Re-framing launch dates

Ian Hodgkiss
Aug 22, 2017 · 2 min read
The ‘science’ of planning project delivery dates

We’ve all seen it. An idea gets quickly framed as a high level requirement, estimates are gathered, summed and feathered to protect from the unknown risks and boom, you have a launch date.

This gets formalised in short order as the business case gets firmed up and the portfolio and governance layers cement it in. The clock starts ticking and what was indicative is now ‘committed’.

If you’re lucky, you get additional budget and a lead time to prepare. More likely, the existing team’s costs get baked in and you need to start now to give yourself a chance of success.

Looking deeper

So what likely happened here?

  • We had an idea that the business wanted to explore
  • Questions were asked about what was expected to be involved and an initial design produced
  • The design was evaluated and any impacted area was asked to estimatewhat would potentially be involved based on what was known
  • Lots of assumptions were made as a result of the high level nature of the design and the estimates reflected that uncertainty and risk
  • The Project Manager, after initial shock of the total estimate (best guess per team + padding), would have put together a view, re-validated, horse-traded and come up with what looked like a sensible, costed plan
  • On presentation, the business sponsor would have challenged back, the PM task repeated and an ‘acceptable’ plan derived.
  • Rubber stamp given

Delivery models aside, what could we do differently here?

Starting Over

The business has an idea they want to evaluate. There will be (or needs to be) a point at which the value of the idea needs to be realised. This could be related to financial measures, a calendar event or specifically reported KPI’s for example.

This value date needs to be where the conversation and actions are start:

“Based on this date, what are we able to deliver to realise value?”

This question re-frames the ask and changes the focus away from how to why. Yes, some of the same conversations will need to be had but now the focus is sharper and it’s more a case of exploring options and opportunities.

The basis of the conversation is very different and gives the teams the chance to be tightly aligned with and help achieve the business outcome from inception.

For further insight on this subject see Allan Kelly’s Planning for Value series.

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Ian Hodgkiss

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Software and IT agile project delivery expert. Get the projects that are important to you done.

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