• Senior decision-makers should be alert to behaviours that suggest a schedule is becoming increasingly challenging. Persistent schedule replanning, the removal of scope and /or benefits, previously unplanned staging of a programme and excessive focus on individual project risks are signs that they need to examine closely the feasibility of the schedule.
• Organisations should consider early in a programme's lifecycle what needs to be in place to meet their schedule targets, and periodically assess the likelihood of these requirements being in place. The assessment should include historical performance and productivity and should feed into an assessment of whether the benefits of meeting a deadline under pressure outweigh the risks.