Category: Results

How Project Managers Lead the Planning & Buy-In of CCPM Projects

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:

    1. 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:

    • 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:

    • 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:

    • 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.

 

Initial Results of Using CCPM to Plan Projects

No two projects are the same. Our place in the business universe is far from ordinary. The things our engineers can do would knock your socks off. Although we have customers who buy from us over and over again, what they want is never the same. Although our project managers lead these projects, the project teams never have the same members. And, the vendors we use to provide goods and services for our projects never know what to expect from us.

After One Month

But, after a month of planning projects the CCPM way, a pattern, a rhythm, and drum beat has emerged from the chaos. The calm voices, the productive meetings and an improvement in our performance measures is almost spooky. It may be the calm before the storm.

There are eight projects in flight which were planned and scheduled the new CCPM way. We have about 20 more projects to go. But, already the amount of distractions and people running to me for answers has gone down. No dark clouds are on the horizon.

I don’t know by how much, but the number of emails from upset customers has dropped off. Of the few measures we are using to track our performance the number of nasty emails per day is the one I am using. I want them all to go away someday, and someday day soon.

Don’t Expect Miracles, Yet

It doesn’t take long to bring me back to reality. My daydream was shattered when I hear our CEO bellow, “Why do I have to hear from one of our best customer, MegaForm, that their project is going to be late? They are threatening to pull the next order they have with us and send it to one of our competitors.” Our CEO has a temper, but today his voice was flat and firm. But, below the surface, I saw the dragon straining to be unleashed.

Remaining calm, I say, “I won’t give you excuses. Let me look into it and see what I can do. One of our best project managers is leading that project, so there must be a reason.”

The majority of our projects are still waiting to be re-planned. My hands are sill full with the unplanned ones. But, it’s how our customers are managing projects. It’s what our competitors are doing it. It’s what the professional organizations tell us are the best project management tools. How could they all be so wrong.

Somewhere along the line, the world has been suckered into a mediocre status quo. And, some folks think that’s alright. Some folks like it there. Although, we are not out of the woods my any means, I see there is a different way and a way which may raise us above the mediocrity. Right now other people’s way of doing things is not my problem.

Before I could say anything else, his back was to me as he huffed out of my office. Still, my anger was building, but after a few deep breaths and I felt the feelings pass. It’s a good thing, too, since Jim was the next person to walk into my office.

More Good News From the Front Lines

He says, “Hey boss, I want to give you an update on how our Labor Day project is going. Have a minute?”

“Sure,” I say, “give me as much detail as you want. Tell me everything.” I took another deep breath.

He grins and sits in my guest chair. He says, “As you know, we started this project on the recommended start date, which was the same day we finalized the planning. I immediately prepared to start the tasks the software suggested to start during the first week.”

“Yes, I remember that,” I say. It was a turning point which I won’t soon forget. Would this be the solution we were looking for? Time will tell.

A New Way to Request Resources

Jim said, “I asked the manager of our Accounting Department for someone to fill the Financial Analyst position. We need to set up the budget tracking process for this project. In the fine print of our contract, we agreed to provide the City with a detailed breakdown of our expenditures.”

‘We did,” I asked, “Did you get the resource you needed?”

“Like every other department around here, they are all overloaded. But, when I specified which resource we needed, for how long we needed them, and showed her the priority of this project in our portfolio, I had no problem getting them.”

Usually, getting the commitment from department managers for project resources is a well rehearsed and civilized battle between two Japanese sumo wrestlers. I asked, “How did the task assignments go?”

Assigning Tasks Redux

Jim said, “Fine, I didn’t include a due date when assigning the tasks like you asked. I was careful to only use the estimated task duration as a guide. I also stated when the task is complete, be ready to pass your work on to the next resource. This will cut the multi-tasking, Parkinson’s Law and the student syndrome behaviors.”

By focusing attention on the task due date caused all kinds of bad behaviors. Jim’s use of using the task duration should keep these behaviors at bay. I wonder if folks will add their own date to the task when it is assigned. If the task duration is three days, they could look on the calendar three days from now and pick the due date for themselves. Let me ask Jim about this when he finishes his report.

Effects of Exposing Management Capacity

I asked, “How long did it take to assigning all the first week’s tasks?”

He said, “Less than two hours. I know what you are thinking, what did I do with the rest of my day. I know we expect to free up capacity, but I didn’t think it would happen to me. I did have to take time to hold some hands to get the daily days remaining updates. But, I asked myself, what else can I be doing to move this project along.”

“And,” I said.

A Leader Emerges

“I looked ahead in the schedule and tried to think of all the things which would slow things down. I’ve heard you say time and time again to be paranoid. Be paranoid. But, don’t be hysterical. So, I found a few documents we need to have and some folks who need to have a clear desk in the next few days. I was clearing a path for the project team to follow. I’m a few steps ahead of them and can see things before they do.”

