Project Workback — Full Document

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Project Workback Schedule #

Planning a product launch working backwards from a fixed deadline.

Key Dates #

kickoff = next Monday → Mon, May 4, 2026
launch_date = Mar 15 2025 → Sat, Mar 15, 2025

days_to_launch = launch_date - kickoff → -415 days

Phase Durations #

development_time = 4 weeks → 4 week
qa_time = 2 weeks → 2 week
staging_time = 1 week → 1 week
launch_prep = 5 days → 5 day

total_planned = development_time + qa_time + staging_time + launch_prep → 7.71 week

Buffer #

buffer = days_to_launch - total_planned → -469 days

Working Backwards from Launch #

launch_prep_start = launch_date - launch_prep → Mon, Mar 10, 2025
staging_start = launch_prep_start - staging_time → Mon, Mar 3, 2025
qa_start = staging_start - qa_time → Mon, Feb 17, 2025
dev_start = qa_start - development_time → Mon, Jan 20, 2025

Sprint Planning #

2-week sprints during the 4-week development phase:

num_sprints = 2 → 2
sprint_duration = 2 weeks → 2 week
team_velocity = 40 → 40
total_points = num_sprints * team_velocity → 80

Milestones #

design_review = dev_start + 1 week → Mon, Jan 27, 2025
first_sprint_end = dev_start + 2 weeks → Mon, Feb 3, 2025
feature_freeze = dev_start + 3 weeks → Mon, Feb 10, 2025
code_complete = qa_start → Mon, Feb 17, 2025

Quarter Context #

Using relative dates for planning context:

current_quarter = this quarter → 01-Apr-2026 – 30-Jun-2026
quarter_end = end of this quarter → Tue, Jun 30, 2026
days_left_in_quarter = end of this quarter - today → 61 days

Next planning cycle:

next_quarter_start = next quarter → 01-Jul-2026 – 30-Sep-2026
eoy = end of this year → Thu, Dec 31, 2026

Risk Assessment #

risk_buffer = 8 days → 8 day
adjusted_dev_start = dev_start - risk_buffer → Sun, Jan 12, 2025

Daily Rate Cost Estimate #

dev_daily_rate = $800/day → $800.00/day
qa_daily_rate = $700/day → $700.00/day
devops_daily_rate = $900/day → $900.00/day

developers = 4 → 4
qa_engineers = 2 → 2
devops = 1 → 1

dev_cost = dev_daily_rate * developers over development_time → $89.6K
qa_cost = qa_daily_rate * qa_engineers over qa_time → $19.6K
devops_cost = devops_daily_rate * devops over (staging_time + launch_prep) → $10.8K

Schedule Summary #

The team needs 7.71 week plus 8 day contingency. Development kicks off Sun, Jan 12, 2025. Quarter ends Tue, Jun 30, 2026 with 61 days remaining.