INTRODUCTION TO PROGRAM SCHEDULE MANAGEMENT

The purpose of this guidance material is to provide the Schedule Manager with work instructions for the management of schedules in a large Program of works.  The Schedule Manager on a large program will assist the Program Director with the development of the Program plan and then work extensively with Suppliers to develop component project plans.

The techniques provided in this document are generally applicable to Programs with total effort of 20,000 – 60,000 person days over 12 to 18 months.  At peak program activity the effort could be between 2000 – 8000 hours per week with a project team size of between 50 – 200 people.

In most organisations programs of this size would be considered once-in-a-decade, implementing core business changes which provide significant opportunity but also significant risks.

In the context of a large Program, the Schedule Manager has a key role in providing the Program Management Team a suite of governance deliverables to assist the project team and the organization meet their objectives.

Where applicable the guidance material has been aligned to PMBOK Guide Fifth Edition.  This guidance material can be used by a Schedule Manager as input for PMBOK 6.1 Plan Schedule Management.

This document also aligns to the PMBOK organisational project framework that states “Program Managers develop the overall plan and create high-level plans to guide detailed planning at the component level”.