Plan Schedule Management
Plan Schedule Management is the process of establishing the policies, procedures, and documentation for planning, developing, managing, executing, and controlling the project schedule.
Explanation
Plan Schedule Management is the first process in the Schedule Management knowledge area. It sets the framework for how the project team will approach all schedule-related activities throughout the project lifecycle. The output of this process is the schedule management plan, which becomes a subsidiary of the overall project management plan.
During this process, the project manager and team consider factors such as the scheduling methodology (e.g., critical path method or agile iterations), the scheduling tool to be used, the level of accuracy and units of measure for duration estimates, and how schedule performance will be reported. Organizational process assets and enterprise environmental factors heavily influence the decisions made here.
This process is performed once or at predefined points in the project. It relies on the project charter, the project management plan (specifically the scope management plan), and expert judgment. The resulting schedule management plan guides all subsequent scheduling processes from Define Activities through Control Schedule.
Key Points
- •First process in the Schedule Management knowledge area
- •Produces the schedule management plan as its primary output
- •Defines the scheduling methodology, tools, and reporting formats
- •Performed once or at predefined points in the project
Exam Tip
Remember that Plan Schedule Management establishes the "how" of scheduling before any actual scheduling work begins. It is a planning process, not an executing one.
Frequently Asked Questions
Related Topics
Schedule Management Plan
The schedule management plan is a component of the project management plan that establishes the criteria and activities for developing, monitoring, and controlling the schedule.
Project Management Plan
The project management plan is the document that describes how the project will be executed, monitored and controlled, and closed.
Define Activities
Define Activities is the process of identifying and documenting the specific actions to be performed to produce the project deliverables.
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