Yesterday, I decided to REALLY take on re-starting this project for the 3rd time –stop all the feet dragging, commit to developers etc. I have been working with a development team for a few months to discuss what a third attempt at greatness J would look like. Some of the key takeaways from the last few months were:
1. Assessing the technical expertise of the development team: As a non-technical person myself, evaluating whether the development team (project manager, designer, developer and tester) has the technical skills to deliver the project has been a challenging experience. I don’t know what I do not know and I do not have the technical expertise to detect fraudulent development teams. Be that as it may, the development team I decided to go with this time around came highly recommended from a friend. In speaking to the team, they sound legit and their past projects give a good account of their work. However, the real taste will be in the eating.
2. Finding the right fit between the development team and I: This one I am EXTREMELY picky about and I have the 6th sense to spot teams that do not work the way I work. I am very big on communication………….VERY VERY BIG. As my dad says, most problems can be solved with dialogue. Fortunately, in communicating with the team over the last few months, I have been able to test their skills here. Though it has not been entirely smooth sailing, it has not been a disaster. I know the loop holes to watch for so I do not expect to have major issues in the communication department. I have already noticed improvements.
3. Scope: The scariest word on the planet. This can mean everything and this can mean nothing. I’m typically very detail oriented so I was able to provide a detailed description (i.e business requirements) of what I needed to be done. However, as any sane development team will let you know, the amount of work may look simple or straight forward on the front end but when you get to the back end, it may be a different ball game. I do not have the technical expertise to write technical requirements so that was a down side in being able to quantify what needed to get done. This also impacted the ability of the team to come up with accurate schedule and cost figures. After some code analysis, we (the development team and I) all decided that we know as much as we can right now and there was no value add in trying to over learn the system up front (seeing as 2 development teams have worked on the code before now) when we can learn on the go. This approach does not always work but it made sense in this instance.
4. Implementation: I originally planned to have one big bang release of the software after everything in scope was completed. After seeing the initial cost and schedule numbers, I freaked out then changed my mind. The new plan is to have 3 releases of the system, each release delivering a smaller piece of the total scope and building upon the previous release. This way I can get the product to the end user faster, gather feedback sooner and improve quicker.
5. Availability: If there is anything I have learnt with my previous 2 attempts, it is that I need to be HANDS ON with the project regardless of the fact that I am not a developer. So in deciding whether to start the project immediately or in a few weeks, I had to look at my personal schedule. I have a full time job and I am trying to take a major exam in the next few weeks so now does not seem like the perfect time to work on this project. However, as one of my former managers told me, “there is never a perfect time for anything. Something else will always come up”. The timeline the development team provided for the project was longer than I had mentally planned for so rather than delay the project any longer, I decided to get started immediately. So with a good dose of time management and prayers, I am rolling my sleeves up and digging my heels in - there is never a perfect time for anything.
There are still some loose ends to tie but the major issues have been addressed and I am looking forward to getting started in the next few days.
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