Project Management/Initiative FAQ

Who should fill out the project intake form?

Any director or leader who is responsible for their team's projects that need deployment from Mozilla's services related groups (examples include WebDev, IT & Network Ops, Services Ops, Release Engineering). By filling out this very simple and quick form, we will be able to "feedback" a complete picture of all major project deployment dates, priorities, and dependencies".

What defines a project?

For purposes of this cross-functional project management initiative, we're most interested in projects that need people from multiple teams to be successful. If something is done either entirely within your team, or within routine bug-level processes (e.g. PM defines feature, dev writes patch, other dev reviews, someone checks in, QA verifies, etc.), then there's no need to enter it.

Will this affect how my team uses Bugzilla or other task management software?

No, this initiative is to capture major projects and a few high-level pieces of information to help with quarterly planning.

I thought this was a Webdev project, why do you want my projects?

This originally started out as a Webdev project due to their team's diverse projects, but soon turned into a Mozilla-wide initiative with the formation of a cross-functional team.

My team has a bunch of internal projects that are not external facing. Do I still have to enter these projects?

Yes, but only if your internal project require substantial effort and requires more than your team to complete. For example, if you are developing something that IT or release engineering needs to deploy, then it should be entered in the intake form.

Why is this initiative asking about goals?

For the past few quarters, organization-wide goals is how we plan and ensure that Mozilla is healthy and relevant. Aggregated metrics on goals for submitted projects will help ensure that we have adequate resources to ensure your project is successful.

What if my projects don't align to the goals stated on the intake form

Not all projects will give high support to Mozilla's top-level goals, however there should be some correlation to at least one or two. If that isn't the case, submit anyway and we'll work with your team to get the project on track.

What happens if I don't submit my projects?

Not submitting could hinder your projects' chances for success. When the larger group doesn't know what your team is working on there's less potential for collaboration and dependencies can go unidentified. C'mon, let's do this.

Why can't teams prioritize their projects now without having to implement a new process?

Teams are actively prioritizing their projects, but that is not the problem. There is a very high probability that any project that a given team is working on requires the assistance of at least one other teams to accomplish the project. There are certain teams (IT, QA, Security, Webdev, Operations, etc.) that are the most commonly requested to complete a project. When these teams ask all of the people who have requested them to do something to prioritize all of their requests, they all come back at priority ones. Every team feels that their projects are most important and if all projects are important, than no projects are important.

Who will manage the data captured on the project intake form?

The project management initiative team will be initially reviewing, cleaning up, and communicating to the entire organization on the submitted projects. Prioritization and next steps will be determined by the same Directors and team leads who submitted the projects along with guidance from the steering committee. The main goal during this first phase of the initiative is just to bring visibility to all of our projects, but not directly affect how they are managed.

What is the outcome of "announcing final priorities"?

During this first phase of the initiative, little will change in terms of priorities and the projects themselves. This short-term solution is only to bring visibility and to allow specific teams to have a better view of what is going to be requested of their teams for short-term planning. The Directors, executive management, and the steering committee already do quarterly planning, which directs the types of projects we are all working on now. This short-term solution will only be used to augment high level planning and to assist the organization with being able to meet the needs of requested projects.

Does this tool integrate with any of our existing tools or platforms?

Due to the project intake-form to be only a short-term solution and just a basic Google Doc form, it is not technically a tool. We are not implementing a tool at this time as the first phase of the this initiative is to just bring visibility and not make anything more complicated. In the future, we are investing a simple overview tool that would allow this type of planning, but requirements have yet to be formalized.

Why can't we pilot this intake form with just the teams that are having resource constraints?

While it is true that the teams that are most commonly requested to assist with projects will benefit the most from visibility into projects, it will only be beneficial to the organization if it is comprehensive. If there are major gaps in terms of Mozilla products that are submitted it will only lead to future confusion and incorrect planning when those projects are then formally requested of the intended teams. This confusion will negate the entire benefit of doing this initiative thus the only way to do it effectively is to do it comprehensively. Think of Mozilla as one big team and while not every initiative will help every team directly, it will make us stronger as a whole.

Where can I read more about this initiative? Who is on the team?

Read more about this initiative on the [[Project_Management/2011_Q4|2011 Q4] page.