Here are some some tips on pushing your project over the finish line to meet end of year deadlines.

The first step in the big push is to do a project self assessment to determine eexactly where the project is and what is left.

Once you know exactly what is left to do go through each deliverable and task and eliminate any that are not absolutely needed.

Now that you have the list of tasks that must be done, re-estimate the work and duration for each task

Using the new estimates build the critical path plan first to determine how long that will take.

If the critical path items will finish before the end of the year then you are probably ok. Go ahead and complete the plan.

If the critical path takes longer than the end of the year the next step is to identify those tasks that are causing the schedule to stretch

Once the tasks that are causing teh schedule to stretch are identified, the next step is to figure out how to shorten the these tasks

 

There are 3 ways to shorten time on these tasks 1) reduce complexity 2) assign to senior resources 3) assign to multiple resources

Once the tasks have been addressed complete the plan and review with team and sponsors

Now that you have a plan you can start identifying risks and contigencies for the plan. Focus on risks to schedule and quality.

If delivering the project requires overtime and / or weekends you need to communicate that and get buy in from the company and the team