What does good delay investigation start with?
A reliable schedule, a clear comparison and records that explain what happened.
There is no single screen layout that makes software “industry standard.” The relevant foundations come from scheduling guidance, established tools and the project’s own requirements.
The GAO Schedule Assessment Guide describes ten practices for reliable schedules, including sequencing work, checking the critical path and float, updating with actual progress, and maintaining a baseline. These provide a useful framework for asking better questions about a changed finish date.
The SCL Delay and Disruption Protocol emphasises programmes and records and explains the importance of critical-path analysis when assessing delay to completion. Its guidance does not replace the contract or governing law.
Schedule comparison is also an established product capability. Oracle Primavera Cloud’s Schedule Comparison lets users compare schedule versions and review variances. Oracle’s P6 baseline documentation explains the role of a consistent reference for assessing progress.
“What moved?” and “How far from the plan?” are different questions.
Girdero lets you choose an activity and compare its recorded finish between two schedules. A positive result means later; a negative result means earlier; zero means no change between those files.
How much did this activity’s finish change between the two selected schedules?
How far is this activity’s current finish from its finish in the project’s baseline?
An activity can show 0 days of movement between updates and still be 139 days later than baseline. That is not a contradiction: there was no new movement, but the earlier variance remains.
Keeping the two comparisons separate helps teams avoid presenting an unchanged month as an on-time activity. If a comparable finish is missing, the interface can show an unavailable result rather than inventing a zero.
A tornado chart that makes the arithmetic visible.
When you choose an activity, Girdero examines one selected predecessor chain leading to it. The tornado chart shows measured additional finish movement along that chain, including the selected activity where applicable.
A bar is not simply the activity’s own date change. It reflects the difference between that movement and the preceding activity’s movement on the selected chain. This helps avoid repeatedly counting the same movement as it passes through successive activities.
The doors’ own finish moved 34 days. Building Weathertight’s finish moved 28 days. Its bar therefore shows 28 − 34 = −6 days. The selected activity is still 28 days later overall; −6 does not mean it finishes six days early.
Girdero also keeps unmeasured movement visible and can display zero-day activities. A missing measurement is not silently turned into zero.
Use the chain view to see the sequence.
The chain explorer supports panning, zooming and selecting activities for closer inspection. It shows one selected chain, not every predecessor, every parallel path or a proof of the project’s complete critical path.
Compare the changes behind a later finish.
What established scheduling tools do
Schedule comparison helps reviewers identify what changed between two versions of a plan. For example, Oracle Primavera Cloud compares schedule versions and tracks added, deleted and modified activities, values and settings. It also supports comparisons with baselines and earlier points in the project’s history.
The practical question is simple: “The finish moved, but what else changed?” Reviewing dates alongside durations and connections helps identify changes that need investigation.
What Girdero offers
Girdero brings the before-and-after activity values into the delay investigation. Select an activity to inspect its details alongside the movement shown in the chart.
| Review question | What Girdero shows |
|---|---|
| Which dates changed? | Previous and current start and finish values, with their differences. |
| Did the work or its connections change? | Duration, relationship, constraint and calendar details organised into tabs. |
| What other information needs checking? | Activity status, total float, critical-path information, codes and cost. |
| Where did a value come from? | The schedule and source field available when you hover over a value. |
For example, a finish may move 35 days later while the original duration remains 5 working days. The next step is to check the surrounding logic, progress and records to understand why.
Across versions: when did the movement appear?
A two-file comparison shows the latest difference. A history view helps you see how that difference developed.
Girdero’s Across versions view follows the activities on the selected chain through uploaded schedules. Rows are activities; columns are schedule versions. Reviewers can switch between finish, start, remaining duration and total float.
| Activity | Update A | Update B | Update C |
|---|---|---|---|
| Selected milestone | 13 July | 27 July | 10 August |
Choose all schedules or accepted schedules only. “All schedules” refers to the schedule versions included. It does not mean every activity in the project. Missing activities remain identifiable rather than being treated as unchanged.
This gives reviewers a practical route from “it moved” to “it first moved in this update.” The next step is to examine the records and changes for that period.
How Girdero supports delay investigation.
| Review practice | What Girdero offers |
|---|---|
| Compare schedules and baseline dates [1] | Finish movement between two schedules, plus a separate baseline comparison. |
| Check connected work [2] | A selected activity chain and details of its dates and connections. |
| Review changes over time [2] | Across versions: start, finish, remaining duration and total float. |
| Examine supporting information [3] | Before-and-after values, source-field details and Excel exports to support review alongside project records. |
These tools help identify changes. Project records are still needed to establish why they happened.
Investigate an activity’s later finish.
- Choose the activity and two schedules. Check that you have the correct files.
- Read the finish movement. Compare it separately with the baseline, if available.
- Explore Tornado and Chain. See where additional movement appears along the selected chain and check any warnings.
- Open the activity details. Inspect changed dates, durations, connections, calendars and constraints.
- Check Across versions. Find the update where the change appeared, then review the records for that period.
- Share your findings. Export the chart as an image or the tables to Excel.
Sources
- Oracle Primavera Cloud: Schedule ComparisonComparing schedule versions. See also Oracle P6: About Baselines.
- GAO: Schedule Assessment Guide2015 · Best Practices 2, 6, 7, 9 and 10: activity sequence, critical path, float, progress updates and baselines.
- SCL: Delay and Disruption Protocol, second edition2017 · Core Principle 1 and Part B §§1.47 and 11.4: records, activity connections and delay analysis.