The moment Max parroted the words I spoke the drum beat of the laboratory felt like a comforting heartbeat. The key phase I had been chanting in our project planning meeting was starting to take hold. To create good enough linkages between the project tasks, knowing how to phase the question to elicit the linkage is important.
Max raised his bulk to his feet. His massive arms flexed the fabric of his shirt as he spoke. He said, “To start this task,” as he pointed to a task on the screen, “what task must finish right before it?”
Someone would suggest a new task, we would add it, and Max would repeat his new mantra again. All I had to do was to stay focused on typing the task entries the planning team wanted me to make and keep my growing excitement to myself. For now.
Some Folks Need More Time
Not too long ago Max was defiant and blocking our attempts to re-plan his project the CCPM way. He would not respond to meeting requests. He would question why we needed a new system when the one he had was working. It wasn’t working since 100% of his projects were late. Of course we had answers to all his issues, but until today we didn’t have a chance to address them.
This morning Max strode in with a few of his subject matter experts in tow. Max was a large man, not fat, but muscular and broad shouldered, and his seat took the brunt of the offense. His camouflage ball cap and beard was in direct contract to his fresh polo shirt and dress slacks. He was the alpha dog in the room. His subject matter experts sat only after he did. They sat lower than he did, too. I had my work cut out for me.
Polishing the Planning Process
But, over the past few months, we’ve conducted every project planning meeting as an experiment. I gave the project managers a script to follow. As they facilitated the planning meeting, they followed the script the best they could. If there were any deviations, they made a note of it and how they handled it. In our weekly staff meetings we would discuss these deviations and changes to our script, if necessary.
I was confident in the planning script I was going to follow with Max. We’ve overcome the issues of many other project managers. They needed to have their hand held to make the switch to the new way. I didn’t expect everyone to make the switch, but so far, everyone was on board. Today would be different.
In the past, our project planning processes were cumbersome and took a lot of effort. Even after these efforts were translated into project plans, our project due date performance was only about 50-60% on time. Our efforts degraded into lip service. Our folks assumed this was as good as it was going to get.
Addressing a Major Problem Head-On
Now, during the project planning phase, our focus is on ensuring we start work on a project when all the necessary information is available. And, only the least effective dose. Why? Because, we are challenging our assumptions about what information is needed. And we are challenging what it means to start a project.
All energy and focus needs to be on our the major source of disruption to our portfolio of projects. That is––The sooner we start the project, the sooner we will finish. This may seem like it makes sense, but it’s not true when it comes to completing a project. Let’s ask “why” again.
If we start the project as soon as we can, we can finish sooner if and only if everything remains stable. For example, all the project content is known and does not change. The required level of effort is known and does not change. The resources are always available when needed. The resource all perform at the level we expect them to. And our spending is what we expect it to be throughout the lift of the project. This is unrealistic.
By Their Nature Projects Contain A Lot of Uncertainty
For example, the scope always changes, the effort required usually increases and hardly ever is less than planned. Many resources are not available when needed. The budget may get cut or the customer wants something for free. Or, our vendors needs more time.
There are many other planning predictions that turn out to be wrong. These changes need further discussion, evaluation and time to work out. Address each deviation from the plan never take less time. So, there is no guarantee that starting work as soon as we can will help us finish sooner.
Today, we use a well defined and polished planning process. This process gathers all the least effective dose information for a project. In other words, we give ourselves the best chance of success.
The Current State of the Project Planning Process
The current state of our planning process starts by reviewing the project charter. We’ve discussed the elements of the charter before. Next comes the 10-step process is as follows:
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- Define the project’s objective, scope and due date requirements. Most folks are hesitant to undertake a new way of doing things.
Near the beginning of each planning session with new participants, we recap the key management questions our new software helps them to answer:
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- Will the project finish on time?
- Which projects need my attention?
- Which project don’t need my attention?
- What task should my resources be working on now and which task(s) are next?
- To recover lost time which tasks need immediate attention?
- What is the current and future resource loading?
By reviewing already running projects, we can point of out the features of the software which answer these questions. Knowing the answers to these questions is a capability we haven’t had before. And, showing the excellent performance of the other projects offers some proof. The software is supporting the project managers not hindering their performance.
2. Define the tasks required for the main backbone of the project. Start with the project’s objective and work right to left across the screen. Use the phrase “To start this task, what task must finish right before it?”
3. Add tasks required to build other task paths by working backwards from the objective along the backbone. Continue to use the phrase “To start this task, what task must finish right before it?”
4. Read the network from the beginning. Look for more task dependencies, confirm the correct sequence of tasks, or make other modifications to the project network. Read from left to right as if you were reading a book. Tell the “story” of the project.
5. Check every task against the project goals, scope and sponsor criteria.
6. Identify and add the main resource type(s) and quantities which will perform each task.
7. Define task durations by deciding on an aggressive, but doable touch-time estimate. Remind the planning team that time will be added before the project’s due date. This time will absorb task and resource variability throughout the life of the project. In other words, folks are not pressured to add contingency time to their task estimates.
8. Scrutinize the network using subject matter and/or other skill set expert(s).
9. Run CCPM Schedule and seek ways to optimize and reduce project duration without compromising the scope or budget.
We also point out some key elements of the software:
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- The software inserts a buffer. This buffer is sized and placed to total up the critical chain contingency time. This protects the due date from resource unavailability and other project variabilities. Buffers are also placed on all paths that feed the critical chain.
- The critical chain remains stable throughout the length of the project. We use the critical chain to know where to focus our attention for getting from point A to point B.
- CCPM project scheduling eliminates resource contention within the project.
- Between projects, few resources are overloaded. They are not pressured to multi-task because of way we pipeline and release projects.
- The resulting plan schedules activities to start as late as possible allowing time for the latest information to be used.
The resulting plan will be used as a baseline to measure and report against the project’s progress.
10. Finally, complete a final project assessment with the key project stakeholders.
Reviewing Our Original Criteria for a Good Project Management Solution
And, we review that the planning process supports the original solution criteria:
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- Did we compromise or cut any corners on quality, lead time, budget or on-going support to reach our project’s objective?
- Are we confident we have a good chance to deliver this projects on time?
- Are these new CCPM solution elements easy to understand and sustainable over the long term?
Baby Steps in the Right Direction
But, today as Max is co-leading the planning meeting with me, the rhythm of our work is obvious. The energy in the room has picked up. Everyone is engaged in contributing to the project network. And, the others on the phone are silent. My hope is that they are sitting in wonderment of the progress we’ve made today. OK, that may be too much to ask.
I am glad to see even the most hardened among us, folks like Max, can be brought on board. If we show people a process that can solve their issues and it makes sense to them, we have a chance to point them in the right direction.