Project decomposition principles

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The process of dividing the whole into components does not follow strict rules. The decomposition of the project's work directly depends on its goals, specifics, scale and available resources. Most often, a global task is simply divided into several smaller ones, but following several rules will help achieve high efficiency.

Clearly formulate the goal . The best option is to define a specific measurable result of the upcoming work. Not just “increase sales,” but “achieve 5% growth in 6 months,” not “expand market influence,” but “poach 12% of customers from competitor X.”

Isolate the project components from each other . Correctly conducted decomposition involves identifying several non-intersecting stages or tasks. Each of the resulting blocks should have its own performers, budgets, labor and material resources, deadlines. This is necessary to organize, simplify and speed up the implementation of the project as a whole.

Build a hierarchical structure . Individual belarus email list tasks must be arranged according to their importance and dependence on other components. Obviously, the planning stage precedes the start of specific development activities, and it is impossible to start interior finishing of apartments until utility lines are laid.

Make sure the sum of the parts equals the whole . The final project goal represents 100% of what all the individual tasks should add up to. If the values ​​do not match, there may have been some mistakes in the planning stage or some elements of the work overlooked.

Simplify the final tasks as much as possible . The ideal decomposition involves a list of specific actions that cannot be broken down further. This approach simplifies their implementation and facilitates the achievement of the final goal.

Be moderate when creating small tasks . When there are too many of them, it becomes difficult to control their execution, which negatively affects the overall implementation of the project.

At first glance, the last two principles are in contradiction with each other. On the one hand, it is proposed to reduce each stage of work to a list of the simplest actions, and on the other - to limit their number. This is really not easy and requires certain decomposition skills.

Project decomposition principles

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The project manager has to find a golden mean to maintain a balance between the simplicity of tasks and their number. The key factors here are the available resources, the qualifications of the employees, and the deadlines. For example, when developing an online store, you can set tasks for team members in accordance with the sections: product catalog, service information, blog.

When it comes to creating a mobile application or a social network, such a division is impossible due to the large number of additional functions and a high degree of integration with other resources.