Reflection from October Skills & Knowledge session with Peter George

Topic - “Planning & Scheduling”

By: Jeff Young, P.Eng.

On Saturday October 24, Peter George (AMEC Americas Inc.) presented "Planning and Scheduling Basics" to the Skills and Knowledge Workshop crowd assembled at the Nexen Tower Theatre. It was an engaging presentation and an excellent introduction to those with a new interest to the world of scheduling, and a valuable refresher to those who don't deal directly with the creation of schedules but must live with the aftermath.
Peter's overview outlined good schedule practice fundamentals and the importance of the schedule as a project management tool.

Key distinctions made by Peter:
1. The schedule is a tool that supports decision making, not just 'reporting'
2. Have structure with an appropriate level of detail
3. Being able to operate the software doesn't make you a planner, don't be a slave to the system
4. The schedule has to be believable

The controversial topic of Schedule Contingency was introduced. The concept for scheduling contingency is analogous to estimate contingency; accounting for what you don't know you don't know. While a new concept, this will likely become an important part of scheduling in the future.

AACEI Calgary Chinook would like to thank to Peter George for coming all the way from Saskatoon to present this program.

Planning is now underway for the 2010 Skills and Knowledge workshops. Different from the dinner lectures series, the goal of the S&K workshops is to present detailed education programs.

If you have suggestions for topics or are interested in presenting or sharing an area of your knowledge, please contact the This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it