How training a puppy improved my approach to deliver a baselined schedule.

I have been blessed to adopt a Female Labradoodle Puppy (FLP) this month. As I am awesomely excited about this new adventure, I armed myself with a couple of books about training a Puppy from day 1. After reading them all, I realised that Project Controls/Planning/Contract management has a lot more in common that I thought. Please bear with me and explain before you believe I totally lost it.

As we all know and respect, A baseline schedule is a project management tool that defines the scope, cost, and duration of a project. Training a FLP is a process of teaching a young dog the skills and behaviours that are expected of them.

Then I realised that I have a road map for my FLP. Keep it clean, few commands, behaviours, and cues that I would like to see within the FLP.

One possible way to compare a baseline schedule to training a FLP is to use the analogy of a roadmap. A roadmap is a visual representation of the project’s goals, milestones, and timelines.?It helps project managers (me or my clients), and stakeholders align on the project scope, communicate the project progress, and manage expectations. Similarly, a roadmap can be used to plan and monitor the training of a FLP.?It can show the different phases of the puppy’s development, the skills, and commands they need to learn, and the timeframes for achieving them. A roadmap can help puppy owners and trainers set realistic goals, track the puppy’s progress, and celebrate their success. Who doesn’t like a nice treat (bonus) when we did great?

Another possible way to compare a baseline schedule to training a puppy is to use the analogy of a critical path. A critical path is the longest sequence of tasks and dependencies that determine the project duration.?It helps project managers (Me or my clients), and teams optimize the project schedule, manage task dependencies, and avoid bottlenecks. Similarly, a critical path can be used to identify the most important and urgent skills and behaviours that a puppy needs to learn.?It can help puppy owners and trainers to prioritise the training activities, manage the FLP’s needs and challenges, and prevent problems.

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To finalise this parallelism how a train a FLP to a Baseline schedule is the involvement of Positive reinforcement.? This technique that rewards desirable actions or outcomes with something pleasant or valuable, such as praise, treats, or money.?It helps to increase the likelihood of repeating the desired behaviour in the future.

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Similarly, positive reinforcement can be used to motivate and encourage contract and contractors to perform well and deliver quality results. For example, a project manager can use positive feedback, recognition, bonuses, or incentives to reward contract and contractors for meeting deadlines, exceeding expectations, or solving problems.?This can help to build trust, loyalty, and satisfaction among contract and contractors, as well as improve their performance and productivity.

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Of course, these are just some examples of how a baseline schedule can be compared to training a FLP. I do realise there are also many differences between the two, such as the level of complexity, uncertainty, attitude, and variability involved.

However, both a baseline schedule and training a FLP require planning, monitoring, and controlling, as well as positive reinforcement, consistency, and patience.

I am glad you stayed here to read my article. Now, it’s time for Raven, the FLP & me to do our favourite activity: stroll in the park with treats and friends.