Crystal Reports Administration: Project Scope

So, you are now in charge of developing Crystal Reports in your company. How do you figure out what should go into those reports?

One way is to ask everybody, come up with a wish list, and satisfy it. That way, everyone gets what they want. But, this is a wasteful approach.

Instead, let's take a page from the project management handbook (not that there really is one, but bear with us, here). Here is the proper sequence of steps to make a Crystal Reports project meet its deadline with the most efficient use of resources:

1. Define the overall goal of the project. What, for example, do the users really want to find out? Do they want to know sales trends? Do they want to be able to compare last quarter's orders to next quarter's budget? Find out what the mission is, first.
2. Develop a list of major steps needed to meet the mission. Project managers do this by developing a Work Breakdown Structure. Don't forget to define the report parameters, at this stage.
3. Develop a list of the resources needed to perform those steps needed to meet the mission.
4. Go back to those who defined the mission, and have them either commit the resources or change the mission. Don't forget to include input data as a resource.

Now, here's a paradox to think about. In these times of layoffs and job insecurity, many people are afraid to say no to their boss. So they take on more and more work, just because the boss asks them to. But to get this work done, they work faster and make mistakes, or they take shortcuts. The result is bad work. And you can be fired for cause in that case. Which makes it hard to find another job.

Your boss might be an evil slave driver, but more likely the problem is your boss figures it's OK to give you more work until you say you're at your limit.

The solution for you is to let your boss know that you've reached your limit. Ask your boss what task or project you need to drop to take on this new one. If your boss is any good at being a manager, s/he will appreciate this helpful feedback. It means you're concerned about putting out good work and not embarrassing your boss.

It might help to begin the conversation with those two thoughts. "Like you, I'm concerned about doing quality work. I don't want to embarrass myself or you by taking on so much work that I fail. So that we can both stay on track, we need to look at what is most important and what can be dropped from the task list, reassigned, or deferred until later. When's a good time to talk about that?"

For Crystal Reports tools that will help you meet your mission, click here.

For project management courses that will show you how to be an outstanding project manager, click here.

This article is copyrighted by Crystalkeen, Mindconnection, and Chelsea Technologies Ltd. It may be freely copied and distributed as long as the original copyright is displayed and no modifications are made to this material. Extracts are permitted. The names Crystal Reports and Seagate Info are trademarks owned by Business Objects.