A project schedule is a model that plans how a project’s activities will be executed, taking into account durations and dependencies.
Along with scope and budget, it is one of the triple constraints. All three are usually developed in a similar fashion in the planning stages of a project through estimating and coming to a consensus (baselining). Planning the schedule can use predictive or adaptive approaches.
In a predictive environment, the scope is broken down into specific project activities, which are then sequenced, and then its estimated how long the team will complete the activities. If at any point the project is behind schedule or the schedule needs to change, more resources may need to be added (which affects budget).
In an adaptive environment, the scope is also broken down, but usually not as much. Sprints or iterations are planned, aimed at delivering quickly and getting feedback before more work is planned and scheduled. The project team can more easily adapt to changes, which theoretically lowers the risk of affecting the budget.
Want to learn more about Project Management? See my Project MGMT publication for these 30 key PM topics:
Projects, lifecycle, management, manager, methodologies, the triangle, stakeholders, deliverable, team, charter, scope, budget, schedule, planning, baselining, milestones, dependencies, resources, risk, procurement, communication, ceremonies, integration, backlog, whiteboard, closure, software tools, office(r), code of ethics, body of knowledge
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