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>> The fastest way to complete two projects using the same people is to do it one at a time, sequentially. Trying to run two projects in parallel using the same

by theoj 14y ago

>> The fastest way to complete two projects using the same people is to do it one at a time, sequentially. Trying to run two projects in parallel using the same resources introduces a large amount of waste Is that always the case? I have seen freelancers handle multiple projects at once using a weekly breakdown of 3 days for one project and 2 days for another.

ams6110 14y ago
Having done freelance work in varying amounts for a couple of years now, I'd say that task switching between two projects from one day to the next is not really a big deal. You have an overnight sleeping period for your brain to process and reset. Switching within the day, or trying to switch among three or more projects starts to break down, efficiency-wise.
georgemcbay 14y ago
No, it isn't always the case. It is only the case when all employees are fully 100% utilized at all stages of the product, which rarely happens. There are often bottlenecks where one group is blocked by deliverables from another group, and in a perfect world one could make the process more efficient by scheduling so that when those developers would be blocked they are working on the other project. Even accounting for the context switches, having the two projects worked on in parallel would be preferable here if the deadlocking blocks are sufficiently long enough. Having said all of that, doing such scheduling well is damn near impossible in the real-world, as far as I've seen.
digitist 14y ago
Managing multiple projects with a single resource pool is a problem I've been working on a lot lately. I tend to allocate based upon hours in the day (4 to one project, 2 to another.) The scheduling is quite complex and I'm uncertain about the trade off between the productivity from focus and effectively working at capacity 100% of the time with project switching. Every project I've ever worked on typically has downtime (e.g. waiting 3 days for Client feedback on a milestone deliverable) which creates opportunity for the parallel project to be worked on instead of waiting idly.

by theoj 14y ago

ams6110 14y ago

Having done freelance work in varying amounts for a couple of years now, I'd say that task switching between two projects from one day to the next is not really a big deal. You have an overnight sleeping period for your brain to process and reset. Switching within the day, or trying to switch among three or more projects starts to break down, efficiency-wise.

georgemcbay 14y ago

No, it isn't always the case. It is only the case when all employees are fully 100% utilized at all stages of the product, which rarely happens. There are often bottlenecks where one group is blocked by deliverables from another group, and in a perfect world one could make the process more efficient by scheduling so that when those developers would be blocked they are working on the other project. Even accounting for the context switches, having the two projects worked on in parallel would be preferable here if the deadlocking blocks are sufficiently long enough. Having said all of that, doing such scheduling well is damn near impossible in the real-world, as far as I've seen.

digitist 14y ago

Managing multiple projects with a single resource pool is a problem I've been working on a lot lately. I tend to allocate based upon hours in the day (4 to one project, 2 to another.) The scheduling is quite complex and I'm uncertain about the trade off between the productivity from focus and effectively working at capacity 100% of the time with project switching. Every project I've ever worked on typically has downtime (e.g. waiting 3 days for Client feedback on a milestone deliverable) which creates opportunity for the parallel project to be worked on instead of waiting idly.