Introduction
Project Activities & Delivery Life Cycle Approaches
The nature of project activity identification and ownership changes based on the choices of the project delivery lifecycle. Project delivery approaches frequently involve predictive or plan-driven approaches, which may be called waterfall, linear, predictive, or sequential project delivery. At the other extreme, projects may use adaptive or change-driven approaches, which may be called agile using Scrum, Kanban, or DevOps approaches. Accordingly, the way these activities are monitored and reported also changes.
However, in any project delivery framework chosen, tasks themselves take on various responsibilities depending on the role executing the task. As a result, tasks can focus on management tasks (planning, risks, budget), schedule (deadline or milestone), and commitment (communication, teamwork, and control).
Project Activities in the Plan-Driven Life Cycle
Therefore, monitoring project activities in such projects involves tracking progress against the plan, monitoring risks to consider preventive actions, identifying deviations through defect repairs and performance reports for taking corrective actions to minimize the impact of changes. Metrics like task completion rates, task duration, and resource utilization are commonly used to assess project performance. One typical approach is to apply the earned value management techniques (Rajagopalan, 2024), evaluating the lagging indicators, such as the schedule and cost variance or schedule and cost performance indices, and potentially the leading indicators, such as the estimate to complete, estimate at completion and the to-complete-performance index.
Project Activities in the Change-Driven Lifecycle
In contrast, adaptive approaches, like Agile, embrace flexibility and iterative development. In Agile, tasks may be defined at a high level during the initial backlog refinement stages. However, the tasks are defined and refined by the team during the iteration/sprint planning stages and constantly updated throughout the project lifecycle. Contrary to plan-driven approaches, the team defines the activities as tasks as part of the 'Definition of Done' and monitors the task progress throughout the iteration/sprint.
Consequently, metrics like velocity and burn rate (Rajagopalan, 2019) are frequently used to assess project performance. These approaches involve using velocity charts for commitment tracking, burndown charts through the iteration to monitor work remaining, and burnup across the iterations in a release for value delivery. Furthermore, adaptive approaches assess the lifecycle metrics such as lead time, cycle time, work-in-progress (WIP) limits, and throughput (Inflectra, 2024).
Task Activity Management Lifecycle
The task management lifecycle involves several stages, from task initiation to completion.
Task Initiation
In the task initiation stage, tasks are identified, defined, and assigned to team members. This stage is critical for setting clear expectations and ensuring that tasks are aligned with project objectives. In Waterfall, task initiation typically involves a formal process of requirements gathering, analysis, and documentation. In Agile, task initiation is often more iterative, with tasks being identified and refined as the project progresses.
Task Planning
The task planning stage involves estimating the effort and duration required for each task and creating a project schedule. This stage is important for allocating resources effectively and ensuring that tasks are completed on time. In Waterfall, task planning is typically done upfront and based on detailed requirements and activity sequencing. In Agile, task planning is often done in shorter iterations, with estimates being refined as more information becomes available.
Task Execution
The task execution stage involves tracking the work done on tasks and communicating any obstacles that may impede or block its completion. In Waterfall, the team makes progress to completion but is monitored by the project manager as part of project health checks.
In Agile, the team holds full accountability for tasks, addressing impediments or issues during daily standups or within their sprint. Typically, all projects require logging both the hours spent on tasks and any remaining hours needed for completion.
Task Monitoring
Task monitoring is a critical aspect of project management that involves tracking the progress and performance of tasks to ensure timely completion and alignment with project objectives. It plays a vital role in identifying and addressing potential challenges or bottlenecks, enabling project managers and teams to make informed decisions and take corrective actions if needed. By leveraging metrics, such as task completion rates, duration, and resource utilization, task monitoring provides insights into project health and helps optimize project outcomes.
Task Completion
The completion stage involves reviewing with the appropriate stakeholders to ensure approval before marking the task completed. Due to the nature of the task type, this may involve simply marking it complete when all the work has been completed or reviewing it with another team or stakeholder to ensure acceptance. The actual time spent on the task or any remaining time logged for the task and zeroing the remaining hours.
Monitoring Project Activities
The goal of monitoring project activities is not to evaluate individual performance but to focus on understanding project health. While project managers or agile teams can focus on many metrics that we already discussed, such as the leading and lagging indicators in Earned Value Management and the Cycle Time and Lead Time of work through the project, one can also look at other indicators that can also be used to understand what impedes progress, says Dr. Sriram Rajagopalan, Global Head of Agile Strategy & Transformation Services. These items include the following.
- Analyzing Task Status by the Types of Tasks identified
- Analyzing Task Status by the Task Priorities agreed
- Analyzing Tasks in the Done, Not Started, and Work In Progress Queues
- Analyzing Overdue of Tasks assigned to Known/Unknown Requirements/Releases
- Analyzing Tasks by Late Start, Late Finish, and Not Started states
- Analyzing commitments on planned/actual velocity for future iteration planning
Summary
The nature of activities vastly differs based on the types of tasks and the complexity of the projects within a small, medium, or large organization. So, analyzing tasks with a different lens to where challenges exist can ensure that management can address these impediments, obstacles, blockers, and issues! This blog provided ideas on how they can be analyzed beyond the traditional earned value analysis or burn-down and burn-up charts.
References
Inflectra (2024). The Future of Work: Revolutionizing Productivity with Lead and Cycle Insights. https://www.inflectra.com/Ideas/Whitepaper/Revolutionizing-Productivity-with-Lead-and-Cycle-Time-Insights.aspx
Rajagopalan, S. (2019). Agile Iterations also involve cost. Retrieved May 13, 2024, from https://agilesriram.blogspot.com/2019/04/test-post.html
Rajagopalan, S. (2024). What is Earned Value Management? Retrieved May 13, 2024, from https://www.inflectra.com/Ideas/Videos/VVVBZkl3ZEFDeGZfWDlxYjYwZnN1U2lBLlY4eHVtN0p6QU9J/V8xum7JzAOI.aspx