Here's how you can keep projects on schedule and within budget.

Communication is key! Regularly communicate project updates, roadblocks, and successes to all stakeholders to ensure everyone stays informed and aligned. Embrace flexibility. While a thorough plan is essential, be prepared to adapt it as unexpected situations arise. Effective project management requires agility and the ability to course-correct when necessary.

As a project scheduler, one of my biggest concerns when joining a project is when there is not a clear path forward. Yes, some things can only be figured out along the way, but elements like a solid design, thorough project management plan, risk register, change management plan, and early identification and investment from key stakeholders go a long way in setting a project up for success. Often times the first information a scheduler receives is "we need to meet this date [fill-in-the-blank]" followed by a session to figure out how to cram everything in and accomplish that. While a backwards pass can help in that scenario, the better option is to share the project plan and map out the work of all parties involved.

A thorough study of the project's design stages results in adhering to the scope of work and avoiding change orders. Consequently, the project will be successful, completed on schedule, and within the specified budget.

Understand the scope, the time window, budget,Contractual obligations, key clauses, the resource requirements and stakeholders' expectations. At the outset have the integrated plan ready and keep it aligned with the business objectives. Communication Management is essential. Practise precise, timely and targeted communication to the stakeholders.

The most important think to start a project is risk planning. Makesure you know the potensial roadblock ahead and prepare how to mitigate. Always prepare A-B-C optional plan to avoid progress stuck. Be always prepare resources plan in A-B-C optional plan to reduce potential resources overbudget.

Resource allocation is pivotal in managing a project's budget and schedule. Carefully assess what human, financial, and material resources you'll need and allocate them judiciously. Avoid over-committing your team by realistically estimating the time and effort required for each task. Monitor resource usage throughout the project to ensure you're on track and make adjustments as necessary. By balancing the workload and managing resources efficiently, you can prevent burnout and overspending.

Resource allocation is done at the WBS stage and on EPC style projects we build up CTRs for key activities mainly in the detailed engineering components. The project plan then represents these CTRs and percentage resource requirements from them allowing both series and parallel activities for optimum use of my available resources. The CTRs are updated daily for all agree planned deliverables and graphically represent 'to go' time and costs.

Efficient resource allocation ensures the right people are assigned to the right tasks, preventing delays and burnout. Monitoring resource use allows for adjustments to keep projects on track.

Resource Management: Allocate resources (human, financial, equipment) efficiently based on project requirements. Supplier Contracts: Negotiate contracts with suppliers and subcontractors to ensure competitive pricing and timely delivery. Plan your procurement in a standardized way that includes time for approving purchase/service orders from client or our yown. Contingency Planning: Set aside contingency funds and resources for unexpected costs or delays. Quality Assurance: Invest in quality materials and equipment to minimize rework and ensure project durability. Monitoring and Control: Implement systems to monitor resource usage and adjust allocations as needed. Use best practices at hand including those from the PMI.

Preparing a schedule is just a start, how much your schedule is adaptive to the changing philosophies is what matters. - Try to capture all major activities in your preliminary schedule. - Monitor your critical path as the first activity. - Raise proactive alarms to the decision makers or the management without any fear of interjections from the middle management. - Avoid linkage changes as much as possible once the schedule is baselined. Just try to capitalise on the dates and its integrity. - additional scope or man-hours should always be managed in separate WBS confined for amendment purpose only.

All Capital Projects should have a project execution plan (PEP) that includes every facet of the project, including a communications plan. This plan highlights all the key stakeholders and frequency of reports, progress meetings, client commercial meetings for invoices and in house senior management reporting.

Effective communication throughout a project ensures everyone involved is aligned and working towards the same goals. This transparency minimizes misunderstandings, delays caused by rework, and ensures resources are allocated efficiently. Regular updates on progress, challenges, and changes keep stakeholders informed and allow for proactive adjustments to stay on schedule and within budget. Open communication also fosters trust and collaboration, enabling team members to identify and address issues promptly, preventing them from snowballing into larger problems that could derail the project.

