During the execution of a turnaround, the schedule is in a very real sense the checking account for the event. The schedule contains both financial and legal implications and is the conduit through which deposits and withdrawals are transacted every hour of every day. It is either the playbook creating team synergy or a book of riddles harboring a litany of waste and missed opportunities. It is either the main topic of discussion in team meetings and in the field or a catalyst for miscommunication.
One primary reason scheduling has not lived up to its potential is the lack of subject matter training and expertise among managers who supervise schedulers. Taking someone who is great at cost analysis or planning or execution and assigning them to manage the scheduling program is the equivalent of taking a great soccer referee and assigning him to officiate basketball: It doesn't yield the same results.
Those who manage schedulers owe it to themselves to receive proper training in the management of at least 10 key areas:
Technical evaluation of scheduler skills and knowledge. There are numerous "certificate holders" these days, with the bad ones significantly outnumbering the good ones. Many poor schedulers interview well and can navigate the scheduling software but are incapable of project management.
- Management of scheduling software settings and preferences. It would not be an exaggeration that not one out of 100 managers would know which application settings to choose in their scheduling software based on contract style and provisions. This can make contract administration unnecessarily tougher.
- Logical sequence of schedule development. It matters greatly how a schedule is put together. Following a logical sequence can make the scheduling process easier for the scheduler, give more functionality to the completed schedule and reduce the amount of rework for the scheduler.
- Measuring scheduler productivity and forecasting scheduler completion. Producing quality schedules is time consuming. Data entry and organization, activity coding, logic tying, calendar assignments, review sessions and the like must all be done. Managers must have a good grasp of what has to be done, how long it should take and whether schedulers are working productively.
- Critical path verification and management. Even though critical path management has become rudimentary to the turnaround scheduling profession, there is still a surprising number of managers who are not able to distinguish between critical activities and critical path, leading to confusion regarding where priority should be placed.
- Density management. How often have we seen it? The turnaround team goes to great lengths to ensure accuracy in the quantification of the resources of labor, equipment and materials, but still struggle during execution due to guessing about the critical resource of space, which should have been quantified and managed scientifically.
- Tracking and managing schedule compliance. The degree of schedule compliance is the degree of schedule success. Schedule compliance can be improved significantly if it is managed with skill.
- Enforcing scheduling best practices. Turnaround scheduling is the most challenging and advanced in the industry, thanks to techniques that have been developed over time. Without the understanding and enforcement of these best practices, erosion can replace the beneficial advancements.
- Schedule recovery and team realignment. Even the most perfect schedule must still be executed in an imperfect world. Due to productivity variances, work sequence changes and scope changes, schedules routinely must be revamped or recovered. The challenge is how to accomplish this while maintaining team alignment and confidence in the schedule.
- Report writing best practices. Which key performance indicators should be included in the executive report? Which crafts should be excluded from the turnaround performance curves? Which tiers should be included in the drill-down report for optimal management analysis and decision making?
If you depend heavily on the product of schedulers, attaining efficiency in the management of these 10 key areas will lead to dramatic improvement in turnaround schedule execution.
For more information, contact Onpoint at (281) 461-9340, email sales@onpoint-us.com or visit www.Onpoint-us.com.
