Managing a project involves organizing teams and resources towards attaining specific goals according to particular parameters. Typically, it constitutes procedures, activities, and milestones on the pathway to success. In all circumstances, the most critical challenge in project management to meet all objectives and deliver within the time and resources provided. To be successful, specific aspects like time management, communication, project baselines, and scheduling are essential.

Benefits of time management and scheduling to communication planning

In any activity, time is a critical determinant of success or failure. Since time lost is not retrievable, proper time management is vital when performing any task. Time management denotes the process of planning, organizing, and allocating enough time for each job that needs to be done. In organizations, proper time management contributes significantly to efficiency, sustainability, and productivity. In project management, communication planning governs the approaches used in an organization to provide information to stakeholders. These approaches dictate the individuals, channels/methods, time, and techniques used in disseminating information within the organization.

Benefits of time management on communication planning 

Proper time management has numerous benefits on communication planning. Firstly, it ensures the timely completion of tasks. For instance, organizational leaders communicate to employees concerning the set times for completing specific work. Secondly, time management promotes seamless communication among stakeholders (Zulch, 2014). For instance, for stakeholders communicating across different time zones, proper time management facilitates selecting the most suitable communication strategy and the best time for meetings and briefings. Thirdly, adequate time management ensures the efficiency and objectivity of organizational communication. For instance, with proper time management, managers select the most suitable moments to use to foster motivation, unity, trust, and satisfaction through communication.

Benefits of scheduling to communication planning

Scheduling refers o the planning, organization, and harmonization of the activities involved in a particular project. Typically, a schedule consists of the activities, milestones, and the period required to complete a specific task or project. Scheduling plays an essential role in communication planning. Firstly, different teams stay on the same page through scheduling since proper communication regarding a particular project’s requirements. In this case, if there is confusion on any matter, individuals and teams can always refer to the project schedule (Kerzner, 2017).  Secondly, scheduling facilitates communication regarding progress. For instance, in progress meetings, leaders can always use programs in tracking performance and promoting clarity in case of confusion among employees.

Project baselines

At the core of every project, there are specific guidelines that guide every process and activity involved. Like recipes to meal preparation, project baselines are equally essential in project management.  A project baseline refers to a valuable framework in regulating, monitoring, and managing a project/s (Vanhoucke, 2013).  Project baselines bear numerous benefits to project management. Firstly, they provide insight into the activities involved. Secondly, they help evaluate performance, and lastly, they identify flaws or areas that need change.

Types and the relationships between project baselines

Typically, project baselines exist in three broad dimensions, which rely heavily on one another, as discussed below.

• Scope baseline

The scope baseline provides detailed information regarding the intentions or objectives of the project. It discusses what the project intends to achieve or the aspects it seeks to address in simpler terms. In undertaking a task, scope baselines are adjusted or modified due to various factors (Radjukovic & Sjaekavica, 2017).

(b) Cost baselines

The cost baselines provide budgetary estimations regarding the expenses expected to emerge in the course of the project. Cost baselines consider all factors that have implications on the budget allocated for a project (Harold, 2021). Like scope baselines, cost baselines are adjustable, mainly when the project is wrongly managed or changes within the other baselines.

(c) Schedule baselines

Schedule baselines help to map out the events, milestones, and timelines in a project. Schedule baselines are also adjusted due to changes in other baselines. For instance, when more objectives are added to the scope baseline, the project deadlines are adjusted according to the changes (Vanhoucke, 2013).

Although they are used separately in evaluating and controlling a project, the scope, cost, and schedule baselines are related and interdependent. When one dimension is altered, the others also change. According to the Time constraint principle, cost changes according to scope and time. In this context, to reduce the time taken to complete a project, it is necessary to increase the cost. Alternatively, if the scope baseline expands, it is essential to increase the costs and schedule baselines.

(iii) Project visualization

In traditional project management, information was relayed either verbally or via documents to all organizational stakeholders. Although these channels were helpful, they were highly vulnerable to ambiguity and, much worse, difficult to understand. Due to technological advances in computing, organizations adopt more accurate, quick, and enriched means of disseminating information. Project visualization describes a recent technique where the information concerning a project is presented visually for easy understanding, enhancing clarity, and reducing ambiguity (Lu et al., 2021). Further, project visualization enables swift and real-time resolving emerging issues and tracking the project’s progress or status.

Visual graphs are among the most common methods used due to their visibility, accuracy, and flexibility. Through visual graphs, stakeholders can easily track a project’s developments and observe trends as depicted by the graph patterns (Barbosa et al., 2018). Besides, maps can also valuable tools in project visualization. Usually, maps can be helpful in extensive project visualization. For instance, when analyzing a particular product’s reception in a community, a region, or across the world. Maps are easy to understand and convey complex information. Lastly, dashboards are valuable in presenting a project’s performance, status, and any issues that need to be resolved (Zdonek, 2020).

