Release Notes

The goal of creating a schedule is to help companies work smarter and smoother, but many scheduling tools are actually the bane of efficiency. Scheduling features are often complex and time-consuming to learn and leverage their potential. And when adjustments or changes are made, these changes can upset subsequent actions to create bottlenecks and other inefficiencies throughout the remaining timeline.

There’s a growing need to transform schedules into predictive models to align timing, resources, and production for an optimal outcome. Here’s what the process looks like and why it’s important:

SCHEDULES ARE TRANSACTIONAL

By definition, a schedule simply places tasks at a point in time and establishes an order in which tasks will be completed. Schedules are commonly resource-based, such as setting a schedule for a drilling rig or crew.

The scheduling process is largely transactional — you’re trading time for resources, where one event happens because of another event. When the event, or transaction, is over, there’s no understanding of its larger impact on a project, no progress to be shown, and no projection of completion for the project as a whole.

MODELS ARE PREDICTIVE

Modeling is proving to be a viable alternative to traditional scheduling. A model uses data to show how a single task affects the entire system or project. When tasks are shown as models instead of transactions, you can see their larger impact on a project, gauge any progress made, and better predict the completion of a project.

By connecting the tasks on a schedule with dependencies, a schedule can become a model in the following ways:

• Dependencies can link tasks to dates. For example, a task must start or end by a certain date.
• Dependencies can link tasks to each other. For example, a task must begin or end at least x number of days after another task begins or ends.

When tasks contain other parameters, such as the cost of revenue, the model now predicts the effects of timing on these parameters.

WHY MODELLING YOUR PROJECT IS ESSENTIAL FOR INFORMED DECISION MAKING

There’s no doubt that data drives decision-making and predictive models rely on your project data to help you keep your project moving forward. This means you gain the advantage of two key benefits:

• Comparing the results of models with different assumptions to guide decision-making
• Timely identifying future conflicts in a project to provide accurate lead time and find the most efficient solution

When you can rely on real data versus gut instinct or hunches, you can provide your customers and employees with a better overall experience.

FORESOURCE WAS DESIGNED WITH THESE PRINCIPLES IN MIND

We developed ForeSource to achieve the benefits of informed decision-making. ForeSource allows users to build as many dependencies as necessary for a task. From there, a simplex solver analyzes all dependencies and re-orders tasks to meet requirements. Using the dependency dashboard, dependencies can be edited, ignored, or deleted to see the impacts on the model.

See ForeSource in action — schedule a demo today and discover how data-driven predictions can help you solve the inefficiencies of traditional scheduling.

Traditional operational scheduling processes and tools leave a lot of room for inefficiencies. Many schedules are managed by individuals or departments with no integration with other groups. The result is a structure filled with miscommunication, inaccurate expectations, and inefficiencies that can hinder growth and progress (and ultimately, the bottom line).

Collaborative project scheduling can remedy these issues by bringing cohesiveness and transparency to your scheduling processes. Users can see scheduled tasks at a granular level and unify their priorities and objectives for an optimal outcome. Here’s what that process looks like in action:

BREAKING DOWN COMPLEX PROJECTS

Complex projects are most often the responsibility of multiple specialized disciplines. Because of this, it’s important to create and maintain a project schedule that includes all phases and how they work together toward a common goal.

To do this effectively, schedules should include sub-tasks that support larger phases of the project. It also helps you avoid scheduling phases of the project in departmental silos that are hidden from other members of the project.

Collaborative scheduling also helps you define the relationship between the phases of the project. Doing so helps you to answer important questions, such as:

• What determines when phases can occur
• Do phases have to be completed in a specific order?
• Are there key dates for some phases that must be considered?

These answers can help you use the data you have to make informed decisions that can produce an optimal outcome for all parties involved.

IMPROVING TEAM COMMUNICATION THROUGH TRANSPARENCY

Tasks and decisions that come from the top down or are centrally managed are not always reliable. In some cases, critical scheduling information is not elevated or visible, while a lack of buy-in or accountability can impact the integrity of the information being passed down.

When this happens, an unreliable schedule encourages people to look elsewhere for the “real” story.

