Project Scheduling: Why Organizations Often Overlook this Critical Skill

When setting up a new project, the first question most sponsors will ask is, “What’s the fastest we can get this done?” Project scheduling is the process of creating a roadmap outlining the sequence of activities required to complete a project within a defined timeframe. It involves determining the start and finish dates for each task, estimating the duration of each activity, and identifying dependencies between tasks. Project scheduling is often overlooked or oversimplified due to a combination of factors, and the results can be disastrous – including major impacts on delivery timelines, project budgets, and stakeholder trust. Read on to learn more about some common factors that lead organizations astray when it comes to comprehensive project scheduling. 

Bias towards immediate results: Organizations often prioritize short-term outcomes and deadlines over the long-term planning required for effective project scheduling. This focus on immediate results can lead to a neglect of the planning phase, including scheduling. While this approach may allow teams to proceed more quickly at the outset of a project, it can backfire if schedules do not include proper networking and realistic duration estimations. 

Overreliance on technology: While project management software has made scheduling easier and more efficient than ever, organizations may become overly reliant on these tools. For example, it’s easy to set dependencies in a scheduling software once and forget to continue to review new dependencies as new tasks are added or new milestones are added into the picture. This overreliance on scheduling software can lead to a diminished emphasis on the underlying skills and principles of project scheduling. 

Lack of awareness: In some cases, organizational leaders may not fully understand the importance of project scheduling or may underestimate its impact on project success. For example, a leader may assume that because routine meetings are in play or tasks are assigned to owners, that the project is managed and there is little risk. Alternately, they might assume that the project schedule will depend on the client’s needs and cannot be pinned down at the outset. Without specific scheduling skills, it’s easy for leaders to fall into the fallacy of only managing tasks. Without this awareness, leaders may not prioritize the development of scheduling skills within their teams. 

Resource constraints: Organizations operating under tight budgets or with limited resources may prioritize tasks that directly contribute to revenue generation or cost savings. Project scheduling, seen as a supporting function rather than a revenue-generating activity, may be deprioritized in such environments. At the same time, failure to dedicate adequate attention to resource management could lead to schedules that over-allocate internal resources across projects, increasing the risk of schedule delays.  

Culture and leadership: Organizational culture and leadership style can also influence the importance placed on project scheduling. In environments where there is a culture of firefighting or reactive management, proactive planning activities like scheduling may not be given the attention they deserve. 

It is critical that organizations recognize the critical role of project scheduling in project success and allocate resources accordingly. This includes providing training and development opportunities for project managers and team members, promoting a culture of proactive planning, and ensuring that scheduling is integrated into project management processes from the outset. Additionally, organizational leaders should lead by example by emphasizing the importance of scheduling and supporting efforts to improve scheduling capabilities across the organization. Effective project scheduling is essential for ensuring that projects are completed on time, within budget, and according to specifications.