In Sunday’s workshop, we went over understanding the work plan and keys about reading and getting relevant data to help schedule and adjust project staffing. There were a few questions about understanding charts and schedules in way to answer questions effectively. In follow up, to visualize of work plans and schedules, I am including some exam tips, and links for understanding how to understand the concepts of scheduling and staffing plans.
Tips for reading charts/schedules:
- Reread question to know exactly what information is being asked for.
- When reading table, give yourself 1 minute to read headings, and understand purpose of the chart/schedule
- When answering the question, focus on keywords like “total” or “completion” to link answer to the table information
- Look for patterns within tables such as unusually high or small numbers, that could be clue to answer for a question.
- If the chart and questions don’t match in your mind after 2 minutes, and this is a multiple choice answer, then mark the question and come back when you finish easier questions. Each question is worth the same, so don’t over spend time on a question that you can come back to later after answering more familiar questions.
Links:
**“**Architect’s Handbook of Professional Practice” - Scheduling page 632-634
Archtoolbox - Construction Schedule Methods - Archtoolbox - not an official ARE resource but still helpful
**“**Architect’s Handbook of Professional Practice” - Project Staffing page 589
Some video references:
Useful videos for visualizing a staffing mix:
Staffing Mix
Developing Project Staffing Plan
The Basics of Project Cost Management - Project Management Training
And finally remember to take your time during study to understand tables, and plans. Your familiarity with a similar visualization will increase your comprehension time during an exam in a very helpful way.
Let me know any questions.