The project scheduling conundrum
There are two current initiatives focused on creating a career path for schedulers and developing a basic training framework for teaching scheduling.
The first is the creation of The International Guild of Project Planning, Controls & Delivery (The Guild) within the overall Planning Planet community. The objectives of The Guild are:
For the profession
- To align global and industry variations in planning standards, methods and norms
- To have regional Centres of Excellence, run transparently by the community
- To have a globally recognised suite of best practices or standards
- To support the ongoing efforts of existing professional bodies and organisations
For planners
- To have their skills independently assessed and publically recognised
- To have employers be able to validate that their skills are proven
- To have their colleagues recognise their level of capability
- To have the opportunity for continued professional development/career path
- To have the opportunity to seek technical/training scholarships/mentoring
For employers
- To have a pool of proven and graded professionals from which to employ
- To have means of confidentially benchmarking the company planning or project team
- To have a reference to complement internal corporate competence systems/standards
This is a huge ongoing effort that should over time create an integrated framework for the planning and scheduling profession. It is a volunteer-driven process and assistance is welcome.
Scheduling credentials
The second key initiative, driven by the recognition that planning and scheduling skills in the construction industry are severely lacking, is the development of a credential framework by the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB). The CIOB has completed the publication of the Guide to Good Practice in the Management of Time in Complex Projects (The Guide) and is now working on a series of planning and scheduling credentials.
The Guide was developed as a scheduling reference document capable of wide application. It is a practical treatise on the processes to be followed and standards to be achieved in effective management of time. It can be used in any jurisdiction, under any form of contract, with any type of project and should be identified as the required standard for the preparation and updating of contract programs, progress reporting and time management.
With this foundation in place, CIOB is working to develop new contracts that encourage the proactive management of time and will launch the first of a three-level series of credentials in 2012.
The CIOB Project Time Management Certificate (PTMC) is an examination-based credential with no prerequisites where training courses are optional. The knowledge to be tested is schedule development and analysis based on a PDM network and The Guide. The examination will be in an online multiple choice format.
It’s early days, but I believe over the next couple of years planning and scheduling will start to emerge as a structured profession within the overall ambit of project management. This will be aided if the current willingness of the different organisations involved in the development of the profession to work collaboratively continues into the future.
The only way to solve the ‘scheduling conundrum’ is for the profession to collectively develop effective people through training and accreditation, and from this foundation develop a strong voice that can be heard by general management and project management.
Pat Weaver is the author of a series of articles that draws together these emerging developments and provides readers with useful information to help in this process.
