3 months x 6 resources or 6 months x 3 resources

The other day I was toying with a hypothetical idea. Suppose a project is estimated at 18 person-months effort. Now, there are 2 options for you. The delivery can be done in 3 months time frame with 6 resources or it can be done in a 6 month time frame with 3 resources. Agreed that most of the time, in the real world that we operate in, the option 2 is not there. But for the sake of our discussion, let us assume that we have the 2 options. Now if you were to execute this project, which of the 2 options would you prefer. One of my team members says that the 6 person, 3 months would be a better choice. The logic being, since the time frame is short, number of changes introduced by business will also be less and hence less complicacy. This may not be true always. Most teams already have a system in place to handle the requirement changes in the project. There was another justification to his choice also. A team of 6 members will command more attention than a 3 member team. And may be people like to handle larger teams.

But, actually we should take the decision by looking at various fact in hand. Say, we introduce one factor here saying that 80% of the team will consist of freshers or with people less that 1 year experience. Would you still be taking the option 1 i.e 3 months, 6 resources or would you move to option 2? My friend’s decision changed with this new fact. Of course, with freshers, there will be time required to train them and make them productive. So a longer timeframe helps. Similarly, assume that you get experienced resources to staff the project, but the project is something which the organization has never attempted in the past. So, do you still go with 3 month x 6 resources or 6 month x 3 resources? Here again the learning factor is critical.

Similarly, the decision can change depending on various circumstances and various facts that are introduced. But my 2 cents is that I will opt to execute the project in the longer duration. This is because, the deliverables will be spaced out in time and hence the team will be more relaxed and thorough in their job. Longer duration also entails the risk of resources going on leave, resigning etc. So these are also the factors that need to be thought of.

Differentiating oneself in project management

Most project manager practice the art of project management with proper planning, good communication and superb execution. But if all project managers do it well, how does a project manager differentiate himself from other project managers? This is where innovativeness comes into play. A project manager has to be innovative in his thinking, planning and executing. He has to constantly push limits of innovativeness to see if things can be done in a better, faster and cheaper way. A project manager should encourage his team to find out ways to increase their productivity. He should tailor processes in such a way that project team members are not bogged down with too much of unnecessary documentation.  The project manager has to find ways to reduce non-value adding activities from the process flow and maximize time spent on value addition.

Execution

Driving the execution: All planning and scheduling, creating MPPs, filling project initiation forms, risk management sheets, budget sheets, and different processes are just meant for EXECUTING the project. Execution is the Key. Project execution is where the rubber hits the road for a project manager. The project manager is the one who drives the project execution, scanning the environment for roadblocks and removing the obstacles so that the project team can have a smooth run. This is where, the project manager has to employ all his skills in negotiating, cajoling, inspiring, driving and if required turning the heat on to get the ball rolling smoothly. This is where he needs to make quick course corrections and certain trade-off decisions depending on the various available information at hand. He needs to ensure that all loose strings are tied up at the end and project is executed successfully.