Training of project managers (2) scientific arrangement of project schedules

1. ascending-downward

This means that the time of each subtask is pushed back from the overall time or major milestone of the project, and the completion of each subtask is used to support the sorting time of the entire project. This method applies to projects that have strict requirements on project completion time. The project team will go backwards from the end time, divide important milestones, and then divide small milestones in the milestones, task package, small task package. The smaller the minimum task, the more accurate the estimation.

The possible problem with this method is that if the boss says the project will be completed in June 1, but when it comes to small tasks, it is not enough time to complete it. What are you going to do as a project manager? The subsequent stories will inspire you.

Please remember that at this time, do not try to refresh the project, or try to compress the project members to work overtime or work hard. If that happens, the project will be on the starting line.

2. Bottom-up

The bottom-up mode is opposite to the top-down mode. It means that the project team determines the sub-work packages and work packages to be completed, the functions to be completed first, and then the functions to be completed, finally, summarize and determine the milestones to schedule.

This method seems to be relatively time-consuming, but it actually depends on the development team's work experience. If there is a work package missing or inaccurate estimates, it will still lead to inaccurate project schedules. This method also challenges the project manager's capabilities. Why? If you lack relevant experience, you will be able to complete the work within five days. It will take 10 days for your technical staff to analyze the work. Have you decided to prepare a few days for this work package?

3. Internal and external

A schedule similar to brainstorming. The operation is very simple. The project team uses brainstorming or mind map together to put everything related to the project into the project. You can analyze the functional difficulty, length of time, test methods, and then summarize the order and monitoring points and milestones.

The key to this approach is that all members of the entire project team should join the team. Only in this way can we ensure that all work will not be lost and all analyses will be comprehensive. But this is also the limitation of this method. In small projects, this method may be feasible, but if it is a very large project, you plan to discuss it with a group of people for three days and three nights? In addition, during the discussion, every question that cannot be involved is of interest to all members and all project roles. Moreover, not all people are paying 100% attention to your suggestions.

4. Hudson Bay

The "Hudson Bay-like launch" method originated from the Hudson Bay Company in northeastern Canada in the 17th century. The company is equipped with merchant ships that carry fur. To ensure that merchant ships do not forget what they need, they will temporarily stay for a period of time several miles away from the Hudson Bay. Because it is not far from the bay, merchant ships can ensure that they will not forget any tools and supplies-before leaving the civilized world into the sea. Using such a short journey, they can clearly determine whether they can survive the winter.

Imagine that the projects you manage have never been experienced by you and your team. You do not know whether the environment supports the available tools. You have no idea where to start estimating the project. Consider using short-term iterations to get started, such as Hudson Bay start )". The "Hudson Bay-style launch" technology allows the project team to first try some work in the actual environment of the project. The project manager should try to shorten the process. (The "Hello World" program may be enough .) The key is to let the team know what the actual work will be like in the field where the current project is located.

This method gives people the feeling that, just like when there is a blank space in front of them, they should first try, take a few small steps, then feel it, sum up the gains and losses, and then stride forward. It's quite like a question. In this way, you can avoid the team running farther and farther in the wrong direction. It can also help the team resume self-confidence. More importantly, the entire team has made some frequent attempts and a deeper understanding without knowing anything, which is conducive to promoting the next step of the project. It can be used together with the preceding method.

5. Short-term Iteration

If someone thinks that the Hudson Bay method is safe and wants to cross the river by feeling the stones while the project is still circulating, your method is short-term iteration.

This method is suitable for high-research projects and high-tech projects. Just imagine that when the boss is waiting for the products to make money, the Project Manager will go up to the hill to make money, how can I wait for you to touch the stone and iterate slowly? Therefore, this method is suitable for high-risk, high-investment, and high-return projects. It also requires good investment personality, good temper, and good vision. In addition, in actual operations, the iteration cycle is short, and some results can be seen in the short term. Pay special attention to the iteration summary and review. Each iteration must have a deeper understanding of the project products, then, the iteration keeps correcting the direction.

Sharing online cases: Give me a rock

Together with the team, Cliff made a project schedule in one week. They completed the "Hudson Bay-style launch" and identified major technical risks. He told his boss about risks and schedules. "Can't you finish the project earlier? "A sentence from norm sent Cliff back to the team, and he stumbled. Cliff and the team spent another week modifying the schedule and getting another date. He walked into Nom's office and said, "If you can give me more people here and here," he points to several milestones. "I can complete the project in one month. "Norm frowned and said," It's not good enough. I need this project to end early. "Cliff sighed and went back to the project team. After another week, Cliff took another schedule and came to Tom. "Okay, that's what we can do," said Cliff. Not even reading it, Norm said, "but it is not good enough. "

Cliff angrily said, "What do you really want? "

"Give me a rock", this is the game played by norm. No matter what schedule you make, your investors always want the project to be completed earlier. You will only find that the investors do not agree with every deadline you propose-your date is always far away from their expectations. When "they" want projects to be delivered faster, but don't tell you when or why, they will play "give me a rock" game. If they tell you the expected deadline, you can tell them what work can be done. If they tell you why, you and the team may be able to come up with creative solutions to meet their requirements. Effective project managers have their own strategies, including the negotiation strategy adopted by Cliff. Once the negotiation fails, or it seems that it will never succeed, try the following method. Before trying to get more stones, I 'd like to raise a few questions: Do you like short calendars or long calendars? Do you want more people or fewer people? What if I implement a few less functions? Crowdsourced security testing is the most important thing. This will help the Project Manager develop a more reasonable solution and make some preparations for your negotiations. Find out why they contributed to their expected deadline. Find out the strategic reasons for this project and find out the true meaning of "success. Let the investors understand your choices and the reasons behind them. Maybe the investors will have a good idea that is easier to operate and faster to implement. The date provided for you indicates the confidence range. The management may not understand what your estimation means, and you may not understand what they want. Release conditions should be specified when the release date is provided, so that you can raise some questions and understand their quality and functional requirements for the release version. We can make this function provide excellent performance, but we have to put it down first. Can this be done? Can users accept products with more defects?

In an organization, "Give me a rock" will happen repeatedly. This often happens to every project. If you always encounter the problem of "giving me a rock", consider using the following practices:

Formulate a list of priority-specific product agents. Implement functions one by one. If the investors can learn more about the project process, they will not be entangled in the deadline. Use a short time box (lasting less than four weeks), so that the investor can see the project process. If you can show valuable progress of a project every few weeks, the deadline is not that important. You can start to discuss when to implement which features they require for quality.

Even if the project manager works hard to estimate, plan, and schedule the project, the investors, management, and team members you meet may still consider the schedule as fun. The project manager needs to bring these people back to reality, but he must first learn to recognize these calendar games. All investors and management will force you to make some concessions on the schedule. Even if your project schedule is already quite reasonable, they will still play such games. However, the methods they resist are easy to identify, and they are rarely separated from several fixed models. As long as the project manager identifies the game they play, it is easier to control the project and get the expected output.

 

Original article here