Three and a half levels of project structure
Recently, I discovered for myself a simple model that explains what tools a manager and a team need for managing and managing projects.
All projects can be divided into three levels, according to the need for structuring and formalizing the flow of information and teams. Why exactly this is the basis of the model? Because the structure of the project, in my opinion, is the first thing that follows “management style” and other non-formalized human issues.
The whole project at the zero level rests on the personal qualities of people. The most important thing is the flow of communication, the number of connections between people, and not the division of responsibility and the structure of the organization. The ideal tools are whiteboard, if the team does not go beyond the confines of one office, chat, or mail conference (in the case of a distributed team). Distributed both in time and in space, which most often happens now.
')
The most famous tool that implements the chaotic level of project management is, of course, Google Groups :).
I did not make the "chaos" in a separate level of structure, because chaos must be present in any project. So the project remains alive and mobile. The chaos of human communication is the source of life; it cannot be “covered” with other levels of structure.
I think many are familiar with the flexible (fast) level of structure. Thanks to the 37 Signals Basecamp , the flexible project management methodology has become clear not only to software developers, but also in other business areas.
The tools that are used at this level make it possible not to lose decisions, and to store work artifacts to a minimum. Emphasis on the division of tasks into atomic "affairs" that are understandable to performers. The minimum set of tools at this level allows you to implement "management by milestones" (management by milestones):
There are many projects where the task execution time is critical information. And this information is so important for many managers that I highlight this style of project management at a separate level.
Here reigns the Gantt Chart and "the time spent on the task." The goal is planning, as detailed and realistic as possible. The more predictable the project context and the more developed the operations needed in the project - the better the Gantt chart works. Naturally, prescribing relationships between tasks and trying to plan everything in a fuzzy task or constantly changing requirements is crazy. But there are other projects, for example, "building a neighborhood", where each excavator is painted by day and time.
There are also additional goals that teams achieve using the tools of a managed level. A project diagram is a way to show your pathos and controllability to the client. As a cool meeting should be ties and polished shoes, the project should be a Gantt chart :)
Known systems that work with a managed type of project - MS Project (alas, this is its only function), LiquidPlanner , IBN , Zoho , Comindwork . And, of course, project management grants like @Task or Daptiv .
The last level, from those that I got to myself, is setting up business processes. At this level, separate processes are identified in the project, each of which is configured with its own tools. Examples of such processes are incidents and problems from clients; payments and financial transactions; approval of critical documents.
Each process is described by:
Tools that support custom processes are already much smaller. Good examples where this is - SalesForce (albeit in CRM, not project management), Jira , IBN , Comindwork .
The author is credited and respected by anyone, because it's not so easy to write a text, mentioning your own product so few times :)
Thank you for your attention, waiting for your comments!
All projects can be divided into three levels, according to the need for structuring and formalizing the flow of information and teams. Why exactly this is the basis of the model? Because the structure of the project, in my opinion, is the first thing that follows “management style” and other non-formalized human issues.
Zero level: controlled chaos
The whole project at the zero level rests on the personal qualities of people. The most important thing is the flow of communication, the number of connections between people, and not the division of responsibility and the structure of the organization. The ideal tools are whiteboard, if the team does not go beyond the confines of one office, chat, or mail conference (in the case of a distributed team). Distributed both in time and in space, which most often happens now.
')
The most famous tool that implements the chaotic level of project management is, of course, Google Groups :).I did not make the "chaos" in a separate level of structure, because chaos must be present in any project. So the project remains alive and mobile. The chaos of human communication is the source of life; it cannot be “covered” with other levels of structure.
Level 1: flexible (agile)
I think many are familiar with the flexible (fast) level of structure. Thanks to the 37 Signals Basecamp , the flexible project management methodology has become clear not only to software developers, but also in other business areas.The tools that are used at this level make it possible not to lose decisions, and to store work artifacts to a minimum. Emphasis on the division of tasks into atomic "affairs" that are understandable to performers. The minimum set of tools at this level allows you to implement "management by milestones" (management by milestones):
- To-do lists
- Events and calendar (milestones)
- Documents or other features to store work results
Second level: managed
There are many projects where the task execution time is critical information. And this information is so important for many managers that I highlight this style of project management at a separate level.
Here reigns the Gantt Chart and "the time spent on the task." The goal is planning, as detailed and realistic as possible. The more predictable the project context and the more developed the operations needed in the project - the better the Gantt chart works. Naturally, prescribing relationships between tasks and trying to plan everything in a fuzzy task or constantly changing requirements is crazy. But there are other projects, for example, "building a neighborhood", where each excavator is painted by day and time.There are also additional goals that teams achieve using the tools of a managed level. A project diagram is a way to show your pathos and controllability to the client. As a cool meeting should be ties and polished shoes, the project should be a Gantt chart :)
Known systems that work with a managed type of project - MS Project (alas, this is its only function), LiquidPlanner , IBN , Zoho , Comindwork . And, of course, project management grants like @Task or Daptiv .
Third level: defined
The last level, from those that I got to myself, is setting up business processes. At this level, separate processes are identified in the project, each of which is configured with its own tools. Examples of such processes are incidents and problems from clients; payments and financial transactions; approval of critical documents.
Each process is described by:
- The process object, its fields and properties
- State and Transition Diagram
- Access Rules for Transitions
- Visual design of the form and list
Tools that support custom processes are already much smaller. Good examples where this is - SalesForce (albeit in CRM, not project management), Jira , IBN , Comindwork .Conclusion
The author is credited and respected by anyone, because it's not so easy to write a text, mentioning your own product so few times :)
Thank you for your attention, waiting for your comments!
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/53581/
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