The "Hidden" Effort You Should Really Manage Better

 

Every once in a while, I am reminded that  there is an important chunk of work that occurs at predictable times and is rarely accounted for properly. That's sad, because if this effort can be accounted for, there is significant benefit for a project manager.

Why is this hidden work such a big deal? It can be substantial, but it is often treated like it is nothing. So those who do the work feel like their efforts are perceived as trivial. And they could blame you, the project manager.

And you don't want that.

It all starts when your project requires a formal change. Remember, this situation is predictable. It could be additional scope, schedule update or need for more money - doesn't matter. You then, of course, request estimates from various resources/teams in your project for their portion of the change. And you need these estimates quickly...the change control presentation is imminent!!

People spend a significant amount of time estimating the impact of a change. Take a common example, new requirements being added midstream during a waterfall PM process. Various teams must stop what they are doing, or add hours to their day, to calculate having to restart the requirements, design and development steps (among others). They have to make sure new requirements trace through to testing. There are dependencies to consider. This estimation work interferes with other work they planned to do and if they have to add hours, all their work suffers from lower productivity and even quality.  

It can be seen as a distraction or due to someone else's incompetence and not be given the attention it deserves. It can be seen as something you as project manager should have avoided.

That's not good.

And then you can be frustrated that it takes so long to complete. You wonder, how can this take so long? It's just a quick estimate! Meanwhile, estimators remember all the times that they rushed estimates and underestimated the work, only to be chastised later for going over budget.

That's certainly not helpful.

Put in this light, it should be clear that you should account for the estimation work to be handled in a more sophisticated manner.
How do you do this?

First, define a separate project activity to represent the analysis and estimation effort. It should have a set duration, agreed to by estimators.

Next, include a task in the activity to actually estimate the effort of estimation. OK, that sounds pretty bureaucratic, but follow me here. You just need to show something like number of estimators and hours for each to do their analysis and estimate. Add in time and resources for administrative work, along with production and delivery of the change request presentation. You are involved in that, right? And it is time-consuming in your experience, right?

Now you will have activity duration, resources and hours involved. Believe me that this will show you, stakeholders and decision-makers an objective picture of the surprising hidden impact of the change control process.

But, also, this will show respect for the pitiful lot who has to complete the analysis and estimates. Get them involved from the beginning, as this starts at a predictable time. Have them track all change request analysis work separately. You will win over some fans. They will very quickly see your genius.