Time to toss out the Gantt charts?In a word, no. But don't rely solely on a Gantt chart to drive your project. A truly useful project plan isn't just about Gantt charts, or tracking progress with each task. Even more important is creating good tasks in the first place.
Just recently, I've had a flurry of questions about creating tasks that are concrete to team members (so as to get confident commitments for time-lines and resource). People have also asked about buttoning tasks down, so there is less opportunity for scope and intent creep during the life of the project
I'd like to share an approach to answering these questions, that many organisations find works. It boils down to asking 7 questions of each task, paying attention to the nuts and bolts of project activities;
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Increase your project success
Research into the patterns of project variance (deviation from initial plans) across the biomedical sector has identified four recurring root causes. A recently published discussion paper presents the interim findings of the research, highlights the actual impacts of the variances and presents a research led model to increase your project success. The research involved senior executives from seventeen organisations within the biomedical sector with experience of project decision making, sponsorship or leadership roles. Projects examined ranged from process improvements, transfer of manufacturing site, through new product development and new facility builds to IT system implementations at local and multiple site levels. A thorough analysis of the research data revealed four distinct sets of root causes.
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Are we there yet... ?If you look at the differences between successful projects and those that lose their way during execution, or continue past their “expiry date”, you will probably spot the recurring presence of a clear and visible endpoint.
Losing direction during execution can be characterised by people having different pictures of what they're aiming for, even pulling in opposing directions, along with frequent changes of scope. The challenge for these projects is often keeping afloat long enough to find the life-raft, let alone seeing the direction they should row to reach dry land.
Continuing past “expiry” typically involves a lack of clarity about how to finish a phase or activity. Is there enough data to switch from parallel running? Would having another study provide enough comfort to move on? Could some “nice to have” requirements be added, as there are still 4 weeks until “go-live”? Work continues until the money runs out, the opportunity is missed or “time” is eventually called.
Successful projects will encounter many of these same situations. However, participants share a sense of purpose and can say with assurance “enough is enough”, or that a request doesn't fit. This sense of purpose stems from beginning with the end in mind. |
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