Work packages

A work package groups tasks inside a project. The Project Manager records its subject, owner, start and end dates and hour budget so the team can discuss a manageable delivery block. Keep the project link visible when the same people contribute to packages across several engagements.

The package’s task estimates and actual hours provide evidence for the planning conversation. Compare those values with the budget hours while reviewing the tasks that produced them. A change in the package’s dates can affect several people’s commitments, so discuss it with the relevant managers before updating the plan.

• Package scope. Give the subject and description enough detail for the team to recognize the intended outcome. Assign an owner who can explain what belongs inside the package and what still needs a separate planning decision.
• Delivery window. Use the start and end dates to show when the package is intended to run. Check the parent project’s dates and the tasks assigned inside it before agreeing a change to the window.
• Effort comparison. Keep budget hours alongside task estimates and actual hours. When the figures diverge, open the underlying tasks and discuss the work involved before treating the difference as a staffing decision.

Agree how broad a work package should be. A package that is too vague makes it difficult to assign meaningful tasks, while a consistent subject and description help the owner explain the work at review. Decide who may revise the hour budget and what decision record is needed when the scope changes.

Define when the package becomes in progress, Blocked or Done. The Project Manager should review task outcomes before updating the package state. Agree what to do when a task’s optional project link disagrees with its package’s project, and check those links during import so effort is discussed under the intended engagement.

A reporting project has a data-preparation package budgeted at 60 hours. Its tasks are estimated at 48 hours when planning begins. The owner later identifies an additional extraction task estimated at 20 hours and asks the Project Manager to revisit the package.

The manager examines the task detail and discusses the resulting 68-hour estimate with the Delivery Lead. The team can revise scope, dates or assignments under its review procedure. Keep the package and its tasks aligned after the decision so the capacity discussion uses the same commitment. During the rehearsal, block a task that affects the package and ask the owner to explain whether the package should also become Blocked. Record the outcome before the next planning cycle begins.

• Package schedule — Open work packages with their owner, planned start and end, budget hours and task effort.
• Tasks In Flight — Active task work that helps the package owner explain delivery progress.

Prepare packages during capacity planning and assignment, then follow execution through task delivery and recorded time.