How to split development tasks

1. Background

        The task sum should reflect the total amount of work that needs to be done to complete a certain goal. WBS also talks about many principles, standards and methods of decomposition, but in actual work, when doing task splitting, we often only see the key tasks and ignore other details, or the task granularity is too large, resulting in the task being executed for a long time. Status cannot truly feed back the real project progress. At the same time, the larger task granularity will also cause the estimated time deviation to be too large.

        Based on the above issues, two points must be paid attention to when splitting tasks. First, the content must be complete; second, the granularity must be fine. Based on the actual situation of the project, some methods are summarized for splitting development tasks for your practical reference.

2. Method

1. When splitting a task or a group of tasks, you can consider it from the three dimensions of "before - during - after". Before and after are often easily overlooked areas. Whether resources need to be coordinated before the task starts? After the task is completed, should we consider how to go online? Whether there are configurations and data that need to be pre-processed before going online; if there are upstream and downstream business dependencies, we should also consider upstream and downstream joint debugging and docking;

2. The time granularity of a single task should not exceed 2 days, complex tasks can exceed 1 day, and simple tasks (tasks such as CURD) should not exceed 1 day. If it exceeds the time granularity, the task needs to be further divided;

3. A single task should be coherent in time, and there should be no time gap in the middle. If there is, it should be split according to the time gap;

4. When writing tasks, be sure to consider whether there are any overlooked details, which often affect the overall progress of the project;

5. Data modeling can be used as an independent task if the workload does not exceed 1 day. If it exceeds, it can be dispersed into various features or even stories, and designed step by step;

6. Back-end development, "code writing + internal testing" is the main content of a development task. Add interface permission configuration in system management, and completion of internal testing (testing in ApiFox) can be marked as task completion;

7. Front-end development, "static page writing" can be used as an independent development task, and can be developed first based on prototype design or business understanding;

8. The front-end and back-end docking is an independent development task. The front-end is the main one and the back-end cooperates. A button configuration is added in the system management. After the docking, the front-end internal test can be marked as completed;

9. Cross-testing is an independent task. After the front-end internal test is completed, it is handed over to the back-end for cross-testing. If the test is passed, the task is completed. After completion, the test can be officially launched;

10. Do not have multiple tasks in progress at the same time. If there are horizontal tasks that are not separated, for example, multiple tasks are waiting for the same or similar things, in this case, the tasks should be divided horizontally;

11. The task status in the project management tool should be updated in a timely manner. It is best to provide real-time progress feedback. In order to prevent omissions, ensure that it is updated every day before leaving get off work.

3. Cases

3.1 Unreasonable split

        The granularity is relatively large, and front-end and back-end docking and joint debugging will be interspersed in each task. The execution time of the same task is inconsistent and there are time gaps.

 3.2 A more reasonable split

        Tasks are relatively independent, fine-grained, and can be completed individually and coherently.

4. Summary

        A normal development task includes: data modeling, back-end interface development, front-end page development, front-end and back-end docking, and cross-testing tasks. When creating tasks in the project management tool, the tasks are divided according to this idea. In addition, In addition, you should also think forward and backward to see if there are any missed details.