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$200K+ Scheduling Jobs, Own Your Actions, and Setting Team Goals

$200K+ Scheduling Jobs, Own Your Actions, and Setting Team Goals

Micah Piippo
March 17, 2025

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Welcome back to Beyond Deadlines newsletter—a free perk for people looking to improve in Planning and Scheduling. Each week, we provide tactics, prompts, jobs and food for thought. We want you to succeed today, tomorrow and throughout the rest of your career.

That you carry your own weight in this world, that is all we ask. That you own your own actions. Certainly when you’re a leader. The buck stops with you. Always. “It’s not my fault.” “It’s not my problem.” “Don’t blame me.” These are not phrases that can exist in your vocabulary. Not if you want to be great.

Courage is Calling by Ryan Holiday

5 Steps for Setting Goals for Your Team as a Scheduling Manager

1. Align Goals with Project Objectives

Before setting goals for your team, ensure they align with the overall project objectives. Your schedule drives the project, so your team’s goals should reflect critical milestones, deliverable timelines, and resource constraints. Define how scheduling can enhance efficiency, mitigate risks, and keep the project on track.

Actionable Tip: Start with a project kickoff meeting to clarify key priorities and expectations, ensuring alignment between scheduling targets and project needs.

2. Make Goals Specific and Measurable

Vague goals lead to confusion and inefficiency. Define clear, measurable objectives that allow your team to track progress. Instead of “Improve schedule accuracy,” aim for “Reduce schedule slippage by 10% within six months.”

Actionable Tip: Use SMART criteria—Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound—to frame each goal clearly.

3. Foster Team Buy-in and Accountability

A goal is only effective if your team understands its importance and feels motivated to achieve it. Engage your schedulers in the goal-setting process to ensure buy-in and commitment. Define roles, responsibilities, and accountability measures for each goal.

Actionable Tip: Hold one-on-one check-ins to address concerns and ensure team members understand how their contributions impact project success.

4. Implement Tools and Metrics for Progress Tracking

A well-defined goal is ineffective without a way to measure success. Utilize scheduling software, dashboards, and performance metrics to track progress. Key performance indicators (KPIs) such as schedule adherence, resource utilization, and milestone completion rates help gauge success.

Actionable Tip: Use simple tracking tools like spreadsheets, shared dashboards, or task management software to monitor progress and flag potential issues early. Ensure these tracking tools are shared with the broader group to maintain transparency and alignment.

5. Adjust Goals Based on Feedback and Performance

Construction schedules are dynamic, and so should your goals. Regularly review progress, identify bottlenecks, and adjust targets as necessary. Encourage open communication and continuous improvement to refine your scheduling processes.

Actionable Tip: Conduct monthly retrospectives to assess goal effectiveness, celebrate successes, and refine strategies for upcoming phases.

Final Thought

Effective goal setting as a Scheduling Manager ensures project efficiency, reduces delays, and fosters a high-performing team. Sharing progress tracking with the broader group enhances transparency, promotes collaboration, and keeps everyone aligned toward project success. When your scheduling team operates with clear, strategic objectives, the entire project benefits from improved predictability and execution. Start small, track progress, and continuously adapt to maximize impact.

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Calculate Start Variances

Copy and paste this prompt into ChatGPT, Gemini or Claude.

Act like an experienced construction scheduler with expertise in project planning, scheduling analysis, and delay impact assessment. You have extensive experience in comparing and analyzing project schedules to identify differences in start dates for each activity.

You will be provided with two construction schedules. Your job is to;

extract and list all activities from both schedules along with their unique activity ID and start dates
compare the start dates of each activity between the two schedules
calculate the difference in start dates for each activity schedule 2 start date minus schedule 1 start date
generate a structured table displaying the following details
- activity ID unique identifier
- activity name
- schedule 1 start date
- schedule 2 start date
- difference in days
if an activity exists in one schedule but not in the other, clearly indicate "Not Present" in the missing column
provide insights
- highlight major delays or advancements in the schedule
- summarize key findings, such as activities that have changed significantly