Many Managers, use their Random Access Memory (also know as brain!) to manage this list of things. I have a good memory, but I find it un-reliable under intense pressure. Trying to remember things in a high pressure situation is very difficult and more often, adds to the stress. This results in errors, which in turn leads to rework and delays.
Rework and Delay are the two words all Project Stakeholders (Project Managers, Management, Customers and last but not the least, the Team Members) dread the most. Rework and Delays are boring to individuals associated to the project and expensive for the Organizations. It is simply "good time wasted". Imagine what one could have done if there were no rework and no delays!, a team member could have added a new skill, Project Manager could have made a plan for a new project, an Organization could have deployed the entire team to a new project, resulting in more revenues. More revenues results in more investments in new equipment and to hire more people. The cycle goes on...
The first thing that comes to my mind as a preventive action for rework and delays is a "Schedule". This is the best possible answer to the question. Schedules are detailed, need a lot of time to prepare. They talk about the sequence of events, dependencies, resource allocation (people, hardware and software) and budgets.
A schedule is very useful for a large project, in an organized environment and large heterogeneous teams located in multiple geographies.
When teams are small, turn around times are small, dynamics are high and Project Management resources are scarce, a Checklist is very effective!. A Checklist is not a replacement for a schedule, but more like a tailored version of the schedule.It is more suitable to smaller organizations/systems.
When time comes to "get things done and out the door" as quickly as we can, and when preparing a detailed schedule is not practical (I am not recommending not preparing one....!), I use a "Checklist". It's quick, it's concise, it's portable and very very easy to use.
Preparing a checklist
I recommend using a small group of people to do this exercise. This group of people may be the stakeholders or drivers of the project. When I say "drivers", I mean key people who play critical roles to get the project done.
- Ask - :"What are the things to be done to complete this project/task/activity?"
- Make a list of check items as the members of the meeting start talking
- Sequence the items, so that no one is idle or is waiting for others to finish.
- Look for ambiguous statements and try and break it down to multiple simple sentences, so that all understand the statement in the same way.
- Discuss each point in detail so that any key sub points are covered and documented.
- Review the checklist to see if each check item is "indivisible" & "measurable". Indivisible means, cannot be divided further. Measurable means, the outcome of the check item is unique and decision on the check item is either a "YES" or a "NO", nothing else!
A Checklist as a mini-Schedule
- Assign each check item to an individual or a small group of individuals.
- Assign specific deliverables as a result of the check item
- Assign a time line for the check item, meaning, start date, end date and effort to be expended on the task
- It is difficult to assign dependencies in a checklist, so try and sequence out the activities such that dependencies are accounted for.
Once the checklist is ready, it is important that all stake holders are in agreement with what is required to be delivered and the time allocated. The checklist is shared with the team members and queries are addressed.
After this we are good to get started with the execution! Keep in touch with the stakeholders, check off items that are completed, and the outputs/deliverables verified. Re-plan in case of issues. Project is completed when all check items are "checked off"
A checklist is a simple and effective Project Management Tool in the absence of a detailed Schedule.
Summing up: A checklist helps in...
- ... reducing stress, by not having to remember as many things.
- ... keeping a track of a To Do list and ensures all items are covered and nothing is forgotten.
- ... keeping the team on the same page, meaning all individuals have the same understanding of what is to be accomplished.
- ... simple and effective tool to use in Project Management and personal life.
