Careers and Jobs in Project Planning and Scheduling Training, including Critical Path Method (CPM)

ICS-Global

THE INTERNATIONAL

CENTER FOR SCHEDULING, INC.

ICS SLIDE Squad

FOR SCHEDULING CONSUMERS

FOR SCHEDULING PROVIDERS

FOR SCHEDULING CONSULTANTS

CAREERS IN SCHEDULING

AT THE "CENTER"

SCHEDULER'S VILLAGE

Ready! Experienced! Temporary!

Senior Level Immediately Deployable Experts
Requested by our clients, the ICS SLIDE Squad is a corps of ready-to-travel, senior-level schedulers who can slide onto a new project, set up the project schedule, and then, once approved by the Owner, turn it over to the Contractor’s scheduling staff to maintain and use for the duration of the project. Every SLIDE* Scheduler abides by the same Golden Rule: help the Contractor get through a temporarily challenging situation -- but harbor no thoughts of converting a short-term assignment into a project-long contract. Hence, the SLIDE Squad motto: “Slide in! Get it done! Slide out.” [* SLIDE Schedulers are as adept at preparing proposal schedules as they are at developing full-blown construction schedules.]

Schedule Logic & Infrastructure Design and Engineering
To explain the concept in layman’s terms, the SLIDE Scheduler will design and engineer the Project Schedule's infrastructure and then craft its content and logic, all of course with input from the Project Team in the field. This includes establishing schedule performance criteria, defining schedule scope, engineering schedule infrastructure, designing and drafting schedule activity and logic, etc. The working relationship between the SLIDE Scheduler and the Contractor’s in-house Scheduling Team is simple. For the short duration of initial schedule development (usually three-six weeks), the SLIDE Scheduler will work directly with the field Project Team to “pound out the logic.” It will be the in-house Scheduling Team's responsibility to convert this manually drafted logic into an automated schedule. Put more bluntly, the SLIDE Scheduler will do the “senior” work; the in-house Scheduling Team will do the “intermediate” and “junior” work. Both efforts will be coordinated by the Scheduling Manager. This arrangement maximizes the use of globally-scarce Senior-Level schedulers, while at the same time saving money for the Contractor who does not have to pay a pricey consultant to do technical work.
When a Call to the SLIDE Squad Makes Sense!
Any of the following scenarios would well justify a quick call to the ICS SLIDE Squad.
	AWARD SURGE: You are suddenly awarded several new projects at once, and the demand for front-end scheduling outstrips the capacity of your in-house scheduling team. STAFFING SHORTAGE: You are currently suffering from a shortage of qualified schedulers, senior or otherwise. PROJECT TYPE: The new project is of a type that your existing in-house scheduling personnel are not familiar with. PROJECT SIZE: The new project is larger than anything your scheduling team has ever scheduled before. NO SCHEDULERS ON PAYROLL: All scheduling work is performed by project managers who, at times, might benefit from short-term guidance and support from seasoned scheduling experts.
Why Use a SLIDE Scheduler?
Studies have shown that a major contributor to tardy Project Completion is equally tardy schedule development and adoption. 80% of all project delays can be traced back to early-project mismanagement which, in turn, can be tied to the absence or late arrival of the Project Schedule. But just as harmful to a project as a belated schedule is a schedule that lacks integrity. Schedule Integrity can be diminished for a number of reasons, including misssing or extraneous scope, improper integration of logic, misuse of date constraints, calendar, and software settings, misalignment between schedule usage expectations and capabilities, and more. All ICS SLIDE Schedulers are seasoned practitioners, with the broadest expertise in construction scheduling. Whether your organization operates a full-blown Scheduling Department or expects its project managers to create their own schedules, the ICS SLIDE Squad can help. Schedules produced by SLIDE Schedulers are far more likely to receive approval by the owner -- earlier and with less conditions.
Responsiveness, Quality, and Cost
Let us answer three questions you may be wondering about: How soon can you get here? How good are you? What will it cost? Responsiveness: We can usually have a SLIDE Scheduler talking to the Project Team within seven business days of a signed work order. We accomplish this amazing average response time by drawing from either the ICS-Scheduling senior staff or from the ICS-Network of affiliated scheduling consultants. Quality: Every SLIDE Scheduler is pre-qualified through rigorous testing and interviews and are senior-level practitioners with many years of experience. All SLIDE Squad work is backed by a 100% satisfaction guarantee. Collectively, the ICS SLIDE Squad has hands-on experience in 47 different project types with the construction industry. Cost: We bill by the hour, and our hourly rate is extremely affordable. We have found that hourly billing results in a lower cost to the Contractor than if we had to “add contingency” to a lump sum price. Each assignment is individually priced and negotiated. BUILDINGS: Commercial, hotels, office buildings, residential, restaurants, retail, skyscrapers, worship. FACILITIES: campuses, correctional, educational K-12, educational-higher. PUBLIC GATHERINGS: entertainment, libraries, museums, performance halls, recreational, sports facilities, theme parks. UTILITIES: pipelines, power plants, telecommunications, general utilities, water/wastewater. INDUSTRIAL: automotive, distribution centers, manufacturing, offshore facilities, pharmaceuticals, process plants, pulp & paper, warehousing. TRANSPORTATION: airports, highway and bridge, marine (ports and harbors), rail and light rail. SPECIALTIES: aerospace, clean rooms, high tech, military/defense, research, shipbuilding, space, tunneling.

To see what how the SLIDE Squad concept work, click here. To request that a SLIDE Sqaud representative contact you, write to us at SLIDESquad@ICS-Global.com.