20 Jan 2017

Delayvery – How can you avoid one?

2017-01-20 (1)

“So what is the status Akhil” – asked Pooja ma’am during the weekly review meeting with the team. And my reply was – “We are running behind schedule.”. This is the one of the common problem that I face during the project development cycle. Although our COE model helps me in binding our People, Process or Technology (PPT) but sometime it happens, it just happens. After joining Vayuz as a Business Analyst, I was in action from the very first day and over a period of last 1 year I worked on different projects in different industrial verticals. During my journey, I worked closely with the development team. I was interested to know how the complete product is developed. And during this I came to know about many other things like

  1. Different stages of software development.

  2. The common problems that people face in developing a product

  3. Importance of UI/UX in product development.

  4. What measures to take to avoid different problems that we faced during the Software development life cycle and the list is endless.

But one of the most common problem which everyone faces during product development is – “delay in delivery”, we call it Delayvery. All the people who are in IT industry will agree with this statement that – Delay and cost overrun are inherent part of most projects despite the much acquired knowledge in project management. Although few argued that it is negligible but this is an alarming issue because in today’s times, the success of a project depends upon cost, time and scope. Also a product becomes obsolete in the market if the delay is a long one.

Post that discussion with my Cofounder, I called up a meeting with my team lead and the Development team to understand what is the reason for this delay. We had a long detailed session on this and I finally came up with reasons which caused delay in our case. So finally I decided to figure out what all factors are there which impact the delivery of a project and make it a delayvery.

I have enlisted below few common factors which impacts the delivery of a project and mentioned the remedy that we can take to avoid such situations –

  1. Functionality expansion with time

    • There are cases where new functionalities continue to flow and requested as the project proceeds from the client side, which causes the change in all the activities associated with the development. The software can never be completed in this way.

    • Remedy – To avoid such this we should document everything before we jump into the development phase. In VAYUZ post our client on-boarding process, we carry out our detailed “solution workshop” with our client so to understand their vision, their goal and finally add the VAYUZ factor into it to make a wow product. We then document each and everything so that their is no abrupt functionality expansion later on.

  2. Gold plating

    • Gold plating is the process in which developers or designers elaborate a section in too much detail which were not requested by the customer or client. This activity add very little to the desired result.

    • Remedy – There should be a clear vision about the UI/UX of the product on a piece of paper before we actually start designing. WE should create prototype of the project before the actual designing process. At VAYUZ we create prototypes of the project first using Invision, Justinmind prototype tools so that we know exactly the flow and design requirements of the project

  1. Compromising with quality

    • If we realize that we are lacking behind as per schedule, we tempt to skip testing. And skipping testing causes more delays than it prevents. There is an exponential increase in time required to fix an error if fixed after the complete development.

    • Remedy – Weekly review, and proper planning. It should be the responsibility of the team lead to conduct reviews on weekly basis and plan accordingly so to avoid any such case. Testing cycle should be the part of this weekly review meeting. In VAYUZ we plan and maintain our task list on ASANA so that the complete team including the client is aware of the processes that are running at our at end. This list include the testing cycle also

  2. Overly optimistic schedules

    • While deciding the schedule for a project, always keep an idea about your team and its capabilities. Having an overly optimistic schedules places extra pressure on the project team. In this case team will put extra effort to meet the deadlines but this leads to sloppy and incomplete work which results in more error and further delays.

    • So we should be very particular about schedules. A desire to complete a project in fast pace and quickly is not possible every time. There are many reasons which can take extra time so we need to keep a check on all those activities before finalizing the schedule. If not taken into consideration, the project will not proceed more quickly and the product will ultimately suffer.

    • Remedy – Involve your team members such as the developer, designers and other team members while working on the timeline. They are the one who will be working on the project and will deliver you the product. There time estimate for a task plays a vital role in setting up the timeline of the project.

  3. Working on too many projects at the same time

    • The team should not focus on too many activities at one go. If this is the case then the developer will be shuffling between project that lead to many delays in projects.

    • Remedy – Always try to keep your resources as free as can so that they can work freely and deliver quality stuff.  Shared resources sometime leads to delay and compromise with the quality of the product.

  4. Poor design

    • The first step in building a product is the idea phase followed by the design of the product. The absence of good and realistic designs leads to delays, as it requires many revisions at later stages. So get clarity on design from your client before moving ahead with development cycle.

    • Remedy – As discussed above, first the prototype needs to be designed so that we have a clear vision about how the final product will look like and what all features it will have. Next step is taking the input from the client related to color aesthetics, UX of the product, reference designs so that we are clear with the design of the product. Post that we should go for the design cycle.

  1. The ‘one-solution-fits-all’ syndrome

    • Using the right resources for a project is very important. It might be the case that a particular technology or software are more suited to particular applications than others are. So avoid using the same resources everywhere and allocate the resources based upon the actual requirement of the project.

    • Remedy – Deciding the tech stack for a product is a very crucial part. Always choose the technology based upon the requirements.

  2. Research-oriented projects

    • If you are dealing with projects which are research oriented then you need to be a bit more cautious. Such projects in which research is involved are sometime difficult to manage. Research is something which involves high level of uncertainty and tracking progress in such cases are very difficult. In many cases when software development is dependent upon research, it has been seen that the development  frequently comes to a standstill and delays the project.

    • Remedy – Research is the initial step while developing a product. You need to understand the market trends, need to validate the idea first, prerequisite check for technology stack and many more. Next step is fixing the exact requirement in the SRS document and mark the points which can delay your project so that you can make your plan accordingly and the items which are the show stopper elements should not impact your delivery schedule and your go-to market strategy.

  3. Lack of resources

    • If your team lacks qualified and skilled personnel, this can cause project delays. Substantive knowledge and skills both are required to make a project a hit and completing the same in time.

    • Remedy – Ask your team to upgrade their skills on regular basis so that you can keep a pace with the changing market scenarios. Inter-team hackathons, coding competitions can build a healthy competition within the organization and also in upgrading the skills.

  4. Customers fail to fulfill agreements

    • It might be the case that your client are not aware of their roles and responsibilities. A considerable contribution is required from the customer/client during the SDLC. If the client lacks in fulfilling his roles and responsibilities in the required areas on time then projects can come to a standstill. And if you plan to proceed further without the consent and consultation of the client then it may lead to later conflicts.

    • Remedy – Keep your client updated and involved so that they are aware of all the activities that are going on. Give your client homework (:P) regarding different activities so that they can help you in decision taking activities.

So next time when you are developing a product keep all the points in your mind so that your “Delivery” go as per schedule and does not become “Delayvery”.

About Akhil Sharma

Akhil is a Data Scientist who is passionate about people, technology, and learning. A proactive, resourceful and selfmotivated person with great interpersonal and communication skills. He has done both his Bachelors and Masters from one of India’s largest and reputed University. He spent his initial professional years teaching subjects like Artificial Intelligence, Pattern Recognition and Data Science. He wrote 2 paper on Internet of Everything. His philosophy of continuous and never ending learning drives him to always keep up with the latest technology trends and to continuously expand his knowledge. H e took data analysis as the field of interest and since then spearheaded multiple Data Analytics based projects in the space of Fashion, Healthcare and Education.

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