🏗️ Phase 1: The Foundation (Environment & Setup)

Before touching a schedule, you must understand where it lives.

Module 1: Navigation & Structure

• Understanding the EPS (Enterprise Project Structure) vs. the WBS (Work Breakdown Structure).
• Navigating the Layout: Customizing Columns, Gantt Charts, and Toolbars.
• The OBS: Connecting organizational responsibility to project nodes.

   

  Module 2: Project Architecture

• Creating a New Project: Settings for "Planned Start" and "Must Finish By" dates.
• Calendars: Creating Global vs. Project-level calendars. Mastering "Work Periods" (8-hr days vs. 10-hr shifts).
• Activity Coding: Using Codes vs. UDFs (User Defined Fields) for grouping and sorting.

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🛠️ Phase 2: Building the Logic (Planning & Scheduling)

The core of the Critical Path Method (CPM).

Module 3: Defining Activities

• Activity Types: Task Dependent, Resource Dependent, and Milestones (Start vs. Finish).

The "Step" Function: Breaking down large tasks without inflating the activity count.

 

Module 4: Relationship Logic

• The Four Link Types: FS, SS, FF, and SF (when to use them and when to avoid them).
• Lags and Leads: Why excessive Lag is a "Scheduling Sin."

Identifying the Critical Path: Longest Path vs. Total Float methods.

 

Module 5: Constraints

• Hard vs. Soft Constraints (Must Start On vs. As Soon As Possible).
• The danger of "Negative Float" created by artificial constraints.

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👥 Phase 3: Resource & Cost Integration

Adding "Weight" to the schedule.

Module 6: Resource Management

• Labor, Non-Labor, and Material resources.
• Duration Types: Choosing between Fixed Units, Fixed Duration, or Fixed Units/Time.

Resource Leveling: Balancing the workload without slipping the finish date.

 

Module 7: Cost Loading

• Assigning Expenses vs. Resource Costs.
• Understanding Price per Unit and Budgeted Total Cost.

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📊 Phase 4: Execution & Maintenance

Turning a plan into a living document.

Module 8: The Baseline

• Capturing the "Contractual Snapshot."

Maintaining vs. Restoring Baselines.

 

Module 9: Updating Progress

• Setting the Data Date.
• Actual Starts/Finishes and Remaining Duration.
• "Out-of-Sequence" Progress: How to handle work that skips the logic.

   

  Module 10: Reporting & Analytics

• Variance Reports: Comparing BL Finish vs. Current Finish.
• Exporting to Excel (XER vs. XML).
• Using P6 Visualizer for high-level TSLD (Timescaled Logic Diagrams).

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🔎 Phase 5: Advanced Forensic Analysis

The "Focal Point" Professional Level.

Module 11: Schedule Health Checks

• The DCMA 14-Point Assessment: Identifying logic gaps and high-duration activities.

   

  Module 12: Time Impact Analysis (TIA)

• Fragnets: Modeling a delay to prove an Extension of Time (EOT).

   

  Module 13: Global Change

• Writing "If/Then" scripts to bulk-edit thousands of activities at once.