What is Project Time Management

Project Time Management is another key knowledge area that includes the activities required to manage and complete the project on time. (PMBOK 5th Edition) Time / Schedule is mentioned under the iron triangle which makes it an important factor to define the status of a completed project as successful or unsuccessful. Clients expect vendors to complete the project on time, hence managing the time of a project has become a critical factor for the project management team.

As per the PMBOK, 6 key processes have been identified under Project Time Management. They are;

Plan Schedule Management

This is a subsidiary plan of Project Management plan. Under this, it establishes policies and methods on how to manage the schedule throughout the project life cycle. This maybe formal or informal and the complexity of this document depends on the complexity of the project.

Define Activities

Under this process, the project team has to list down the project activities that need to be completed in order to produce the project deliverables. Through this process, it breaks down the project work packages into smaller activities for time estimations.

Sequence Activities

Sequence Activities process supports the project management team to list the defined activities in a logical sequence in order to obtain the best efficiency to complete the project. Via this process, it gives out a clear picture of relationship between each activity.

Estimate Activity Resources

Once the activities are identified, the project management team can continue to work on identifying the required resource types and quantities to complete the project activities. Estimate Activity Resources process gives the team an idea of what type of resources and how much is required to complete the project activities. By doing so, the team can come up with more accurate cost and schedule estimates for project activities.

Estimate Activity Durations

After the above process is complete, project team can attend to this activity. When the required resources are estimated, base on the type and quantity of the resources, duration required to complete the project activities can be estimated. Based on the output of this process, the duration of the entire project can be calculated. (how long it will take to complete the project)

Develop Schedule

Developing the project schedule model is undertaken here. By considering the defined activities, estimated resources for those activities and the required time duration to complete those activities, the project schedule model is developed. This is a very important task since the entire project team will refer to this to review and track the project performance to see whether the project is ahead or behind the estimated schedule.

Control Schedule

Under the monitoring and controlling project process, schedule controlling takes place. This is to track the project status and update the project progress in terms of its schedule. By following this process, it reveals whether there any deviations from the planned schedule. If there are any deviations, then the project team can work on it to bring the project back to its planned schedule.

Below table shows under which Project Management Process Group the above processes are performed.

**Please note that each and every individual process mentioned above will be explained further separately.