In collaborative project scheduling, team members responsible for executing the project have the best information about project timing. This gives teams the power to create and maintain project schedules on the front line, which promotes engagement and accountability. Team members have an accurate picture of the entire lifecycle of a project and can better communicate objectives and deliverables.

HOW FORESOURCE PROVIDES ORGANIZATIONAL BENEFITS THROUGH COLLABORATIVE SCHEDULING

ForeSource designed advanced phase-based scheduling tools with the principles of collaboration and transparency in mind. Our solution emphasizes clear relationships between the various phases of a project and highlights the interactions between disciplines.

In doing so, ForeSource encourages active engagement in the project schedule to maintain focus on project delivery. As a result, team members have a holistic view of every project and a greater understanding of the role they play so they can make better-informed decisions moving forward.

The benefits extend from the executive level to asset teams, operational teams, and administrative teams to break down communication silos that could be stifling production. To see ForeSource in action, reach out today to schedule a free demo.

There’s an age-old question that asks: How do you eat an elephant? The answer: one bite at a time. Granted, you might not plan on eating any elephants any time soon, but this same adage can be applied to your business. When facing a big task, you focus on one step at a time, until those many smaller steps or tasks turn into big outcomes.

This is a critical part of any type of project management. Projects can vary in terms of scale and complexity, but with every project, you start by taking it one step at a time.

However, this doesn’t negate the fact that large-scale projects with multiple phases can be difficult to track and plan. To streamline the process, phase-based scheduling can be invaluable to the experience. Here’s what this looks like in action:

BREAKING COMPLEX PROJECTS INTO BITE-SIZED PIECES

Complex projects are best modeled as a series of discreet tasks that all support the final completion of the project. For example, any capital project from building a house to developing an oil field will require multiple steps carried out by different specialties.

Because of the level of detail involved in multi-phase projects, successfully managing these projects requires PMs to break the project down into multiple, manageable phases.

Each phase should have a single goal, such as building a drilling location or installing plumbing in a house. This serves a few purposes:

For starters, each phase typically requires special materials and skills in order to complete. Also, some phases need to be completed in a linear fashion. Once a phase’s objectives are met, it’s easier to see which phase needs to be completed next.

When broken down into logical phases, oversight of each phase can be assigned to a team member best suited to manage these tasks.

EACH PHASE SUPPORTS THE OTHERS

Keep in mind that each phase is not independent of the others, but rather supports and affects the others. Some phases of a project can stand alone and do not require any interaction with other phases. But more often, there is a specific sequence of events that determines when a phase can occur.

For example, you must have the location built before you can drill the well.

Likewise, some tasks are independent, but cannot occur at the same time, such as installing countertops and the kitchen floor.

Last but not least, some tasks can occur simultaneously but need to be finished at the same time before another phase can begin.

The end result is always the same: the phases are designed to work together toward a common goal.

HOW FORESOURCE SUPPORT PHASE-BASED SCHEDULING

ForeSource was designed to handle complex projects. Our platform has a flexible hierarchy, allowing you to model your project as granular as needed.

Using a parent/child relationship between tasks, you can break your project into smaller phases, and those phases can be broken down into smaller phases, drilling down as many layers as needed for your project.

You can also create dependencies between phases of your project based on dates or the beginnings and endings of other phases.

See ForeSource in action and discover how we’re helping streamline project management!

It’s always a challenge to get everyone on the same page. We have all sat through countless scheduling meetings that focus only on the drilling rig and where it’s going. There’s more happening than that, right? Discussions about location, completion timing, and facility construction often happen somewhere else and sometimes with somebody else. There needs to be a way to get everyone on board with the full schedule from the start.

In simpler times, a well-construction schedule could be inferred from the rig schedule. Well, construction followed a linear path, starting with location construction and progressing through flow back. Modern development scheduling needs to account for spudder rigs, batch drilling, and completion delays due to well interference. These steps should all be reflected on the same schedule. On an average well construction project today, the actual drilling can be less than 10% of the total time. A complete schedule will account for the other 90%.

Well, construction is a process that begins long before a drilling rig ever shows up. The time required to plan and secure a location, prepare and file permits, and construct a location is significant and should not be invisible. Delays in this phase can throw off the timing of the entire project. If these functions are not reflected on your schedule, changes at this stage can mean you are not ready to drill. The earlier in the project you know this, the more flexibility you will have to plan around any issues that arise in this early, critical stage.