Designing project schedules

A project schedule refers to a framework that defines the course of a project within specific timelines. Usually, a plan indicates the durations allocated for reaching particular objectives or milestones in the project. Additionally, programs identify the necessary activities and resources to be utilized in completing a specific task. At times, work distribution frameworks are employed with project schedules to simplify the allocation of charges. The processes involved in designing a project schedule include the following;

• Plan schedule management

Before embarking on a project, it is critical to establish the endeavour’s framework procedures and policies.  This process identifies the available resources to be utilized in the course of the project. Additionally, it recognizes all team members involved in approving the task (Singh & Williams, 2021). Besides, this procedure identifies stakeholders with the ability to change the schedule in the project’s course.

• Define activities

A project consists of several or numerous tasks that contribute equally towards the main objective. In creating a project schedule, defining activities refers to identifying the activities involved in accomplishing a particular project. Usually, this procedure consists of listing all the activities to be undertaken (Singh & Williams, 2021).

• Determining dependencies

This step involves identifying the relationship between the activities involved in completing a task. This phase occurs after identifying and listing the activities. For instance, in construction, it is impossible to build a wall before the foundation. In this case, the wall depends on a foundation.

• Sequencing activities

After establishing the relationship between the tasks, it is critical to creating a sequence through which these activities should occur. Hence in this phase, actions are systematically organized according to their relationship and dependencies.

• Estimation of duration and resources

Undoubtedly, time and resources are critical aspects of project management. This phase involves careful consideration of all the resources required for the smooth running of the project. Besides, it estimates the time needed for completing particular activities and the overall project (Singh &Williams, 2021).

• Developing a schedule

This phase is highly dependent on the other processes. Typically, this stage involves evaluating and organizing the activities, estimating the resources and duration in creating a suitable program for regulating and supervising the project.

• Controlling the schedule

Since schedules change, they require timely evaluation, adjustment, and regulation. Unlike the preceding process controlling the program is an ongoing procedure in designing a project schedule. Typically, this phase involves updating the project according to the status of the project. Additionally, it consists of making the necessary changes to the schedule baseline (Singh & Williams, 2021).

Characteristics of a suitable project schedule

Developing a project schedule alone is not enough. Typically a good project schedule must have several attributes that are essential for success. Firstly, a good schedule must be flexible. In this sense, project schedules must accommodate changes emerging throughout the project. Secondly, a suitable project schedule must be easily understood and communicated to all team members. In this case, all team members must be in touch with the details of the program. Thirdly, it must adhere to deadlines. Suitable schedules should enforce task completion times to enhance commitment and discipline among employees (Sinesilassie & Tabish, 2017). Besides, proper schedules display a relationship between the tasks being undertaken. This aspect promotes clarity and cooperation between individuals and teams. Also, a good program creates additional time for uncompleted commissions and inquiries and other activities. Lastly, since everyone is conversant with the calendar days, a proper schedule sets timelines using calendar days and not working days to avoid confusion.

The disadvantages of using schedules in project management

Although scheduling is vital when managing a project, it also has some shortcomings. Firstly, the most common challenge in using schedules is estimating the time required for a particular task. Quite often, people underestimate duration only to fail in meeting deadlines. Secondly, it isn’t easy to allocate resources by using schedules. Although there is always an assumption that resources are available when they fail, the project stalls. Thirdly, programs fail terribly in managing uncertainties and changes within and outside the organization. It is critical to have flexible schedules, proper communication and coordination, and thorough analysis concerning the resources, time, and unexpected changes to overcome these limitations (Sanghera, 2019).

Observably, project management is a complex affair, consisting of numerous processes and phases vital in managing a project. While they may seem different, all the aspects discussed above are interdependent and equally essential in delivering a project. Practically, scheduling, project baselines, and project visualization are meant to evaluate, monitor, and control a project.  Independently and collectively, all these aspects influence the duration taken to complete a project, the activities and processes involved, and the resources allocated.

Reference

Barbosa, F. J. M., de Souza Franca, R., Fonseca, R., & Parreiras, F. S. (2018). Visualization Of Information And Visual Methods As Strategic Tools To Project Management. Revista de Gestao e Projetos, 9(1), 102.

Harold, K. (2021). Project management: case studies. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Kerzner, H. (2017). Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley & Sons.

Lu, Q., Huang, J., Zhang, Q., Yuan, X., & Li, J. (2021). Evaluation on visualization methods of dynamic, collaborative relationships for project management. The Visual Computer, 37(1), 161-174.

Radujković, M., & Sjekavica, M. (2017). Project management success factors. Procedia Engineering, 196, 607-615.

Sanghera, P. (2019). Planning for Project Schedule Management. In PMP® in Depth (pp. 155-197). Apress, Berkeley, CA.

Sinesilassie, E. G., Tabish, S. Z. S., & Jha, K. N. (2017). Critical factors affecting schedule performance. Engineering, Construction, and Architectural Management.

Singh, H., & Williams, P. S. (2021). A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge: PMBOK (®) Guide. Project Management Institute.

Vanhoucke, M. (2013). Project baseline scheduling: An overview of past experiences. Journal of Modern Project Management, 1(2), 18-27.

Zdonek, I. (2020). Project Indicators Visualization Using an Interactive Dashboard. Zeszyty Naukowe. Organizacja i Zarządzanie/Politechnika Śląska, (143 Contemporary Management), 329-339.

Zulch, B. G. (2014). Communication: The foundation of project management. Procedia Technology, 16, 1000-1009.