Making It Happen: A Non-Technical Guide to Project Management

Chapter 16. Tasks

It was Christmas Eve, and we were all over at Jenny's parents' place for our annual Eggnog Fest and Present Opening Celebration. Jenny's sister and her family were down from Seattle and all the kids were playing noisily together on the livingroom floor, never straying far from the presents under the tree. This was going to be Jake's first Christmas as a conscious participant (he was almost three now), and we were all looking forward to it.

"So go on, Willie," Martha prodded me. "Finish up your story." I had been giving her a summary of what had happened during the detailed design process.

"In the end, we managed to wrap it up in a little over 13 weeks, despite, or maybe because of, all my worrying." The relief of having finished, along with the eggnog, was making me a little sentimental. "Everything is done. All the design for the training, new systems, org charts, blueprints, the works!We had a team meeting. Everyone was there, including Ralph and Stu. Leslie brought some champagne and we all toasted when Ralph signed off on the detailed design. It was a great way to break for Christmas."

Ralph had pulled me aside to ask when I would have the schedule for the execution complete. Some of the boardmembers were still impatient and needed to be assured. "I've promised it to Ralph for the first week in January."

"Did you figure out what was causing you to feel uneasy during the detailed design?" Leave it to Martha not to savor the success.

It was Christmas, so I ...