Update a project schedule

Keeping your project schedule up to date is essential for understanding current progress, identifying risks, and helping your team stay on track. After you’ve created a project and built the initial task network, the next step is to schedule it to calculate the buffers and critical chain. Once the project is in execution, you should update the schedule regularly—typically on a weekly basis, though you may choose a different cadence depending on the pace and complexity of your project.

Why updating the schedule matters

Updating the schedule does the following:

  • Recalculates buffer consumption, showing how much buffer has been used relative to the work completed

  • Recomputes task projections, updating start and finish forecasts

  • Recalculates the critical chain, accounting for new progress and task updates

  • Ensures that project health indicators—like Fever Charts and Impact Chains—reflect the most current data

How to update the schedule

  1. Open the Project Details page for the project you want to update.

  2. Click the Update Schedule button at the top of the page.

    • Alternatively, open the action menu (...) in the top-right corner of the Project Details view and choose Update Schedule.

  3. A dialog will prompt you to select a status date and optionally enter comments.

  4. Click Update to run the scheduling engine and apply the changes.

If this is a new project and has not been scheduled yet, this button will appear as Reschedule instead of Update Schedule. Rescheduling initializes the project’s buffers and defines the first critical chain. After that, the button will change to Update Schedule for all future updates.

What to do after updating

Once the schedule has been updated, you can begin analyzing the new results to identify risks, prioritize work, and take corrective actions if needed.

See also

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