Picture the following (very common) scenario: a project manager marks a task as complete, only to find unexpected charges for time, materials, or expenses piling up the next week. Frustrating? Absolutely. It’s a common pitfall driven by the urge to check tasks off quickly. But rushing risks overlooking critical wrap-up steps, like administrative closeouts or... [Read More]| ProjectEngineer
Like the tiny O-rings that brought down the space shuttle Challenger, one small underestimation often results in a chain reaction that the project can't recover from. Poor estimation of activity durations is one of the leading causes of project failure. It’s the silent saboteur that turns promising plans into missed deadlines, strained budgets, and frazzled... [Read More]| ProjectEngineer
Download a free Gantt chart template for PowerPoint to show your project timeline. Perfect for stakeholder updates, kickoffs, and planning slides.| Rebel's Guide to Project Management
The Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) is a game-changer in project scheduling, offering a structured way to map out the flow of tasks and timelines. At its core lies the PERT chart, a dynamic visual tool that simplifies the planning and coordination of project activities, making it easier to spot dependencies and stay on... [Read More]| ProjectEngineer
Sometimes a single slide is all you get.| Rebel's Guide to Project Management
In project management, getting an early indication of problems is the silver bullet that allows the project manager to correct the problems before they start. The Schedule Performance Index, usually abbreviated as SPI, is one of the fundamental outputs of the Earned Value Management System. It tells the project manager how far ahead or behind... [Read More]| ProjectEngineer
Some projects are like boats without a paddle, drifting aimlessly at sea with little knowledge of what their final destination will be. Most of these projects do not end up at the destination that was planned. Project scheduling is the key to ensuring the original project plan and final project outcome are at least close... [Read More]| ProjectEngineer
Projects are like a ship cutting through stormy seas. Without a good map and a sharp captain’s eye, you’re bound to drift off course, plunder your resources, and sink under the weight of missed deadlines. A weak schedule is like a tattered sail, flapping in the wind of chaos. Without a steady hand and a... [Read More]| ProjectEngineer
A project manager that fails to allocate project resources is like a carpenter without a hammer. That's why estimating task resources is an integral step in project planning. It also happens to be one of the most fundamental aspects of project management, one of the steps that the project manager utilizes on a day to... [Read More]| ProjectEngineer
I once experienced a project horror story whereby a piece of equipment was snowed in at a previous project, delaying the project by several weeks until a transport vehicle could get to the stranded machine. Since there are relatively few of these around, the project either had to wait or additional costs had to be incurred... [Read More]| ProjectEngineer
If there's one part of project management that's bigger than all the rest, it's project scheduling. Since a project is a temporary endeavor with a defined beginning and end, defining when that end takes place and making sure it finishes on time are extremely important to any project, large or small. Professional project managers look... [Read More]| ProjectEngineer
Take a look at 3 methods to track percent complete. This is helpful information for all project managers.| Rebel's Guide to Project Management
Once the project has been divided into tasks and resources assigned to those tasks, the next step is to determine the task durations. This may seem trivial, but its importance cannot be understated because these durations will be used to construct the project schedule. Just like the tiny O-rings that brought down the space shuttle... [Read More]| ProjectEngineer
