Mahesh PachhapurkarSr Program Manager| Danfoss Scotland LtdPune, Maharashtra, India
Originally I had posted this question in the Microsoft forum for Project & Portfolio Managers in LinkedIn but I did not receive any response.
The question was that I constantly face the dilemma when creating a project plan. How granular do you want your project plan to be? Although I like the idea of a governing structure that would provide direction for the project (aka the project plan) its quite another thing to track all tasks on a project plan. One of our senior executives once told me - he has project managers who won’t have a sip of coffee without visiting their project plan daily - he was referring to PMs that think that all tasks on a project should be on the project plan. Do you guys agree ? Let me know your suggestions. I'm using MS Project for tracking the project. Saving Changes...
Eric SimmsSenior Program ManagerBaltimore, Maryland, United States
Good question. I use Microsoft Project and enter every task, resource and other piece of information possible into the project schedule. Some stakeholders don’t like this because it makes the schedule complex, but I insist because I believe projects often fail when seemingly small pieces of information (such as interrelations between minor tasks) aren’t properly understood. Also, a highly detailed project schedule can reveal risks that might otherwise be overlooked. It’s a lot of work, but it’s worth it because I don’t suffer from projects that mysteriously encounter problems. In short - the more you know, the less you can be surprised.
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1 reply by Mahesh Pachhapurkar
Oct 15, 2017 12:07 PM
Mahesh Pachhapurkar
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Hi Eric, this looks more like the contrarian view than what most project managers suggested in this post :) I will be happy to see how you manage this project schedule in MS Project when things change due to project specifics requirements and tasks are required to be moved around. For example you planned that a task was supposed to be part of a subsequent phase but had to promote it and complete in prior phase due to stakeholder requirements. How often do you revise the schedule?
Saving Changes...
Mahesh PachhapurkarSr Program Manager| Danfoss Scotland LtdPune, Maharashtra, India
Oct 15, 2017 11:00 AM
Replying to Eric Simms
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Good question. I use Microsoft Project and enter every task, resource and other piece of information possible into the project schedule. Some stakeholders don’t like this because it makes the schedule complex, but I insist because I believe projects often fail when seemingly small pieces of information (such as interrelations between minor tasks) aren’t properly understood. Also, a highly detailed project schedule can reveal risks that might otherwise be overlooked. It’s a lot of work, but it’s worth it because I don’t suffer from projects that mysteriously encounter problems. In short - the more you know, the less you can be surprised.
Hi Eric, this looks more like the contrarian view than what most project managers suggested in this post :) I will be happy to see how you manage this project schedule in MS Project when things change due to project specifics requirements and tasks are required to be moved around. For example you planned that a task was supposed to be part of a subsequent phase but had to promote it and complete in prior phase due to stakeholder requirements. How often do you revise the schedule?
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1 reply by Eric Simms
Oct 15, 2017 11:16 PM
Eric Simms
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Hi Mahesh,
Sometimes I revise my schedules three or four times a day, as stakeholders make decisions that require new tasks to be incorporated into the schedule, existing tasks to be moved, or both. It can be very intricate work that at times makes me feel like a neurosurgeon, but MS Project is ideal for managing highly granular project schedules.
Using highly granular schedules I’m often able to give my bosses months of advance warning about small issues that would not be apparent to anyone until they exploded into large problems. You should create a project schedule to whatever granularity level you need to feel that you’re the complete master of it. My current projects are large and involve many stakeholders from across our organization, so I can’t feel comfortable unless I understand every possible detail about these projects. This requires a lot of work up front, but once complete I don’t spend a moment worrying about my projects, because I know for certain how all their tasks and resources interrelate.
Saving Changes...
Stéphane ParentSelf Employed / Semi-retired| Leader MakerPrince Edward Island, Canada
I drive granularity to match the status updates. For example, in a Scrum approach, I break up stories into one-day stories. That lines up with my daily Scrum meetings. Saving Changes...
Eric SimmsSenior Program ManagerBaltimore, Maryland, United States
Oct 15, 2017 12:07 PM
Replying to Mahesh Pachhapurkar
...
Hi Eric, this looks more like the contrarian view than what most project managers suggested in this post :) I will be happy to see how you manage this project schedule in MS Project when things change due to project specifics requirements and tasks are required to be moved around. For example you planned that a task was supposed to be part of a subsequent phase but had to promote it and complete in prior phase due to stakeholder requirements. How often do you revise the schedule?
Hi Mahesh,
Sometimes I revise my schedules three or four times a day, as stakeholders make decisions that require new tasks to be incorporated into the schedule, existing tasks to be moved, or both. It can be very intricate work that at times makes me feel like a neurosurgeon, but MS Project is ideal for managing highly granular project schedules.
Using highly granular schedules I’m often able to give my bosses months of advance warning about small issues that would not be apparent to anyone until they exploded into large problems. You should create a project schedule to whatever granularity level you need to feel that you’re the complete master of it. My current projects are large and involve many stakeholders from across our organization, so I can’t feel comfortable unless I understand every possible detail about these projects. This requires a lot of work up front, but once complete I don’t spend a moment worrying about my projects, because I know for certain how all their tasks and resources interrelate. Saving Changes...
