Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
8.13 How Did I Make the Decision Each Day on What
Was Most Important?
To h e l p a n s w e r t h i s q u e s t i o n , t h e re i s a n e q u a l l y i m p o r t a n t q u e s t i o n I s h o u l d
ask first:
How did I decide in the first place that I had enough time to take on the
Project Manager's role and still meet my commitments as a Senior Systems
Engineer on the project?
A few years ago at the Systems and Software Technology Conference (SSTC),
I listened to Judy Bamberger describe five metrics each of us should be col-
lecting and using.
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These metrics can help anyone decide if he or she can
meet a commitment:
1. Ta s k p i e c e s : D o I k n o w a l l t h e p i e c e s I m u s t t o u c h ?
2. Effort: How long does it take me to do each piece?
3. Av a i l a b i l i t y : W h a t i s m y a v a i l a b i l i t y ?
4. Quality: What are my average defects per piece?
5. Effectiveness: Do I meet my commitments?
By asking yourself these simple questions, you can reach a reasonable evalu-
ation of whether you can take on the work. However, this is only true if you
first know all the
pieces
to the task. In my case, what were all the
pieces
of the
Project Manager's task?
Carl, who was the Project Manager, had been spending a great deal of time
working with high-level customer representatives on the high-level require-
ments. He was working closely with Mike's boss, seeking agreement on the
vision of the end product. He was also working with Al, mentoring him
daily,
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and doing some of those “less visible” tasks including
analysis
of
lower-priority tasks still on the Product Backlog.
When I assessed my available time to take on the added commitment of
the Project Manager's role, I now know I
underestimated
the effort
involved in the “less visible” tasks Carl was doing.
12. SSTC, 2005 Judy Bamberger, “Five Metrics Each One of Us Should Be Collecting and Using.”
13. The reason Carl was doing this mentoring was because he had the skills, including Java program-
ming, that Al needed.
