Shipulski On Design

When you have more projects than people, you have far more activity but far less progress.

Pro Tip: Activity doesn’t pay the bills. Progress does.

Would you rather make lightning progress on two projects or tortoise progress on four?  I prefer lightning.

But isn’t four projects better than two?  It is, if you get compensated for the number of active projects. But it’s not, if you get compensated for finishing projects.

Pro tip: There’s no partial credit for a project that’s less than 100% done.

But how to protect your resources from four projects when you have the resources to deliver on two? This is not a complicated answer: block the extra project from entering the pipeline until you finish one.

Pro Tip: Finish one before you start one, not the other way around.

But what about the efficiency that comes from shared resources that can be spread over four projects?  Don Reintertsen would say “Shared resources create waiting and waiting is the enemy.”  I agree with Don, but I think his language is too reserved.  I say “If you’re focused on the efficiency that comes from shared resources, you don’t know what you’re doing.”

Pro Tip:  Waiting kills progress.  Don’t do it.

Here’s a process to consider.

1. Define the resources you have on hand to work on projects.
2. Choose the most important project and fully staff the project. If the project is fully staffed, start the project.
3. Define the remaining unallocated resources.
4. Choose the next most important project and fully staff the project. If the project is fully staffed, start the project.  If the project is not fully staffed, don’t start a project until you finish one, or you can hire the incremental resources to fully staff a project.
5. Repeat.

Image credit – KIUKO (Elephant Tortoise)