Scheduling backwards

If this Dilbert comic strip rings a bell, you might want to continue reading.

Raj is working on a project declared as the number one priority by the company. If this software does not get released within the next month, the company will not meet certain certification standards for the product which in turn will affect the sales this year.

Mark, the project manager, is very keen on moving fast. “We must do what it takes! The certification test has been set to end of the month. A week before that date, we should be testing the software. This means, the software should be ready by the end of this week. Raj, will you be able to deliver?”

Raj is thinking “This is such a critical project. It seems like an emergency. We will all be in trouble if we can’t get it done.”  He responds, “Yes, absolutely! I’ll try my best.”

Raj takes the ‘do what it takes’ command seriously. He is working late, fixing bugs the ugly way and is headed straight towards completion. What about documentation and reviews? We don’t have time for everything right now. We can do it LATER! We just need to pass the test.

 

Weeks later, the software is certified. There is a short celebration party held for the team. Champagne is served. Everyone is happy. Raj is beaming with pride. 

The next year, the company is in the same situation for another round of certification for a similar software update. But this time, Mila and Paul are on the software team. And what else is new? The project manager is Alexander. 

Alexander understands the significance of the project very well. But he starts like this “Mila and Paul, can you give me an estimate of how much work this is? It would be nice if we had some dates to go with it.”

Paul says, “Yes, sure. Well, the design document will take about a week’s time; the software itself will take about two weeks. Mila says she will review it in a week. We are both attending the training session for a couple of days within that period too. So I think the software will be ready for test within five weeks from now.”

Alexander notes down the dates and reports it to his boss Alisha. Alisha is shocked. She says “The last year’s team did this in one week. This year your team is going to cost us extra money. We had everything scheduled and now we need to spend on getting it all re-organized. Last year, getting the software cost us NOTHING!”

Mark imposing a deadline, Raj working overtime hours, the team ignoring the software process last year sent a wrong a message to the company’s top level management. They had started believing that they could impose any deadline for small software updates and it will be delivered more or less on time. It was a monstrous myth building in itself- Software is free!