July 20th @ 3:00pm
The day didn’t start like any other. Despite the dark clouds outside, the project planning was unlike any other planning session. In our own way, we limited the devastation multi-tasking. We brought the planning group’s attention on a single thing. We focused on translating the project requirements into a workable plan.
The euphoria I felt only went so far. The other shoe was about to drop. I could feel it, deep down, somewhere, something was wrong.
Snapping back to reality, everyone was looking at me, again. Everyone had returned from the break. I had returned from my daydreaming. But, what was I worried about, Gary was about the speak and stood to address the group.
His large frame seemed to rise out his chair by itself. He wasn’t fat, he was muscular, a chiseled face, perched on his thick neck, out of which came a deep command voice. He say, “Thank you for your input and the effort put into the planning session,” he said. “I don’t have any proof of this, but the more effort put into planning, the less Murphy will come to visit us during the project’s execution. That’s the way reality works. Let’s push on to the end and take care of a few more things.”
The First Scheduling Run
Gary returns to the planning screen and presses the Scheduling button. An alert appears, the progress bar flies across the screen, and a new view appears. No more planning tasks, a series of horizontal lines of different colors appear.
Gary says, “This is the result of the software deciding on the projects longest path of task and resource dependencies. We call this the critical chain. Based on this critical chain, it places a shock absorber, filled with safety time, between the project due date and the end of the longest chain. For all the other tasks, the software creates feeding chains. These feeding chains also have smaller shock absorbers connecting them to the critical chain.”
What If the Plan Is Too Long
Labor Day is on Monday, September 7, but we need to be finished the day before the weekend starts. That’s Friday, September 4th. The project due date the software calculated was September 17. That’s nine working days beyond the due date. I knew something like this was going to happen. I knew there was something wrong. Now, I know what it is. The effort we put into the planning shows we don’t have a chance of being on time. Or, do we?
Gary says, “Exepron does a good job of planning and scheduling projects. But, what if the resulting schedule is too long or doesn’t fit into the required, sometimes demanded, time frame?”
Focus on the Longest Leg of Task & Resource Dependencies
I ask, “Is this really the critical chain? My question is not about the software’s algorithm, but about the assumptions we made when we built the project network.”
Gary says, “That’s a good questions. The primary limitation to finishing a single project within the time desired is based on the critical chain. Nothing else matters at this point. We have to reevaluate the current critical chain tasks. For instance, can one or more of the critical chain tasks be broken into smaller tasks? And, can these smaller tasks be done in parallel by different resources?” He points to a task which is eight days long.
The resource type assigned to this task is a Camera Installation Crew Resource Type. I ask, “Did we assume there is only one camera installation crew available to do this work? Or, can we cut this task in half, use two different crews and assign them to the two smaller tasks? That would make each task four days long.”
Jim agrees this is possible and I see him making a note on his note pad. Gary makes the change. Four days down, five days to go before the plan fits within the time we have available.
Gary decides to rerun the schedule and look for further reductions in the critical chain. Either it’s late in the day or no more obvious area for reducing the critical chain appear. We wait to see if Gary has any more ideas.
Focus on the Longest Duration Tasks
“Another way to continue our analysis is by checking the duration of the longest tasks along the critical chain. Here’s one,” Gary says and points to a task 10 days long. “Let’s re-check the task duration estimate now that we have all the other tasks in place. Are we sure this task, which we plan on working on without interruption and without adding any more safety time, 10 days?”
This task is assigned to one of Jim’s engineers, so I look at him and encourage him to re-evaluate this estimate. Jim takes the hint and talks us through the work he expects will happen and how long each segment may take. Nods around the table. He finally says it’s not a ten day task, but an eight day task. Gary updates the task duration estimate to eight days. Two days closer to the original project due date. I’m encouraged again. Three more days need to be trimmed out.
Be Careful When Adding More Resources
“Next, I would like us to check the possibility of adding more resources or resource types. This could be a way to reduce a task’s duration,” says Gary. “The reduction in the planned task duration should be significant. A reduction of at least 20% of the current aggressive, but doable estimate. Why? It’s a rule of thumb, but adding resources to a project could be expensive and they should make a significant difference. If not, it’s not worth it. And, it’s better to plan to do it now rather than trying to add resources to an already running project. There is the potential to encounter a derivative of Brook’s Law which says, something like, adding manpower to a late project makes it later.”
A chuckle of recognition comes from the room and from the speaker on the screen. But, we find a few tasks which benefit from adding another install crew and making a few police resource available for non-technical work.
Gary decides to rerun the schedule and look for further reductions, but none are necessary. We trimmed four days from the schedule and the plan shows it’s possible to finish one day before the original due date. I’ll take every day I can get.
From now on, I’m going to ask these questions to reduce the duration of the projects we are planning:
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- Is this really the critical chain?
- How much time can we squeeze out of the critical chain?
- Where can we add resources to reduce task durations?
Using these steps, the critical chain has been crushed, mangled, and broken more than once. No more time can be squeezed out of the critical chain, and an appropriate number of resources have been assigned.
What’s Blocking the Project Now?
Now, it’s not through inaction or laziness which now blocks our ability to deliver the project in the due date. What are we waiting for? The plan is good enough. The planning has to end and the work need to begin. Robin, to the Bat Cave. There’s not a moment to lose.
As a famous philosopher once said, Mick Jagger, “Drink in your summer, gather your corn. The dreams of the night time will vanish by dawn. And time waits for no one, and it won’t wait for me.” Or for you. Or me.
Is the plan good enough? There is only one way to find out. The longer we wait, the less time we have. Start the project! But first, another quick break.
July 20th @ 4:00pm
Gathering everyone back together, I ask if there is anything else we would like to add, delete or check one more time. We are ready to move out of the planning phase and start doing the work of the project as soon as possible.
Silence. No one moves. Everyone is looking at me, again. I decide to wrap up the day with some kind works and acknowledgment of everyone’s contribution. I have to admit this planning session went better than I expected. It has set the standard for the next planning sessions we have.
In summary, I say, “Jim will start the project tomorrow morning, July 21st. By meeting our aggressive task duration estimates, it is possible to finish as early as August 13th. With the normal project delays, we plan to finish no later than September 3rd.”
Gary adds, “Tomorrow we will invite everyone to create an account. That way you’ll be able to login to the software and check the estimated due date any time you want.”
Nods all around. A smile on Gary’s face. The relief of a hard days work flows through me to far off shores.
Everyone signs off, the screen goes blank and our guests are shown to the Lobby. I turn off the lights and head out the door myself. Tomorrow the project starts. Am I sure? All I’m sure of is that we planned the best we could.