Project Management case study: Managing a $2-$Week Project

Recently, I experienced the challenge of having short project, and I mean really short: a $2-$week project.

A dramatic re$-$enactment of that would look like this:

I$$m called to action. There$$s a new project and it$$s got my name all over it$.$ I$$ve gotten the assignment and I$$m ready to really dig into that SoW and prepare for kickoff.

My face shows focus and excitement. Funny... someone must have gotten the dates wrong; the project starts tomorrow and runs for only two weeks. That can$$t be right. Is that right? Now my face shows confusion and fear. Messages go out via all known communication methods. Confirmation. It is right.

Project Details

We had been hired to create functional prototypes for a user testing engagement. There was a finite date for this testing and it was quickly approaching. The prototypes have to take into account about six different flows and countless use cases. Like the delivery date, the budget was also fixed and finite; we had to do some fancy number games to get the right team composition to ensure the success of the project.

QUICK FACTS

$-$ Type of Client Company: Home appliance

$-$ Type of project: Prototyping for user testing

$-$ Cost or cost range: $$20,000$ $$50,000$

$-$ Timeline: $2-3$ weeks

$-$ Team size: $5$

$-$ Methodology: N$/$A

$-$ Main goal: Accomplish prototyping to client specifications prior to user panel testing date

$-$ Main challenge: Getting assets needed from the client to turn around a timely prototype

So What Now?

Decisions need to be made around what stays and what goes from your normal project checklist. The team is quickly on boarded and the internal expectations are shaped around the unexpected and unyielding demands of a two$-$week project.

Project managers face all kinds of surprises, and each one comes with a special flavour all its own. They$$re seasoned with $$Stay in Scope and Budget$,$Produce the Deliverable$$ and $$Unify the Team$.$

On a normal project, these things are par for the course and something we are all trained to do using our charismatic PM ways. But this is no normal project. Condensing a full cadence of ceremonies and processes into a two week period is simply not going to happen without a magic wand.

I haven$$t seen any of those in my office, but by all means, if you have one, use it$.$

Assuming, like me$,$ that you are without magical resources, a real problem has been presented to you and you must find a solution$$like$,$ yesterday. The most helpful thing to do is start with a basic list of questions to help you navigate the best path to achieving the deliverable on such a short deadline.

$2-$Week Project Tips: How to Manage A Short Project

Here are the $5$ questions I recommend starting with $($and the answers as they pertained to my project$)$:

$1.$ Who comprises my team and are they armed with the tools and assets they need to at least begin work?

Given the parameters, we ended up with a team comprised of a Delivery Director, a Project Manager, an Architect and two offshore Developers. We were relying heavily on the provision of assets to base design on and this became a bit of a blocker at one point, resulting in the addition of another developer for a day or two.

$2.$ What meetings are crucial $($daily standups, demos, etc.$)$ and what can be disregarded $($retros$,$ grooming, etc.$)?$

We decided that daily stand ups with the client and demos were the two essentials for a project this short. Namely because the key here is staying aligned and on time. Failing at one of those would jeopardize the success of the whole project.

$3.$ Does your team and your client have a thorough understanding of what is being developed and delivered? Is there complete alignment?

Thanks to the meetings mentioned, our continued touchpoints ensure alignment through delivery. $4.$ What does the full timeline of this project look like? When are check$-$in points, QA$,$ revisions...?

The timeline was established going into it but had to remain very flexible. There were quite a few last minute $$let$$s jump on a call$$ meetings to clarify issues and defects that arose during development.

$5.$ Does this lead to another SOW that expands on this portion?

In our case, it doesn$$t$,$ but more similar work will be granted to us in the future as these prototypes are needed.

Answering these questions, as I did above, will give you a good starting point to guide the following weeks of work. Unfortunately, with a project this short, some of the typical discovery items you$$d research during kick$-$off are going to be revealed along the way, parallel to development.

HELPFUL TIPS

$$ At the very start of the project, establish a real$-$time method of communication with the client. This type of deadline will require immediate response to questions and the standard respectable delay will not suffice. Slack, Hipchat or Gchat or all good options $($check out this article for other communication tools$).$

$$ It will be very important to allow key players the time needed to actually do the work. Bogging them