In addition to the application of the 14 points collected by the US Defense Contract Management Agency for the evaluation of project planning, it is useful to implement various recommendations that can enhance schedule quality and planning effectiveness. These measures also facilitate the early detection of errors and potential issues:
- Create a Comprehensive Program Narrative: It’s advisable to construct a detailed program narrative that describes the planned activities, required resources, and construction logic. For large and intricate projects, consider segmenting this narrative into work packages for clarity.
- Reporting: The reports are essential to communicate both the progress and forecast as well as possible recovery plans. Clear reports must be defined with a content adapted to the recipient’s and consistently monitor project and schedule status.
- Maintain Baseline: Keep the project’s baseline schedule in place throughout the project’s lifecycle to facilitate comparisons between actual execution and the contractual plan.
- Engage Team Members in Planning: Involving other team members in the planning process enhances teamwork and aids in identifying overlooked defects or potential improvements.
- Prioritize Effective Communication: Communication between project members is essential, relevant information must be communicated clearly and simply.
- Utilize Multiple Schedule Views: Examining the schedule from different perspectives allows for a more detailed understanding of the project and assists in error detection.
- Monitor Activity Margins: Regularly analyze activity margins (float) to detect subcritical paths. The critical path of the project is dynamic and can change radically.
- Optimize Resource Usage: Resource management is crucial. Primavera and Project resource leveling is a very useful tool, but it must be applied with extreme care as it can delay priority tasks or change the sequence of activities to be carried out.
- Collaboration between Managers: The Project manager and the site manager must work closely with the planning technician, ensuring a unified project planning approach.
- Consider Past Performance and Resource Availability: Effective forecasting involves evaluating past performance, understanding the learning curve, and considering future resource availability.
- Earned Value Methodology: The earned value method is a great tool to assess the progress of the project in both cost and time.
- Use Specialized Software: Using a specific software tool such as Primavera P6 and MS Project is essential to control projects, even if they are not large. Spreadsheets are not the right tool to plan a project.
By incorporating these recommendations alongside established guidelines, project planning can be fortified, leading to more efficient execution and improved project outcomes.
