December 14, 2011

I’m on pins and needles waiting for Mesa Verde to close.  The closing is scheduled for December 15th, wow that’s tomorrow but I feel like I’ve been pulling teeth with the Title company.  This is a cash transaction so blissfully I don’t have to wait for the mortgage company but I am so ready to close this thing.

I really want to get started on the project I’ve purchased some major elements, planned my color scheme and I know what needs to be done but now all I can do is wait, right?

Well not exactly, there are a few things that need to get done before I can start the project.  First and foremost I need a project schedule.  I have a budget which is one leg of the stool, I have a plan which is the second leg, now I need a schedule.

What’s the difference between a plan and a schedule?  A plan is like a mission statement, it’s the overall vision for the project, what it’s going to look like, the major activities that need to be completed, and a tentative completion date.  A schedule on the other hand is a detailed lists of tasks, activities, and dependencies with times attached that will get me from point A to point B and tell me realistically how long it will take to get there.  For instance, my schedule will show that I have to build in a 3 week delay from the completion of the foundation work to the installation of the drywall.  My challenge is to find tasks that are not affected by the foundation and complete those in the lag so the whole project can move forward.  I’m struggling for a good analogy to explain the difference, I guess a plan is like the satellite image on google earth and the schedule is like the road map.  You can get a general idea of where you need to go by looking at the satellite image but it would be pretty hard to navigate to a specific address with it.

I would argue that most renovation projects fail because they are managed with a plan instead of a schedule.  Hands down the most expensive part of any project is time.  Labor costs money, downtime is money spent for nothing, and opportunity costs and holding costs are silent killers that many first time renovators and sometimes veteran renovators fail to recognize.  I would also argue that building a project schedule and maintaining it is one of the most difficult parts of a project but trust me it is critical.  And yes, I know it’s boring and painful which is why I haven’t done it yet.  The official project start date is Monday so I have until then to build a schedule.

Stick with me, over the next few days I will take you through the nuts and bolts of building a project schedule and some of the tools that I use to manage a project.