Control schedule is a process in project management that involves monitoring the status of activities related to a particular project. Aside from monitoring the status, it also involves updating of the project process as well as managing the changes to the schedule in order to achieve the plan.
Comparing the progress of the project against a scheduled baseline allows project managers to determine if a particular project activity is ahead or behind the schedule. Project managers can then plan on corrective actions to manage the changes to the baseline schedule. This will reduce the risk of delivery of the products or services especially when it is managed well.
The control schedule process is part of the controlling and monitoring process group of project management. The key principle of this process is that the changes should not just be reacted to but should also be controlled proactively. This task falls on the project manager and it is important that the project manager acts immediately before the changes affect or influence the entire project schedule.
Another aspect of the control schedule process is that it manages the expectations of the stakeholders by means of giving them advice when work needs to be performed including the type of work and its duration. It is carried out throughout the entire project after the schedule has been developed until all the activities have been completed.
It is important to know the actual performance of the schedule. Any schedule baseline can be approved using the Perform Integrated Change Control process. With the control schedule process, it allows project managers to determine the status of the project schedule, conducting reviews, reprioritizing remaining work plan, determining that there is indeed a change of the project schedule and managing actual changes.
This term is defined in the 5th edition of the PMBOK.
