There’s a time for every out-of-scope project task, and the time is later.

You have been taught since childhood not to put off until tomorrow what can be done today. Conventional wisdom says to do it, and do it now! My experience as a project manager, however, indicates that procrastination works.

If you’re like me, you’ve found that roughly 90% of the outside-of-scope actions that people ask to have added to a project will be changed, dropped or completed by someone else before you can get to them. All you need to do is determine which items make up the 10% that can’t be avoided. That’s where management by procrastination can change your life.

To get in the right frame of mind and drive the theory home, quietly chant the following the next time you’re sitting through a boring meeting: Procrastinate, procrastinate. Put it off till it’s too late. S-T-A-L-L. Stutter, stop … wait.

There isn’t much science behind my theory, but I’ve found that procrastination can be effective when others attempt to tack tasks onto your project. To make it work, you need to learn to identify tasks, prioritize them and deliver.

Identify. Many transient tasks areassigned during meetings. Someone will ask a question that results in the need for additional research, or the boss will want someone to follow up on an idea. Taking the time to really identify each task is the first step in weeding out the 90% that willmagically disappear. It involves more than just writing down whatever is asked.

Read more at Computerworld.

[Post to Twitter] Tweet This Post