Project Management: 4/13/08

Small projects do not need to be managed with the rigor and structure of a large project. However, they do need to have some processes in place. Schedule management is an area that should be considered. If your project is 50 hours, then the schedule is trivial and you do not need a formal process to manage the schedule. However, if your small project is a couple hundred (or a couple thousand) hours, then you need to have a more rigorous schedule and you need a "small" process to manage the schedule.

Review the schedule on a weekly basis.
Identify activities that have been completed during the previous week and update the schedule to show they are finished.
Determine whether there are any other activities that should be completed, but are not. If an activity is behind schedule, work with the individuals that are assigned to see what is going on. There could be problems that need to be resolved or it may be that the length of time needed to complete the activity was underestimated. Determine how much additional effort and duration are needed to complete the work and update the schedule accordingly.
Evaluate the remaining work to see if the project will be completed within the original effort, cost and duration. You may find that even though some activities may be completing later than planned, other activities may be completing early.
Adjust the schedule so that it reflects the remaining work to be completed. The first priority should be to complete the project within the original estimates for effort, duration and cost. If you are behind schedule or trending overbudget there are many techniques you can utilize to get back on track.
If the original budget or deadline estimates cannot be met, new estimates need to be prepared and communicated to management and the sponsor. The project manager must then negotiate a new schedule and budget. It is possible, for instance, that the sponsor is not able to approve an extension in the deadline, which may force the team to work overtime. This scenario may also require the clients to compromise on features to be able to get the work done on time. If the original budget or deadline is modified because the team cannot meet the original estimates, it is vital that the new numbers are realistic and that the team meets the new expectations.

Since this is the process for a small project, it would be unusual to have major problems on schedule or budget. If the budget or deadline needs to be extended once, the team absolutely needs to meet the new expectations.

When the work is done, make sure that you include activities in your schedule for the formal closure of the project. The project manager should not consider the entire project completed until these project closure activities are completed. You should use the same discipline to close the project as you did to manage the project.

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Weekly Anagram

Let's have some fun! See if you can unravel this anagram. (Anagrams are a word or phrase formed by reordering the letters of another word or phrase, such as satin to stain.)

Client-approved variation to a contract, bill of quantities, requirement specification or similar.

ADORER VAIN TRIO: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ | _ _ _ _ _

Last Week's Anagram.

The class of tasks ancillary to analysis, design, and programming that are required to accomplish a software development effort; includes documentation (technical publications), quality assurance, test and integration, and the data center operations.

CREPE VISORS PUTS: SUPPORT SERVICES

Wideman Glossary Term of the Week - Reliability

The ability of an item to perform a required function under stated conditions for a stated period of time.
The probability that an item will perform its intended function for a specified interval under stated conditions.
A fundamental characteristic of an item or material expressed as the probability that it will perform its intended function for a specified time under stated conditions.