Table of Contents
We explain what the schedules are, why they are useful and what they are used for. In addition, examples and methods to prepare them.
What is a schedule?
A schedule or a timetable, as a basic time-management tool, consists of a list of times at which possible tasks, events, or actions are intended to take place, or of a sequence of events in the chronological order in which such things are intended to take place.
By allowing the orderly display of future events, the schedules They are ideal for planning, monitoring and forecasting. Therefore, they constitute a common and popular tool.
Its visual representation can take many forms and styles, but usually, it consists of a delimited set of spaces that correspond to moments of the weather: days, hours, etc., and in which more or less some event or activity is detailed.
Sometimes, the schedules serve as an advance of future work. They can be evaluated as the basis of a project, and based on them determine the amount and / or frequency of resources that will be needed for it, since essentially they are tools for time management.
For this reason there are computer programs suitable for different types of schedules, such as Planner, Kplate or Microsoft Project.
Schedule Examples
There can be as many different schedules as needed, whether to detail the steps to take in an architectural project, mark the important milestones in a pregnancy, organize the work of a factory or simply announce the upcoming films in a neighbourhood cinema club.
However, there are usually two important methods for preparing schedules, known as:
- Gantt’s diagram. It usually consists of a double-entry bar, in which the activities (rows) and the time of their duration (columns) are recorded, so that they can be organized in time. It is the type that is used mostly in the management of spaces, such as classrooms, which are frequented by various groups of people.
- Pert’s diagram. Also called “Pert network”, it consists in the organization of activities based on which ones precede which ones, applying a flow chart for this purpose, connecting the spaces (circular or rectangular) with arrows to indicate priority or continuity. In this case, the important thing is not so much the time in which each activity is performed, but the specific order in which it is done