Posts Tagged scope management
be prepared to stop
image by clagnut, flickr artist
project management can be described succinctly in two words: “be prepared to stop.” [looks skyward...]
yes.
i’ve talked before about adding wiggle-room into your project schedules in order to handle setbacks, changes in scope, changes in requirements, and more.. this, however, is not that post.
no, this post talks about what to do when you run out of wiggle room.
“WHERE’S YOUR FLOWCHART, BABY?!”
those words were spoken by a great man: none other than ‘terrible’ terry tate — office linebacker.
it’s a simple phrase, “where’s your flowchart, baby,” but it’s an important one. it’s important because a picture is worth a thousand words. flowcharts can help you in so many ways. here are just a couple…
flowcharts are a decision making tool
you can use flowcharts to help you in your decision making. if you have a process that is repeatable, you can set up a flowchart to help direct that process to an end goal. if for each data dump you receive from the client, you need to classify it as belonging to one of two or more categories, a flowchart can help you place it in the right bucket. “does this have personally identifiable data? if yes then a, if no then b.” you can walk that tree all the way down to your final buckets: “this belongs in the transactional database.” or “this belongs in the data warehouse.” — etc.
more after the jump! Read the rest of this entry »
find your forest
photo by mike_lockie, flickr artist
it’s going to happen. no matter how much you plan ahead, or how much you think you might know — how comfortable you are in your abilities… you’re going to lose sight of your overall vision.
scope creep happens, and unfortunately it happens often. we all want to create amazing things, and we all want to deliver the very best we can to our clients. many times it’s the client who makes the changes! but either way, changes happen. instead of doing x, we do x and add on y because it makes x better in some way.
one of the most difficult things to do is telling ‘no’ to people who say, “you know what would be good?…” but there are times when it’s absolutely necessary. why? well no matter what you’re doing, you always have a main mission; every step you take along the way should be made to help you reach that end state. simply put, anything else is ancillary. so why do we always lose sight of where we’re going?! Read the rest of this entry »
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