Jill SidotiManager| Centric ConsultingNew Lisbon, WI, United States
Has anyone had to convert a typical marketing T-minus schedule into a larger project plan? If so, what was your approach? I am running my project from the finish date (our target launch date) but am finding it difficult to translate the midset of "on day T-27 I do these tasks" into dependencies so that I can track slippage, early starts, etc. and actually monitor the project. All thoughts welcome. Saving Changes...
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Elizabeth HarrinDirector| RebelsGuideToPM.comLondon, England, United Kingdom
Could you use sticky notes to plot out all the tasks backwards in order and then transfer that to your project management software? Saving Changes...
Michael SchubertSenior Manager Employee Portal Development| McKessonCumming, Ga, United States
If you are using a tool to do this, one approach you can use it to go through and plan the project based on a start date of today. Put all of the dependencies in and you will have a nice cascading gantt chart showing what the end date will be. If the end date is before your deadline date, life is good - simply go in and tell your tool to schedule based on your deadline finish date and voila! (well, not really voila as you may have some tasks that aren't dependent on one another, and you won't want to wait until the last minute to complete them)
A few notes:
1) If you put everything in and your forecasted end date is after today, you will need to put your thinking cap on and validate whether dependencies really are dependencies, change staffing plan, etc.
2) If it's a large project, I think it's best to still run the project based on the start date and establish deadlines on milestones. This will allow your schedule to float based on reality and you can see the impact your deliverables have on the end date. If you see your delivery schedule slip past the target date, you will immediately know you have some PM work to do to bring your project back on track. Saving Changes...
Stuart MillerMaintenance Planning Manager | BC HydroCampbell River, British Columbia, Canada
Scheduling from a finish date is usefull in a lot of situtations and the newer scheduling tools take this into account. I know MS Project 2010 supports scheduling backwards from the deadline(earlier versions did not). It works quite well, a bit of a change in mindset though.
I'm sure there are other tools out there that will do the same thing Saving Changes...
Jill, having done multiple projects where "the dates cant move" I can agree with you to the challenges. Especially when management believes progress reports are merely excuses for your not saying "we are done". That's a different topic.
Aside from the obvious that has already been stated by other folks who have offered great advice, the hardest thing I dealt with is bringing the bad news to whatever management team you are working with. It's very hard to say, and I have, we are three years from delivery but unless we act now we won't make the date you want. In a sense, management easily accepts the opinion that we're tracking well for efforts that have "moveable" project dates but doesn't accept opinions that anything can't be overcome even though you have stats showing otherwise. In today's business climate, the managers above you are having the same issues we are in that they are thinking about today not three years down the road.
Based on your demonstrated experience level, scheduling from the back of the effort should be easily accomplished. You know the critical path doesn't change regardless of the completetion date being a fixed date or flexible date. Creating as much slack time in tasks as possible wil help provide more contingency for those surprises that come along.
As a million other PMs will agree, earned value doesn't lie in fixed date or flexible date efforts. Use that to your advantage. Sooner or later management will see that you are "on target" everytime you present a status. Your history of "on time on target and on quality" will do well for you. Saving Changes...
Linda HillProgram Manager| MicrosoftRenton, Wa, United States
Date-driven projects do present their own challenges especially when they are 3 - 5 years long. I find that open, candid, data supported communication is important. And it needs to be communicated through several mediums, e.g., verbal, written, presentations, ect. I also find doing a "walk the walls" periodically is very useful as it provides opportunity for questions, clarity, etc. Saving Changes...
