Step 11: Reschedule & Review

Step 11: Reschedule & Review

Once the schedule has been developed, it should be rescheduled and the outcomes reviewed with the Project Team. This is a collaborative step — the team's knowledge and buy-in at this point is critical to producing a schedule that is both realistic and accepted.

Information to Review with the Project Team

• Project duration and end date(s)
• Activity durations, start and finish dates
• Is all the scope included?
• Does the schedule reflect agreed delivery strategies and is it aligned with the top-down summary schedule?
• Critical path and total float (see below)

Critical Path

There should be a clear, identifiable, continuous, and realistic critical path from the status date to the project completion date(s). The critical path is defined by ISO 21500 as: "the sequence of activities that determine the earliest possible completion date for the project or a phase of the project."

• The critical path should be well understood and make sense. Understanding the CP allows the team to better manage the activities, risks, and opportunities most likely to impact the end date.
• Parallel critical paths and near-critical paths with the potential to become critical must also be considered and understood.

The critical path should not include LOE (Level of Effort) activities, lags, unusually long duration activities, or constraints that force unimportant activities onto the CP.

• Assess the percentage of activities on the critical and near-critical path — a higher number places greater risk on achieving the project's end date.

Total Float

Projects are dynamic — activities that have float at the start can become critical later. Always review time-saving opportunities across the whole schedule, not just on the critical path.

• Time savings are achieved through new logic and sequencing — additional resources, parallel activities, earlier access, or alternate design or delivery methodologies — not through unrealistic production rates.
• Activities with unreasonably high float may indicate missing logic. Review and correct.

Negative Float