In the 11/16 meeting, we touched briefly on the affect of project complexity on project tasks. Specifically, we discussed the affect of project task catalogue on the roles. We agreed that, in general, the more complex a project is, the more tasks will be needed to complete it (i.e., for effective governance and communication) and therefore the more roles will be required to fulfill the tasks.
Assume:
- Roles may be served by the same person, or several different people.
- "Project Complexity" is not an effective measure of project cost.
Factors which increase project complexity
risk
High risk projects, i.e., those which have the potential to harm functioning processes or systems, require mitigation measures and additional documentation. If not completing the work will harm a functioning process or system, then not doing the project is similarly risky.
regulatory requirements
If a project is initiated to ensure that a team or function meets regulatory requirements, the project leads may be asked to contribute compliance paperwork.
cost
High budget requires additional control, risk mitigation, governance, and compliance.
approvers and stakeholders
Greater numbers of approvers necessitate more time spent in seeking and securing signoffs. Greater numbers of stakeholders require more time in interviews, more user profiles, more testing, and potentially also more time in signoffs.
available resource proficiency with the technology
Outsourced projects may require additional oversight on the part of management.
systems interfaces
Each system connecting to a new, changed, or retired component must be represented on a project, and each connection increases the design accommodations and systems requirements.
process interfaces
Each process that will be changed by a systems project must be updated, at least given a workaround, to accommodate the change.
development hours
The more development hours, the more management will be needed to track and support those hours.
Tasks on a project
Task |
Role(s) |
LOW |
MEDIUM |
HIGH |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Consultant Assignment |
(TL) |
X |
X |
X |
Business Brief |
(BA) |
X |
X |
X |
Discovery Estimate |
(BA) |
X |
X |
X |
Business Requirements Document |
(BA) |
|
X |
X |
Development Estimate |
(BA) |
X |
X |
X |
Wireframes |
(BA) |
|
|
X |
Sitemap |
(BA) |
|
X |
X |
RFP |
(PM) |
|
X |
X |
Selection of Vendor |
(PM) |
X |
X |
X |
Usability/ATIC Design Reviews |
(PM) |
X |
X |
X |
Refined Scope (as needed) |
(PM) |
|
X |
X |
Content Deck |
(PM) |
|
|
X |
Project Management |
(PM) |
X |
X |
X |
Project Timeline |
(PM) |
|
X |
X |
DCAD Code Reviews |
(PM) |
|
X |
X |
ATIC Code Review |
(PM) |
X |
X |
X |
Testing Plan |
(PM) |
|
X |
X |
Usability Plan/Test |
(PM) |
X |
X |
X |
Data Migration Plan |
(PM) |
|
|
X |
Consulting Retainer |
(PM) |
|
|
X |
(TL) = Team Lead
(BA) = Business Analyst
(PM) = Project Manager