97 Things Every Project Manager Should Know

Chapter 14. Size Matters

Anupam Kundu

THE SIZE OF THE PROJECT, the size of the team, the size of the deliverables, and the size of the checklists—everything in a project depends on its SIZE. Size changes the rules of how the game is played.

The bigger the project gets (in size or complexity), the more important it becomes for a project manager to break down the project into manageable modules and share the delivery responsibility of these modules with capable people. This will ensure that key project members, including the project manager, can see the "big picture" without getting lost in the details while scouting for project health statistics.

Distributed projects tend to be bigger in size than other projects types; hence, the tactics the project manager uses to manage the size actually impacts the bottom line of the project. The word "big" conjures up a variety of images. It can mean anything from eight people working for 12 months (if you are a small vendor) to hundreds of people working on annual maintenance contracts (if you are an enormous IT partner for your client).

Here are a few suggestions on how to carve out the right size for the project and then make sure that everyone understands how the small parts of the puzzle can make or break the big picture:

• Break down the project into as many independent, yet manageable, workstreams as possible.

• Make sure each workstream has at least ...