The saying “A goal without a plan is just a wish (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry) is an on-point summary of why good project scheduling is needed for successful execution. It provides a roadmap to guide your team from kickoff to completion. For SaaS and tech companies, especially, where speed to market is critical, project scheduling becomes a necessary first step. There’s data to back it up, too.
According to a McKinsey Global Institute study, large technology projects run 45 percent over budget and 7 percent over time. Organizations that excel at project scheduling are 20% more likely to deliver projects on time and within budget.
Let’s walk through how to build a robust schedule using practical examples that help maintain project progress and accountability.
What is a project schedule?
A project schedule is a time-based plan that outlines tasks, milestones, deadlines, and resource allocation to guide its execution from start to finish. Use this approach at the beginning of a project to visualize the project workflow:
- Break it down into simple steps
- Outline the start and end dates for each task
- List the resources needed
- Assign task owners
- Determine cross-team dependencies for tasks
For example, the project schedule for a SaaS company that’s launching a new analytics dashboard will need tasks like UI design, backend integration, QA testing and deployment, with assigned task owners and deadlines.
5 key steps to create a project schedule
Every PM, at the start of a new or large project, needs to create order from the many steps that need to be managed. This can often seem like a daunting task. Where do you start to build an effective project schedule?
Luckily, it’s a solved science, and you can tackle it with the right skills. Here’s how to create a project schedule in 5 easy steps:
1. Define and list every activity
Break this into smaller, manageable tasks or activities by using a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) approach.
Example: For a new mobile app, this list could be as follows:
- User persona generation
- Wireframe and prototype design
- Frontend development for the login screen
- Backend API development for user authentication
- Quality assurance testing for the login flow
- Submitting the app to the app stores
| 💡Pro tip: Team brainstorm sessions are a great way to capture all critical tasks.Use project scheduling software to record and organize these tasks. |
2. Estimate the time taken for each activity
Use past project data, expert judgment, or techniques like the Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) to get this rolling. Some other techniques you can consider are:
- Analogous estimation: Based on the time taken for similar activities from past projects
When to use:
- In the early stages of project planning
- Project requirements are unclear or changing
- Quick, ‘ballpark’ figures or ‘guess-timates’ are asked for
- Parametric estimation: Uses historical data and project metrics to calculate time
When to use:
- With reliable data from previous projects
- The project involves repetitive, scalable tasks
- Statistically sound estimates are required
- Three-point estimation:
- Determines three estimates for each task: optimistic (O), most likely (M) and pessimistic (P).
- Calculate the final estimate using: (O + 4M + P) / 6.
When to use:
- When there is a high degree of uncertainty or risk
- There is limited historical data from past projects
- Realistic and achievable timeline that has all potential issues factored in
| 💡Pro tip: Get realistic timelines from your team to help in planning. Understand and document the reasons for these estimates. |
3. Identify dependencies and logically sequence tasks
You can easily see task order and its overlap with tools like Gantt charts or Kanban boards.
There are four main types of dependencies:
- Finish-to-Start (FS): Task B does not start until Task A is complete
- Example: New feature testing doesn’t start until development is complete
- Start-to-Start (SS): Task B can start when Task A has started
- Example: The marketing campaign for a new product begins simultaneously with the final round of testing
- Finish-to-Finish (FF): Task B cannot be completed until Task A is completed.
- Example: Social media campaigns for a product won’t go live until all content is reviewed and ready
- Start-to-Finish (SF): Task B cannot be completed until Task A has started (rare cases)
- Example: Shutting down an old production environment (Task B) has to happen only after transitioning to a new one (Task A)
Learning how to streamline your project’s task dependencies is thus a critical part of project management.
| 💡Pro tip: Map dependencies using tools like Gantt charts.Visualize project workflow and spot blocks and issues in your plan |
4. Assign people, tools and budgets to each task
Avoid employee burnout by being careful about how you use your people. Allocate resources (like tools and platforms) carefully to stay within your budget.
Example: For a website redesign project, resources may be used for:
- UI/UX design
- Frontend development
- Backend development
- Website copywriting
- QA testing
- Payments for design tools, task management and/or cloud server software
| 💡Pro tip: Get real-time views on who is working on what and when in the resource management features of your scheduling software. |
5. Set major checkpoints or milestones
Review progress on completing a major phase or deliverable.
