Diagnosing Scheduling Problems
When a project manager doesn't create a schedule, the organization is given an unrealistic view of how the project will progress. When schedules are not correct, the project manager usually has to resort to drastic measures in order to try to bring the project in line with the organization's expectations, and those measures often don't work. Even when they do, they hurt the morale of the team, and they frequently hurt the quality of the software produced as well.
Working Backward From a Deadline
One of the most common problems that affects a project is that the deadline, which seemed perfectly reasonable when the project started, begins to seem completely unrealistic as the date starts getting closer. This is often caused by a project manager facing a deadline that cannot be changed. Usually, the date comes from marketing or customer relations needs. Instead of being based on estimates of actual effort from the team, expectations are based on agreements between project managers, senior managers, and stakeholders. (For example, a consulting company may take on an overly aggressive deadline in order to satisfy a client seen as important for the company's growth.)
When faced with a non-negotiable deadline for a project, many project managers will work backward from the deadline to determine what work needs to be performed. One misguided way of doing this is to divide the project into phases and assign each phase a certain percent of the schedule. The project ...