Level: Intermediate
Author(s): William W. Davis
Venue: 2017 AACE International Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL
Abstract: Many projects suffer schedule overruns. Building a schedule that leads to on-time delivery requires balancing the need for schedule safety with the need to complete the project as quickly as possible. Using the Unified Scheduling Method (USM), project planners can forecast how many critical path activities will suffer schedule delays, then create a schedule contingency to buffer the schedule so the project still finishes on-time. USM relies on the binomial distribution functions inside Microsoft Excel® to determine how many activities are at risk of schedule failure. Once that is determined project planners can choose from among a conservative, moderate, or aggressive schedule contingency. This approach gives project sponsors and planners a way to balance their need for schedule safety with the competing need to finish projects quickly.
Author(s): William W. Davis
Venue: 2017 AACE International Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL
Abstract: Many projects suffer schedule overruns. Building a schedule that leads to on-time delivery requires balancing the need for schedule safety with the need to complete the project as quickly as possible. Using the Unified Scheduling Method (USM), project planners can forecast how many critical path activities will suffer schedule delays, then create a schedule contingency to buffer the schedule so the project still finishes on-time. USM relies on the binomial distribution functions inside Microsoft Excel® to determine how many activities are at risk of schedule failure. Once that is determined project planners can choose from among a conservative, moderate, or aggressive schedule contingency. This approach gives project sponsors and planners a way to balance their need for schedule safety with the competing need to finish projects quickly.