Example:
- Project kickoff meeting completion
- UI/UX design approval
- Version 1 is ready for internal testing
- Beta version deployed
- Feature launch
| 💡Pro tip: GANTT charts and visual charts are great to keep track of milestones. Keep them visible to the team and celebrate achievements! |
Manage like a pro: 6 great tools for scheduling projects
A good project management tool is important, especially when collaboration and real-time updates are needed. Picking the right tool can be critical in controlling the project scheduling process. Here are six popular tools for project scheduling:
| Tool | Key Features | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Jira | Boards, timelines, dependencies, reporting, sprint planning and roadmaps | Agile SaaS/tech teams |
| Asana | Custom workflows, task dependencies, management and visualizing timelines | Cross-functional teams |
| Monday.com | Automation, integrations and data visualization | Small, medium and large-sized teams |
| Smartsheet | Gantt charts, resource management, reporting, and a spreadsheet-like tool | Small and medium-sized teams |
| Trello | Kanban-style tool for visualizing workflows and resource management | Small and scaling teams |
| Microsoft Project | Workload analysis, budgeting, and resource management | Enterprise environments |
Picking the right tool is one of the most critical decisions for the project manager to make. Popular project management platforms excel at planning workflows, tracking progress, and enabling team collaboration, but they rarely address the effort required to prepare stakeholder-facing updates.
4 tips to improve scheduling efficiency
Crafting an effective project schedule requires careful assessment and follow-up of all the tasks and teams involved. Here are four things to try to make this smoother.
- List and prioritize tasks using WBS: Focus on key tasks by using techniques like the MoSCoW method (Must have, Should have, Could have, Won’t have)
- Monitor the critical path: Add buffer time (float) for unexpected issues. Regularly review critical tasks that impact deadlines.
- Automate reminders, updates and reporting: Avoid repetitive manual tasks with appropriate project scheduling tools.
- Set achievable and realistic timelines: Account for team capacity, changes in business priorities, reassignment of personnel and resources and holidays. Do regular progress check-ins and status updates.
Deal with the unexpected: Handling schedule changes and delays
No matter how well you plan your project schedule, changes and delays are bound to happen. Here are 3 ways you can handle exceptions.
- Track scope changes and identify the impact: When new requirements come up, see how they impact dependent tasks, the overall budget, and re-prioritize tasks as needed.
- Use float carefully: Apply buffer times to absorb delays without throwing off the overall project timeline.
- Review and update: Review progress at milestones and after project completion, and identify what went well so you can use it in the future.
Planning for success with project schedules
In the end, the difference between project failure and success is how well you manage your resources. Creating an efficient project schedule for the team requires a structured approach: defined activities, task timelines, task sequencing, resource allocations and progress milestones.
Something to remember is that the components of a project schedule are interconnected – a change in one task can impact others downstream. You can use project scheduling tools to get more predictable outcomes and better productivity, while also being flexible with changes and unplanned activities.
With a project schedule that keeps you on track, you can focus on what’s important: team collaboration, project success and business growth.
FAQs
Q1. What is the critical path in project scheduling?
The critical path is the longest sequence of dependent tasks that determines the shortest possible project duration. Any delay in a task on the critical path will delay the entire project.
Q2. How often should a project schedule be reviewed?
The project schedule should be reviewed regularly to spot issues, although the frequency depends on the phase and kind of project:
- Agile/ software projects: Daily or weekly (15-minute stand-up meetings or sprint reviews)
- Traditional projects: Bi-weekly or monthly review
- At key milestones: At the end of each major phase identified in the project schedule
- During high-risk phases: More frequently (2-3x a week) or maybe even daily
Q3. Can Gantt charts improve project scheduling?
Yes, Gantt charts provide a visual representation of the project timeline. They map tasks, durations and dependencies, making it easy to spot issues quickly. They are great for tracking progress and reporting.
Q4. How do dependencies affect a project schedule?
Dependencies dictate the order of tasks. This is an important component of a project schedule. Delays in dependent tasks can affect the entire project. Identifying and managing dependencies is important to keep the project on track for delivery on time and on budget.