Happiness is an Organized Case Queue - Drupalcamp Atlanta 2011

Happiness is anOrganized Case QueueBy Jeff Diecks and Don VanDemarkMediacurrent

Clients want quality service…
Photo by protoflux / Flickr

…with constraints.
Photo by protoflux / Flickr

Developers want to be a chef …
Photo by manoelpetry / Flickr

… not a vending machine.
Photo by Andrew Maiman / Flickr

Project Managers don’t want to be yelled at.
Photo by andreas-photography / Flickr

Cases…That’s the ticket!

We sell this.
Photo by NASA Goddard Photo and Video / Flickr

Clients see this.
Photo by jwilliford.com

Developers see this.
Photo by consumerist.com

… and Project Managers get this.
Photo by parkydoodles / flickr

This is not natural.
Photo by Mr. Hodgson / flickr

Will any of these solve this?

`
Does being agile solve every problem?
Photo by Barry Goyette / artbyyouandme.tv

`
How about planning everything out?
Photo by nakae / Flickr

`
Do the same things at a large company...
Photo by youcube.us

`
… work for a smaller shop?
Photo by rogerart.com

Think!Can I solve this in 15 minutes?Is this a simple task?

1 case=1 taskfor 1 person(and are you that person?)

TaskDo you have what you need?

State Your IntentionsTask PlanTarget DateEffort Estimate

Task Plan (10/1/11 - JD)
-I will add a view block to the sidebar region of the homepage-The new view to be created will filter by content type News, Published=yes-Title and Published Date fields will be displayed in HTML list style-Titles will link to the nodes for each news item- Published Date will display inline, unlinked, after the title in “time ago” format-5 items will be displayed, sorted descending by published date-The view block’s title will be “News Updates”

Think!Do I need approval?Did the scope change?

Are we there yet?Attention matters.Where we are going is as important as where we’ve been.

ReviewIf you have teammates,use them.(p.s. this is easy if your task plan is clear.)

Done is beautiful.

Features
Ready to begin?
State Your Intentions
Task List
Manage Scope
In Progress (as tasks)
Review

Now, we plan.

9/22/11

Estimating resources
http://civicactions.com/estimating-worksheet
http://www.lullabot.com/articles/art-estimation
Johnnie Fox – 4 PMProject Estimation: Survival GuideRoom 119C - Turner
http://nodeone.se/blogg/resources-for-my-session-on-early-estimating
9/22/11

An estimate separates out the time required for each task.
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
Day 8
Day 9
Day 10
Install
Config
Theme
Custom code
Test
9/22/11

A single person would line the tasks up.
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
Day 8
Day 9
Day 10
Install
Config
Theme
Custom code
Test
Project completed in 19 days
9/22/11

But reality works more like this
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
Day 8
Day 9
Day 10
Time to
renew
license
Client doesn't finish
list of reqs
Theme
Install
Config
Config
Client takes vacation
and doesn't
answer e-mail
Theme
Custom code
Client requests new feature.
You code and theme it.
Test
Your 19-day estimate turned into 30.
9/22/11

A multi-person shop can split and stack the work where possible but that complicates the process of forecasting
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
Day 8
Day 9
Day 10
Install
Custom code
Project C
kickoff
Custom code
Config
Test
Theme
This works well for a firm with only a single project...
9/22/11

but most firms have more projects than people...
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
Day 8
Day 9
Day 10
Custom code
Install
Project B
emergency
Custom
code
Client points out
missed req
Custom code
Config
Config
Theme
Theme
Sick days
resulting in missed deadline, bad quality, postponed projects and frazzled nerves
9/22/11

As with case management, forecasting has no silver bullet.
9/22/11

Most PMs love their spreadsheets...
...the goal is simply to know who's doing how much to what.
9/22/11

Tips to help your forecasting
9/22/11

Communicate
Communicate
Communicate
9/22/11

Know the quality of your estimates
9/22/11

Build in margin
.project .task { margin: 0.25%;}
9/22/11

Jeff Diecks, Sr Project Manager
Twitter: jeffdiecks
jeff.diecks@mediacurrent.com
Don VanDemark, Sr Project Manager
Twitter: DonVanDemark
don.vandemark@mediacurrent.com
Jeff has posted a blog going over the same details as this presentation at
http://mediacurrent.com/blog
Don will follow up with one on forecasting next week.
This presentation can be found on slideshare.net/mediacurrent
Questions?
9/22/11

Happiness is an Organized Case Queue - Drupalcamp Atlanta 2011

by Mediacurrent

Accessibility

Categories

Upload Details

Usage Rights

Statistics

Happiness is an Organized Case Queue - Drupalcamp Atlanta 2011 Presentation Transcript