Project management · Sequence · Component
The external items
What the project waits on that it does not control — where the date actually slips.
The deliverable
What it is
A project’s own work is estimable and controllable. Approvals, supplier lead times and another team’s priorities are neither, and they set the date more often than the work does.
Each external dependency needs a lead time, a named contact and a plan for it being late, because a proportion of them will be.
One level in
What it is made of
Each element is a constituent part of the component. Follow one to see the attributes it carries.
The lead time
How long it takes and how reliably.
3 attributes: Typical · Worst case · Used in plan
LearnThe contact
Who to ask and what to do when it is late.
3 attributes: Contact · Requested · If late
Learn
Internal work is drawn in detail and waiting is drawn as an arrow. The arrow is where the date goes.