Far too many PMs start off their projects building an impressive "to do" list of everything that has to be done. Initially, the client or boss is impressed at the tight control and attention to detail.
The project starts and within a week or two, so much is changing that the project manager is spending hours trying to keep up. Soon the PM can't keep the plan current and soon no one uses the schedule anymore. At the same time, the team is confused and getting concerned about what they should deliver so they gold plate the work and worry that they'll get blamed.
The PM and team get within a few weeks of the due date and worry mounts so the slap together some piece of crap and then spend 6 months fixing it.
There is a better way. Read the article and watch the WBS Video.
Best regards,
Dick
Dick Billows, PMP,GCA
President 4PM.com
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1 comment:
Hi, liked the comments about WBS,I have another experience with the giant to do list. When I first started managing mergers for my last employer, the team felt that if they gave me all the detail, I would know what the job was for the next merger. Essentially they were trying to make me the subject matter expert. When I moved on to the next project I included all of them in a WBS meeting and helped them to create their own activities list. The task list went from over 1200 lines to 160. Much easier to manage.
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