Workshop: Standard timeline for projects

I’d like to put a scheduled timeline to our STWP projects.

There are tasks in each of our projects that we can control (such as getting the development environment set up), and then other tasks that are under the client’s control (theme choice, content creation–IF they are the ones creating it).

In all the client engagements I’ve managed at IBM, there was a project plan that had due dates for each task. Did we always make it? No. Did we get it done faster and with less cost because there was an expectation that we’d hit those dates? Yes.

Most of us respond better to a timeline, and our clients will, too. If we lay out a schedule clearly, and let them know when each of their tasks are DUE, we will get better response from them.

I’d like for us to hold a workshop where we put a schedule in place for the entire standard project. We’ll choose a fictitious start date (like Jan 15th) and then determine all other dates from there. This will be added to the project template so that you can enter a real date for a kickoff meeting and then everything will flow from there.

This schedule can then be the basis for setting client expectations after the kickoff meeting.

Thoughts?