Few things bring me greater joy as a project manager (PM) than a beautifully built integrated master schedule (IMS). Every element of the project management triple constraint (time, cost, and scope) can be managed within the IMS – it truly does it all!
Project schedules are built from complex sets of task dependencies. In its simplest form, task dependency means that Task B cannot begin until Task A is completed. Of course, project dependencies are rarely so straightforward on real-life projects. Perhaps some portions of Task B can be completed in parallel to Task A, others can begin once certain milestones are hit in Task A, and some portions of Task B cannot even begin until Task A and the first steps of Task B are completed in full. If your head is spinning, that is exactly why the IMS exists – to define this complex network of interdependencies.
Building out a comprehensive, fully networked IMS takes time and patience, but the result is a slate of powerful project management tools that can help deliver your project faster, smarter, and with fewer surprises. Below are a few of the powerful tools a strong IMS can bring to your project.
Baselining
Nothing is worse for a PM than a constantly shifting goal. As a favorite graduate school professor of mine would say, it’s like trying to nail Jell-O to a tree; you aren’t going to succeed in meeting your goals if you can’t define what they are. A baseline creates a snapshot-in-time of the IMS against which later changes can be compared.
Project teams often show resistance to baselining their projects due to a miscomprehension that a baseline “sets things in stone.” Project baselines help create alignment around initial project goals and aspirations, but they by no means set things in stone. In fact, baselines can be reset as often as a project team deems necessary, though if a team is re-baselining their project every month, they are likely missing the point of the baseline.
Baselines provide important data for continuous project improvement. They allow the team to see, for example, that certain tasks routinely take 4-6 weeks longer to complete than originally anticipated, or other tasks routinely come in 20 percent above the baseline budget. This helps the team improve future project assumptions, while pinpointing potential blind spots or areas for improvement.
Critical Path Analysis
A project’s critical path represents the fastest possible journey to project completion. As described in the introduction, the network of dependencies in a complex life sciences project tends to be highly complex. The critical path helps a project team understand which tasks have more flexibility and which tasks, if delayed, will necessarily delay the project overall.
Critical path analysis is particularly important for projects with non-negotiable milestone dates like those driven by regulatory or funding requirements. If a project must be completed by December 31st, the critical path shows exactly how to get there. If earlier tasks on the critical path are delayed and push the project completion back beyond the end of the calendar year, the PM can assess the critical path to provide the leadership team with options for getting the project back on track.
Float Calculation
Float (sometimes referred to as “slack”) refers to the amount of time a task or activity can be delayed without affecting the project's overall schedule. Float calculation is typically used in conjunction with critical path analysis. Tasks on the schedule’s critical path will have a float of zero days, meaning there is zero flexibility for when a task must be completed without affecting the project’s overall schedule. Tasks not on the critical path have a float of at least one day.
Float helps project managers identify the flexibility within the project timeline. Some tasks not on the critical path will have minimal float, while others might have significant flexibility. Take a task with a duration of three days and a float of just one day. If the task takes four days to complete instead of three, the float will decrease to zero and the task will join the critical path. If the task takes five days to complete, it will delay the entire project schedule by one day while also redefining the project’s critical path.
Many project portfolio management (PPM) software platforms like Microsoft Project and Primavera automatically calculate float for every project task. This will change dynamically as some tasks are completed early while others are delayed. Project managers can use float to identify areas of risk and support the most efficient allocation of project resources.
Resource Planning
The name “Integrated Master Schedule” implies that the primary focus of the IMS is the project timeline, but an IMS can be an invaluable tool for resource planning and management as well. This extends to both financial and human resources. With the right project PPM software and stakeholder collaboration, the IMS can revolutionize resource planning at your organization.
From a financial perspective, the project schedule can help with financial planning as well as tracking baseline costs against actual costs. It can also help with projecting cashflow by mapping the project budget to the project timeline. However, it is important to note that integrating an organization’s project management and financial/accounting systems is a major undertaking; the extent to which the IMS can realistically be integrated with an organization’s financial systems will vary from one company to the next. Managing team members, on the other hand, is a standard feature of pretty much all PPM software.
From a staffing perspective, the project schedule helps assign, manage, and delegate work within a project team. It ensures resources are assigned to every project task, but more than that, it allows the PM to monitor individual staffing over time. For example, the IMS can highlight weeks or months when an individual team member is over-allocated. If the team wants to meet assigned project deadlines, that individual would need to work more efficiently (if possible), delegate work, or work overtime. For companies with advanced portfolio management, this insight can be collated across projects, highlighting potential conflicts where the same resource is needed on different projects at the same time.
Scenario Planning
With just a few clicks in IMS, a PM can provide the team with guidance on how different scenarios will impact project delivery. Perhaps the team wants to know what will happen if there are delays with a key partner, or how the addition of new scope would impact the timeline for achieving critical milestones. The PM can use the IMS to explore these scenarios, providing project leadership with the ability to make data-driven decisions.
In the end, the value the IMS can provide to project teams is limited only by stakeholder buy-in and PM imagination. Any of the tools listed in this article can be used independently or with others to deliver maximum value to project teams and organizational leaders. At MustardSeed, our PMs are experts at helping life sciences companies recognize the benefit of integrated master schedules, whether helping to build out a client’s first IMS or assessing how to take existing IMSs and other PM tools to the next level.