by Kathleen Austin & Gerald Kendall
Part 1 provided an introduction to projects and the need to plan a project. Part 2 discussed how to ensure the correct level of detail in a project network. Parts 3 – 8 detailed Steps 1 – 6 of the 10 steps to building an executable project plan. Basis for this post: Advanced Multi-Project Management: Achieving Outstanding Speed and Results with Predictability, by Gerald I. Kendall and Kathleen M Austin, J. Ross Publishing, 2012, Chapter 19.
Step 7: Scrutinize the network logic using subject matter and/or skill set experts (third risk avoidance)
Until now, we have used a small team of very knowledgeable people to build the project network. We have used people with good overall knowledge of the company, of projects and of the network building approach. We have made many assumptions along the way, both with regard to the tasks that need to be accomplished to meet the stakeholder needs, and in terms of resources who can do the work. Step 7 is intended to find missing pieces of the network, by having experts in specific sections review their relevant parts of the network for deficiencies or missing elements. We want to ensure that we’ve not missed any tasks, not misstated any of the necessary interdependencies, and appropriately identified the critical resource levels and quantities. In other words, we want to make sure that we have the “work” and “critical workers” of the project correct before we start gathering task estimates.
Identifying and Using Expert Scrutiny
By now it’s likely that “themes” have developed in the network. There may be a section that involves the start-up of the project, followed by multiple paths of work branching off from the
start (as an example, hardware, software, documentation, integrated testing); likely there is some final section of the project (which may include system test, packaging, shipping to distribution centers, etc.). These themes help indicate whose expertise is needed to do the scrutiny and when.
Consider having smaller groups of experts in for scrutiny of their specific theme area. Recognize there may be overlapping areas of expertise and plan the scrutiny accordingly. Warning! Do not bring in all the experts at the same time and plan to go over the entire network diagram. Bring the appropriate experts in only to review their specific sections! Otherwise, you will waste a lot of the experts’ time listening to reviews of areas in which they have no interest nor expertise to share. This will cause them to resist future efforts to enlist their help.
Ensure you provide a broad overview of the project to the experts before going to scrutiny of a particular section. As an example, “This project is to accomplish the upgrade of Absolutely Essential software at GENEXCO.” Give them enough depth on the stakeholder needs and deliverables so that they can scrutinize their section within the context of the needed results.
Referencing the clean network diagram plot before them, and starting from the left, show them the different sections before going to their section under scrutiny. This gives them an understanding of what work is done before getting to their part(s) of the project. It’s useful to have a computer to display the task notes (and to add any additional notes that the experts recommend).
The experts should have experience in their theme area as well as knowledge about the skill levels of the organization. The experts may be the Resource Managers for the thematic areas or senior experienced resources. It’s not unusual for management team members with previous expertise in the thematic area to be called as expert scrutinizers.
Make any recommended changes at the end of each scrutiny session and reprint a fresh network diagram before starting another scrutiny session. Remember that any additional tasks are subject to the Step 5 scrutiny – make sure that you are not adding tasks that are not required to meet the scope of the project.
Conclusions
Expert scrutiny gives the team constructing the project network a chance to have the most knowledgeable, experienced people in the organization review the tasks defined within their subject area. The project plan is broken down into themes according to subject matter categories. Subject matter experts are brought in, separately, for each theme area. With an overview of the project objectives, scope and sections of work that precede their subject area, they can quickly review the tasks defined and advise if changes are necessary. The result of Step 7 is an almost-finished project network. The work definition should not change extensively in the following three steps.
Next post: Step 8: Define time estimates, with range of variability (fourth risk avoidance)