In order to foster optimal collaboration among team members, it is essential for each member to understand and uphold their respective duties and responsibilities while avoiding unnecessary conflicts over tasks. This can be achieved by implementing regular meetings, whether on a daily or weekly basis, to ensure that communication channels remain open and effective. Providing all team members with access to updated information is also crucial in facilitating successful communication management within the team and driving the project towards success.

It is extremely important to understand your audience when communicating with the stakeholders and be ready to provide the required level of information based on need, stakeholder understanding and the the significance of the information to that stakeholder. In order to effectively communicate with the stakeholders, it is important to identify them properly throughout the project and provide them the level of information which will be digestible and appreciated, once understood. With the right information provided to the right audience will have the most powerful impact in controlling the schedule and cost and also keeping the stakeholders satisfied.

Even a good progress may also be misleading if critical path activities are not monitored properly. Realistic planning and budgeting, proper resource allocation, effective communication, proper risk management, proper change management, earned value analysis are some strategies to keep a project on schedule and within budget.

Continuous monitoring allows you to catch deviations from the plan early on. Implement a system to track progress against your established milestones and budget. Use project management tools or software to maintain visibility on all aspects of the project. Regular check-ins with your team can help identify challenges quickly, allowing for timely interventions. By keeping a close eye on progress, you can make informed decisions to keep the project moving forward as planned

Establish dashboards with thoughtful KPIs that can give a good indicator of trends for schedule and cost. Carefully thought and researched dashboards can shows clear deviations and slippages by using powerful visuals and thus gives hints to underlying problems or at-least a high level direction to drill down more in the areas that need more attention. More focused and detailed dashboards and trackers can be created for such critical areas that will give visibility to the team on the areas that can be improved. Such dashboards can be automated to pick up daily from the field data and will help the management and team in making appropriate decisions.

Your project controls plan should define/inclue: Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): Track budget, schedule, quality, and safety with Earned Value Management for cost and schedule performance. Use dashboards for clear progress monitoring. Regularly assess KPIs to gauge project performance. Quickly address scope creep and deviations via clear communication and change orders. Identify and resolve issues promptly. Develop strategies to adjust resources or timelines to maintain project alignment.

Flexibility is one of the key factors to successful project management. To stay on track and within budget, embrace change and adapt quickly. Monitor project progress regularly and be ready to adjust plans when unexpected challenges arise. Encourage a culture of agility where team members can pivot and find innovative solutions. Prioritize tasks based on current needs and resources, and remain open to feedback. By staying flexible and responsive, project managers can navigate uncertainties effectively and keep projects moving forward

While it may not be possible to completely avoid risks in any project, maintaining an up-to-date Risk Register is a proactive step that can significantly reduce their impact. By staying vigilant and regularly updating the register with new risks and mitigation strategies, project managers can increase the chances of project success. Ultimately, a well-maintained Risk Register can help keep the project on course and ensure that any potential risks are addressed in a timely and effective manner.

Based on my experience working in the project management department, ensuring projects stay on schedule and within budget involves detailed planning with clear objectives, task breakdowns, and realistic timelines. It requires efficient resource management, comprehensive budgeting with regular expense tracking, and thorough risk assessments with mitigation strategies. Effective communication through regular updates and transparent reporting, utilizing project management tools for planning and monitoring, systematic change management, and strict quality control are essential. Additionally, embracing continuous improvement by learning from experiences and fostering a culture of enhancement is crucial.

Involve all stakeholders from the start. This is pertinent as one stakeholder can feel left behind and make life miserable for the implementing team. This happened in one project where one of the chiefs felt sidelined and made the project to have challenges to prove his fortress. Always be at the look out and always budget for unforeseen to manage this situation

It is imperative to consistently update the client regarding the implications of any alterations made during the execution phase. This proactive measure is crucial in order to prevent any potential budgetary expansions and prolonged project timelines. By keeping the client well-informed about the consequences of changes, we can effectively mitigate any adverse effects and maintain a smooth and efficient project progression.

In order to avoid cost scope creep, cost and schedule overrun; it’s mandatory to identify all objectives, key stakeholders and all activities through WBS and plan everything accordingly.