Monthly schedule narrative template

Before you start

Use with a statused and recalculated schedule at an agreed data date. The narrative explains the update; it does not substitute for the native schedule or contemporaneous records.

• Current and previous accepted schedule revisions
• Agreed data date and progress measurement rules
• Site records, actual dates and remaining-duration evidence
• Milestone, change and action registers

How to use it

Fix the reporting boundary

State the period, data date, schedule revision and comparison basis. Reconcile actual starts and finishes to source records and identify unresolved status questions.

Explain movement

Describe changes to completion, driving work and near-critical interfaces. Separate progress effects from logic, calendar, scope and constraint changes.

Make the next period actionable

List decisions, access needs and corrective actions with an owner and due date. Cross-reference the action log and preserve the issued narrative with its schedule file.

Fields included

• Reporting period / data date / schedule revision
• Previous comparison revision / completion movement
• Work achieved / progress evidence
• Driving and near-critical work
• Logic, calendar, scope and constraint changes
• Delays, interfaces and assumptions
• Next-period work / required decisions
• Actions, owners and due dates

An explained milestone movement

Illustrative example: energization moves from 18 November to 25 November after switchgear delivery is revised. The narrative identifies procurement activity EQ-120, the delivery correspondence and the testing interface. It names the delivery confirmation owner and the date for a revised installation plan.

Before issue

• The narrative and native schedule use the same data date.
• Material completion movement is explained, including improvements.
• Changes to the model are separated from progress updates.
• Required decisions have accountable owners and dates.

Practice references

• GAO Schedule Assessment Guide, GAO-16-89G
• UFGS 01 32 01.00 10, Project Schedule, August 2026

Original Kairos working templates informed by common project-controls practice. Adapt them to your contract, project procedure and approval authority. They are not official standards-body forms or a certification of compliance.

Keep learning

• Monthly schedule update
• Data date