I was wondering how others deal with this situation. Let's say I have an activity that takes about 2 hours to complete but it is comprised of 10 or so tasks.
Some tasks take a few minutes, others 15 or 20 minutes etc.
Our organization isn't at the point where we need micro-project management so I usually just set 1 task for a 2 hour duration and then set the others for 1 min just for sake of having a task list.
I was also thinking of just using 1 task and linking it to an Excel checklist or something. Saving Changes...
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George JucanManaging Partner| Organizational Perfomance Enablers NetworkWoodbridge, Ontario, Canada
Chuck, I personally think that you’re already at a too detailed level. The concept I’m practicing and advocating (also included in PMI’s WBS Practice Standard) is to decompose the activity to the level I will exercise control at. As a Project Manager I am not particularly interested in how a task gets done (all the 10 minutes tasks) as long that that task is defined and assigned as a whole. My job is to define what needs to be done in order to accomplish project value, and the technical resources worry about the execution. Some tasks could take a day or less (e.g. install a server) or even weeks (e.g. implement security framework), based on the work package definition and resources’ seniority – and I mean trust in delivery capability, not years of experience.
Of course, each of the scheduled tasks (or work packages) could have a subsequent list of activities necessary to deliver that task. And yes, for some tasks (especially on the critical path) I do like to take a look at the planned activities to accomplish the task to gain confidence that all basis are covered. However, I use my technical expertise only to ask questions and allow the technical folks to come up with the answers. Empowering people over their assignments creates commitment, and in most cases the PM's trust of delegating control over details is responded with resource’s self-imposed desire to deliver the task as agreed to.
To conclude, my advice is to keep your focus at the level that delivers project value (gets you a step closer to success) and trust the resources that they know what they’re doing to get it done.
Saving Changes...
George JucanManaging Partner| Organizational Perfomance Enablers NetworkWoodbridge, Ontario, Canada
I forgot to say that the activity lists associated with particular tasks are stored in the common project folders but are not part of the project schedule. Saving Changes...
Thanks George, exactly what I was looking for. I knew I was over thinking it, but just couldn't figure out where I was going wrong. Saving Changes...
Mark Price PerryBusiness Driven PMO Evangelist| BOT InternationalOrlando, Fl, United States
Hi Chuck,
I quite agree with George, especially for internal projects within one's company. However, one thought I might add that is slightly tangential to your post... for solutions providers and vendors managing customer projects and especially post-implementation billable support kinds of project efforts, I have seen a number of these firms schedule these activities (often very similar to your scenario of a two hour activity that consists of ten or so tasks) right down to the minutes.
The key driver is that what often appears to be a trivial activity in the eyes of the requestor such as modifying a few reports may really take two or three times more work and time on account of the number of small tasks involved with each activity. You can imagine the potential customer sat issue that is caused when a requestor approves such work thinking it will take an hour and the provider does the work and delivers an invoice for three hours. Without a clear communication and agreement up front and some degree of detail and accounting for all of those small tasks, one might find trouble ahead.
Sometimes as a project manager you do need to know how tasks get done, even down to the ten minute level. Of course, this is situational and driven by the nature of the project effort and the informational needs of the client/sponsor. For most projects, these things should be handled just as George advises - activity lists stored within the common project folders, but not represented in the WBS of the project schedule. But for some projects, such as a small project like the modifying reports example above, the activity list may very well be the project.
Thanks Mark. I'm a typical Type A control freak so I do have to know how the tasks get done. That's only really due to the fact I used to be a developer so when I hear "it takes 4 hours to do this" I need to know why and how to reduce it (I'm sorta dev manager, program manager, product manager, PS manager and PM rolled into one! - gotta love startups...).
Not that I don't trust the developers, but I have a great deal of experience in automating business processes and directing developers to find a more efficient way of accomplishing a task.
The biggest problem I have right now is lack of formal PM training. It's all been by reading and on-the-job experience. I'm at the point where I really need wrap a formal PM education around my experience. Saving Changes...
Mark Price PerryBusiness Driven PMO Evangelist| BOT InternationalOrlando, Fl, United States
Hi Chuck,
Sounds like you and I drink from the same cup of coffee..! Not to beat a dead horse, but amidst a million other things, I look over the billing charges for one of the SaaS applications that we use and continually have our provider incorporate our business process improvement suggestions and opportunities. My predecessor didn't bother with the details since most of our BPI customizations and features requested were relatively small efforts, a day here a day there. But upon review of the actual task detail, about a third of what we were being billed was overestimation and the other third was ineffective development processes that could and should be streamlined and automated - just like you mentioned. And over a four year relationship, this all adds up to a noticeable amount. But forget the money for a moment, the quality of what we are getting now from our SaaS vendor, and valued provider at that, is much better on account of that little bit of Type A "control" and attention to detail.
On a side note, congrats and good luck on your conclusion to wrap some formal PM education around your work experience. One very effective PMP learning program that is getting raves is The Project Management Prepcast. This is a podcast program that consists of 89 downloadable episodes that you can listen to from your iPod, handheld, or PC to learn the concepts, methods, tools and techniques that you need to know to prepare for the PMP Certification Exam and of course to do a good job managing projects. It counts toward the PMI 35 Content Hour requirement and at a price of $39, it is hard to beat. Cheers..!
