Why you should buffer an additional day in your current project schedule
Someone call it an iteration, someone call it a milestone. Whatever it is named, it means the period of time for a cycle of software development.
The pace of development and the granularity of task in a project affects the duration of each cycle. Thus, the duration of a cycle may varies among different team and different projects. But for easier manipulation, one month or two months is the duration of time that will be adopted mostly.
I am sure you have read a lot of articles on how to structure the work into each cycle. But one thing I want to share with you is, reserve a day for packaging of your deliverable. If you are like me, who demand a release of the development that is capable to execute either a fraction or a complete set of functions at the end of each cycle, it is better to reserve a day for the team to tidy up their work and prepare for the release.
In my team, the deliverable for each release will include all or selection of the followings,
As you can see, the list is quite extensive and thus I feel it's easier for the team to spend a day for preparation. In turns, it helps them to review what they have achieved and give them a sense of satisfaction. With the release properly organized, it helps you (the project leader) to review the development as a whole. You can evaluate if the pace is proper and allow you to send out your product for testing or simply to experience at the earlier stage.
The pace of development and the granularity of task in a project affects the duration of each cycle. Thus, the duration of a cycle may varies among different team and different projects. But for easier manipulation, one month or two months is the duration of time that will be adopted mostly.
I am sure you have read a lot of articles on how to structure the work into each cycle. But one thing I want to share with you is, reserve a day for packaging of your deliverable. If you are like me, who demand a release of the development that is capable to execute either a fraction or a complete set of functions at the end of each cycle, it is better to reserve a day for the team to tidy up their work and prepare for the release.
In my team, the deliverable for each release will include all or selection of the followings,
- release notes (text file or an additional entry on the product web page)
- change log
- binary (e.g. compiled java classes, war)
- program source
- user guide (or any sort of document to describe the usage)
- email announcement
- tag a version on SVN
As you can see, the list is quite extensive and thus I feel it's easier for the team to spend a day for preparation. In turns, it helps them to review what they have achieved and give them a sense of satisfaction. With the release properly organized, it helps you (the project leader) to review the development as a whole. You can evaluate if the pace is proper and allow you to send out your product for testing or simply to experience at the earlier stage.