Just an opinion seeking topic stemming from the most recent simulation:
After initiation of a project, and during the planning of the timeline with all the stakeholders of the project, which people have the most influential input on the timeline or approach for the project? Individuals from different departments and backgrounds are involved, so I would assume individuals with the most expertise on a certain topic would apply their knowledge to the part of the schedule which pertains to them, although investors or managers could imply their own opinions and not move from them.
Who has the most influence on the timeline?
In my opinion, the person who is going to have the most influence on the project timeline is going to be the company director/department director who is overseeing the project. Team members and stakeholders are going to have their input on tasks/deliverables and how long it will take to complete those tasks, but if the director doesn't like that timeline they're going to challenge back.
Of course the individuals with the most expertise on each phase of the project will give their best estimate, but I believe, from personal experience, that GOOD directors will always want to hear a timeline that's better than what they expect. For example, at my job currently we have a project to scale-up batch size for an important product. Project was initially kicked off last year and revived again for demand increases. We gave a timeline of when the project will be completed (around June of this year) but our director challenged us back and said that we should be able to complete by April. This is true given that everything works out, but will be extremely difficult with the obstacles we are facing. I think even though we feel that the timeline is extremely tight, because our directors wants it done by April we have to prioritize every deliverable and task on this project to ensure that everything goes right.
I think the person who has the most influence on the time line would be the primary investigator of the technology or project. In the case of a new medical device it would be the people who are directly working on the project and have the lead. Another close contender would be the people who funding the project so any investor or board of directors. Since funding is limited they have a very large say in the project timeline. Finally the last people who would have any say in the project timeline would be the project manager who would be responsible for the day to day tasks of the project.
It would be ideal for the individuals from different departments and backgrounds to have the most influence on the project as they are the ones working directly on it. This would be most ideal as individuals are able to give input on how long a task or responsibility should take to complete since they have experience working on similar projects and are aware of their capabilities. Realistically, I think that stakeholders influence the timeline and approach of the project since their resources are being utilized to complete a project. While this is fair, considering it is stakeholders taking a risk, it is the responsibility of upper management to listen to their employees and communicate to stakeholders what is feasible in a certain time period.
I believe the most realistic timeline would always come from those who are working with each other to get the project finished, however, in reality, they usually have the smallest input or depending on the project manager, has some say. People who realistically in person have the biggest pull on deadlines I would say are stakeholders and those that are investing in the company. Because they can leverage their money and potentially pull out their investment which could be devastating depending on the amount of money being invested. When it comes to day to day operations by the company, typically I would say directors and other higher-level managers dictate smaller tasks and deadlines to help the higher overall timeline be reached to satisfy investors and attract new investors.
Who has the most influence on the timeline?
Several individuals directly influence the project's timeline, such as the client, team members, and of course, the project manager. However, I would argue that stakeholders’ thoughts and opinions play a significant role in influencing the overall timeline as one must obtain their support to proceed with the project. The timeline should be crafted to incorporate needed contingencies but should also be of a duration that is feasible to the stakeholders. Otherwise, one risks not obtaining approval for the project (Project Practical, 2019).
Can you think of a situation or type of project where the opinion of the stakeholders would greatly influence the timeline?
References
Project Practical. (2019, May 7). The 12 most important people in a project and their roles. ProjectPractical.com. https://www.projectpractical.com/the-12-most-important-people-in-a-project-and-their-roles/
Each expert of the project will give input on the timeline to complete their portion of the project. As we learned in Dr. Simon's lectures in the planning phase we can determine a project timeline by creating the task schedules. The task schedules will include early/late starts and early/late finishes of each task. After selecting a start date, trace each path of the network and add the duration of each task. from here you can further calculate the early start/finish date and the late start/finish date. From here you can determine the critical path, the task slack and the project slack and determine the timeline of the project. It is the quality of the time estimates provided by the experts appointed to each task that is crucial but it is the PM who selects the appropriate team to provide this expertise and the PM who will conduct the calculations for the timeline. The PM is in my opinion the key to the most effective and realistic timeline.
