An exercise done a number of years ago suggested that a minor amend represented up to 20% change of the original, a major amend up to 50% change and a complete re-write/new work if there was more than a 50% change to existing material.
Any ideas/formulae?
Thanks
Julie Sheridan
by
Leaders need to stop the self-sacrifice cycle
Middle management’s biggest challenge
Unlocking courage
Elevate your L&D expertise by subscribing to TrainingZone’s newsletter! Get curated insights, premium reports, and event updates from industry leaders.
3 Responses
what constitutes minor work
Iam not aware of any specific definitions but if we look at the software world:
the change from v1 to v2 generally constitutes a re-write
v1.0 to v1.5 are major added features
v2.0 to v2.1 are significant changes
v2.11 to v2.12 are correcting errors.
I would say that a 20% change from a software point of view is a change from v1.0 – v1.5
for me anything above error corrections or changing language is a major change.
What do others think
Measuring String
I think that this is an exercise in “how long’s a piece of string”.
Whatever constitutes minor work for you might be major for me or vice-versa.
In a software house “a minor” release might take only a few hours coding time, but hundreds of hours testing time prior to release. That’s a major change to incorporate into tight schedules.
If you have a large team then large amendments maybe “minor” to effect and with a small team small amendments maybe “major” to effect.
I’m not sure you can apply any better formula than a rule of thumb, looking at the resources and time you have before making the decision whether a change is minor or major.
I’d be interested to hear if there is a standard or excellent rule, but I suspect that practically there isn’t.
Design changes
Julie
This seems like pointless semantics. Surely the important think is to identify what needs changing and get on and do it.
This is certainly not a criticism of you. It sounds like somebody clueless invented a system some while ago – presumably it only matters because you are give a set time to do the redesign depending on whether it is classified as minor or major(?). If so, do get whoever is responsible to do some basic research on how others approach this. It will soon become clear that there is no set formula; it is something that requires a combination of professional expertise and common sense.
You might also want to take a look at:
https://www.trainingzone.co.uk/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=128558
Best of luck
Graham