Are there any project managers out there that deal with projects where you receive content from writers and you need to schedule the editorial process?
I'm working on a project right now for creating a website with a bunch of different functions. The function piece I have no problem with - there are requirements, design, development, testing and deployment. Piece of cake. However, what is kicking my tail is trying to work with the Head Editor in setting a schedule. I've tried explaining the need for a schedule and to break it down into measurable pieces. I don't want a deliverable with a 8 week duration and find out in the eigth week that I'm not going to make the deadline. However, the Editor says it is a waste of his time to break things up into smaller chunks because he doesn't know what the smaller deliverables are. When I asked what he used to come up with 8 weeks - he said it was just a guess....
So, if there are any other project managers out there with a similiar project, I'd really appreciate any insights you may have.
I resently managed a project that had a large editorial task associated with it. The task was to edit over 1000 accounting definitions, many of which were department specific. We approached this task by dividing up the definitions into goups and measured against that division each week. So each week we counted the number of completed definitions and measured against the forecasted number to be completed.
Another approach might be to break the overall task into smaller tasks, as you suggested, modeling the breakdown on the way he does the work. Every writer has an approach they take to a writing task. They do not just start writing. So make the WBS for this task match his apporach. If he defined chapters first or sections, make that the first task. Then a task for each section completed until the task is done. But he must break his work down in some fashion.
I hope this helps somewhat. Good luck!! Saving Changes...
