AI-Powered Project Scheduling with Claude

In this workshop, you will explore how Project Claude works and how a well-crafted system prompt can turn Claude into a domain specialist tailored to scheduling and planning work. You will explore how to upload and analyze a project schedule file using Claude, and then work with AI tools to explore the critical path, examine schedule slippage, and investigate the activities driving delay. 

You will analyze schedule updates against a baseline to surface recovery and acceleration options, evaluate project progress and experiment with generating audience-specific executive presentations directly from your schedule data, and finish by experimenting with building an interactive portfolio dashboard as a Claude artifact.
 

Learners will have the opportunity to:

1. Build a Project Claude tailored to project scheduling using a system prompt
2. Upload and analyze baseline and updated .xer schedule files
3. Explore the critical path and quantify schedule slippage with AI assistance
4. Compare schedule updates against a baseline to surface recovery and acceleration options
5. Generate audience-specific executive presentations from schedule data
6. Experiment with building an interactive portfolio dashboard as a Claude artifact
    

Module 1 — Introduction to Project Claude: What It Is and How to Build One

• The concept of Project Claude and how it differs from a standard Claude conversation
• The role of the system prompt in shaping a domain-specialized Claude
• Setting up a Project Claude for scheduling work within Claude Projects
• Terminology and conventions used throughout the workshop, including the "Scheduler Agent"

Module 2 — Reading the Baseline .xer File and the Updated Schedule

• Loading and analyzing baseline .xer schedule files with the Scheduler Agent
• Visualizing critical path and float activities through AI-generated bar charts
• Comparing updated schedules against a baseline to surface slippage and its drivers
• The principle of capturing repeatable analytical methods within a Project Claude
• Adding logic ties, working-day durations, and float as layers on the baseline bar chart
• Overlaying the baseline and the updated schedule on a single Gantt with slipped activities

Module 3 — Hands-On Practice: Four Monthly Schedule Updates

• Self-directed analysis of four monthly schedule updates using a sample dataset
• Comparing your own analysis against AI-assisted analysis from the Scheduler Agent
• Self-assessment using a built-in answer key

Module 4 — Building an Executive Presentation for the Operations Program Manager

• Generating audience-specific executive presentations from schedule data
• Crafting prompts that communicate delay drivers and schedule slippage to leadership
• Applying Stanford brand colors and visual standards within AI-generated presentations

Module 5 — Demonstration: Building a Portfolio Dashboard as a Claude Artifact

• Portfolio-level dashboards as Claude artifacts for global construction programs
• Key metrics for data center portfolios: active projects, on-schedule status, and delays
• Project-level data points commonly tracked in a portfolio dashboard
• Prompting strategies for generating interactive dashboards from sample data