Was just alert of an incoming project with 31 identified workstreams that needs project management. This seems like an excessive amount of workstreams to me. Is there a best practice for determining number of workstreams in a project, and managing that many? Saving Changes...
Depends on what is meant by a "workstream". If it something which an individual team member is responsible for and able to complete on their own, then that is manageable. Also, are these all concurrent workstreams? If not, then that might also be manageable.
As usual, it depends...
The key is to identify whether there is a benefit of treating the initiative like a program of projects rather than a large project...
On large complex projects you may have many more, but they are generally indentured for manageability.
For instance on a vehicle design, your main streams would be structure, systems, payloads, propulsion and vehicle integration. Each of those could have several more specialized teams. The water systems team might have their own PM managing the detailed design and reporting to a Systems level PM at the functional level who works with PMs from the other functions to integrate horizontally.
How many one person can manage depends on the level of detail required. There are different rules of thumb, but over about 6 you start to run out of bandwidth unless some require little or no oversight. I have seen line managers with teams of 30 or more, but they are typically overworked an ineffective due to being spread too thin. I've led over 15 each with very complex work statements, but with multiple assistants to help work problem areas and manage administrative work. Saving Changes...
Stéphane ParentSelf Employed / Semi-retired| Leader MakerPrince Edward Island, Canada
Treat each workstream as a project, led by a project management team. That means you should manage the 31 workstreams as a program. Saving Changes...
Thomas WalentaGlobal Project Economy ExpertHackenheim, Germany
It is about reducing complexity (mainly for you).
A human being can maybe monitor 6-7 tasks concurrently, similar to the size of a team. It depends also on the simplicity of interfaces between these tasks.
One way to achieve this is to bundle workstreams.
If you can put the whole system on a DIN A4 (e.g. as a WBS) and grasp it easily, and also stakeholders understand it, you have reduced complexity. Saving Changes...
I see where one young boy has just passed 500 hours sitting in a treetop. There is a good deal of discussion as to what to do with a civilization that produces prodigies like that. Wouldn't it be a good idea to take his ladder away from him and leave him up there?
