To create a comprehensive project action plan, you need to estimate how much time your staff will need to complete activities. Estimating can be tricky because, if done poorly, it can do more harm than good to your project. To make an accurate estimate, you need to have a good understanding of the tasks, the skills required, and the team’s capabilities. This includes specific aspects of estimating internal project resources and tasks, such as preparing the project team for a formal kickoff meeting and organizing an internal project kickoff meeting.
In his article "Why Do We Estimate?", John Cutler emphasized the importance of context in estimating. Estimates should be based on historical data and the specific circumstances of the current project. This helps ensure that estimates are realistic and achievable.
On the other hand, estimating tasks in hours is like malta telegram phone numbers reading a tea leaf for many. That’s why, in our own experience, it’s safer to estimate user stories in story points. Story points are units of measurement that allow us to estimate the size of different user stories. They are relative, meaning a 4-point story is twice as large as a 2-point story. This relative estimation method helps ensure that estimates are consistent and comparable across tasks.
Once you have set story points (a scale of 1 to 10 can be used), you need to adjust them to the team’s velocity. If the team was able to spend enough time to complete 14 story points in a previous iteration, they are likely to do the same amount of work again. This helps you set realistic and achievable project goals.
Once you have estimates of the story points for all the desired project elements, you can divide this number by the team's velocity to calculate how many iterations are needed to complete the project. This helps ensure that the project schedule is realistic and achievable.
When allocating time to manage specific people, consider their resource capacity—how much work they can do based on their experience and how many hours per day they can work. This helps ensure that your team members are not overburdened and can achieve their best results.
Make sure you understand the difference between ideal time and elapsed time. The former is the time actually spent on a task, while the latter includes waiting, interruptions, context switching, and preparation. This distinction is crucial to ensure that your estimates are realistic and take into account the various factors that can affect the actual time it takes to complete a task.
Note that when you ask developers how long a task will take, they will give you an estimate in "ideal time," meaning a period of uninterrupted work. This helps set realistic expectations and ensure that the project schedule is met.
Project Plan Execution: Turning Plans into Actions
Execution is where the plan is translated into action. In this phase, the project manager coordinates people and resources, and integrates and executes project activities according to the project management plan. During execution, it is very important to constantly monitor the progress of the project to ensure that it is moving in the right direction. Regular status meetings can be very useful. These meetings should discuss what has been done, what is being done, and what still needs to be done.
Communication is key at this stage. Use project management software to keep everyone informed about the progress of the project. Tools like Teamdeck can help you plan, manage tasks, and track time. These tools allow you to see the progress of the project in real time and help you identify any issues early so they can be addressed in a timely manner.