Another option for accelerating the schedule is the changing of the quality specifications of the product. This is usually done as a scope change.
Making Up Time by Reducing Quality
At a midwestern university, a new building was being built, but it was behind schedule. To speed up the installation of the heating and cooling equipment, it was decided to make the zones of control larger, which meant that each floor would have fewer points where temperature was sensed and controlled and fewer air flow control boxes. The contract did not specify the zone size or how many control points were required on each floor of the building, so this change did not require a change in scope. As a result, when the sun is coming in on the south side of the building, those rooms get as much heat or cooling as the rooms on the north side, so they are often too hot. If the single temperature controller on each floor is set to a lower temperature, the rooms on the north side are too cold. The client for the building did not realize this change had been made until they were in the building for several months and the project was completed.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Progress can be measured by determining the percentage of resources expended, completion of activities by scheduled dates, milestones achieved, or fraction of activities accomplished. Standards used to measure progress, particularly when partial payment to contractors is concerned, should be specified in contract documents.
- Resource leveling is reallocating people and equipment to remove periods of overuse or underuse.
- Unplanned delays and costs can be anticipated by including contingency time and budget amounts where needed to keep the schedule on time. Resource allocation and resource calendars should be examined to determine if a resource is overcommitted. Free float can be used to delay noncritical activities that use the same resource to allocate its time more evenly. If it is necessary to accelerate the schedule, activities that are not on the critical path can be delayed using their free float and their resources can be moved to activities on the critical path to complete them sooner. Contingency resources can be committed to speeding up the activities. If necessary, the scope can be changed to bring in additional resources or lower the quality.
EXERCISES
- Accelerating the project schedule is also known as the project.
- Extra amounts of time and money that are built into the schedule to buffer against delays and extra costs are called time or funds.
- What might be a drawback to a reporting method that stated project progress as a fraction of activities completed?
- How does a manager accelerate a project by using free float?
Progress Reports
From the client’s point of view, describe what you think would be the advantages of each type of progress measurement.
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