A project activity schedule is a document, generally made in the form of a table or graph, in which all the tasks that need to be carried out to carry out a certain project in a stipulated time can be easily visualized.
In addition, it is not only possible to see what tasks are necessary to carry out the project, but also in how long these tasks should be carried out, and when they should start to be done, since for some projects it may be necessary to finish a task to start another.
Additionally, said schedule may also include information on the resources necessary to fulfill each task, and on the person or sector in charge of carrying them out, among other information..
There is no single way to make a schedule of activities, although one of the most used types of charts when making them is the Gantt Chart..
Here are some of the most important functions that project activity schedules are used for:
Having a detailed schedule of activities enables better supervision of the tasks that need to be performed to complete a certain project. In this way, it is possible to correct, or even avoid, delays or missed tasks.
For example, in a software project, the person in charge of controlling the schedule activities can see if the tasks are being completed in the stipulated time, or if there are any tasks that have delays.
By using an activity schedule in which the amounts of material needed to carry out each task are stipulated, it is possible to easily determine how much material and when it will be needed..
For example, in a construction project activity schedule, you can easily see by what date a certain amount of concrete will be needed. In this way, if you do not have the necessary amount of concrete in stock, you can buy the material in advance so that it is available when you need it..
Thanks to the use of an activity schedule, it is possible to detect in which part of the process there are more traffic jams, being able to solve these problems in time so that there are no delays.
For example, in a factory, if it is detected that there is a possible delay in the manufacture of an important part, more operators can be placed in that sector to help complete the task faster..
To carry out a schedule of activities for a project, the following steps must be followed:
The first thing to do to create an activity schedule is to define all the tasks that are necessary to complete the project.
In the event that the project involves different sectors of a factory or company, it is recommended that all the people in charge of the different areas of the same contribute with detailed information on the tasks to be carried out..
Next, the relationships that each of the activities to be carried out must be established..
This is done with the intention of avoiding possible conflicts or interruptions, as there may be certain tasks that depend on others. For this reason, the activities are classified as follows:
These activities are those that cannot be started until another activity is completed.
These activities are the ones that can start at the same time.
These activities are those that depend on the completion of a subsequent activity to start.
These activities are the ones that end at the same time.
In this step, you must define how long each of the activities takes separately. The established time is an estimate, although it should be as realistic as possible, since the reliability of the schedule depends on this..
By establishing these times, it will be possible to check if the activities are being carried out in the stipulated time, or if any adjustment or correction is necessary in any process to comply with the calendar.
Once the activities have been defined and linked with their respective duration times, the schedule is carried out. One of the most used forms for the preparation of activity schedules is the Gantt Chart, although there are also other formats.
As for the times, certain margins must be considered in each activity, since it is possible that unforeseen events may arise.
Additionally, in this step you can add the resources (materials and labor, among others) that each activity needs to be carried out..
Due to the fact that there are a large number of variables that can modify the pre-established times in the schedule, it is necessary to control both time and resources as the activities are carried out..
In this way, adjustments can be made to the schedule to correct some inconveniences that may arise, such as the relocation of resources, or the creation of new tasks..
Here are some examples of different project activity schedules:
The following example is a schedule of activities for a software project.
The following example is a research project activity schedule.
The following example is that of a thesis project activity schedule.
The following example is of a construction project activity schedule. In this particular case, that of a remodeling in a house.
The following example is that of a schedule of educational project activities.
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