When we bid on a new contract, we verify that the expected start date and completion date will work for our resources that would be needed. We know when current projects that are on-going throughout the year will need their attention (for example, end of summer to November).
If we bid on a contract that is expected to start in January and end in June to meet the client's August deadline, we know that our resources are available fron January to June. But, we have experienced delays before the project even starts; the contract is awarded late or the legal teams take longer than expected to come to an agreement. If we cannot start the work until March and have to complete the project by August, we have a resource issue during the month of July because we have other obligations that must be met.
I know of one contract (not my company, but a friend) that was awarded 1 month later than expected and it taking an additional 2 months for the legal teams to come to an agreement due to the size of the project. This has caused a major issue with the schedule because the completion date cannot change due to regulations that must be met with the new system. But, the work could not start until a contract was signed because of billing purposes. This team lost 3 months of potential work out of the original 5 months. This leaves the team with 2 months to complete 4-5 months of planned worked.
What steps can be done to handle the change in the project start dates to ensure the project is either completed in time or successfully without excessively over allocating the developers? Saving Changes...
Karrie,
I've been in this situation multiple times and it's a very challenging situation for the PM, but it's also where the PM shows why they are critical to success.
There are 3 main approaches to accelerating the schedule. Challenging assumptions (questioning all the work and whether or not we are doing anything unnecessary) Crashing (adding more resources) and fast-tracking (running activities in parallel).
To do all these, first you will need prioritization from your leadership because the situation will be very fluid, and you will need timely support to develop your recovery plan.
Challenging the assumptions - you need to sit down with your product experts and ensure everything being done is absolutely necessary, and all "nice-to-have" items are stripped out. You need to focus on requirements, over objectives. This includes challenging the duration of tasks, and whether the scheduling includes float. All float goes away.
Crashing - To avoid overloading people or over-allocating, you will need priority assigned to this project so other projects may slow down to focus on this one. Approval of overtime will probably also be required, even though you want to use it sparingly.
Fast tracking - You need to be very clear on what the schedule dependencies truly are. Often things are scheduled in series to reduce risk of rework. Without that luxury, you need to determine what can be done in parallel. This is where I use Visio to draw out network diagrams of the various activities, discuss it with the smart people who know their work better than I, and then sit down with a dedicated scheduler to detail all that out in your planning tool of choice.
Overall it is a lot of work and stress for the PM, but if done well, it is an opportunity to show your stuff.
