A senior manager called me a few years ago and said, "We have a project problem. At startup, we were full of hope, but now it seems impossible ." I asked a few questions and found that they have never done similar projects before. Compared with the past, this project has a larger scale, uses a new development language, based on a new platform, and has a shorter schedule.
The future of the company is on the success of this project. The problem is that it is more complex and demanding than previous projects. Their only strategy is "hope ".
They did not arrange any training on the project's field, the development language used, or the new operating system. They wanted the time required for the project, which they had never done before.
Only hope, not enough to deliver a successful project.
The actual project manager will do the following:
- Identify and record risks. Risks may come from technologies (new development languages, new platforms), schedules (too short a time, too few people), and often both.
- Do not select a waterfall life cycle. Why? Because you don't have any data enough to successfully support the initial planning process required by the deployment. If you have never done a similar project, prototype it by iteration, or develop several functions by iteration to see what will happen.
- You can use "Hudson bay launch" to see if something can be done. It is particularly effective to use new development languages, operating systems, databases, and similar new technologies. The "Hudson bay launch" enables the team to understand what to do and reveal some hidden risks.
- Make sure that you have the relevant technical capabilities and domain knowledge necessary to solve the problem. If necessary, you can perform training. Let everyone learn the development languages used in the project. These investment costs are lower than the waste of time.
- Consider that all work is carried out in an iterative manner, especially in project planning and scheduling.
- Lack of experience and professional knowledge, you can seek relevant help and information. Discuss with team members how to let others know their work progress.
- Set milestones (milestones can also be iterative ). Review these conditions at management review meetings. The Project Manager can lead these meetings even if the management or investors are unwilling to review them. If you do not know how to make the project work properly, you can review the project progress periodically based on milestones.
Don't expect good results just by hope.
As a project manager, your job is to plan, re-plan, and work hard to get the best output. The following practices can help you achieve your goals.
- Use iterations with time box restrictions so that everyone can see the progress of the project.
- Use a speed chart to display the project progress. It is necessary for everyone to clearly see the progress (or lack of resources ). In this way, the data can be used, especially when you need help.
