Dr. Project: Planning Systems

  Estimating  

Nowadays there are so many systems for planning and execution of projects, it's easy to get into a "system to do all" syndrome. We have used a number of planning tools for programme, portfolio and project management and I'd say with certainty we have a good handle on the business priority projects.

For me this is where the fun begins...how do you get the right job done at the right time? Working in a large multi-national managing global project teams (usually 3 to 6 countries), I face the challenge of ensuring resource is allocated to tasks and the tasks are executed to deliver what's required on time and on cost. Our organisation is a "balanced matrix" (PMOBK 2.3.1 Organisational Systems Fig 2.6). It's commonplace for resource managers to re-prioritise priorities and move resources away from the projects, thus slippage is inevitable even before we encounter project-related constraints or developmental problems.

We've been considering implementing a time-reporting system, thereby allowing task assignment and progress reporting at a resource level. We hope to see a more focused approach as a result of this detailed feedback to the PMs. Here's the "ringer"...PM's are already furiously driving the task management themselves. Does a time-reporting system ease the pain?

Say a task has been estimated by the resource to take 40 hours of effort over 12 …

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