You are managing a New Software Development Project and one developer joins your team who was working in another development project . But still his ex project manager asks to help on old project .Due to this , he is not able focus on current project.
In this situation what should you do ? Saving Changes...
Luis BrancoCEO| Business Insight, Consultores de Gestão, LdªCarcavelos, Lisboa, Portugal
As a team member?
Once integrated into the new project, the team and the new project manager count on my participation in the team and the project.
So returning to the old project is out of the question unless the new project manager accepts my exit. Saving Changes...
Drew CraigSr. Agile & Product Coach| VanguardPhiladelphia, Pa, United States
Best if all or none. Challenge to meet commitments and is disruptive to the team. But, if no other way around it (I don't believe that to actually be an option, but....)than leadership has to understand that you cannot get consistent delivery with variability. Unfortunately, this is a game often played.
Before a new team member joins my project, I'd want to get some level of commitment from the functional manager regarding that team member's availability. I will also likely ask a few questions to sanity check the allocation amount.
Then, if there is a variation in actuals relative to expected, I would first check with the team member and then with their functional manager and if this variation was likely to be more than for a day or two, it would be managed as a change.
Kiron
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1 reply by SHADAV MOHAMMAD ANSARI
Sep 25, 2019 11:36 PM
SHADAV MOHAMMAD ANSARI
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Hi Kiron,
Thanks for your views. I also think same..
First we should speak to Team member and ask to focus on his/her role for new project .
This is something that happens very frequently and it is normal. You may even have developers working part time on support (bug fixing) and part time on projects. If a lot of bugs are raised then the developer would be doing more operational work (bug fixing) and will not have too much time to work on projects.
In most cases project managers are not real managers and is not for them to decide who works on projects and with what availability. Management should decide which project is more important and should assign people as appropriate. If needed people should be moved from project to project so that the high priority projects are being favoured.
If your management decides that your project is not as important as another one then some of your team members may be taken away from you and you have to accept that.
As a PM your duty is to ask management and not the other PMs what is the availability of your team members to work on the projects you manage so you can plan and properly manage stakeholder expectations. Unfortunately if the team members also work on operations and it is not clear when they are needed for the operational work then it is hard to get commitments form management. Saving Changes...
Deepa KalangiManager, Program Management, Author, Trainer| CVS HealthCharlotte, NC, United States
Confirm about allocation and commitment to your project. Get it in writing by the reporting manager and copying the other PM.
If they are allocated full time to your project, the developer should be working on your project alone. If your timelines are impacted or there are other impacts because he is being taken by the other PM, then it should be raised as a risk and escalated to the leadership. If the impact isn't much and a few questions are asked here and there, you can allow that for a week as a transitioning help for the other project.
In project management probably the most important advantage of having a matrix organization is the ability to share resources and knowledge between projects. The Matrix organization allows the development of highly qualified staff capable of serving multiple projects.
Of course there is also a downside and that is some projects may be delayed but this is not necessarily a bad thing. If the delay of a project allows a more important one to succeed then for the organization overall this is a big achievement.
So I believe in this case the only question is if management has agreed for the developer to also work on the other project. If this is a management decision then there is no problem if not then the functional manager must intervene and tell his direct report that he must only work on the 2nd project.
For the PM the most important thing is to know the availability of the team members so he can plan and manage expectations.
Before a new team member joins my project, I'd want to get some level of commitment from the functional manager regarding that team member's availability. I will also likely ask a few questions to sanity check the allocation amount.
Then, if there is a variation in actuals relative to expected, I would first check with the team member and then with their functional manager and if this variation was likely to be more than for a day or two, it would be managed as a change.
Kiron
Hi Kiron,
Thanks for your views. I also think same..
First we should speak to Team member and ask to focus on his/her role for new project . Saving Changes...
Confirm about allocation and commitment to your project. Get it in writing by the reporting manager and copying the other PM.
If they are allocated full time to your project, the developer should be working on your project alone. If your timelines are impacted or there are other impacts because he is being taken by the other PM, then it should be raised as a risk and escalated to the leadership. If the impact isn't much and a few questions are asked here and there, you can allow that for a week as a transitioning help for the other project.
Best if all or none. Challenge to meet commitments and is disruptive to the team. But, if no other way around it (I don't believe that to actually be an option, but....)than leadership has to understand that you cannot get consistent delivery with variability. Unfortunately, this is a game often played.
In project management probably the most important advantage of having a matrix organization is the ability to share resources and knowledge between projects. The Matrix organization allows the development of highly qualified staff capable of serving multiple projects.
Of course there is also a downside and that is some projects may be delayed but this is not necessarily a bad thing. If the delay of a project allows a more important one to succeed then for the organization overall this is a big achievement.
So I believe in this case the only question is if management has agreed for the developer to also work on the other project. If this is a management decision then there is no problem if not then the functional manager must intervene and tell his direct report that he must only work on the 2nd project.
For the PM the most important thing is to know the availability of the team members so he can plan and manage expectations.
