Hey, Project Managers! Are your Project Schedules gathering dust?

Let's start with this:

• Did you know that 90% of all Construction Project Schedules are produced by Project Managers, and not by professional schedulers? 
• Did you know that 70% of all Construction Project Managers have no training in how to use popular scheduling software (such as MS Project or Oracle’s P6)? They instead dare to just “wing it,” by jumping right into the software and start typing out Activity Descriptions!
• Did you know that 90% of these same Project Managers have no functional understanding of how the Critical Path Method (CPM) actually determines a “critical path?”

And self-education options are surprisingly lean when it comes to filling these knowledge voids. Among what few college courses, commercial seminars, or technical books there may be that cover scheduling topics, one is hard-pressed to find helpful discussions of how to effectively extract a credible Project Execution Strategy from the collective minds of the Project Team.

The consequences are unavoidable — and highly predictable. The Project Schedule is painfully and slowly crafted by an after-hours Project Manager, his face lit by the soft light of a computer screen, with a nearby beer for courage. Not following any tried-and-true methods for sewing the Schedule's logic together, he defiantly pushes ahead. Determination compensates for lack of skill. Finally, printouts are distributed at the next Tuesday job site progress meeting with the subs.

Right off the bat, the Project Manager tries to promote the new document’s adherence, but immediate encounters unbending resistance. The clear message on the faces at the table shout unequivocally, “Yeah ... right!” It’s just a matter of time before the push-back wave flowing from the subs increasingly floods the Project Manager’s ears and email inbox.

Kicking the Project Manager while he is down, the Owner piles on ... by rejecting the proposed Baseline Schedule for non-compliance with a Scheduling Spec that was, frankly, Greek to the Project Manager! For their part, the subs dismiss the schedule as “not fair,” insisting that it favors the General Contractor.

Even the Project Manager, himself, cannot truly explain some of the details in the schedule. Certain dates that don't "look right;" Activities with way too much (or too little) Total Float; squirrelly Critical Paths that make no sense; knowing why the software is doing what it is doing.

After several more weeks -- at most, a month or two -- of resubmitting proposed Baseline revisions, the General Contractor throws in the towel and begrudgingly hires a Scheduling Consultant. Praise the Lord! Within a couple weeks, the Owner approves the Baseline and a Project Schedule is born! Hurray! ("We can at last get paid!")

Except, no one should be celebrating. The subs reject this schedule, too, just as they rejected the previous attempts by the Project Manager. Why? Because they had no input into this scheudle's development either. Worse, because the Project Manager, exhausted from his earlier efforts, delegated the entire schedule development chore to the Scheduling Consultant, the Project Manager doesn't really understand the schedule either. He cannot explain or defend it to the subs.

The ramifications are predictable. The schedule is wholly ignored by the subs. Work begins to deviate from the schedule's charted momentum ("pace and direction"). The owner begins to complain about working being performed "out of sequence," a Scheduling Spec no-no.

For a little while at least, the Project Manager attempts to enforce the Schedule's compliance by the subs, at weekly Progress Meetings. But before long, the egg on his face is beginning to crust over. Little by little, he self-sabotages by eroding confidence in the Schedule when he suggests work-arounds to deal with the Schedule’s “quirks.” Before long, the Schedule, no longer actively supported, falls out of sync with the reality in the field. Now the Owner demands a major revision of the Baseline.

What went wrong? The job was being “managed” without a credible schedule. "Those who fail to plan, plan to fail." It’s not as if the Project Manager didn’t keenly know this! It’s not like he thought he could just walk out on a green site and start cutting dirt! He knew he needed a schedule. He just didn't know how to create one.

And it’s not his fault, really. What few training options that do exist, don’t teach what needs to be learned. That’s why I started the ICS-Institute for Construction Scheduling Studies — to teach practical and effective Construction Planning and Scheduling practices tailored specifically for Construction Project Managers!

Our courses are not another rendition of software manipulation training. (The Construction Management world has way too many of those, already!) Rather, we teach how to design, develop, maintain, and effectively use the Project Schedule. We teach process, not what menu options to click to generate a printout. We teach sound scheduling concepts, principles, and time-proven methods.

But if you truly want to master the art and science of Critical Path Method scheduling, you have to start at the beginning. You simply cannot build a credible CPM schedule if you do not know how the Critical Path Method works "under the hood."

The good news is that a solution is available for only $1500. Our online "CPM Mechanics" course can be taken at your convenience, and at your own pace. Or, an even less expensive alternative, our best-selling "CPM Mechanics" book is only $150, and you can order it today! For more information, go to www.CPMMechanics.com.