“That’s one of the things Gary, our software non-salesman, expected would happen. Putting project managers in a leadership position is much better than managing things by pushing a string through the forest.”

“It felt good being out front for a change. Not only can I see better, but I’m not being pressured to make decisions under duress. But, there is a temptation to intervene even when I know I shouldn’t.”

“What do you mean,” I asked.

“I’m so used to sticking my nose in and trying to help. When the indicators show I don’t need to, I’m helpless somehow.”

I said, “You are not helpless. You said it yourself, it’s better to be out front leading the team through the jungle rather than being in reaction mode. That’s a move in the right duration. You are also in a much better position to deal with the unexpected we know are behind the next corner. Murphy as been pretty quiet so far, but I don’t think that will last.”

“Thanks for that. I do need some reassurance from time to time,” Jim said.

One Way to Evaluate Disruptions to the CCPM Schedule

I said, “When you do come up against something that you think will cause a delay, let me know. In the software, we can make a copy of your project, make the changes we will need to make, and see what the impact is. If we like what we see, we can use the updated plan or stick with the one we have.”

“Good idea. But, I only want to use the updated plan if the change turns out to be a major disruption. I want to avoid changing the tasks along the critical chain. That would also be a major disruption. If the critical chain changes, all your looking ahead efforts are lost. Wasted,” I said.

Jim said, “I’ll be sure to let you know. The other change we made is having the team make their own daily updates to the task’s day remaining estimates. This will help us see any deviations as early as we can.”

That answered my question. Our project resources may add a date to the end of their task assignment. But, being reminded every day that all we want is a days remaining estimate should counteract the date they set for themselves.

“That’s all I have for you today, boss,” Jim said, “I’ll get out of your hair.”

“Come back anytime. When you have positive status to report like this,” I exclaim. “I can use all the positive news I can get. It’s also a good idea to plan on sharing your efforts with the other project managers in our weekly staff meeting,” I said.

Rising from his chair, Jim said, “I’ll be glad to. As good as it feels hearing good news, it feels good giving some good news for a change.” With that, he disappeared.

Silence. I’m now alone to worry about how I’m going to get the next projects planned and scheduled.

The Minimum Effective Dose For Managing CCPM Projects

The Blue Pill or the Red Pill

On the computer screen is an alert box which says, “Do you want to start this project?” Gary’s voice comes out an octave lower than usual and says, “This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill—the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill—you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes.” He’s quoting from the Matrix. I didn’t know he could be so melodramatic.

Continuing the dialog, I try to remember Neo’s response and say, “I know you are trying to free my mind. But you can only show me the door. I’m the one that has to walk through it.”

With a grin, Gary says, “That’s right. I know I’m being a little melodramatic, but in the world of project management, once I click “Yes” on the alert, your life will change forever. What’s it going to be?”

“Do it,” I say, “There is no going back. We’ve tried everything else I know of. I’ve accepted the status quo long enough. And, enough good things have happened since we met, I’m ready to shake things up.”

With a flourish, Gary clicks the “Yes” button. The only perceptible change is the status indicator for the project which now says “Started.” Not very melodramatic at all. Almost anti-climactic. I stare at the word. Where is the rabbit-hole? I pause waiting for something else to happen.

Nothing does until Jim says, “Now what?”

The First Change

“I’m glad you asked. I’ll be working with your boss on updating the plans for the already launched projects. But, in the meantime, we’ll go through the least effective dose for managing this CCPM project. You will be using two main indicators, 1) the early warning and, 2) buffer status indicators. I’ll show you these things in a minute. But, keep in mind there is a lot of momentum here to use task due dates and encourage people to meet them. Remember, you will no longer communicate or expect tasks to be completed on a specific date.”

Jim says, “I get it, this helps people behave in the student syndrome and Parkinson’s Law ways we don’t want them to. But, what should we do instead?”

Gary says, “Since we took most of the safety time out of each task, the remaining task durations won’t allow to much bad behavior anyway. Instead of saying, “I need this task done by XX date,” say something like, “This task had an estimated duration of 4 days. Please do your best to finish this task in 4 days.” If you want, you can add that you don’t expect the task to start on any specific date. The task will start when it get assigned to them, when they have everything they need to start, and are clear on the acceptance criteria. They can take as much time as needed. Let them do their job.”

Jim says, “So, my daily interaction are key to reinforcing the new behaviors and not judge. I like providing opportunities to coach and counsel on the proper work ethic. Every person has a different level of understanding of the project and the work. This difference allows some to act without detailed instructions. While others need a step-by-step procedure.”

I says, “Often it’s a good idea to get agreement with the person on their level of detail or even developing the details with them. It ensures that instructions are helpful without taking away their sense of responsibility and ownership. In this way, it puts some joy back into their work.”

The Second Change

“The only other daily activity is to provide an estimate of the remaining days left to complete the task they are working on,” Gary says.

“In real time, the software will compare the original plan against the actual progress made. Based on the remaining days updates the software updates the estimated due date. There is a direct connection between frequent updates and the due date estimated by the software.”

