Unraveling Delays in Projects – A Personal Journey Through Delay Analysis Methods

Article 1 of 6: Impacted As-Planned Analysis – Predicting Delays Before They Happen

?Introduction:

As a project manager, the ability to foresee potential delays and their impact can be a game-changer. In this first article of the series, I want to share a method that allows you to predict delays before they hit—Impacted As-Planned Analysis.

Let’s picture a real-world scenario: You’re in charge of constructing a new airport terminal, and halfway through the project, you hear that one of your key subcontractors won’t be able to meet their scheduled deadline. How do you determine this delay's knock-on effects on your timeline?

?The Impacted As-Planned Analysis gives you the answer. By inserting the delay into your project’s baseline program, you can adjust the schedule and visualize how it will impact the project’s critical path.

Practical Steps:

????????????? 1.?????????? Baseline Program: Begin with a detailed, logic-linked baseline schedule.

????????????? 2.?????????? Identify Delays: Identify specific delay events, such as late material delivery, weather disruptions that delay mobilization, or delays in obtaining site access permits.

????????????? 3.?????????? Insert Delay: Add the delay to your baseline and observe how it affects your critical path

Use of a planning software "P6 or Microsoft Project, sometimes Excel" is essential in case of complex projects.

????????????? 4.?????????? Analyze Impact: Quantify the delay’s impact on your project’s completion date and argue for an extension, if needed, or propose a mitigation plan (recovery plan).

Story Context:

In one of my projects, (very tight in schedule) a major client had some technical issues with his permitting online system which prevented the site investigation and survey team's 1-week delay in mobilizing the site. I was able to use this method to forecast how it would push back subsequent tasks. Armed with this insight, we negotiated a time extension with the client for the investigation milestone before the delay became an issue while trying not to impact the project completion date by utilizing a project recovery plan.

While Impacted As-Planned Analysis is great for predicting delays, sometimes the delay has already occurred, and you need to know its real-time impact. In the next article, I’ll show you how to measure those effects with Time Impact Analysis.