TimeLine: Getting and Keeping Control over your Project

The Evolutionary Project Management (Evo) approach is about continuously introducing small changes (hence evolutionary), constantly improving the performance and the results of what we are doing. Because we can imagine the effect of the change, this evolutionary change can be biased towards improvement, rather than being random.
One of the techniques having emerged out of the Evo way of working is the TimeLine technique, which allows us to get and keep the timing of projects under control while still improving the project results, using just-enough estimation and then calibration to reality. TimeLine doesn’t stop at establishing that a project will be late. We actively deal with that knowledge: instead of accepting the apparent outcome of a TimeLine exercise, we have ample opportunities of doing something about it. One of the most rewarding ways of doing something about it is saving time. And if we can save time when a project is late, why not use the same techniques even if the project won’t be late, to be done even earlier?
This booklet defines the Goal of a project, which enables us to focus on Result. It then describes the basic TimeLine technique, connecting high-level planning to weekly Task Planning and back. It continues with the options we have for dealing with the outcome, especially when we see that the time available seems insufficient to achieve what we think has to be achieved in the project. Finally, some estimation techniques are explained.