{"id":10090,"date":"2016-07-06T13:16:45","date_gmt":"2016-07-06T13:16:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.visual-planning.com\/en\/?p=724"},"modified":"2016-07-06T13:16:45","modified_gmt":"2016-07-06T13:16:45","slug":"build-a-killer-project-schedule","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.visual-planning.com\/en\/blog\/project\/build-a-killer-project-schedule","title":{"rendered":"5 Easy Tricks to Build a Killer Project Schedule"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In project management, little time is spent talking about the difficulty of building a project schedule with the right time estimates. And today, I am going to focus on that aspect.\u00a0When you start a project, one of the first question that pops very quickly is: \"When will it be ready?\" If you don't believe that project deadlines are useful, or you simply don't know how you could possibly provide an exact date for such a long project, be sure that somebody will break under pressure and give a date, which you will be held to.<\/p>\n

When that date comes and you are not ready to deliver - because your estimates are always too optimistic - rest assured that you will make some people unhappy. Sales will be angry at you because they already promised an important customer it will be ready for today, and your team will be angry at you because they worked like crazy to an impossible deadline. That's why I worked on a few tips that will help you create a realistic project schedule (that you can be proud of).\u00a0<\/p>\n

GATHER ALL THE INFORMATION \u00a0<\/h3>\n

This step will set\u00a0the roots of your entire project schedule<\/strong>. \"Knowledge is power\" they say, so make it your mantra and work as if you wanted to learn and know everything. And by everything, I mean every little detail that might help you: what are the project requirements? How many stakeholders? Who are they? Resource availability\u2026\u00a0Do not neglect details<\/strong>\u00a0- even the smallest ones - they might seem useless now but they may have a larger impact at a certain point in the project. Let's take an example: imagine that you own a cake shop and that you have to deliver a certain amount of cookies to your most important customer. A part from the much-vaunted deadline, you will need a certain amount of information to fulfill your mission: how many cookies? What kind of cookies (chocolate chip, peanut butter\u2026.)? Are there any allergies or food specifications?<\/p>\n

Having all the initial requirements will enable you to have a clear view of the project in its entirety. Ask questions and don't be afraid to ask them twice or ask for clarifications; just make sure nothing get past you. This step can seem unnecessary, but losing time and money because of a lack of visibility into project requirements is a\u00a0common mistake<\/a>. (\" Oh you needed 5000 GLUTEN-FREE cookies and not regular ones? \"). In this case fixing it can be very\u00a0costly and increase the time estimates<\/strong>\u00a0of your project schedule.\u00a0<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>

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BREAKDOWN YOUR TASKS<\/h3>\n

Before any task breakdown, it is important that you start by\u00a0demanding confirmation of every project requirement<\/strong>\u00a0and specification you wrote down. Make sure everybody agrees on everything.<\/p>\n

Then, start drafting an accurate\u00a0plan of action<\/strong>. The best way to do it would be to break down your tasks. Ideally, tasks need to be small enough that they can be assigned to a single person<\/p>\n

If we go back to the cookie order, breaking down your tasks would look like:<\/p>\n