Don’t ask for a project deadline

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Project managers often ask for a project deadline. That might be a bad idea. Here are reasons to propose a project deadline rather than request one:

You need to analyze before agreeing to a deadline. Until your project team analyzes the work required to achieve business outcomes, you can’t be sure the deadline provided is feasible. Why ask for a deadline if you can’t acknowledge or refute? Instead, perform analysis on the requested scope and propose a defendable deadline. While that deadline may not be accepted without negotiation, you can talk knowledgeably about the specific risks of bringing in your proposed deadline.

Employ a proactive approach to project management. Setting arbitrary deadlines is not a recommended practice in business! Why do it with projects? Discussing possibilities, approaches and the capabilities and capacity of your team members is more constructive than building a case for why a project deadline may or may not be feasible. These discussions allow project managers to extend the capabilities and control organizational leaders have to manage the business.

Protect how your management team is perceived by team members.  Impractical, arbitrary deadlines proposed by managers can erode the trust-based relationship between management and your team members. Managers who propose deadlines without understanding the complexity of the work can be perceived as out of touch or unappreciative of the work teams perform. Defining objectives and deadlines using a consultative approach between the team and management instills trust and helps ensure buy-in.

Support early discussion of options for the business. Ask the project team for their opinions about business objectives. that way, you won’t have to defend impractical deadlines. Instead, the team can propose scope and time trade-offs and alternative solutions to achieve those business outcomes.

For more about project scheduling and deadlines, check out my Project Management Foundations course.

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Breaking down tasks for your WBS

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A Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) breaks down your project into the activities needed to meet project objectives. Here are tips for breaking down project activities:

Break tasks down into 8 – 40 hours of effort.  To help track progress, break down work so tasks can be completed within a week. If a process takes longer than a week, establish checkpoints that are 40 hours of effort or less. Note: Toward the end of your project when you have less time to handle delayed task completions without impacting your project, shorten task durations to 16 hours or less so you can manage proactively.

Assign tasks to an individual, if possible. Every task will be assigned to people. Ideally, one person should be able to complete the broken-down task. When multiple people work on a task, name a spokesperson to track progress and report status. A best practice is to have an informal discussion with the spokesperson so you know how they will coordinate work on the task.

Identify how you tell when the task is complete.    To track progress easily, document what each low-level task delivers so you confirm that the task is complete.  As project manager, you don’t have to confirm completion. Ensure that a subject matter expert can confirm completion for every task in your WBS.

Tasks should be clearly defined.  Two main tests can be used to assess clarity: Will a team member assigned to work on the task understand the task description? Can you tell what tasks will precede or follow from a particular task? Tasks contribute to the construction of a schedule and should be defined logically, so you can determine whether a specific sequence is needed (i.e., you must write software before you test it). Alternatively, you might be able to perform tasks in parallel, like defining the task of “painting the house” to “paint the east side of the house” which could be done in parallel with “paint the west side of the house.”

For more about work breakdown structures, check out my Project Management Foundations: Schedules course.

This post contains affiliate links, and I will be compensated if you click my links and make a purchase.