Best Practice 1: Capturing All Activities

Best Practice 1: The schedule should reflect all activities as defined in the program’s work breakdown structure (WBS), which defines in detail the work necessary to accomplish a program’s objectives, including activities both the owner and contractors are to perform.

A schedule represents an agreement for executing a program. It should reflect all activities (for example, steps, events, required work, and outcomes) that will accomplish the deliverables described in the program’s WBS. An IMS should be based on critical path method scheduling that contains all the work represented in logically linked activities representing the execution plan. At its summary level, the IMS gives a strategic view of activities and milestones necessary to start and complete a program. At its most detailed, the schedule clearly reflects the WBS and defines the activities necessary to produce and deliver each product. The detail should be sufficient to identify the longest path of activities through the entire program.