We explain what schedules are, why they are useful and what they are used for. Also, some examples and methods to make them.
What is a schedule?
A timeline (word derived from the Greek krónos, "Time", and gramm, "Letter") is a graphical, ordered and schematic representation of events, generally to come. It normally serves as a tool for Projects management, functions or activities. Its use is very common in a huge variety of areas, especially in work and business.
By allowing orderly viewing of future events, schedules are ideal for planning tasks. planning, monitoring and forecasting. Therefore, they are a common and popular tool.
Its visual representation can come in many forms and styles, but it usually consists of a delimited set of spaces that correspond to instants of the weather: days, hours, etc., and in which some event or activity is more or less detailed.
Sometimes schedules serve as a preview of future work. They can be evaluated as the foundation of a draft, and based on them determine the amount and / or frequency of resources that will be needed for it, since they are essentially tools for time management.
For this reason, there are suitable computer programs for different types of schedules, such as Planner, KPlate or Microsoft Project.
Examples of schedules
There can be as many different schedules as needed, whether it's detailing the steps to take in an architectural project, marking important milestones in a pregnancy, organizing factory work, or simply announcing upcoming movies at a neighborhood movie club.
However, two important methods of scheduling are often discussed, known as:
- The Gantt chart. It usually consists of a double entry bar, in which the activities (rows) and the time of their duration (columns) are noted, in order to organize them over time. It is the type that is used mainly in the management of spaces, such as classrooms, which are frequented by various groups from persons.
- The Pert diagram. Also called “Pert network”, it consists of organizing activities based on which ones precede which ones, applying a Flowchart, which connects 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 carried out, but the specific order in which it is done.