At what point do we need a named project manager, and a Gantt Chart?
If any of the three following conditions are met or exceeded
1 – Project takes longer than two weeks
(otherwise you’ll forget to keep an eye on it, and you’ll let things slip in the early stages thinking “I’ve got ages still to go”
2 – Project contains more than five tasks
(Any more than that and you can’t keep them all in your head. And even if you can, your boss will want to see what’s happening and to feel safe that it’s progressing correctly)
3 – Project requires more than one person
(However simple, people need to see a plan of who is doing what and when, and which tasks affect which other tasks)
The good news is that the simpler your PM methods, the smaller the project that it’s worth applying them to, and my process is so easy that for even a 2 week job with 5 tasks it’ll only take you half an hour to make a plan, and that plan will make a huge difference in terms of no stress, successful delivery on time and on budget, happy customer sees the progress at all times, etc.
onwards and upwards!
CC
