The early morning drive into foggy downtown is uneventful. The show will take place at one of the buildings in the distance. At the Police headquarters building, to be specific. A text appeared late last night requesting my presence at the Chief’s office. A request, right. The Chief is not known for making requests.
Pulling into the parking lot even at this hour yields only one Visitor space. I pull in and head for the front door. The building is a new, three story affair which can only be described as urban chic. There is an attempt at modern art in front of the entrance. It looks like a large mobile hanging upside down over a child’s crib. It turns slows seeming under its own power.
0800
Once inside I sign in and I’m directed to the elevator. I punch the button for the third floor and make my way to the Chief’s office. 0800. Right on time. The Chief, Harold Brown, is sitting in his admin’s deck signing documents.
Without looking up, he says, “In my office.”
I walk in and he follows me and closes the door. Behind me I hear the rustling of fabric and the squeaking of leather against the leather of his equipment belt. I wait. I remaining standing.
He says, “Sit.”
I sit.
He says, “You and your company finished our Labor Day projects on-time, a few days early in fact. I want to know how you did it. No bullshit. No sales speak. No modesty. Get me? I need to know because if a company like yours can pull off a miracle using the method you used, I’m going to make sure we know about it. We might start using it for our projects.”
I say nothing. I expecting to be chastised, once again, for some perceived fault in the way our company handled his project. It’s good for us that very few company can do what we do. I’m sure if there were more options the City would have found someone else over the years. In our industry, and like many others, everyone’s performance is as poor as everyone else’s.
I take a deep breath and say, “Chief, I…”
“And, you’ve got five minutes. Go,” says the Chief.
Key Element #1
“One of the keys to our success is the new software we use. It’s based on a few principles. We know the task and resource dependencies, assigning the skills we need to do the work, and adding task duration estimates that don’t include any safety time.”
“I know what you are taking about. It’s called the critical chain method. One of my project managers told me all about it. Give me the meat. Quit stalling. What else can you tell me?” the Chief say.
Key Element #2
I say, “The other key to our success was the way the project team collaborated on the project network building. After collecting a few pieces of critical information, the project team focused on getting the planning done. Unlike prior meetings, where we are at each others throats and pointing fingers trying to find some to blame.”
He said, “That is unusual. I’ve trained my folks to be direct and make sure they get what they want.”
I said, “They still tried. For example, when the Lieutenant wanted to make the major change in the middle of the project. She wanted equipment at the intersection of Cedar Springs Road, Olive Street and McKinnon Street. I was able to show her these changes would delay the project by two weeks. We will still do the work and I have a proposal in to get it done. But, without a view of the CCPM schedule in the software it would have turned into a win-lose situation.”
“She is still upset about it, but I can see your point,” he says.
Do I detect a softening of attitudes. I’m going to take it as a good sign that he sees my point, but that’s all I’ll do.
Key Element #3
I say, “The CCPM schedule is the basis for the weekly task assignments. We gave all your folks 24/7 access to the project’s dashboard. At anytime of the day or night they could take a look at what tasks were schedule to be started, which one’s were underway, and which one’s were completed. Other than the kick-off meeting and the final sign-off meeting, no formal status reports were issued.”
“Not issuing weekly status reports is something I want to talk more about sometime, but what else made the difference with this project? You’ve got two minutes left,” he said.
Key Element #4
“The final piece of the puzzle, once we had a workable schedule everyone agreed on, we used the project buffer to check for any deviation from the plan. Some tasks exceed their estimated duration, but the buffers provided protection. Remember we didn’t include safety time in the tasks. So the slightest deviation from plan is easy to spot. This is simply a predicted effect. And, whether a task finishes late because it started late or it started on time and Murphy held it up doesn’t matter,” I said. Exhaling.
He says, “So you knew at all times if you were going to meet the due date or not.” He said it as a statement. “I assume in your project management world that would be considered an unfair advantage.” He said it with a grin.
He should know. He gained national attention for using a remote control robot to blow up a gunman a few years ago. The gunman had rampaged through downtown, killed two police officers and injuring a half dozen more civilian. The final stand off occurred inside an abandoned parking garage. The gunman was trapped, but in a well concealed area. When negotiations failed, the remote control robot, wired with a hand grenade, was sent to write the last chapter of the gunman’s life.
I said, “Yes, the buffer management tool, and a few other tools, helped make sure we knew were to focus our attention. And, even more important, where not to focus.”
As my words trailed off, the Chief stood, his imposing bulk hurtling around his desk. His outstretched hand surprised me, I shook it, and he said, “Good job. Well done. I still don’t know how you did it, but I’ll be sending another proposal to your company for a major infrastructure upgrade we are planning.”
“You’re welcome, Chief, any time,” I say.
I’m not sure he heard me since his back was turned and he was half way down the hall.