Insight from Chris Grosvenor, Director, XER Schedule Toolkit
In complex projects, the schedule is supposed to be the single most important tool for control and communication. Standards like BS 202001 and the APM Body of Knowledge treat it that way, putting schedule management on par with cost and scope.
But here’s the uncomfortable truth: even with a quality baseline and regular updates, most schedules fail to deliver their real purpose, because they are not shared properly.
Too often, the programme is locked away in PDFs or buried inside planning software. By the time it reaches decision-makers, it is static, out of date, and stripped of the insight it was meant to provide. In an industry where time is money, that isn’t good enough.
Why Sharing Is the Weak Link
APM guidance is clear: the baseline programme is the foundation for stakeholder alignment. Updates keep it alive. But alignment only works if everyone is looking at the same data. If the programme isn’t shared effectively, its value collapses.
Traditional methods don’t cut it:
- PDF exports turn a living dataset into a static snapshot. A major programme can run to hundreds of pages and few people read past the first. By the time the PDF lands in inboxes, the information is already stale. Different versions circulate, and no one is sure which is current.
- Native files (such as XERs) overshare. They expose sensitive data, productivity rates, float, cost loading and risk polluting other systems when imported. They also create version chaos: once the file is sent, the owner loses control over how it is used or altered.
Both approaches undermine the principles set out in BS 202001 and APM guidance: that the schedule must serve as a single source of truth, accessible to those who need it, consistent in content, and current in time.
What the Standards Tell Us
The forthcoming BS 202001 standard is explicit: project controls are only effective when information is consistent and timely. That applies directly to the schedule. It must not just exist; it must be shared in a way that enables engagement and collaboration.
Similarly, the APM Body of Knowledge (7th edition) emphasises the “deployment baseline” as the agreed reference point for delivery. Its purpose is not simply to meet contract clauses, it is to give the project team and stakeholders a common roadmap. If that roadmap is locked in a PDF appendix or lost in email chains, it fails its purpose.
Both standards make the same point: without effective sharing, the programme ceases to be a tool for control.
Towards a Single Source of Truth
The solution is collaboration. The programme must be treated as a shared, living dataset, one version, current and consistent, but accessible in different ways to different audiences.
For executives, that may mean dashboards highlighting milestones and risks. For site managers, two-week lookaheads. For commercial teams, critical path and change impacts. The detail varies, but the source must not. Every view must draw from the same programme data, not a dozen unofficial trackers.
This is exactly the principle behind modern schedule collaboration platforms. Tools such as XER Schedule Toolkit provide read-only, interactive access to the programme without compromising control. Planners retain ownership of the master file, but stakeholders can query, filter, and view it in real time. Sensitive data can be masked, updates appear instantly, and version confusion disappears.
In practice, this turns the programme from a compliance document into what the APM and BS 202001 call for: a shared reference point for delivery.
Why PDFs Aren’t Good Enough
It is tempting to believe that issuing a PDF satisfies the obligation to “share the programme.” But PDFs are a relic of an earlier era. They are static, inaccessible, and disengaging. They encourage departments to build their own trackers, fragmenting the very alignment the schedule was meant to provide.
Projects don’t fail because a baseline wasn’t set, or because an update was missed. They fail because the schedule wasn’t trusted, wasn’t current, and wasn’t shared in a way that people could actually use.
That is why sharing matters more than ever. Not as a tick-box, not as a contract formality, but as the difference between a schedule that lives and one that dies the moment it’s exported.
Quality baselines and disciplined updates are essential. But the most important factor in schedule management today is sharing.
Can we fix it?
BS 202001 and the APM Body of Knowledge both emphasise consistency, timeliness, and alignment. None of these are possible if the programme is frozen into PDFs or scattered as uncontrolled files. The industry must move towards a single source of truth, a schedule that is alive, accessible, and trusted.
Modern tools are making that possible. By enabling secure, interactive access without sacrificing control, platforms like XER Schedule Toolkit give projects the ability to finally share schedules as they were intended: not as paperwork, but as the backbone of delivery.
In the end, the programme is not just about dates. It is about trust.
More on XER Schedule Toolkit
XER Schedule Toolkit is an all-in-one, third party toolkit that allows planners, schedulers and the wider project team to view, analyse and share Primavera P6 and Microsoft Project files.
Our software contains automation tools that help to enhance the planning process and ultimately drive improvements in the successful delivery of projects to time and budget.
Our cloud based solution provides planners & schedulers with a range of tools that allows them to automate day to day tasks, saving time and money whilst giving the full project team intelligent access to the schedule in a format they can understand and derive value from.
