My weakest area would have to be in developing the work plan. Actually, once I get started it becomes a little easier, but to have a project come to me, I do get a bit overwhelmed as to where to start, what has to be done, etc...
Often times, I go by the philosophy of "let someone do it that knows what to do." Perhaps this is a great way of thinking if I need someone to fix my car or to work on my plumbing. But I also think that this is valid when it comes to developing a new application. After all, I'm not the one doing the work. The real workers are the people in the trenches and busting out the deliverables.
That being said...Because I have "trouble" with developing the initial work plan, is it advisable to have other team members draft the work that they need to do - i.e. have them start the workplan? Or is this not acceptable?
I know, I know, I do have to do it by myself sometime and practice makes perfect. :-)
Digvijay SinghProject Manager| Mastek LimitedPune, India
Just sharing my experience. I have my leads working for me to define the day to day plan for their small teams, I spend most of the time handling customer, higher management, collating and analysing the performance data, tracking using MS project, preparing metrics etc for SQA purposes etc, I spend time in reviewing the work plan and ensuring that it is perfect, conflict free and acheivable.
I think if you have a time in defining work plan for each individual in a team, you must be lucky that your management, customer, quallity auditors are not bothering you much!!!
I understood your question from the perspective of defining work plan for the team, if you talked about your individual plan, please ignore what I said.
Saving Changes...
Anonymous
You hit it right on the head. I am new to the discipline as is our organization. They don't know too much about WHAT a project manager does, but for those that have somewhat of an idea, they think that the PM does absolutely everything.
I'm trying to juggle multiple projects at one time, and to tell you the truth, I don't know all the work involved in what someone has to do.
Thanks for the information! Saving Changes...
Khaliq SyedDirector| Techscrip Solutions IncTroy, Mi, United States
I do get overwhelm when I don't know where to start and funny thing about managing projects is that Projects will always be unique and temprorary hence we rarely get same type of projects.
Research is the only logical approach to address any new project issues, I always ask is there a leassons learned document saved somewhere in the organization for a similar project.
delegating tasks tasks and involving SMEs is also essential in research with regards to gaining knowledge.
Eventually, you will/might be responsible for the work plan and it's execution hence it's important that you should also involve yourself in drafting the workplan and understanding each phase of the project with your team members or SMEs.
Finally, I like to recommend taking one step at a time. Saving Changes...
Andrew MakarProgram Manager| AMAKAR LLCOakland Township, Mi, United States
When developing the work plan for a project, I always work directly with the business SME to develop the functional components on the work plan and then add additional IT deliverables as needed.
Mature IT organizations will often have a template WBS in a MS-Project schedule format that the project manager needs to accommodate in additional to the "real work" required of the project. In large programs, the work plan is jointly developed between the project management team members and any vendors to develop an integrated schedule. At this point, the PMO can track against the baselined plan while the PM continues to work through the leadership and communication challenges.
The project manager is responsible for the execution of the project not the content. That is where the expert resources are used. The PM works with the expert resources to schedule and plan the work ensuring intra and inter-project dependencies are identified. No PM is going to be an expert in all areas of the project so should not and cannot be expected to develop the work plan in isolation.
I work closely with the expert resources at the beginning of the project to identify all the tasks needed to complete the project. It is these tasks that then are the basis for the work plan. It is much easier to get people to follow a plan if it is "their" plan. Saving Changes...
Elyse NielsenSenior Project Manager| Ascension Health Information ServicesHaines City, Fl, United States
Hi,
Here is a tactic to try, I've found to works out and builds team collaboration.
First, develop a high level plan with timelines just to come up with an overal schedule.
Second, have a team meeting to review the plan. Distribute the plan ahead of time, explaining this is simply a "straw model" and probably has missed alot of items. Ask the team to be prepared to develop the plan at the meeting.
At the meeting have a bunch of post-its already laided out with the draft plan tasks. Let the team add in tasks and dependencies.
This works pretty well for medium to small projects. Large projects have to have further diligence.
Refer to the "work plan" created for similar projects completed in the past!
Best Regards,
Vivekanandan M Saving Changes...
Anonymous
Anonymous. Use your delivery team to develop the plan. You cannot do the plan in a vacuum. The best way to build a cohesive team and begin on the same page with the team is to work closely with them to develop the plan and get their buy in. The first mistake in 101 PMing is to throw dates at your team like darts. The outcome is always bad. If they build it, they own it. You communicate the plan to the stakeholders and circle around your team so they can be successful. Saving Changes...
Andrew MakarProgram Manager| AMAKAR LLCOakland Township, Mi, United States
Agile project teams often use the concept of Planning Poker for each team member to estimate the duration for a specific use case. This encourages the team to form a consensus on the high level estimate. During iteration planning, each use case is further decomposed into an actual iteration work plan that the team defines.
By facilitating the process, the project manager doesn't need to do any estimating at all. The PM can record the results of activity estimation and plug them into an overall project schedule. Ofcourse, the PM needs to validate the estimates are realistic...and that can only be safely be done with the team doing the work!
You can learn more about Planning Poker at: http://www.planningpoker.com/. It is a free tool that is helpful in demonstrating the consensus concept.
From my experience, a good way to create the work plan is to colloborate & discuss with the actual resources who will execute the work. They know better about specific tasks to be accomplished & the timeline required.
Any work plan created in isolation without inputs from the team is bound to end up in the dust bin.
Always "Discuss, Negotiate, Agree" that's my Boss's mantra. Saving Changes...
