Should You Be Given a Project End Date?

You must have a target—otherwise you won’t know what to hit.

by Neal Whitten, PMP, Contributing Editor

Ever have your boss, client, product sponsor or someone else in a position of authority give you the delivery date for a yet-to-be-planned product/service? This is common practice, but is it a good practice? In other words, should you be given a target date or should you be left to determine the most appropriate date for you and the project team?
In almost all cases, it is good business to provide the project team a target end date. An end date yields two primary benefits:

• The target date will likely have special meaning to the business. For example, it may coincide with an important trade show, allow revenues to be earned before the fiscal year ends, meet or beat a competitor’s date for the launch of a similar product, or it may meet a legal deadline such as a regulatory date.
• The target date will stretch the project team to be more creative. Left to our own preferences, many of us will take the path of least resistance, that is, a comfortable plan rather than a more aggressive (but achievable!) plan. We often perform our best work when we are being challenged.

Picture this scenario: The boss provides a target end date of six months. This gives your team a solid goal upon which to focus. Planning decisions are balanced against the requirement to complete the product in six months.
But what if the best plan that you and your team can create requires eight months? What do you do? You present the eight-month plan to your boss and articulate why the plan’s duration cannot be reduced. And if it is reduced, you identify the negative consequences that are likely to result. However, be prepared for an onslaught of questions about whether you and your team have fully exhausted other options such as outsourcing, acquiring off-the-shelf components, reducing the features offered and hiring proven experts to help in the implementation.
If you can professionally defend your eight-month plan, then most bosses will yield to your due-diligence and accept the end date moving out an additional two months. However, some bosses will say, “I want it in six months! Find a way to make it happen or …” (“I will find someone who can” is the inference). This is bad business! All stakeholders lose!
Demanding that the proverbial 10 pounds be placed into a five-pound sack does not make it possible. Laws of physics will not change just because someone wants them to.

It’s All About the Target

Notice that I have used the phrase target end date throughout the article. It is good business to provide a target end date. It is bad business to demand an end date that is not achievable.
Target dates are good business—as a starting point. Moreover, the project manager, while working with the project team, can apply the same concept to creating a project plan. For example, say the boss requests a target date of six months for the delivery of an improved product. The project manager, in working backwards from the six-month delivery date, determines target dates for the project’s major milestones. These target milestone dates help the project members focus on building a plan that can meet the six-month end date. Most project members likely can meet the target milestone dates. For those who cannot, the project manager works with them creatively to either meet or modify the dates somewhat to achieve the best possible delivery date for the project.
Setting target end dates for final delivery or for intermediate major milestones is good business so that the best plans can be created. But be prepared to defend your plan, especially if you believe that you cannot achieve the target dates. Offer alternatives, but do something. As a project manager, all eyes are on you to ensure the right plan is committed.
Now go make a difference!

Neal Whitten, PMP, president of The Neal Whitten Group (www.nealwhittengroup.com), is a speaker, trainer, consultant, mentor, and author in project management and employee development. His books include The EnterPrize Organization: Organizing Software Projects for Accountability and Success and Managing Software Development Projects: Formula for Success.

This material is reprinted from PM Network magazine (February 2003) with permission of the Project Management Institute Headquarters, Four Campus Boulevard, Newtown Square, PA 19073-2399 USA. Phone: (610) 356-4600. Fax: (610) 356-4647. Project Management Institute (PMI) is the world's leading project management association with nearly 100,000 members worldwide. For further information, contact PMI Headquarters at (610) 356-4600 or visit the web site at www.pmi.org. "PMI" and "PM Network" are trademarks of the Project Management Institute, Inc. © 2003 Project Management Institute, Inc. All rights reserved.

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