Break a project into milestones, tasks, and risks
Turns a project idea into a plan with phases, concrete tasks, dependencies, a realistic timeline, and the things most likely to go wrong.
Help me plan a project.
Project: {{project}}
What "done" looks like: {{definition_of_done}}
Deadline: {{deadline:flexible}}
Who is working on it and how much time they have: {{team:just me, part-time}}
Budget or other limits: {{constraints:none}}
Produce:
1. Scope: what is included and, just as important, what is not. List any assumptions you are making.
2. Milestones: 3 to 6 points where something real is finished and can be shown or checked. Each one needs a clear test for "this is done".
3. Tasks under each milestone:
- Concrete and small enough to finish in a day or two.
- An estimate for each, in hours or days.
- What it depends on.
- Who does it, if there is more than one person.
4. Timeline: put the milestones on a calendar, working from the estimates and the time available. Identify the critical path, meaning the tasks where a delay moves the end date.
5. Risks: the 5 things most likely to delay or sink this. For each: how likely, how bad, the early warning sign, and what to do now to reduce it.
6. First week: exactly what to do in the first five working days.
7. Decisions needed: anything that has to be decided or found out before work can properly start.
Rules:
- Be realistic. Estimates should include testing, review, and waiting on other people. Add a buffer and say how big it is.
- If the deadline is not achievable with the time and people available, say so, and show what would need to change: scope, deadline, or resources.
- Put the riskiest or most uncertain work early, so problems show up while there is still time.
- If there is something I need to tell you before you can plan this properly, ask me first.Sofia Marchetti · Productivity