In the pursuit of getting the red projects to green, there are several areas where a project manager has to focus. Process optimization and fine-tuning is another area where a project manager can focus which can help reduce delays, deliver some value, and bring the red status to green.
Not all the processes that are laid down are essential for all projects. The nature of the project and the status of the project should dictate what processes should be followed. And further, can those processes be optimized or tailored to help bring the project from the pits to the stand?
Processes to be followed for their sake without deriving or understanding their benefits should be shunned. A red project can’t afford to put effort on anything that doesn’t derive value, or help to reduce delays.
Here are some of the processes that should be optimized:
1. No Gold Plating
This is often the area that causes the most delays. Lack of understanding of the features to be built or doing more than what’s required. A feature can take a different amount of time to be built. If you do it just right vs when you do it excellently. The key is to deliver the feature and the project as agreed upon. And in a red project gold plating is dangerous and can further derail the project. Instead, the team should find ways to shorten the delivery time altogether.
2. Pre-Built Components
Often the teams are stuck in developing everything from scratch. During the crisis, the focus should be on faster delivery. If there are pre-built functionalities, open source libraries, components used in other projects, and components in the market that can help reduce the development and delivery time, that should be taken. Even if those components cost a few hundred dollars, they should be opted for as the delays are going to cost the team a whole lot.
3. Fasten The Feedback
This is yet another area which causes delays. Although most projects work in Agile mode now a days but the feedback is still something that is often delayed until the last moment. If the stakeholders’ feedback is usually delayed or takes more time, get them co-located or in a virtual war-room setup where the feedback can be solicited instantly as the work goes on during the day. Prepare backup stakeholders so that absence of one doesn’t block the feedback cycle. The feedback loop should be minimal.
4. Documentation That Helps
When a project is delayed then the last thing anyone wants to do is documentation. And maybe rightly so. As much as documentation is an overhead, it’s also important in many scenarios. Code documentation, release documentation, documenting functionalities developed vs pending matrix, etc. are important. The efforts of important documentation should be considered, automated tools could be used to help with documentation, and for these efforts, help can be sought from outside the project as well as it will not require the project knowledge. The documentation that will help track things better and can help portray the right picture to stakeholders should be maintained despite the efforts.
5. Optimize the Development Process
The development process should be optimized and should be more agile. If the bugs are being found in late stages, the process should change so that they can be identified and addressed earlier. Product Owners, Developers, and QAs can work in a setup that is conducive to clarifying doubts, developing, and simultaneously testing and demoing it. This process will shorten the development time and collaborative work will build more trust and confidence amongst the team and in the process. Assign the features depending upon the strengths of the team members. Make reviews automated, faster, and stringent so that the rework is less. Build and Deployments (and any other areas that can be) should be automated. Address any infrastructure and networking issues that can hamper the productivity of team members.
Often we think that the processes are already optimized and we have followed them in other projects and it bore results. However, there is always room for optimization and process applicability will always depend upon the nature of the project. These above-mentioned optimizations are a very good start for your process optimization efforts.