The standard for project management

Project Schedule

Management Overview

6.2 Define Activities

6.1 Plan Schedule

Management

6.3 Sequence Activities

6.4 Estimate

Activity Durations

6.5 Develop Schedule

6.6 Control Schedule

Figure 6-1. Project Schedule Management Overview

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KEY CONCEPTS FOR PROJECT SCHEDULE MANAGEMENT

Project scheduling provides a detailed plan that represents how and when the project will deliver the products, 

services, and results defined in the project scope and serves as a tool for communication, managing stakeholders’ 

expectations, and as a basis for performance reporting.

The project management team selects a scheduling method, such as critical path or an agile approach. Then, the 

project-specific data, such as the activities, planned dates, durations, resources, dependencies, and constraints, are 

entered into a scheduling tool to create a schedule model for the project. The result is a project schedule. Figure 6-2 

provides a scheduling overview that shows how the scheduling method, scheduling tool, and outputs from the Project 

Schedule Management processes interact to create a schedule model.

For smaller projects, defining activities, sequencing activities, estimating activity durations, and developing the 

schedule model are so tightly linked that they are viewed as a single process that can be performed by a person 

over a relatively short period of time. These processes are presented here as distinct elements because the tools and 

techniques for each process are different. Some of these processes are presented more fully in the 

Practice Standard 

for Scheduling

 [2].

When possible, the detailed project schedule should remain flexible throughout the project to adjust for knowledge 

gained, increased understanding of the risk, and value-added activities.

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Part 1 - Guide

Examples of Project Schedule Presentations

Network Diagram

Bar Chart

Activity List

Project

Schedule

Schedule

Model

Project

Information

Scheduling

Method

Scheduling

Tool

Output

Generates

Project Specific Data

(e.g., WBS, activities,

resources, durations, 

dependencies, constraints,

calendars, milestones

lags, etc.)

For example,

CPM