Step 10 of 44: Can we simplify things further?

As the team begins to execute on the schedule, some software related tasks will seem more complicated than originally estimated. If the estimates changed substantially, it’s best to meet with key stakeholders and discuss solutions that will be “good enough”. You’re looking for solutions that are:

1. Simple to implement.
2. Quick to implement.
3. Meet stakeholder requirements.
   

The big drawback to this approach is that this solution may not turn out to be something that can scale up or serve a larger number of users. Ways to mitigate this are

1. Refer to an architect
2. Understand best practices
3. Conduct what-if scenarios based on the way users use or may use the product.
   

In my experience, the benefits of seeking a simple, hopefully elegant solution outweigh the downside of creating a brittle solution.

Need help guiding your teams to completing a project? Email us: info@lamda-alpha.com

Step 9 of 44: It's all about Show and Tell and Stages

We now switch from planning to execution, at least for this step. How do you detect quality progress? Let’s go back to kindergarten and Show and Tell. As people start doing work on the project, it’s important to have and demonstrate working software, documentation, tests created throughout the project in fairly short intervals. Show the work to the appropriate stakeholders and get their sign off. I would recommend for smaller projects to start this process within the first 2 weeks of project execution and keep this practice up throughout. If it doesn’t happen, it is warning sign – you may arrive at a destination that you did not want to be at or your customer will not have a chance to change their mind once they see the finished product. Customers changing their mind once they see a demonstration is quite common and should be expected.