Comments for Unfolding projects

Comment from Hal on 2003-08-22

2003-08-22T14:18:49Z

Hey Jack,

One of the challenges we face with an unfolding approach is with the formal systems of our company. It can be a real pain in some companies to set up the accounting for a project once, let alone keep it up-to-date. Customer contracts also constrain us. We give in to the boilerplate language that requires us to operate to and report against a baseline schedule. Yet, we have no choice but to stray from the plan as the project proceeds.

There are three things I encourage people to do:

1..set your plans at the highest possible level.
2..add detail to the plan at the last responsible moment to take advantage of what you encounter and what you learn
3..always plan with the people who are performing the work

These three steps support the emergence of a project and they still allow for the usual requirements to interact with the accounting systems and client contracts.

Thanks for reading Reforming Project Management!

Comment from Jack Vinson on 2003-08-22

2003-08-22T16:47:03Z

This is one of the areas where we have had the most difficulty in our critical chain implementation: balancing initial detail with the level of understanding available.

From a technical standpoint, there has to be an easy way to define projects at the high level and then dive down into the details, once they are available - typically as you get near execution. Of course, given the details, you may discover an unanticipated impact on the overall project. But that is the price of uncertainty.

Comment from David C. Buchan on 2003-08-25

2003-08-25T23:40:41Z

This sounds quite like the approach taken by eXtreme Programming in that it gives the project permission to change from what was originally requested. Typically and relentlessly software development projects are faced with changing customer priorities. As these unfold into view, there are two options to choose from. 1) Stick to the original brief no matter what or 2) Adapt to the new priorities. The latter means you will create something not previously planned for. But the results count. You have something you can use rather than a project plan which is worthless.