What is the difference Recovery Schedule and Revised Schedule ?

In project management, particularly when using tools like Primavera P6/MS Project, both a Recovery Schedule and a Revised Schedule are created to address deviations from the original plan, but they serve different purposes and have distinct characteristics:

Recovery Schedule:

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Goal: To bring the project back on track to meet the original planned completion date, despite experienced delays.

Trigger: Project is behind schedule, but the team believes it's still possible to meet the initial deadline by implementing corrective actions.

Focus: Identifying and implementing strategies to accelerate the remaining work. This often involves:

Crashing: Adding more resources to critical activities to shorten their duration.

Fast-tracking: Performing activities in parallel that were originally planned sequentially (with careful risk assessment).

Optimizing resource allocation.

Improving efficiency.

Potentially working overtime or additional shifts.

Impact on Completion Date: The target completion date remains the same as the original baseline.

Baseline: Often becomes a new baseline focused on achieving the original finish date.

Communication: Emphasizes the actions being taken to get back on schedule.

Revised Schedule:

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Goal: To establish a new, realistic project completion date because the original deadline is no longer achievable due to significant delays or changes in scope.

Trigger: The project is significantly behind schedule, and it's acknowledged that meeting the original completion date is impossible or impractical. This can also be triggered by approved scope changes that inherently extend the project duration.

Focus: Adjusting the schedule to reflect the current reality and forecasting a realistic end date. This involves:

Incorporating the impact of past delays.

Including any approved scope changes, resource adjustments, or changes in methodology.

Re-calculating the critical path based on the current situation.

Impact on Completion Date: The project completion date is changed from the original baseline.

Baseline: The revised schedule becomes the new baseline against which future progress is measured. The original baseline is typically retained for historical comparison and delay analysis.

Communication: Focuses on explaining the reasons for the schedule change and the new expected completion date. Here's a table summarizing the key differences: