English 5387: Publications Management - Progress Posting 11
Question: From Hackos's list of lessons learned review questions under item 7 on pp. 585-6, briefly answer each of the six short questions, as they apply to your documentation project and process.
1. What did we do right?
For this project, I created and implemented a project plan that was highly dependent on technical competencies. I also had a secondary plan that would allow me to change course if needed because of extreme delays, likely resulting from the technical competency dependence. Since I needed to switch to the second strategy, it was good that I had a secondary plan ready to be implemented.
2. What could we do better?
I could have made the switch to the secondary plan earlier to avoid straining the schedule and getting behind, which I have done. By sticking to the initial plan, I learned a great deal about XSLT, but I did not progress the project and lost ground on the schedule.
3. Where did the process not work?
Since I was the only team member, the project was reliant on my schedule. This resulted in stress to meet deadlines when other projects intruded onto the scheduled time for this project. In addition, when I ran into technical walls, I had to work to overcome the situation, which resulted in strain on the timeline.
4. How can we build on the actions that led to success?
I could have switched to the secondary plan sooner or prepared a tertiary plan in case the secondary plan had failed. I should also have designed the schedule to create more wiggle room for other obligations that intruded onto the timeline.
5. How can we change the actions that caused the problems or failures?
My failures related to time management and technical competencies. I need to build more time into the schedule for developing technical knowledge or go with more familiar technologies for the entire plan.
6. What would we do if we had no barriers?
If I had no budget constraints, I would have used a more robust xml editor. If I had no time issues, I would have been able to stick with the initial plan and use xml single sourcing with xslt to create both deliverables.
1. What did we do right?
For this project, I created and implemented a project plan that was highly dependent on technical competencies. I also had a secondary plan that would allow me to change course if needed because of extreme delays, likely resulting from the technical competency dependence. Since I needed to switch to the second strategy, it was good that I had a secondary plan ready to be implemented.
2. What could we do better?
I could have made the switch to the secondary plan earlier to avoid straining the schedule and getting behind, which I have done. By sticking to the initial plan, I learned a great deal about XSLT, but I did not progress the project and lost ground on the schedule.
3. Where did the process not work?
Since I was the only team member, the project was reliant on my schedule. This resulted in stress to meet deadlines when other projects intruded onto the scheduled time for this project. In addition, when I ran into technical walls, I had to work to overcome the situation, which resulted in strain on the timeline.
4. How can we build on the actions that led to success?
I could have switched to the secondary plan sooner or prepared a tertiary plan in case the secondary plan had failed. I should also have designed the schedule to create more wiggle room for other obligations that intruded onto the timeline.
5. How can we change the actions that caused the problems or failures?
My failures related to time management and technical competencies. I need to build more time into the schedule for developing technical knowledge or go with more familiar technologies for the entire plan.
6. What would we do if we had no barriers?
If I had no budget constraints, I would have used a more robust xml editor. If I had no time issues, I would have been able to stick with the initial plan and use xml single sourcing with xslt to create both deliverables.
posted by Jessica Badger at
7:29 PM
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