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Project Scheduling & Cost Planning Skills

Project Estimation & Planning for your Organisation

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Why Choose This Course

The Project Scheduling & Cost Planning Skills training course equips project managers, planners and cost engineers to create realistic schedules, develop budgets and control project costs. It covers estimation fundamentals, scope definition and triple constraint management as foundations for plans aligned with approved project parameters. Delegates learn to manage resource constraints and incorporate risk into plans, enabling accurate measurement of schedule and cost performance. These disciplines directly influence whether projects are delivered within their authorised parameters.

Across five days, delegates progress from Critical Path scheduling and resource planning to schedule acceleration, PERT analysis and Critical Chain methods. They examine buffer management, earned value performance measurement, and schedule and cost variance analysis for rigorous monitoring and forecasting. Structured recovery planning provides a disciplined approach to projects that have moved away from their established baselines before reaching crisis point. The course builds an integrated analytical and practical capability for producing realistic plans, managing performance and recovering projects that deviate from schedule or budget.

This Project Scheduling & Cost Planning Skills training course will highlight:

Defining project scope and managing the triple constraint
Developing realistic estimates and project budgets
Applying Critical Path, PERT and Critical Chain analysis
Planning resources, managing buffers and accelerating schedules
Measuring earned value and forecasting schedule and cost variances
Incorporating risk and preparing structured recovery plans

Why Choose Project Scheduling & Cost Planning Skills

Course Goals

What are the Goals?

The Project Scheduling & Cost Planning Skills Course aims to build comprehensive capabilities in project scheduling and cost planning, encompassing estimation, budget preparation, risk management, performance measurement, and recovery analysis.

Upon completing this course, participants will be able to:

Describe fundamental project management definitions, triple constraints, and methods for project selection
Establish project scope and use cost and schedule estimation, cost budgeting, and Critical Path Method scheduling
Determine resource needs and differentiate between direct and indirect project costs
Plan and schedule constrained resources and assess schedule acceleration options, including crashing
Use risk identification, analysis, and management methods, including calculating contingency reserves
Use PERT analysis, probability, and standard deviation formulae when estimating project duration
Assess network activity risk profiles and use project risk strategies in schedule management
Use critical chain analysis and buffer management to compare balanced and unbalanced schedules
Measure actual and planned progress and handle variable conditions during project execution
Use schedule and cost variance analysis, trend analysis, variance forecasting, and structured recovery planning for project control

Who is this Training Course for?

This Project Scheduling & Cost Planning Skills training course is designed for:

Project Managers
Project Planners
Project Schedulers
Planning Engineers
Cost Engineers
Cost Estimators
Project Controls Engineers
Project Controls Managers
Programme Managers
Project Management Office Professionals

Learning Approach

How will this Training Course be Presented?

The Project Scheduling & Cost Planning Skills Course uses a structured, analytical learning methodology, progressing from estimation principles and Critical Path scheduling to budget preparation, risk management, critical chain analysis, performance measurement, and recovery planning. Each day develops directly from the preceding day, enabling delegates to build a complete and integrated capability in scheduling and cost planning over the entire course.

Applied exercises, including schedule preparation, PERT calculations, variance analysis, and recovery planning, are incorporated throughout, ensuring delegates gain practical, hands-on analytical capability together with conceptual knowledge.

Delivery methods comprise:

Instructor-led sessions addressing estimation principles, scheduling techniques, risk management, performance measurement, and recovery planning
Scope definition and Critical Path Method exercises that apply scheduling principles to the development of project networks
Resource planning and schedule acceleration workshops exploring limited resource scheduling, crashing analysis, and acceleration alternatives
Risk management and PERT sessions applying risk identification, contingency calculations, and probabilistic duration estimation
Critical chain and buffer management sessions contrasting balanced and unbalanced schedules
Recovery planning workshops producing schedule and cost recovery analyses and setting recovery baselines and controls

The Course Summary & Outline

Day 1

Project Estimating Basics
Day 2

Developing Project Budget & Schedule Control
Day 3

Managing the Risk
Day 4

Measuring Project Performance
Day 5

Managing and Recovering Project Estimates

Frequently Asked Questions

This course covers the core areas of project scheduling, cost planning, project estimation and organisational planning. It focuses on the planning skills needed to consider project timelines and costs together. The course context does not specify particular tools or methodologies.

The course builds skills related to project estimation, scheduling and cost planning. It is designed to strengthen your ability to approach project planning for an organisation. The available course description does not identify specific technical tools or assessment methods.

The course supports organisational project planning by focusing on estimation, schedules and planned costs. These areas provide a foundation for considering how a project will be organised before or during its execution. The supplied course information does not describe any organisation-specific models or processes.

Yes, project estimation is a stated part of the course focus. It is presented alongside project planning, scheduling and cost planning. The available information does not specify which estimating methods or calculations are taught.

You will learn about estimating and planning projects within an organisational context. The course addresses how scheduling and cost planning contribute to project preparation. Specific techniques, software and planning frameworks are not listed in the available course information.

This course is relevant to people who want to develop project estimation and planning skills for use in an organisation. It may suit professionals whose work involves considering project schedules, planned costs or both. No specific job titles, experience levels or entry requirements are provided.

Yes, the course title explicitly covers project scheduling and cost planning. It brings these subjects together with project estimation and planning for an organisation. No detailed breakdown of scheduling or costing topics is provided.

The main purpose is to develop project estimation and planning skills for organisational use. Its focus combines planning project schedules with considering project costs. Further details about course duration, delivery format or certification are not provided.