[418] in Project_DB
How is a Job Flow analysis done?
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Bill Cattey)
Mon Jan 4 15:19:35 1999
Date: Mon, 4 Jan 1999 15:19:24 -0500 (EST)
From: Bill Cattey <wdc@MIT.EDU>
To: project-db@MIT.EDU
In reading Mike's note, it became clear that many decisions about the
Project Database are best informed by a clearer understanding of who
uses the Project Database, for what purposes, and in what ways. I've
never done a formal Job Flow analysis, but it sounds like it would be
VERY helpful in creating that clearer understanding. Apparently there
would, most beneficially, be an explicit model of how things are done
now compared to a future way of doing things.
As I pondered the Job Flow analysis concept, I put aside my worry that
it would be a big expenditure of resources. I remembered old hallway
chat with Mike and Tim about how sometimes all you do is follow someone
around with a clip board and write down what they do. From that
insight, my brain literally spit out "the" list of who uses the Project
Database, and for what. I present it here as a starting point. Three
questions go with it:
Who have I left out?
What uses have I left out?
Will an amended list like this be an appropriate starting point for a
Job Flow analysis?
When I look at the caffein-induced list my hind-brain spat out, it
seemed so simple. Is it, to a first approximation, as simple as that?
-wdc
---- /mit/project-db/stakeholders.txt ----
Perhaps the way to begin modeling the Job Flow of the Project Database
is to review who the users are:
Project Leader
Creates a new project in the database
Tracks progress of project in Project Database
Informs Directors, Team Members, Interested IS Parties, and
Interested Outside Parties of project progress.
Team Member
Reviews progress of project.
Tracks project items owned by him or her.
Director
Creates a new project in the database
Asserts/Revokes formal committment on a project
Reviews progress of projects
Uses information about projects to engage in dialogs about priorities
and resource allocation.
Interested IS Party
Learns ongoing status of projects
Uses information about projects to inform decision to join a project.
Interested Outside Party
Learns ongoing status of projects.
Uses information about projects to engage in dialog with Directors,
Team Leaders, or Team Members about project direction.
