Software Development - Circular Tasks

[JF]

Hi. I am working a project for a rapid development cycle where you go
through development, testing, deployment and to development, testing and
deployment. The recurring task functionality is not really working to show
the circular nature. Has anyone else found a solution to this??
Thanks.

 

[Steve House [Project MVP]]

It's really not circular, at least as far as the work is concerned. True,
it is iterative but each iteration is a separate and distinct set of tasks
and not just a continuation of the same tasks from the previous iterations.
Think of a "task" as being a block of a certain type of work taking place
over ONE AND ONLY ONE time period. The nature of the work work is a part of
it but only a part - the fact that the work occupies one continuous,
observable, block of time is also a crucial element to the definition of a
task. If I paint a wall this week and put on a second coat next week,
that's two distinct tasks that need to be scheduled separately. In software
terms, a circular relationship between tasks would be like an endless loop
with no exit point.

 

[JF]

Thank you Steve. I guess I am looking for something which can handle Agile
Development or Rapid Unified Development projects. It does not seem to me
that MS Project can handle this type of project. Are you aware of anything
that works?

 

[Rod Gill]

Project works as well as anything for Agile. You need a schedule for each
iteration. In Scrum say where you have 30 day sprints, once the customer and
management have agreed on the goals for the new sprint, the project manager
needs to schedule the sprint so all goals can be delivered on time. The PM
then feeds back (after design and scheduling) if there is likely to be a
problem (EG too much chosen for the sprint). Each sprint is therefore a mini
project in its own right.

You can also have a high level schedule showing all sprints plus any project
closure tasks.

--

Rod Gill
Project MVP
Visit www.msproject-systems.com for Project Companion Tools and more

 

[jesspinto00]

If every sprint is a different mini project in scrum, how is it any different for agile..??

http://www.agiledistributed.com/

 

[tajpashasbralu]

 

[The Project Management Workshop]

It's really not circular, at least as far as the work is concerned. True,
it is iterative but each iteration is a separate and distinct set of tasks
and not just a continuation of the same tasks from the previous iterations.
Think of a "task" as being a block of a certain type of work taking place
over ONE AND ONLY ONE time period. The nature of the work work is a part of
it but only a part - the fact that the work occupies one continuous,
observable, block of time is also a crucial element to the definition of a
task. If I paint a wall this week and put on a second coat next week,
that's two distinct tasks that need to be scheduled separately. In software
terms, a circular relationship between tasks would be like an endless loop
with no exit point.

Reoccurring really means repeated at separate times. As was said elsewhere, use a separate group of tasks such as Test 1 iteration 1 etc I can assist contact me at (e-mail address removed)