constant pushes in deadlines

[NormaAwad]

I would like to see what other groups are doing when tasks keep getting missed. We have our leads managing the projects with workflows and the leads are complaining that it is taking more than 50% of their time just managing tasks and following up on people who miss their deadlines. Norma Awad | Manager of Marketing Enablement Esri | 380 New York St | Redlands, CA 92373 | USA T 909 793 2853 x2215 | M 917 509 0706 | nawad@esri.com | "http://www.esri.com/"> esri.com THE SCIENCE OF WHERE™

[EricLu2]

Hi Norma Having worked with a lot of different software packages, I have to say that the core challenge in dealing with late tasks is rarely every updating the project management software. The challenges are: Getting a reasonably accurate forecast to start with; Getting people to provide updates on their progress, so it is possible to predict an overage. CPI for us is a key indicator, assuming they are turning in timesheets on time; Getting people to honestly assess the remaining work when the task is late. We have an "Overdue Task" report that shows the tasks that are overdue. I also use a report that shows CPI that is out of range, for us, to help us predict which tasks are likely to be overdue – and this is key – before they are overdue. If a task is running late, it becomes a personal thing and people are, in my experience, defensive about their perceived failure to get the task done on time. That defensiveness is the root of the challenge. The technology is virtually insignificant in this discussion. Thanks! Eric

[KathyPal]

I too am interested in how the group handles this since my team complains of the same. Often as a result, tasks don't get updated thus creating other issues. Kathy Palumbo Marketing Communications

[AnthonyIm]

Hi! As stated before, the issue is not a technology issue but a people and process issue. One thing you can do is compare recently finished projects to the default baseline and see which tasks or sections are always running late and by how much. (NOTE: Even if you don't "use baselines", Workfront automatically saves one the first time you go from Planning to Current). Maybe the template needs to be adjusted because the duration is just not possible for those tasks/that group. I would also have a talk with the department leads of the more troubled groups. They are supposed to be the ones making sure their employees are getting their stuff done. And I have found that in business units where there is a strong department lead who wants his group to shine, they can truly help out the PMs if you ask them. You can have a dashboard or even a daily emailed report (My favorite is showing the Planned Completion Date as well as the Projected Completion Date and then labeling the column "Due Date Based On Performance" so if they don't update the percent complete, that task sticks out to the manager as going to be overdue but before it is actually overdue). It basically comes down to an accountability issue. If I can be late on all my tasks or if I don't update my tasks if something comes up AND there are no consequences, I will do that. If I can underestimate how long something takes and there are no consequences, I'll do that. Hope that is helpful. Anthony Imgrund FCB

[VicAl]

I agree with Eric and Anthony completely (sounds like a radio show �� ). From the tool perspective we have our PM's try to ensure they have a properly formed project plan to begin with. What I mean by that is using the Predecessors, Task Constraints, Assignments, Durations, and Planned Hours properly. If I look at someone's project plan (and we do a monthly audit of two random projects) and I see they don't have predecessors, it's a red flag. That means every time a task is late, they now have to adjust the date of that task and every subsequent successor task. And since they don't have preds, they don't always know which tasks are true successors. So they're "spending 50% of their time" or more sifting through a project plan to update it. And it leaves a lot of room for mistakes. If they're setting proper predecessors, they can simply adjust the date of the late task and the tool will adjust all the successor tasks. So the update should be minutes. And then you know what that late task has done to your overall plan and can make further adjustments if necessary. We recommend they update their plan weekly (at least) and like Eric (and others) we have dashboards and reports to show items that we want to track (i.e. recently completed tasks, upcoming tasks, issues, etc.). After the initial set up of a project plan (which does take a long time to create and get good estimates), it takes me about an hour each week to properly update my plan and other ancillary tasks (i.e. send status report, etc.). Vic Alejandro, PMP, CSM | IT | Sr. IT Project Manager Denver Water | t: (303-628-7262) | c: (303-319-6473) "http://www.denverwater.org/"> http://www.denverwater.org INTEGRITY | VISION | PASSION | EXCELLENCE | RESPECT

[tracy_fox]

I will add to the chorus...definitely more a people/process issue than technology. Once you confirm your projects are set-up properly (predecessors, duration, plan hours, scheduling within resource availability etc) and you have provided lots of way for staff to see their tasks (dashboards etc) then it comes down to accountability. We have established KPIs for our staff that included Schedule Adherence (no more than X% of tasks can be late) and managers are being held accountable to their departments' results as well. Since 2018 is the start of our second full year of using Workfront, we expect to see a greater awareness, communication and self-responsibility when it comes to completing work on time. Our division seems to follow the 80/20 rule: 20% of our staff are having the most issues in meeting their expected schedule (for different reasons). Tracy Fox Project Manager / Workfront SysAdmin Sykes Assistance Services Corporation

[JaimesonWe]

Agreed with all! We've also slimmed down project templates to tasks that matter (either identifying who is working on something, or only tasks that push the process forward). Having fewer tasks to update means less time making those updates. We also created some best practices around task constraints and milestones, so tasks that align with a project's milestone update based on that milestone task changing completion dates. Jaimeson Wennerstrum Periscope, Inc.

[StephanieSc1]

I agree with all comments made so far. (this is an issue about people/process, not the tool) I'll also add that in an effort to better understand why our projects keep getting pushed out, we made a nifty little project form that we call the "WIL" (why its late). Every time one of our traffickers shifts out a project schedule, they move the counter forward by 1, and then select from one of the preset reasons. (client- late copy, client- late feedback, team- competing priorities, team- late, etc) We have a report that compiles our "worst offenders", which makes having process improvement conversions with our internal clients a lot easier, as we have actual project data to back it up. Screenshots below, and happy to share how we built the form with anyone who wants to copy it. thanks! PROJECT FORM: REPORT: Steph Scherer Diversified Communications, Inc.

[VicAl]

Nice. We do something similar in that whenever someone changes a project end date deadline (or scope or budget), they have to complete a Change Order, which explains why and by how much, and it has to be approved by the sponsors. And the Change Order is an Issue Type in WF with it's own form. So we can filter on those to track them as you do. Vic Alejandro, PMP, CSM | IT | Sr. IT Project Manager Denver Water | t: (303-628-7262) | c: (303-319-6473) "http://www.denverwater.org/"> http://www.denverwater.org INTEGRITY | VISION | PASSION | EXCELLENCE | RESPECT