5 Tips to Schedule like a Pro

I’ve personally worked with hundreds of successful companies around the globe as they’ve gotten started with ConstructionOnline, and I can tell you, Scheduling is the top area of concern for companies seeking a project management solution.

ConstructionOnline's construction project management software boasts the industry’s fastest online Scheduling with full-fledged Gantt Chart capabilities, Critical Path tools, calendar integrations, resource assignments, and more, allowing you to plan for success from start to finish. Here’s a few tips for creating professional, intelligent construction schedules every time:

Pro Tip 1: Create a Baseline at the start of every project.

A baseline captures a snapshot of your schedule in its current state and is used as a point of reference for comparison as your project progresses. This type of analysis provides you immense visibility regarding the accuracy of your schedule projections and where you are gaining/losing time, allowing for you to apply this insight to future project & business decisions.

Pro Tip 2: Use Milestones to track pivotal progress points.

Milestones are a unique type of task which represent occurrences that affect your project’s ability to continue moving forward, like inspections or selections’ approvals. The Time Elapsed dashboard in ConstructionOnline displays all milestones within your schedule and shows current progress in relation.

Pro Tip 3: Update construction schedules regularly.

Although it may seem like common sense, I frequently hear "we're great at creating the initial project schedule, but as it changes we get off track." This is a breakdown in essential communication for your project members and your clients, so make it a habit - take 10 minutes in the morning and 10 minutes in the afternoon to update the schedule and keep everyone in the loop.

Pro Tip 4: Review the Critical Path for task dependencies which directly impact project completion.

The Critical Path of your schedule is a sequential representation of key tasks which show the shortest possible duration in which the project can be completed. Analysis of tasks contained within the critical path determines top priorities for your team and optimal resource allocations.

Pro Tip 5: Build, Save, and Apply Schedule Templates.

ConstructionOnline lets you house an unlimited number of Schedule Templates in your account, giving you the flexibility to build custom templates for your individual project types. Applying templates in your construction projects increases efficiency and consistency across all jobs and all teams within your company. Even the most custom jobs follow a generalized workflow that can be easily taken from a template and adjusted to reflect longer durations or additional steps – saving you half the work (or more!) in the meantime. (And making sure nothing gets overlooked in the process.)

Your construction schedule is the driving force that ensures the necessary tasks are completed at the necessary times for a successful build. The goal of ConstructionOnline is to provide you the tools you need to be successful – time and again, our responsive, intelligent, accessible construction Scheduling software receives five stars from construction professionals who are now building better, smarter, and faster with ConstructionOnline.