How to meet deadlines in IT

Proč dochází ke zpoždění

K tomu, aby se projekty nezpožďovali, je nejprve důležité pochopit, jak to chodí a kvůli čemu prodlevy vznikají.

The biggest problem is not an unmanageable initial estimate, but:

1. Projektu se účastní více stran a navzájem na sebe čekají
2. The individual parties are already working on other contracted matters.
3. The supplier did not manage to complete the previous order, and thus the project is already experiencing delays from the start.

Co s tím?

A project always involves at least two parties - the customer and the supplier. Both parties are equally important for the outcome. The supplier does not know the customer's processes and must orient themselves within them. For this, they need the client's cooperation. Processes are often suboptimal, and their optimization is the reason the client chose a new information system. Optimization means changes to established procedures, and various entities on the customer's side (individual departments, their managers, or other responsible persons) may have different opinions on this.

This means that for the success of the project, it is crucial that the responsible people on the client's side have time to fulfill their own preparations. Let's set aside what the supplier promised the customer during business negotiations; that is for another article. Let's focus on what the customer can do themselves to advance the project. We can start from this outline:

1. Víte, co je hlavní cíl zavedení nového systému. Ten neustále v každé diskuzi sledujte, jinak se projekt rozpadne na tisíc podprojektů a celek nikdy nesložíte.
2. Klient se odprostí od informačního systému a řekne si, co ve firmě chce změnit a jak to udělat bez IS. 
3. The previous two points are continuously communicated by the customer to the supplier. 
4. The client's employees will constantly overwhelm their project managers with their details and problems. The client decides what is truly an obstacle to the goal from point 1, and what is a detail that can wait. When building a house, the process also follows this path: rough construction → livable spaces → furniture and fittings.

To summarize this entire section, there is plenty of work on the client's side as well. It is important for the client to keep an eye on their deadlines. Then it is legitimate to tell the contractor: "We will provide you with the materials then and there, block your capacities so you can start processing them immediately."

When the client does not adhere to this, the contractor may be in phases 2 and 3 from the introduction of the article, and it may take weeks before they can even get to the project. 

Když se projektu účastní více dodavatelů

In principle, it is the same as the relationship between a customer and a single contractor. However, contractors may wait on each other for the reasons mentioned above. 

Typically:

1. Jeden dodavatel zpracovává podklady, druhý čeká.
2. The waiting takes a long time, meanwhile the second contractor starts to work on some other project because they have the time.
3. První dodavatel má podklady hotové a pošle je dodavateli II. Ten ale musí dokončit jinou práci, než se na to podívá.
4. Therefore, the first contractor is again waiting for a response, and so they start doing something else...

Then vacations, illnesses, and mishaps come into play... What would take a few hours of work turns into a project lasting months. 

What to do about it? What can you do if you are the client?

Zásadní je, snažit se pevně stanovovat termíny a dodavatele jimi vázat. Pokud první dodavatel nedodá své podklady včas, dejte mu najevo, že tím zpožďuje i ostatní strany a ve výsledku jste ale nejpostiženější vy. Mějte argumenty, do kdy potřebujete mít projekt hotový. Původní termín ze startu projektu by měl být reálný, ale nebojte se diskutovat o případných sankcích za nedodržení. Cílem je být fér, ale dávat dodavatelům najevo, že termín je pro vás důležitý a nedodržení má finanční nebo zákonné dopady.

If you assign the management of partial deadlines to someone on your side or hire an external project manager for it, you have this part under control. If you leave it to the contractors to coordinate among themselves, you are at the mercy of their approach.

Co když dodavatel nehraje čistou hru

In the text above, we assumed that at the beginning everyone has a clean slate and the intention to successfully complete the project on time. It can, of course, happen that the contractor does not have the capacity and does not admit it.

However, the rule from the previous chapter still applies - if you are the customer. Agree on a schedule at the beginning and include some penalties in it. This then forces the suppliers to meet the deadlines. The truth is that penalties are not common for smaller projects. IT suppliers know that they are dependent on the materials from you and that they have little chance of influencing the delivery deadlines from your side. However, if you declare that the deadlines also apply to you, the deadlines in the schedule are binding for all parties involved, and in case of a breach of your deadline, you understand the delay of the other party, it is nothing abnormal. On the contrary, everyone knows where they stand, and you can be more confident about the deadline.