Add a High-level Schedule Narrative to a Microsoft Project Schedule Gantt Chart

A good practice is to always include a Schedule Narrative or Schedule Basis & Assumption document when issuing a baseline schedule and regular schedule updates.

Producing a standalone document is easier said than done and that is why most people only prepare a Schedule Narrative or Schedule Basis & Assumption document when issuing a baseline schedule or a revision to a baseline schedule.

For your regular Live Schedule updates (weekly, monthly etc.), you might want to consider preparing a high-level Schedule Narrative of not more than a page or two, that contains the key assumptions of the latest schedule update. This can be added to the body of your schedule update email or as an attachment in your email.

But what if you could add your high-level Schedule Narrative to your Gantt chart, so that the Schedule Narrative is easily accessible to readers of the schedule? Luckily, you can with Microsoft Project, which offers a good facility for doing so, and that is exactly what I demonstrate in this short video of less than 7 minutes.

For more on Schedule Narrative, here is a blog post of mine from January 2016, Schedule Basis, Assumption, Narrative or Memorandum and here is a link to a Long International resource on the content of a Schedule Narrative, The Schedule Basis Memorandum: Key Supporting Documentation for a CPM Schedule Analysis