Like all Agile approaches, overall project execution is optimized when the highest priority tasks are performed in each “Select-Perform-Assess” cycle. So great project performance depends on great prioritization.
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The project manager should expect to spend significant time every week re-prioritizing the Project Backlog, with the help of the team, incorporating project learnings and new information from the outside world into the existing project plan.
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Getting long lead items on order is always a priority. There are usually lots of tasks needed to get the orders placed: completing drawings, identifying vendors, getting quotes, negotiating orders, and getting the PO approved. These tasks should be relatively easy to identify and up-prioritize. Getting orders placed is always harder than it looks. Smart Project Managers stay on top of these tasks to keep them on track.
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While getting orders placed is critical, there is nothing worse than having long lead parts in-house, sitting in inventory waiting for some other task to be done. Get inspection plans and resources in place. Get assembly drawings and procedures in place to build new parts into prototypes. Get test protocols in place. Savvy Project Managers prioritize to be ready for long lead item arrival.
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For each NPD project we make a Product Risk Register, identifying all Product Risks and ranking them by difficulty of attaining the desired specs. All other things being equal, tasks that address the largest risks should have the highest priority.
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In my experience, project teams are pretty good at identifying Product Risks, but Project Risks are often ignored. Project Risks can be incorporated into the same risk register as Product Risks, ranking Project Risks by the difficulty of getting the tasks done on time or on budget.
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Every project has some set of resources with limited capacity. Smart project teams identify these bottlenecks early and up-prioritize the tasks needed to keep that capacity productive.
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For every task performed each week, ask “What did that teach us?” Then ask how that learning might affect prioritization. Perhaps we learned that an assembly process is more difficult than we expected, or that our test method has user-variability. How might these learnings affect our prioritization?
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(highlight:: Great project managers keep a close eye on the outside world, and ask how external changes may be opportunities or threats.
In complex projects, “gut feel” task prioritization leads inevitably to poor project performance and missed milestones. While there is no way to guarantee project success, an analytical approach to prioritization provides the best chance.)
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