I believe that the project manager would have the most say in the timeline of the project. There is the potential that the project manager's boss or a higher up executive may have an input, but I believe it ultimately comes down to the project manager. Of course, a higher executive may try to speed the project up so that it is finished quicker and ready to market, but it is the job of the project manager to detail the timeline to them and help them understand why things need to go a certain way and why it will take time for these things to happen. Like you mentioned, Subject Matter Expert's opinions will also play a role in determining the timeline but, based on my few months at a medical device company, they would rather extend the time line so that all the proper testing is done. Even though everyone would want the project to be done as soon as possible, sometimes it is not feasible for that to be the case. There may be supply chain issues or issues with even getting testing done via outside vendors. All of these "hiccups" need to be accounted for when creating a timeline to ensure that it has enough slack.
i think the time frame is decided by the stakeholders. they give out the late finish date. then the time line will be up to project managers. they have more experience on the project and know every requirement for the product to be released. manager should be able to control the timeline for the tests to be preformed properly. for example, if a project need several animal trail, then the lab technician should have enough time to finish the tests.
Just an opinion seeking topic stemming from the most recent simulation:
After initiation of a project, and during the planning of the timeline with all the stakeholders of the project, which people have the most influential input on the timeline or approach for the project? Individuals from different departments and backgrounds are involved, so I would assume individuals with the most expertise on a certain topic would apply their knowledge to the part of the schedule which pertains to them, although investors or managers could imply their own opinions and not move from them.
Who has the most influence on the timeline?
I believe the stakeholders have the most influence on the timeline. This is because the stakeholders have expectations for the project managers. If the expectations are not met, it can lead to the stakeholder leaving, and then the project will not be allowed to begin due to the expenses not being able to be accomplished. With all that being said, the project manager is also essential since, without the project manager, the project would not be able to even start in the initiation phase; the project managers explain to the stakeholders the outcomes and the possible risks of the project. Overall, both stakeholders and project managers have the most influence on the timeline and how the project will proceed.
As others have stated in this thread, a large part of the influence of a project will fall on the project management team, whether that consists of one person or many larger supervisors, they will have the biggest say on certain aspects of any project. This, however, does not mean the project team does not have any influence on the project at all. The project is being created and implemented by the team and there might be several experts on subjects that will be making many important decisions in the project's lifetime. These people have a very large influence on the project because they are the ones creating it. They can take the project in the direction that they think is best and the management team will make their decisions based on that. In addition to all this, there will be projects that the management team will be working closely with the project team so everyone's voices will be heard and any changes made will be what everyone wants rather than just a few individuals. Overall, it is important to realize that every person will have their own role in the project and certain roles will have more of an influence on the timeline than others.
The person who would have the most influence on the timeline would most likely be the person who assigned the timeline or in other words, the person who started the project. They would have the most influence because they are the ones who created the project themselves and are the ones who would want it completed by their timing. It is true that certain departments and their skills towards different tasks would affect the timeline but the overall deadline is by the highest ‘rank’ in the project.
I think that overall, the person with the most input of the timeline of a project would be the department head. This is not to say, however, that they come up with a timeline themselves and expect the PM to work around that. Because the dept. head oversees multiple projects at once, I think that they would want to make sure that they don't have many projects that rely on each other overlap too much. I see it kind of like a tree: PMs would gather input from their team members/subject matter experts for their specific deliverable. Then, if a project requires others PMs for other deliverables, the PMs would meet and come up with a timeline that encompasses their individual deliverables. I would hope that these PMs would then present this timeline to the dept. head and if it all sounds good, they would approve it. In a perfect world, the timeline would get approved without really changing it because realistically, the dept. head does may not really understand how much work/time goes into submitting a high quality deliverable. If the dept. head wants to shorten the timeline and create a time crunch, that would not really be too good but also, the PMs do not have much say against them.
In a project, the individuals who have the most influential input on the timeline and approach may vary depending on the project's scope, complexity, and industry. However, typically, the project manager and subject matter experts (SMEs) who possess relevant expertise and knowledge related to the project's specific domain have the most influential input on the timeline and approach. The project manager is responsible for creating and managing the project schedule, while SMEs are responsible for providing their technical expertise and insights into the project's specific aspects. Stakeholders, such as investors or managers, may also have input, but their influence may be more related to the project's scope, objectives, and resources, rather than the detailed timeline and approach. Ultimately, the project manager must balance all the inputs and ensure that the timeline and approach are feasible, realistic, and aligned with the project's objectives and constraints.
For example, if the project involves the development of a new software application, the software developers and engineers would have the most influential input on the timeline and approach for the development phase. They would apply their expertise to estimate how long it will take to design and code the software, and what resources they will need to do so. However, investors or managers may also have a significant impact on the timeline, for example, if they have a specific launch date in mind or if they have financial constraints that need to be considered. Ultimately, the most influential stakeholders on the timeline will depend on the specific project and its objectives.
