4.0 Manage the Schedule

(4.0.P1)

You have now completed the following work:

  • Defined the program resulting in a Program Charter

  • Determined how you will manage the work in the Program Management Plan

  • Built a program schedule to tell you how you will complete the work using an underlying set of projects

  • Created a program budget that represents the estimated cost of the program

All of these planning deliverables should have been approved. Now you are ready to start executing the projects within the program.

The program schedule contains two main components - the work of the Program Office to manage the program, and the work of the underlying projects to build the deliverables of the program. The program manager manages the program schedule to ensure the program finishes within the estimated deadline.

The schedule represents your best-guess at any particular point in time on how to complete the remaining work of the program. The state of the current and remaining work are continually subject to change. That is why managing the program schedule is such an important skill. The program manager must evaluate the schedule on an ongoing basis (weekly or bi-weekly) and determine the current state of the program. Based on the current state of the program and the current understanding of the work remaining, you may need to re-plot a course that will allow the work to be completed within the original budget and deadline.

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4.1 Manage the Program Schedule / Process

4.2 Manage the Program Schedule / Techniques

4.3 Managing a Project Schedule within a Program

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