By far the best way to manage change, is to not have any… but we all know that even with the best planning and the simplest task there are bound to be a few holes.
Sometimes it may not even be you that causes the change- it could be your freelancer. So we need a way to keep it organised, and reduce the risk that the project will spin out of control.
In this article I’ve included a few examples of how things can break, and at the bottom is my current system for managing change in *any* small or medium project.
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Tags: blog, blogging, Change Management, entrepreneur, freelance, freelancer, initial requirements, managing change, outsourcer, outsourcing, Outsourcing Basics, outsourcing project, project management, requirements, risk, scope, work effort
This is a brief discussion on controlling change within a live outsourcing project; in particular, ‘reducing scope’, or removing or simplifying functionality. This was a topic I was completely unfamiliar with when I first got into using freelancers. Over the course of a 12 month project, small uncontrolled compromises compounded each other, and in the end ‘broke’ many of the business objectives. Expensive rework, flawed functionality and a system that didn’t work as expected were the price I paid for inexperience.
On a smaller project, a few corners cut here and there may seem like no big deal, and sometimes they aren’t. On larger projects (starting at several $K), or projects that extend over longer periods of time (weeks/months) small reductions in functionality or simplifications of requirements can really start to have a negative impact on your finished product.
Why would you want to cut corners?
You’ve done your plan, you’ve worked out what you need, you’ve found a freelancer who has agreed to do the work. The obvious question is why would you want to cut anything out? Well from my experience, once a project (software in particular) gets underway a couple of things happen that will force your hand.
Your outsourcer for the first time actually takes a good look at your requirements. If you’re not careful, up until this point they’ll have been giving your requirements lip service. It seems totally crazy to agree to a project that isn’t understood… but that’s the way many do it. They’ll have been focussed on the sales effort, and will have committed only very limited resources to actually understanding your requirements. Now all of a sudden they’re responsible for building it and payday is guaranteed… all they need to ensure is that they can turn a profit on it. Read the rest of this entry
Tags: business objectives, effective decisions, entrepreneur, freelance, freelancer, outsourcer, outsourcing, Outsourcing How To's, outsourcing project, project management, project software, requirements, scope, small business
