
Build a network diagram for the Thanksgiving dinner case study, detailing activity durations, relationships, and a work breakdown structure across planning, cooking, and serving phases.
Homework: Create Your Network Logic Diagram0:26
Working With Activities and Creating a Network Logic Diagram

Overview of the Critical Path Method2:31
Identify the critical path as the longest-duration sequence with zero contingency. Learn to build a network logic diagram, calculate earliest and latest start and finish times, and determine float.
Forward Pass4:46
Master the forward pass in the critical path method by calculating early start and early finish using predecessor finishes to reveal a 45-day project duration.
Backward Pass4:48
Learn to perform the backwards pass in the critical path method. Determine the latest start and finish times and ensure the project finishes on schedule.
Calculating Float and the Critical Path2:15
Calculate float for each activity using early and late start and finish values to identify the critical path—the sequence with the longest duration and zero float.
Case Study: Thanksgiving Dinner8:07
Identify the critical path for Thanksgiving dinner by applying forward and backward passes to compute early start and finish, late start and finish, and activity floats.
Practice Problems13:00
Homework: Schedule Your Project Using the Critical Path Method0:31
Critical Path Method

Creating a Baseline Schedule3:34
Create a baseline schedule by assigning start and finish dates from a network diagram, determine early starts, and track against planned versus actual progress.
Maintaining Your Schedule and Comparing It To the Baseline2:18
Use the schedule as a living document, updating dates and tracking duration and float against baseline, then weekly recalculate the critical path and assess delays with forward and backward passes.
Case Study: Thanksgiving Dinner5:55
Create a baseline schedule for a Thanksgiving dinner and test the impact of delays using the critical path method, forward and backward passes, and early start/finish to finish on time.

Requirements

No previous knowledge of scheduling is required.
Students should have a simple project in mind to apply the principles learned throughout this course. It can be any project, from planning a Thanksgiving Dinner to renovating your house!

Description

Learn the basic concepts of scheduling ANY project to:

Finish projects on time and meet deadlines
Identify the most critical activities you need to complete
Make the best use of your time
Effectively manage unforeseen delays and STILL complete you project on time

Become More Productive and Finish Your Projects On Time

At the end of this course, you will have a strong scheduling foundation that you can use to schedule and manage any type of project (professional or personal). Learn how to focus your time on the most critical activities in your project and impress clients and your boss with your expertise on managing projects!

Content and Overview

This course will provide step-by-step guidance on using the critical path method to schedule any project. We will cover:

How to break down a project into manageable pieces
Define activities and their relationships
Develop a network logic diagram to describe a project
Schedule a project using the Critical Path Method (CPM)
How to develop a baseline schedule and manage a schedule

No Prior Scheduling Knowledge Necessary!

This course assumes you do not have any prior scheduling knowledge. We will go step-by-step through the process. At the end of each section there is a case study that builds on each section for you to follow. This course also has quizzes and practice problems to make sure you understand each concept.

Who this course is for:

Anyone who has a project they need to plan that has multiple activities

Scheduling Made Easy: How Finish Any Project On Time

What you'll learn

Explore related topics

Course content

Introduction to Scheduling2 lectures • 6min

Breaking Your Project Into Manageable Pieces4 lectures • 14min

Working with Activities and Creating a Network Logic Diagram6 lectures • 26min

Using the Critical Path Method (CPM) To Identify Critical Activities7 lectures • 36min

Using Schedules to Measure Performance3 lectures • 12min

Conclusion1 lecture • 1min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: