Program Manager| HARPER SRLSanto Domingo / Distrito Nacional, Dominican Republic
Very important. Without some slack, the plan assumes everything will go perfectly, which rarely happens. Even small delays can quickly impact the whole schedule.
I don’t always call it “slack,” but I make sure there’s some buffer in critical areas to absorb uncertainty and keep delivery realistic. Saving Changes...
Sergio Luis ConteHelping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based OrganizationsBuenos Aires, Argentina
More thatn slack, in my personal opinion, is putting clear the hours by day each person will be available to work. 6 hrs? 8hrs?. That´s the key. With that in place then it could be possible to avoid the use of slack.
I don't build slack - slack is not an input, it's something you identify through one of several approaches including CPM. I add buffer in response to uncertainty, but that's not the answer, by itself, when dealing with multiple projects and conflicting priorities. In a perfect world, you would be able to limit WIP, manage shared resource constraints, and track the flow of work - using buffer to manage bottlenecks. Since perfect rarely exists, it also involves a lot of communication and negotiation. Saving Changes...
I think it's important to build slack to set better delivery expectations with stakeholders and the amount of slack varies and is done by experience. I think some slack is important but some people over-do it and that isn't useful when you're adding buffers to everything and causing inaccuracies in delivery schedules. Saving Changes...
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