Subtitles of the Movie

As we begin to review the individual processes that make up the Time Management Knowledge Area you'll notice that the Schedule Management Plan is not an official output, however it exists and it's part of the Project Management Plan. So when is the Schedule Management Plan created? This movie will answer that question as well as what the plan contains. One of the many recurring themes within the PMBOK Guide is the creation of plans that guide the project team in carrying out the Project Management processes. These plans dictate what processes are carried out, how they're carried out and when. To reiterate my point, if you want to know how and when to do something chances are that the answer is in a plan. The plan doesn't magically appear although you'll likely use Templates from the organization's similar past projects. Oftentimes we see these plans created as an output of a process within a Knowledge Area if not the first process then typically by the second. However, in the cases that we don't see this the plan is created within the Develop Project Management Plan process, which is part of integration. We saw this process appear when we looked at the Time Management Knowledge Areas in our action with processes from other Knowledge Areas. This is a case with a Schedule Management Plan. It's created as part of the Develop Project Management Plan process which occurs early on within the planning process group. And don't forget that this process is iterative - as other plans are created they're added to the overall project management plan. Now that we've clarified where it's created let's move into the Contents. The exact Contents will vary by organization and project, but let's look at the items mentioned by the PMBOK Guide. First remember that these subsidiary plans that belong to the overall project management plan always serve as the guiding rule to the processes that belong to its corresponding knowledge area. With that in mind, let's look at these items specified by the PMBOK Guide. First the project management team will select the Scheduling methodology and document that methodology within the plan. We covered the Scheduling methodology earlier within this section. Next, the plan will document the Scheduling Tools selected for use by the project. Scheduling tools is another item that we covered within this section in great detail. In addition to the methodology and tools, the Schedule Management Plan documents the format of the Schedule. There may be several formats used depending on the types of reports and stakeholders who will be kept informed. This will all be outlined and clarified within the plan. A big item within the plan is the documentation of the tools and techniques used within the Time Management Knowledge Area processes. I had mentioned earlier that the subsidiary plans provide guidance to the processes: how they would be carried out, when, how often, by whom and so on. This is what is meant by this Content item. We have six processes within the Time Management Knowledge Area. All of the information that we will use and the tools, as well as the results, will be outlined within the Schedule Management Plan. This final item is pretty much covered by the previous one, which encompasses a lot, but the PMBOK Guide includes it as a separate note so I will here as well. The plan also establishes a criteria for developing and controlling the schedule. When considering and creating the Schedule Management Plan remember that you're not meant to recreate the wheel every time. Using Templates and plans from previous projects, especially those projects that are similar, allow you to become more efficient. You're also looking to learn from previous mistakes and successes. And that wraps up our review of the Schedule Management Plan. In closing, remember that this plan will have been created by the Project Management Plan prior to the first process within the Time Management Knowledge Area.