# Case: the deliverable list that doesn't fit > Twenty-five deliverables with effort ranges, 150 person-days of capacity. Add up effort by priority, challenge two false musts, and write Leo the scope decision with a drop order. - Course: [Project Management Without the Bureaucracy: Run One Project from Brief to Closure](https://productovi.com/courses/project-management-without-bureaucracy.md) - Module: Scope: what is in and what is out - Lesson 8/32, ~36 min - Source: https://productovi.com/courses/project-management-without-bureaucracy/deliverable-list-case ## Twenty-five lines, one Friday **Alex Tutor:** End of October. The owners have filled the deliverable list: 25 lines, each with an owner, three effort values and a proposed priority. Leo wants the scope decision by Friday. **Alex Tutor:** One more number, the plan's own assumption: the people booked for the project can give it **150 person-days** between 2 November and 29 January. That counts staff, the freelance authors and the illustrator. **Dataset (CSV):** [Physics launch: deliverable list, October 2026](https://productovi.com/datasets/project-management-without-bureaucracy/deliverable-list-case/pm-deliverables.csv) The owners' proposal. Effort in person-days of whoever does the work. budget_uah is cash from the 600,000 UAH ceiling (contractors, paid authoring, demo-lesson fees at 430 UAH, ads); staff time is not charged to it. Capacity before 29 January: 150 person-days (the plan's assumption). - `id`: Deliverable id - `area`: Branch of the breakdown tree - `deliverable`: What is handed over - `owner`: The one person who answers for it - `optimistic_days`: Effort if things go well, person-days - `likely_days`: Most likely effort, person-days - `pessimistic_days`: Effort if things go badly, person-days - `proposed_priority`: Priority the owner proposed: must, should or could - `budget_uah`: Cash from the launch ceiling, UAH - `depends_on`: Deliverables needed first (for the schedule) **Sofia:** First question: do the owners' musts alone fit into 150? **Alex Tutor:** Add up the likely values of every line marked "must". Likely, not optimistic: we plan on what usually happens. > **Exercise:** Add up the **likely** effort of every deliverable the owners marked **must**. How many person-days? ## Two musts that aren't **Leo:** 159 against 150. So even the musts don't fit. Then it's the date after all? **Alex Tutor:** Not yet. First check that every must passes the test: can we open on 1 February and reach the goal without it? Owners mark their favourite items "must" in good faith. **Vira:** I can guess which one of mine you mean. **Danylo:** And which one of mine. > **Exercise:** Which deliverables marked **must** fail the must test (the launch opens on 1 February and reaches its goal without them)? Select all that apply. ## The real musts **Alex Tutor:** Video solutions and the parent dashboard pass the launch without them: tutors explain hard tasks in class, and parents ask the tutor. Both become could, on the after-launch list. **Sofia:** Then the musts drop by 28 days. Let me recount. **Alex Tutor:** And look at the range too. The musts' optimistic and pessimistic sums show how wide the uncertainty is, but don't plan on either sum: all lines going well, or all going badly, at once is unlikely. **Alex Tutor:** How to handle that spread properly, with one shared buffer, is the next module but one. > **Exercise:** Without D11 and D22, what is the **likely** effort of the remaining musts? In person-days. **Alex Tutor:** The range is wide. Which number goes into the plan? > **Exercise:** Across the effort range, the 17 real musts run from 94 person-days (every line optimistic) to 193 (every line pessimistic); the likely sum is 131. Which number should the plan use? ## Shoulds, money and the drop order **Sofia:** Musts 131, so 19 days left. All five shoulds take 26, which is 7 over. Some shoulds have to go. **Hanna:** And the money? Musts and all shoulds come to 503,450 UAH. That's under my 600,000. **Alex Tutor:** So days bind, not money. Pick the shoulds by the days they cost and the value they bring to the goal, then keep a few days of room. **Vira:** The mock exam is mine, and it's six days. I'd rather keep tutors explaining than lose a week of my time. **Danylo:** The waiting list is two days and tells us in December if anyone wants physics. Keep it. > **Exercise:** **True or false:** because must + should costs 503,450 UAH, under the 600,000 ceiling, the full must + should list can stay. **Alex Tutor:** Now choose the shoulds and count the room. > **Exercise:** Keep the 17 musts (131 likely person-days) plus three shoulds: D20 waiting list (2 days), D17 level report (5) and D24 January ads (5). How many person-days of room are left out of the 150? **Sofia:** Musts, plus waiting list, level report and January ads: 143 days, 7 days of room. Diagrams and mock exam dropped first. **Alex Tutor:** A defensible cut. Now the order for January: which of the kept shoulds goes first if something slips? **Vira:** One more thing. 73 of the 131 must-days sit with me and my authors. **Alex Tutor:** Note it for the schedule. Totals fit; whether one person's work fits in time is the question for November. **Alex Tutor:** Vira's note raises a question. Check it before the drop order. > **Exercise:** **True or false:** the kept list (143 person-days) fits into the 150 of capacity, so the work will be done by 29 January. > **Exercise:** The kept list is the 17 musts plus D20 waiting list, D17 level report and D24 January ads (143 days). Write the **drop order** for January: the kept shoulds in the order they would go if something slips, each with one reason. **Leo:** Send me one page: what's in, what's out, why, and what goes first if January goes wrong. I'll sign the order. **Alex Tutor:** Write it so Leo can sign it without a meeting: numbers from the list, the must test for each disputed item, the margin, and the signed drop order. **Sofia:** Then the page has five parts: the numbers, the false musts, in and out, the drop order, and Vira's load as the open question. **Hanna:** Put the money line in too, even if it's good news. I want to see the 600,000 checked, not assumed. **Alex Tutor:** And remember who signs: Leo, as the project sponsor, decides on scope. Your job is to make the choice clear, with numbers. > **Exercise:** Write Leo the one-page scope decision for the physics launch. > **Key ideas** > > - Add up effort by priority with the likely values and compare with capacity: here the owners' musts came to 159 person-days against 150. > - Test every must before touching the date: two items (28 days) failed the test and became could. > - The real musts are 131 likely days (94 to 193 across the range); plan on likely values and handle the spread with one buffer later. > - Check which limit binds: must + should costs 503,450 UAH, under the 600,000 ceiling, but is 7 days over capacity. > - Keep musts plus the most useful shoulds with room to spare (143 days, 7 days of room), and get a drop order signed. **Alex Tutor:** Scope is settled. Next module: time. The list says what; the schedule says when, and whether 1 February really holds. - Previous lesson: [Must, should, could: cut scope, not the date](https://productovi.com/courses/project-management-without-bureaucracy/must-should-could.md) - Next lesson: [Dependencies and milestones as decision points](https://productovi.com/courses/project-management-without-bureaucracy/dependencies-and-milestones.md) --- Productovi Learning. Free, no sign-up needed to read.