When creating a timeline for a project, using timelines of similar tasks may aid in estimating a timeline for a project. However, one thing that I have seen that helps with timelines is having weekly meetings where each team member involved in the project provides updates on their assigned tasks. From my firsthand experience, I have noticed that holding weekly meetings help mitigate any challenges that may interfere with the projected due date of a certain task. Additionally, when constantly providing updates for an assigned task, not only can you stay on-top of the task assigned, but you are more aware of the obstacles that can get in the way of completing such tasks, and mitigate them as soon as you become aware of them.
Ryan R asked a very nice question, and something that might have crossed our minds during the lecture this week. This is something that I personally have no experience over, as I have usually been onboarded for a project right before its completion or in the middle when everything is figured out, or at least to that extent that everyone in the project involved knows what to do.
After thinking over it, I would have to side with Jl959 in the sense that, the project SME's should huddle up and decide and appropriate time frames for each tasks. In addition to that I think its equally important to decide the lag time for each project as well just to get a better understanding of the whole project. Something else that could also be brought into consideration is efficiency. Like if Jeff isn't as efficient with conducting gap assessment compared to Mike, depending on the urgency of the task people or resources should be assigned.
Ryan asked a very a tough question and something that can only be answered with proper experience and training. As for a long project or even a short it is really hard to gauge how long a person will take to complete a task.
This is a very good question and I have to agree with hjp39. This question would be properly answered by someone with experience and I am not that. However, I will use the knowledge I have to answer to the best of my ability. I don't think that finishing certain tasks early is bad or will affect the project progression negatively. Obviously finishing later than projected will definitely make it harder to complete the project. When beginning a project, you must predict to the best of your ability how long each task will take and it is something that will constantly be updated as the project continues to develop and more tasks are completed. As I stated before, I don't think that finishing certain tasks early will affect the project progression negatively. I believe that if a task is completed early, you have more time for other, more difficult or advanced tasks, as well as time to make improvements on tasks completed already, if necessary.
I think the project manager should communicate with the members to schedule a weekly or biweekly meetings to get the updates from each associates. It helps everybody to be on top of their tasks as they have to present it every week or every 2 week. Thus, procrastination can be avoided and the work can be done in a timely manner.
In the case that the original planned durations for tasks are not equal to the actual time it took for them to be completed, I think that the most effective tools a project manager has are the Gantt chart and Project Status meetings. The Project Status meetings allow the project team to communicate the actual duration for each completed task and any delays that the project members think will be necessary. Then, the project manager can consult the Gantt chart to determine the impact of the change of schedule. If the task is on the critical path, it would mean that other tasks of the project on the critical path would need to be accelerated for the project to be completed on time.
The timeline of the project is estimated based on the needs of the project and similar kinds of tasks provides a general estimation of the average time needed for every aspect of the project. It helps a lot when you conduct meetings every week with the team and get to know the updates in every sector and the progress of the project comparing to the estimated timeline. If a particular task is finished within the timeline, the extra time can be utilized for other steps or overviewing the completed processes. The timeline of the project plays a major role in the project management.
For sure estimating the duration of tasks is not easy. For that Dr. Simon said in the lecture the whole should involve on estimating the duration of tasks, so the team leaders check the durations of their tasks and the durations of related tasks. After that the team leaders review the suspicioned tasks with the team member. Also, an expert project manager gives an advantage to the project because the experiences give a clear image of some tasks that are repeatable in each project.
As stated by others, estimating the timeline of a project is a difficult task, and one that is best done with the entire project team. To answer the original prompt, it is important to receive feedback from the entire team when creating the project schedule as individual team members would be able to provide their opinions. I think it would be a good idea to reach out to others who are more experienced as well, if necessary. For example, if there is another employee who has experience with a specific type of testing that must be done, it would be wise to receive their feedback, regardless of if they were on the project team or not. More than this, a team meeting to create the schedule could help to find potential tasks that may not be completed within the allotted time frame. It would also be wise to note any tasks that could result in a delay as well. This way, if there is any slack, priority can be given to these tasks. When looking at a project’s schedule, most teams will utilize a Gantt chart. A Gantt chart is a great representation of a project’s schedule and is considered a living document as it is always being updated based on whether deadlines are met. Even during the actual execution of a project, it is important to have frequent status update meetings to ensure that tasks are being completed according to the schedule and discuss any additional adjustments that may need to be made. The timeline of a project is important to discuss as it directly impacts the execution of the entire project.
I think it depends on the project and the skill level of the group. If it is a team that is well acquainted with one another and is comfortable with the work, then the chances of delays may be reduced and the team may, in fact, complete the project early. I saw this in undergrad during my capstone, with certain groups finishing their project and completing milestones sometimes months before they were even required to have completed the project. This didn't end the project though; instead, it gave them more time to improve and make minor edits.
In that, I do agree that estimating a time-line can be tough. I have always found that the best way to accurately predict milestones is to openly discuss the timeline and actively continue to discuss the timeline even when the project has started. These things fluctuate unpredictably; sometimes things take longer than expected and sometimes they take much less time. Since you can't always perfectly plan, its important to have backups and to be aware of how things are progressing so that you can actively continue to edit and modify your timeline as needed.
