{"id":41643,"date":"2018-04-11t09:44:01","date_gmt":"2018-04-11t13:44:01","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/www.deco-dalles.com\/?p=41643"},"modified":"2024-08-01t15:47:07","modified_gmt":"2024-08-01t19:47:07","slug":"5-tactics-project-schedule-communication","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.deco-dalles.com\/5-tactics-project-schedule-communication\/","title":{"rendered":"5 tactics to get your p6 project taken seriously"},"content":{"rendered":"

the other day i spoke with a scheduler friend of mine by phone to see how his construction project was coming along.<\/p>\n

from the moment i asked question \u201cso how is the project going?\u201d i could hear that something was up.<\/p>\n

\u201cgood\u2026. it\u2019s fine. things are moving.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cstill making progress?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cyeah, sure.\u201d<\/strong> he answered.<\/p>\n

but i could hear the frustration in his voice. i dug a bit deeper to see just how \u201cfine\u201d things were.<\/p>\n

my friend, a 30-something engineer, is filling the role of project scheduler for a large multi-year rail project. he works for the general contractor. after we got into it, i found out the source of his frustration.<\/p>\n

\u201cschedules are useless.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

these were not his words, but it captured his sentiments as he relayed the situation on his project.<\/p>\n

he told me that he spends all his days entirely focused on updating the schedule, incorporating the endless updates requested by the owner; a never-ending stream of small updates and added details.<\/p>\n

being the only project controller, he had a very large schedule<\/strong> to maintain on his own while the owner had a team of 3 \u201cexperts\u201d whose job it was to essentially verify and check the contract schedule he had prepared. he was feeling a bit overworked and over-scrutinized.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"5<\/p>\n

but here\u2019s the rub.<\/p>\n

although the schedule was in very good shape, it barely got a notice<\/u><\/strong> from his boss and management overseeing the project.<\/p>\n

it was hardly looked at<\/strong> once a month in the regular meeting, but never again until the next month. the schedule was merely a formality and wasn\u2019t being used to manage the work.<\/p>\n

all that analysis ensuring the critical path was correct<\/a>, all those detailed updates to ensure accuracy, the documentation, the weekly and monthly updates to create this model of predictability for the project. and no one was really looking at it.<\/strong><\/p>\n

maybe you can relate to this situation.<\/p>\n

i\u2019ve been around long enough to recognize that some projects have people who do not rely on a schedule<\/strong>, who prefer to go by gut feeling or experience.<\/p>\n

right, wrong or indifferent, if you\u2019re the scheduler in that situation, you\u2019re probably not feeling very appreciated.<\/strong><\/p>\n

but appreciated or not, your schedule is vital to the success of the project<\/strong>. and it can be hard to get people to recognize that.<\/p>\n

so to solve this dilemma, here are 5 tips to help you show the value of your schedule<\/strong> and get it noticed.<\/p>\n

5 tips to show the value of your schedule & get it noticed<\/h2>\n

be proactive.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

the first thing you will have do to is\u2026<\/p>\n

….change your way of doing things.<\/p>\n

no one is asking to see the schedule?<\/p>\n

no one cares about all of your hard work updating the schedule?<\/p>\n

don\u2019t get stuck in your expectations of what is \u201csupposed\u201d to happen.<\/p>\n

\"5<\/p>\n

we\u2019re all \u201csupposed\u201d to be looking at the schedule and the dates. it\u2019s \u201csupposed\u201d to be the primary source of timeline, performance and resource information.<\/p>\n

we\u2019re all \u201csupposed\u201d to be eating a lot of fiber as well, and frankly i just don\u2019t do it. i\u2019m just too darn busy.<\/p>\n

actually, i will eat more fiber if:<\/p>\n