Schedule Management (or Schedule Control) is the process during which the actual progress of the activities and tasks is being tracked and if needed corrective actions are taken to bring tasks, activities or the whole project back on schedule.
During the Planning phase, a baseline was established for the Activities Schedule. This baseline will be used as a starting point against which performance on the project will be measured. It is one of many tools that the Project Manager can use during Execution & Control to determine if the project is on track.
The steps that are undertaken to manage the Activities Schedule are the following:
| ● | Record progress of activities and tasks by exchanging status information with your Project Team Members and the Management Team of the contractor. |
| ● | Update the Activities Schedule on a regular basis to ensure that the project is on track. |
| ● | Identify and resolve schedule problems that may affect the project’s finish date. |
Figure 7-16: Steps to be followed for managing the Activities Schedule
As it has been already mentioned (refer to 7.4.1.5), there are various software packages in the market (e.g. MS Project, Primavera Project Planner) that can be used for developing, monitoring and control a project schedule. However, for the purposes of this Guide the simple tool presented in Annex 7-1/ Sheet “Activities Schedule” can be used also for tracking project progress during the Execution & Control phase.
The following paragraphs describe analytically the steps to be followed in order to manage the Project Schedule.