In a highly competitive and fast-paced environment it is really difficult to manage changes to project scope. For this reason it is important to adopt practices that help companies to adapt to the varying needs of stakeholders. In fact, there are different types of project scheduling methods that support project managers to adjust their project plans according to new requests.
Iterative scheduling method
This scheduling method is useful to deliver incremental value to the stakeholders. In fact, in this case project leaders prioritize product requirements in order to produce additional value after a specific period of time.
Scrum takes advantage of this type of scheduling. In fact, Scrum projects have product backlogs which contain prioritized lists of the functionality to be developed in a product or service. In fact, user stories describe a piece of functionality from the point of view of the user.
The big benefit of this approach is that project leaders can easily address new changes. In fact, it happens without spending too much time or using complex change management processes.
On-demand scheduling method
In general, project scheduling involves defining the activities and tasks, estimating the activity durations and developing dependencies and relationships among the activities.
Project managers often use this type of scheduling for the projects that can evolve incrementally. Basically, the on-demand scheduling method is based on the lean manufacturing concept which requires that companies produce the products only when there is a demand. In fact, on-demand scheduling allows you to pull the work from a queue when the resources are available.
The big benefit of this approach is that this scheduling helps organizations to balance the demand against the workers’ output.
Keep in mind
Iterative scheduling method helps easily address new changes. Whereas, on-demand scheduling helps balance demand against the project team’s ability to deliver the expected results.
