Unanticipated events

Viruses (the computer one and the micro-organism one) disrupt the routine and one such virus took a toll on my health and kept me away from work for almost a week (and hence no new posts since a week). Unanticipated events screw up schedules – says Johanna Rothman who had a small accident that gave birth to the post.

She says –

“Unanticipated events happen all the time. The bigger and less cross-functional your project, the less impact they have. But that’s because you’re barely making progress as is. The smaller the project, the more cross-functional the team, and the more people depend on each other, the more impact these events have.”

“So when you schedule, remember those unanticipated events. Give yourself enough of a contingency plan to deal with them. If you’re working in an agile lifecycle, your velocity will self-correct. But don’t assume they’re not going to happen. Something will. You just can’t tell what.”

I’ve learnt a lesson. Next time I schedule, I am gonna keep some space for these unanticipated events that lurk behind as we plan forward. Get well soon, Johanna!