Link Summary or not?

[maarkr]

I have 4 distinct phases to our project...Assessment,
Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation, with multiple
tasks for each.

Should I link the phases or not? There will be overlap of
some of the tasks in different phases, but generally they
will be in order (FS).

I'm just learning Project, and my book reference says it's
not normally done, but I think in this case I should. I
just want to set this up right because I'm doing many more
projects alike.

Thanks

 

[Jan De Messemaeker]

Hi,

My opinion:

There is always some overlap.
You should not link the phases.
You should link the delivery of the end product of a phase to those tasks in
the other phase(s) that use it.
HTH

 

[Mark Durrenberger]

You might want to look for an article by Robert Cooper about Stage-Gate
processes (phases and gates) particularly the stuff he wrote about "Fuzzy"
gates...

some thoughts on lifecycles and phases....
This probably won't answer your question regarding linking of phase summary
task (though I recommend against it)
----
Turns out most companies have lifecycles with phases and gates - however
many gates are "90% there" (from an old Arnold Palmer quote about trees and
golfing).

Think about it, perhaps you have a deliverable of a specific tool made by an
outside vendor. That tool is complicated and will take 6 months to produce.
According to your lifecycle, that tool is not due until phase 3 - which is
typically 2 months long and should happen 4 months from now. Do you wait
until phase 3 to start work on the tool? Hell no! - you start thinking and
acting on that deliverable ASAP....

SO here a phase 3 deliverable is actually being worked on during phase 1 and
phase 2....

Mark
--
_________________________________________________________
Mark Durrenberger, PMP
Principal, Oak Associates, Inc, www.oakinc.com
"Advancing the Theory and Practice of Project Management"
________________________________________________________

The nicest thing about NOT planning is that failure
comes as a complete surprise and is not preceded by
a period of worry and depression.

- Sir John Harvey-Jones