Scoping the Work Correctly
Nine women cannot make a baby in one month. When staffing projects and analyzing the work that needs to be completed there is a common fallacy that if you throw more bodies at the work, it will get completed faster. You will find this does not always hold true. Although there are some situations where the work load can be split up and delegated to multiple resources to complete sooner, there are many situations where due to dependencies or the natural rate or flow of a project, adding more resources will not accelerate the work. In fact, this will only increase your burn down initially leaving less time and budget down the road. It is best to evaluate how long each work item will take and what the core requirements are. Sometimes it is better to go slower at a comfortable pace rather than try to dash at the beginning. This can add risk for everyone as the project continues. In the book The Mythical Man Month, author Frederick Brooks cements the point that “adding manpower to a late software project makes it later”. Scoping work accurately is an art and will take some time to learn. Use more senior resources for guidance and feedback when available.
Are you interested in starting a career in consulting? Be sure do read the full book Jack of all Trades Master of Some; An Introduction to Consulting available on Amazon.