Key Inputs for Building a Schedule

The first step in building a schedule is to review the key inputs. Let's make sure we are clear on these and where we are in the overall schedule development and planning process. To build a project schedule, you need five key inputs:

• WBS List of organized tasks, the work to be done (covered in Chapter 6, "Developing the Work Breakdown Structure").
• Effort estimates Amount of effort and time each task will take (covered in Chapter 7, "Estimating the Work").
• Task relationships The logical dependencies that exist between work tasks (depicted as the Sequence the Work step in Figure 8.1). We will review this step in this chapter.
• Resources The actual personnel and equipment needed to perform the work between work tasks (referenced throughout these Planning chapters, and covered in more detail in this chapter).
• Risk responses Measures taken to deal with the uncertainty surrounding effort and resource estimates. Usually, in the form of additional time (contingency buffer) added to the schedule.

Due to the amount of important information and the critical nature of two of these inputs (developing the WBS and estimating the work packages), we reviewed them in their own chapters. In this chapter, we will take these two key inputs together with the other three (sequencing the work, develop schedule, and finalize schedule) to develop a realistic schedule, as depicted in Figure 8.3.

Figure 8.3. The schedule development points to be reviewed in this chapter.