프로젝트 관리 개선을 위한 프로젝트 타임라인
무엇이 언제 일어나는지에 대해 팀을 추적하세요
프로젝트 관리 타임라인은 프로젝트의 자세한 일정입니다. 팀 전체에서 개별 단계가 언제 진행될지, 전체 언제 프로젝트가 마무리될지 알 수 있도록 관련된 모든 작업과 각 작업의 기한을 설명합니다.
여러분과 팀원이 웹사이트를 리브랜딩하고 있는데 모두에게 떠오르는 질문이 하나 있습니다. 이 프로젝트는 얼마나 걸립니까?
주말까지 또는 분기 말까지 완료해야 합니까? 포함할 새로운 추천사와 자산을 모으는 동안 계속 진행됩니까? 끊임없이 성장합니까?
프로젝트가 언제 완료되고 제공될지 정확히 지정하는 것은 어려운 일이며 프로젝트의 48%는 원래 예정된 종료일을 지키지 못합니다. 프로젝트 관리 타임라인은 팀을 가늘고 곧은 선 위에 유지하여 프로젝트가 영구적으로 확장되는 것을 막을 수 있습니다.
프로젝트 관리 타임라인을 만드는 방법
“프로젝트를 완료하는 데 함께 한다”는 태도를 키우는 것부터 팀이 체계적으로 유지되도록 돕는 것까지, 프로젝트 타임라인은 머리 아플 일 없이 프로젝트를 완료하는 데 꼭 필요합니다.
이점은 분명하지만 여전히 답해야 할 중요한 질문이 있습니다. 타임라인을 만들려면 어떻게 해야 합니까? 팀이 최선을 다할 수 있도록 지원하는 프로젝트 타임라인을 만들려면 다음 단계를 따르세요.
1. Understand the project scope
Imagine you’re asked to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Initially, it might seem like a quick task. However, if you then specified that you wanted it on homemade bread from a specific recipe, with a unique jelly only available from a particular farmer's market open on Sunday mornings, and requested that the crust be removed and the sandwich cut into a star shape, suddenly, the process becomes more complex and time-consuming.
This analogy highlights the importance of understanding the scope of a project. The project scope encompasses everything needed to complete the project, including tasks, time, and resources. By identifying all requirements from the outset, you can create a more realistic timeline and proactively address scope creep—when project requirements expand beyond the initial agreement. Scope creep is a common issue, affecting 52% of projects.
To define your scope, you'll figure out your project's:
- Goals: What will your project accomplish?
- OKRs: How will you measure the success of your project?
- Deliverables: What is the output of your project?
- Tasks and activities: What steps must you take to produce those deliverables?
- Exclusions: What won't you complete as part of this project?
- Constraints: What limitations are you working with?
Once you have this information, you can consolidate it into a project scope statement. This statement serves as a reference for you and your team throughout the project, enabling you to focus on the essential aspects while setting aside anything that falls outside the scope.
2. Identify your project tasks
Your project timeline shouldn't revolve around a single end date for the entire project. Instead, you must establish milestone dates for various tasks throughout the project.
To get technical, this process is called creating a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), which involves breaking down your large project into different deliverables. This approach simplifies the identification of tasks associated with each deliverable.
In our PB&J example, the ultimate deliverable is a finished, gooey, crustless, star-shaped PB&J sandwich. However, several other deliverables must be completed to achieve this final product. These might include:
- Homemade loaf of bread
- Specific jelly from the farmer's market
- Peanut butter
Now that we have identified each of our separate deliverables, it's simpler to discern the tasks associated with each one:
Deliverable #1: Bread
- Choose a bread recipe
- Purchase ingredients to bake bread
- Bake bread
- Give bread an hour to cool
- Slice bread
Deliverable #2: Jelly
- Find the time and location of the farmer's market
- Drive to the farmer's market
- Purchase the jelly
- Return home
Deliverable #3: Peanut butter
- Visit the grocery store
- Purchase the peanut butter
- Return home
Deliverable #4: Finished sandwich
- Gather a knife and other supplies
- Spread peanut butter on one slice of bread
- Spread jelly on another slice of bread
- Put two pieces of bread together
- Remove crust
- Slice the sandwich into a star-shape
- Put the sandwich on a plate to serve
Looking at all those steps, it's clear that the process isn't as straightforward as it may seem. While you might initially be tempted to jot everything down on paper to ensure nothing is overlooked, it's essential to make this information accessible to your entire team.
Consider using a collaborative knowledge-sharing platform like Confluence to store notes, responsibilities, and project details. This allows everyone to create consistent documentation that all teammates can access.
3. Assign time estimates to each task
You've outlined your deliverables and their associated tasks, but we haven't discussed time yet, so we're not quite at the stage of creating a timeline. In this step, you'll estimate the time required to complete each task. Review the tasks outlined under each deliverable and estimate the time needed for each one.
It's crucial to involve your project team in this process, as they'll have a more realistic understanding of how long their assigned tasks typically take. This collaboration helps guard against the planning fallacy, which suggests that people tend to underestimate the time required for tasks. Your team can provide valuable insights and act as a reality check to ensure your time estimates are accurate.
4. Put your tasks in order
Now that you have your project tasks and time estimates ready, it's time to arrange them in chronological order to establish a logical sequence for you and your team to follow. As you create this sequence, there are a few key considerations to keep in mind:
- Task and resource dependencies: These are resources or tasks that cannot be used simultaneously or completed until a subsequent task is done. For example, you can't spread the peanut butter until you've baked and sliced the bread.
- Concurrent tasks: Some steps can happen simultaneously, allowing you to save time. For instance, you can run to the farmer's market while the bread is cooling off.
By paying attention to these factors, you can develop a realistic and efficient timeline for your project.
5. List deadlines
It's important to remember that time estimates alone do not constitute a schedule. You must assign firm deadlines to tasks. "This should take three hours" is different from stating, "This task will be completed by Tuesday."
Thankfully, your time estimates will aid in setting more realistic deadlines for your project tasks. To err on the side of caution, include a buffer to ensure you don't cut things too close. Unexpected surprises are inevitable, and you'll appreciate having some flexibility built into the timeline.