Are you familiar with the Defense Contract Management Agency’s (DCMA) invalid dates assessment. Do your activity forecasted and/or actual dates and schedule data date accurately reflect the status of your project? The status date or data date, depending on your scheduling software terminology, is similar to the closing statement date of your checking account. The […]
Who Needs Scheduling Best Practice Training?
“I’ve been using my scheduling tool for years. I know critical path method inside out, and I’ve built and managed numerous major schedules. So why would I need to attend a scheduling best practice training course?” Good scheduling professionals may have the above mindset – and rightly so. They have learned by experience to operate very […]
How Deltek Acumen Will Help Prevent DCMA Surveillance Audits
About a year ago we wrote about the new DCMA surveillance approach based on metric based analysis to determine the need and areas of focus for surveillance audits. In an attempt to bring more efficiency to the surveillance process, DCMA defined a series of metrics in relation to all ANSI 32 criteria. The goal is […]
DCMA 14-Point Assessment and High Duration Tasks
Does your schedule have excessively high duration tasks? The Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) says activities longer than 44-days (approximately 2-months) are not ideal, and should be limited. The quality of schedules is certified by the DCMA 14-point assessment. Schedules that meet or exceed the assessment have a significantly greater opportunity for success. The high […]
The DCMA 14-Point Assessment and Negative Float
Total float is a measure of how long an activity may delay without delaying the entire project. Positive and zero total float are acceptable. Negative float, however, means your schedule is already behind, which is not good if you’re still at the planning stage. The Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) 14-point assessment inspects project schedules […]
Visible Schedule Time Buffers
To make schedule time buffers visible or not? This maybe a vexing project management question. Yes, whether or not to hide your time buffer can be a difficult choice. If you hide the buffer, you may feel bad because you are being less than honest. When you choose to hide buffer, you are intentionally not […]
The DCMA 14-Point Assessment and High Float Tasks
Do your schedule activities have high float tasks? High float is generally thought to be a good thing. It’s like a safety margin. But it may be indicative of missing relationships. The Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) developed a definitive 14-point assessment for gauging the quality of a schedule. The intent of this assessment is […]
Why PMOs Fail (And How To Stop It From Happening To You)
Why do PMOs fail? If you have been working in the world of Project Management Offices for any length of time you’ll know that the average life of a PMO is about 4 years. PMO practitioners around the world have been looking to improve on that for some time now, and with good reason. A […]
Webinar: Top 10 Tips from The Cobra Guy
Date: Thursday, November 10, 2016 Time: 11:00 AM Eastern Standard Time Duration: 1 hour Top 10 Tips from the Cobra Guy The Cobra Guy is on a mission is to share tips, tricks and helpful information about Deltek Cobra through our Ten Six blog. And now, we’re taking it live during an upcoming joint webinar […]
A More Descriptive Solution to the Negative Lags Dilemma
Removing negative lag or leads from your schedule is a noble cause. But replacing negative lag with positive lag and, perhaps, a start to start (SS) relationship may only be a partial solution. Negative lag or (lead) is a real problem in schedules. The following blog The Negatives of Negative Lag explains in detail the […]