Your project has slipped. Why? (24.a of 44)
You have discovered that your project is slipping because you can’t meet your bi-weekly deadlines. As we discussed in a previous post, bi-weekly deliverables are a great way to demonstrate and verify progress. So you can’t deliver - what do you do now?
1) Re-estimate by asking the team what it would take to complete the remaining work.
2) Notify management.
3) Make sure you add this time to the schedule.
When reporting to management, include:
1) What work cannot be completed for this milestone.
2) What the additional effort and time is required.
3) What options are available to complete the project and get it back on track. Note, we are emphasizing project success not necessarily successful feature delivery.
Considerations for getting the project back on track:
3.1) Eliminate the work from the schedule.
3.2) Reduce the scope of the remaining work.
3.3) Overtime.
3.4) Add extra time to the schedule.
These are unpleasant choices but schedule slippage happens often. Project managers should be prepared by:
1) Giving estimates in terms of probability ranges.
2) Educating management about the uncertainty in the schedule.
Good luck on your projects!
Links:
http://www.problemsolvingtoolbox.com/index.php Problem Solving 101