The well construction process is not finished when the rig moves. After all, the goal of good construction is to deliver a well that sells oil and gas. The time between rig release and first sales can vary. Multi-well pad drilling and completion delays due to well interference can separate completion timing and first sales from the drilling schedule. Accounting for this delay makes production forecasts more accurate. In addition to completion, facilities need to be constructed and pipeline tie-ins may be needed to complete the well construction process. Including these in your schedule can ensure all facets of good construction are visible.

A traditional drilling schedule is a resource-based schedule. It tells you what one resource, the drilling rig, will be doing at any time. When we look at our development program from a project perspective, we are creating a project-based schedule. This schedule is focused on the timing and deliverables of a project. Resources are an important part of a schedule, after all, without them nothing gets done. We don’t have to ignore resources in a project-based schedule, we can simply add them as attributes to tasks on the schedule.

Creating a schedule centered on what needs to be done, not who will do it, changes the conversation in those scheduled meetings. The focus changes from what the rig will be doing, to the progress of the development program. By including all phases of well construction in a comprehensive schedule, everyone on the team clearly understands what needs to be done and when operations will be occurring. This means your projects will run smoother with fewer unpleasant surprises.

I once heard that what gets measured gets done. We can take that further by adding what gets scheduled gets done…on time. A schedule puts all the steps of your project in order. No matter what the project is, a good schedule makes a clear blueprint for how you allocate time. Here is how we can make those schedules better…

Focus on The Objective

Every project has a purpose. Whether the project is to build a building, develop an oil and gas field, or even cook a meal, each of these projects delivers a result. Every step in the project should focus on moving closer to the objective. Your schedule should be organized to accomplish all the project deliverables. Avoid organizing the schedule by functional groups or resources. Those are the means for completion and can be linked to tasks when appropriate.

Break the Project Down

The best way to stay focused on the objective is to break the project down into manageable steps. Start with major items that are needed to complete the project. Then you can separate each of those into smaller tasks. The smaller supporting tasks become children of the larger tasks. Each child’s task has the purpose of completing or moving closer to the parent’s objective.

Schedule What Needs to Be Done

This is simple in theory but can be difficult in action. Include all the pieces needed to complete the parent task by assigning the correct child tasks. Create a child task for each step of the process that brings the task to completion. Conversely, avoid creating tasks that do not directly support the deliverables of the project. If you can’t measure its completion, it should not be a task.

Create Order with Meaningful Dependencies

The best way to maintain order with a schedule is through clear dependencies. When creating dependencies, identify the key tasks that will control when other tasks can occur. These triggers can be used to assign dependencies. A good dependency has flexibility. Overloading a schedule with rigid dependencies (exactly after or exactly on) will prevent it from adapting. Creating more elastic dependencies (at least, at most, no sooner than) maintains flexibility. Flexibility enables harmony and ensures the pieces all fit.

Assign Responsibility

A schedule can be well-built but fall apart without accountability. Designate an owner for every task on the schedule. The owner of a task should be responsible for updating their tasks on the schedule. If something must be done, someone is responsible for completing it and reporting it. If a task has shared ownership, it should be broken into multiple tasks. Each task should have a single owner to avoid confusion and ensure responsible completion.

With a well-built schedule, you will have a clear view of where your project is and where it is going.

Mobile Versions Available
Mobile versions of ForeSource are now available on the Apple Store and on Google Play. The mobile
apps are fully functional versions of ForeSource and allow you to access, update, and create your
schedule wherever you are.

See Your Tasks on the Dashboard
We have added a new section to the dashboard called ‘My Tasks’. Now you can see tasks you own on
the schedule on the dashboard. We will be adding more functionality soon.

Create Tags for Tasks
Now you can create additional data fields for tasks. We call them tags. These tags consist of a label and
a value. Labels can be assigned to any task and are common to the schedule and projects. You can use
tags to store additional information for tasks.

Improved Filtering for Export
We have improved the filter options when exporting data to a CSV. Filters now include the ability to
select multiple owners and task types. The CSV file also includes any tags that are available for the
exported tasks.