The LiquidPlanner Difference: Smarter Scheduling
In life, uncertainty is a given. In project plans, it can be a killer.
How long will your commute take tonight? Twenty minutes? Forty? Not sure? Project teams face the same uncertainty every day, only on a much larger scale. It’s hard to know exactly how long it will take to complete tasks. Priorities shift as projects evolve. The nature and scope of tasks often change over time. In the big picture, that means missed deadlines, lost revenue, and team friction. And much of the time, project failure.
A tool that lets you trust your schedule and deliver on time, every time.
LiquidPlanner is the only online project management software that gives teams the power to manage change and uncertainty. This difference sets us apart from other project management tools. And it will help set you apart from the competition, too.
Managed uncertainty
If you can’t see the uncertainty in a project plan, you can’t manage that uncertainty. And without management, uncertain tasks get delayed and uncertain schedules become unreliable. LiquidPlanner allows you to see the uncertainty in your project schedule, and therefore to manage it. Dealing with uncertainty head-on is the key to meeting commitments and delivering on time.
Ranged v. single-point estimates
Traditional project management software relies on single-point estimates for task scheduling. This forces
team members to choose a single date by which to complete a given task. But most of us don’t think that
way; we think in ranges. A single-point estimate acts like a promise. If you don’t deliver as promised, you let down your team and throw off the entire schedule. LiquidPlanner uses ranged estimates that allow for best- and worst-case scenarios, thereby capturing inevitable uncertainty.
The result? Realistic timelines and accurate schedules that set your project up for success.
Probabilistic scheduling
LiquidPlanner applies statistical methods to each project’s series of ranged estimates to determine the probability of completing each task—and ultimately the entire project by a certain date.
Probabilistic scheduling gives you the power to:
- Make critical decisions. Choose to ramp up contract staff, delay certain tasks, or reorder priorities in order to deliver on time.
- Prevent delays late in the game. Knowing ahead of time that you’re not going to meet a promise lets you make changes well before delays have a chance to ruin your entire schedule.
- Trust your schedule. Period.
Comparison of single-point vs. ranged estimates
Here is an example of a load balanced schedule; every manager's dream, right? It is a classic schedule built on single point estimates with no uncertainty factored in.
The schedule above seems reasonable, but it’s completely wrong when we acknowledge the uncertainty in the estimation process. Realistically, that 60-day schedule only has about a 10% chance of being right under typical circumstances. When you acknowledge uncertainty, you enter the world of probability and statistics.
Here is that same schedule calculated in LiquidPlanner. LiquidPlanner uses ranged-estimates to capture the uncertainty at the task level. It then rolls that uncertainty up to the project level to calculate a statistically-correct schedule.
Even though the expected effort for each task is the same in both cases, the risk adjustment that LiquidPlanner calculates based on the ranged estimates produces a 34% schedule correction. It's no wonder that projects miss their schedules 2/3 of the time.
We do the hard math so you can focus on your work
LiquidPlanner does thousands of statistical calculations to make sure your project schedules are trustworthy. but all you need to do is read the schedule bars to see dates calculated to 98% confidence.
Only LiquidPlanner delivers truly honest schedules
Our cutting edge scheduling engine is the only one like it on the planet. It will help your team deliver on time, every time. But the best part is that the scheduling engine comes wrapped in some of the best collaboration features you'll find anywhere. Discover what a truly dynamic collaboration platform can do for your projects. Start today with a free 30-day trial.
