ABSTRACT
This chapter describes a method for project environmental analysis that is often overlooked. It focuses on the evaluation outside of the defined work by first evaluating the physical structure of the plan mechanics. One of the keys to project success is having a schedule that is well integrated with organizational goals and the requisite resources to accomplish that goal. The metric for Invalid Dates analyses both forecast and actual dates of project activities. The chapter adds an additional focus toward analyzing the structure of the plan from a best practice viewpoint. It comes from Barbecana and is entitled Schedule Inspector. The first obvious attempt to define a complete project environment came in the mid-1960s with the Department of Defense “Cost Schedule Planning and Control Specification outlining compliance “specifications” that a contractor’s system had to meet. Both the Government Accounting Office and the Defense Contract Management Agency concepts outlined here represent key analysis tools to improve plan construction.
