Question

How frequent should schedule updating be performed?

Answer 1

Answer -

Frequency of Schedule Updating:

Since projects are taken up as temporary activities by organization, schedule updates can be handled on-site or virtually. The frequency of these schedule updates are determined by how often organizations require to track their project status. Once the project plan is in place, the timeline has been established and project goes live; the project manger then makes the decision of recording and updating schedule on a regular of weekly basis. The frequency of this depends on the current team and the plan they have in hand to execute. It is typical to have weekly updates, but daily updates are considered effective for very time-sensitive projects.

The essential objective is communication between the team. A good rule of thumb is once a week, but the project manager definitely needs his professional judgement. Any dynamic, vast, fast-moving project may need schedule updates daily. Some large projects, like in the construction or infrastructure industry or defense industries, have dedicated project schedulers ensuring the schedule is up-to-date and performing as expected. Ana a small and slow project with a small team can update the schedule on a monthly basis and it also proves to be sufficient. There are known plenty project managers who do schedule updates on a Friday afternoon. This is precisely because the project team comes can return to a updated schedule on Monday morning.

It really depends on the level of accuracy the project team and manager need on a day-to-day only to ensure that the information needed is accurate to deliver and execute the project between every schedule update. It is also proven helpful if the schedule updates are done weekly. An update of the project schedule before carrying out the reporting can be helpful to communicate with the people the most accurate information in the report.