Draft US GAO Schedule Assessment Guide (SAG)

	US GAO Sets Sights on Scheduling
The U.S. GAO has now drafted a Schedule Assessment Guide (SAG); in 2009 they put out a GAO Cost Estimating and Assessment Guide depicting their version of Best Practices for Developing and Managing Capital Program Costs (www.gao.gov/new.items/d093sp.pdf). There are big schedules and small schedules and long schedules and short schedules. GAO will use the SAG as they perform their job in reviewing programs undertaken by US departments and agencies. They have listed ten best practices found in good schedules and will be expanding on each in the SAG with checklists. Here are the ten:  capturing all activities  sequencing all activities  assigning resources to all activities  establishing durations for all activities  schedule is traceable horizontally and vertically  ensuring a valid critical path  ensuring reasonable total float  schedule risk analysis  updating the schedule using logic and progress  maintaining a baseline schedule Want to review and comment on the exposure draft? Contact Karen Richey, director of the SAG project. You are sure to be aware of its availability when it's released -Partial content from: Ray Stratton, PMP, EVP EVM Newsletter #28