Planning Project Completion
To contractors who work on long or complex projects, the benefit of project plans should be obvious. It's virtually impossible for crews to be efficient without one. It's virtually impossible to staff the job successfully without one. It's virtually impossible to finish a job on time without one. It's difficult to back up delay claims without one.

Here's a couple of characteristics that your project plans should have:

1. Realistic durations based on past performance.
2. Man-hour loaded tasks so that you can adjust staffing as needed.
3. Allowance for pre-construction activities (submittals, equipment lead times, etc.)
4. Separate paths for items that are not bound by sequence.

If you have a project whose on-time completion is extremely important and whose schedule is short and aggressive, you should consider breaking your project schedule into days, half days, or hours.

Scheduling Your Work Crews
Obviously, you need to keep your crews busy and efficient. The best way to do that is to eliminate downtime. Eliminate time lost waiting on material. Eliminate waiting on equipment to show up. Eliminate the general mulling around associated with crews who are not sure what they are supposed to be doing.

Look Ahead schedules are your tool for keeping your crews moving and productive. Look Ahead schedules are nothing more than a list that explains where the crew is supposed to be, what it is supposed to get done, the materials it will need, and the equipment it is to use.

Who, what, when, and where are the items to cover. Those items should be written down for each day and cover two weeks. Typically, a superintendent or foreman updates the Look Ahead. He then shares the plan with the crew to keep it tuned in to its upcoming work.