Workgroup Workflow Woes: Inputs (Part 2 of 2)

Joe Wynne is a versatile Project Manager experienced in delivering medium-scope projects in large organizations that improve workforce performance and business processes. He has a proven track record of delivering effective, technology-savvy solutions in a variety of industries and a unique combination of strengths in both process management and workforce management.

  Estimating  

In Part 1, you were about to be stretched on the rack for the fourth time in your company's sub- sub-basement dungeon. This surprising and unfortunate situation came about because your project had failed due to your mismanagement of the inputs needed by the project workgroups.

This installment describes how you can avoid even more input-related errors.

Problem: Lack of workgroup work rules

Every workgroup must develop its own rules for working together. This is not the same as having a process that takes them, for example, from their own planning to design to development to implementation, etc. This is division of work, internal deadlines, style guides, regular meeting schedule, paid time off/vacation agreements, expected work hours, etc. A workgroup can implode if these details are not fixed early.

• Set a formal time for the group to develop and agree on their own standards and procedures.
• Provide the group guidance as to what topics to cover. It is not necessary that you attend this meeting, in fact it may be a hindrance to honest/open discussion, so your best role will be to clarify project expectations as soon as they have a question.

Problem: Insufficient quantity of workers planned for workgroup

In a general sense, the number of workers in a workgroup is actually an input. It's almost comical how certain organizations …

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