Thursday, January 8, 2009
Is It Done Yet?
Project managers have a single superpower: to cause an incomplete project to be complete, without accomplishing any tasks. This is done by convincing stakeholders they are satisfied with the work that has already been done, and declaring it ready for launch.
But let me back up. Project managers only ever get asked two questions: "Is it done yet?" and as a follow up, "When will it be done?" The entire profession sprung into existence because this question was asked so frequently and ardently it merited a person dedicated only to repeatedly explaining that no, it is not done yet, and here's why.
So on one side, project managers have an irresistible force: curious stakeholders. On the other side, they have an immovable object: programmers. When we do our job well, we keep both sets of people happy, with some help from both sides.
Communication. Let's say a programmer hasn't finished a task, because she got drunk at 10AM on a Tuesday, and passed out on her couch. Huge problem. Unless... let's say that programmer told her project manager the week before that she was planning to get drunk and pass out on her couch on Tuesday, and that the task scheduled for that time was likely to go uncompleted until it could be rescheduled the following Tuesday.
No problem! The project manager will then send an email that says something like, "Due to an unavoidable conflict with another project, a critical task will be delayed for a week, causing one week slippage to the final schedule." And nobody will care, because they are finding out ahead of time, and can, in turn, do whatever it is they do with this kind of information when they receive it.
Which brings up a second: planning.
Project managers function best when everyone else does just a little bit of planning. We don't expect people to plan things like car wrecks or deaths-in-the-family, but we do expect people to plan things like Christmas or hiking the Appalachian Trail. Some discretion is involved, obviously.
With that, I now intend to arbitrarily and capriciously demonstrate the superpower that I explained earlier. This is my last post about project management, because the series is finished. Four posts were planned, and four posts were made. Great fun was had by all. The project was a success.
Yay!
But let me back up. Project managers only ever get asked two questions: "Is it done yet?" and as a follow up, "When will it be done?" The entire profession sprung into existence because this question was asked so frequently and ardently it merited a person dedicated only to repeatedly explaining that no, it is not done yet, and here's why.
So on one side, project managers have an irresistible force: curious stakeholders. On the other side, they have an immovable object: programmers. When we do our job well, we keep both sets of people happy, with some help from both sides.
Communication. Let's say a programmer hasn't finished a task, because she got drunk at 10AM on a Tuesday, and passed out on her couch. Huge problem. Unless... let's say that programmer told her project manager the week before that she was planning to get drunk and pass out on her couch on Tuesday, and that the task scheduled for that time was likely to go uncompleted until it could be rescheduled the following Tuesday.
No problem! The project manager will then send an email that says something like, "Due to an unavoidable conflict with another project, a critical task will be delayed for a week, causing one week slippage to the final schedule." And nobody will care, because they are finding out ahead of time, and can, in turn, do whatever it is they do with this kind of information when they receive it.
Which brings up a second: planning.
Project managers function best when everyone else does just a little bit of planning. We don't expect people to plan things like car wrecks or deaths-in-the-family, but we do expect people to plan things like Christmas or hiking the Appalachian Trail. Some discretion is involved, obviously.
With that, I now intend to arbitrarily and capriciously demonstrate the superpower that I explained earlier. This is my last post about project management, because the series is finished. Four posts were planned, and four posts were made. Great fun was had by all. The project was a success.
Yay!
Labels: programming, project management, scheduling, software
// posted by David @ 9:19 PM 
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