With the project schedule being so important to tracking the overall status of the project, I can’t guarantee that this is the only article I’ll write in this series on it.  There may be more to come – so be forewarned.  It’s just that it’s such a critical part of any project whether you’re utilizing it to it’s fullest extent with all tasks, resources, hours, dollars, etc. loaded or whether you’re just entering tasks and dependencies and updating it weekly with revised % complete information.  It’s all tracking, it’s all project communication, and it’s all good.



Along with the status call and the status report, the project schedule is a form of communication that needs to happen on a regular basis every week.  Just like team meetings and customer meetings that become irregular, if you stop producing updates to the project schedule and delivering them to you team and your customer, they’ll never feel confident that they know the current status of the project.  They won’t know if what you’re delivering to them is accurate and current, from last week, or just a best guess.



This goes back to earlier things I’ve written on project management characteristics and being organized and doing what you say you’re going to do.  In the project kickoff meeting or during planning sessions on the project, you hopefully set team and customer expectations on the communication aspects of the project.  Hopefully, you even produced some semblance of a Communication Plan that documents when you’ve agreed to produce regular communication documents and hold specific meetings.  The key is to adhere to those as much as possible throughout the project.



By doing what you said you would do, by adhering to the plans and schedules that were documented and agreed to with the customer early in the project, you build a huge amount of trust and confidence with the customer in your abilities to manage their project and to be reliable.  So, back to the project schedule.  There is an incredible amount of detail in that schedule if you’re using it to it’s fullest potential.  By producing regular updates and delivering it at the same time every week, you build confidence in your team, your customer, and your company leadership that you know what is happening on your project, here is the latest status, and you’re in control.



Here’s my suggesting for using the project schedule during a normal project week:

 

 





     
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  • Review notes from last week’s project status meeting and update the project schedule accordingly




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  • Have a internal team status call (do this weekly on the same day every week)




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  • Use the team information on task updates, issues, etc. to revise the project schedule.  Whatever software you're using, use it effectively.  I recommend an easy-to-use and full-featured tool like Seavus Project Planner and Project Viewer.




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  • Deliver a revised project schedule with the weekly status report at the same time every week – preferably about one day in advance of the weekly status call with the customer




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  • Hold the weekly status call and use the project status report and the project schedule as drivers for the communication on the call




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Summary