I say, “It seems to be it would be a good idea to work with each resource and guide them through the remaining days updates. This is something different, for sure, but is much less of an administrative burden that the way we used to report progress. It’s an improvement our folks can live with.”

The Third Change

“Exactly,” Gary says, “But there are also benefits for you and Jim. Using the two main performance indicators, your level of involvement will be determined by these indicators, too. In general, there are three levels of project engagement you need to be aware of.”

“The first level is to not tamper with the project; if it is performing as expected and the due date is attainable as planned, leave it alone. The second level is to investigate and prepare to take action before your back is against the wall. The due date is in jeopardy, so analyze and consider your intervention options, but don’t do anything yet. And, the third level is that the due date will not be met without a miracle or immediate intervention. Take aggressive action(s), for long enough, to restore the buffer back to one of the preceding levels.”

Managing By Exception

“This reminds me of managing by exception,” I say, “Instead of playing wack-a-mole and chasing after every problem which comes up, only act when you have to. And, for our projects, that means only acting when we get to the third level.”

Nodding his head Gary says, “As long as you follow the task list week by weeks, make the assignments, and update the task’s remaining days.”

“So, as long as the project indicators shows we are in the first level, there isn’t much for either one of use to do. The stress is leaving my body already,” I say.

Jim nods and I see his shoulders relax as he leans back in this chair. He says, “Let me make sure I have this right. We collected a few important pieces of information, got a consensus on the objective of the project, planned out the necessary tasks to reach the objective, assigned resources, estimated durations, and made sure the plan fit within the time allowed.”

He was right so far, that’s what we did. We didn’t have to know everything to plan a project. That’s a good thing, because we will never have the time for that. We can’t expect perfection at this point. We got a few, critical pieces of the puzzle in place and planned from there.

Jim took in a breath and continued, “After that we started the project. All I have to do now is to assign the tasks and make sure the resources update their task’s days remaining.”

Gary interjected, “Update as often as possible. If they did work today, they should update their task’s duration remaining everyday. Again, if they miss a day, no big deal. Even these update delays are considered part of the variability and well within the noise of the project.”

Jim nodded and said, “Plus, watch the project indicators. If the indicators stay in the first level, or green zone, I can sit back. There is nothing else to do, right?”

Gary smiles and says, “Making progress on the critical chain tasks is still the priority. The critical chain remains the pacing chain of dependencies throughout the life of the project. You have time to look ahead and clear the path for your team. Look for ways to reduce they set-up times, review the progress on the prior tasks, and encourage people to work by the new rules.”

I ask, “If a resource has finished the critical chain tasks or other tasks, could they start early on a task without a predecessor?”

Gary says, “Sure, any task in without a predecessor can be assigned to a resource as long as the resource does not have any higher priority tasks. I’ve seen other clients coach their project resources make updates and determine for themselves which tasks to work on next.”

Self-Directed Work Teams Support

I say, “We can also help our folks understand the levels of project engagement and know when to work at a normal pace when in the first level, or green zone. If the project performance drifts into the second level of engagement, they can ask for help to determine alternatives to their work.”

And Jim continues with, “If the third level is indicated, they can pitch in and put in the extra efforts to get the project back on track.”

Jim exhales and takes another deep breath in. I see his wheels turning. I’m also starting to think about all the things we could do with the capacity being exposed at the project manager level. But, that’s for another day.

Gary breaks the silence and says, “Your weekly status reports will also become obsolete.” Letting it sink in, he says nothing else.

We both stare at Gary in disbelief, but I say, “What do you mean obsolete? Everyone provides status report. Everyone asks for status report. We’ve always provided status reports.”

Questions Customers Want Answers To

Gary says, “You can continue to do that if you want, but one of the benefits of the software includes a way to end the need for conventional status reports. But, whatever way you want to provide it, the least information customers want to know are the answered to three questions. They are:

How much progress has been made? Since the project’s timeline is based on the stable critical chain task this is an easy measurement to make. The software shows how much progress has been made for every project started in your portfolio.

Have there been any deviations to the original plan? The intervention guidelines we talked about earlier communicate how much of the project work has varied. For example, the project is tracking as planned (green). Or be cautious, plan recovery actions now (yellow). Or, immediate attention is required to bring project back on track (red). The software shows how much variability for every started project has encountered in your portfolio.

Is there enough time to complete the project? Again the intervention guidelines can provide this information about the pace of the project, e.g., the project is moving along as planned (green), or action is required to move things along (red), or the project due date is in jeopardy; immediate action required (black). The software shows where we can expect the due to land for every started project in your portfolio.

Gary pulls up a document on his computer and says, “Here’s an example of a status report another customer is using to share their status. They’ve allowed us to share it with you.”

________________________________________________________________

Project Status Report

________________________________________________________________

To:                  Gloucester, MA PD
cc.:                 Charles Pennington
Subject:         Blue Light Replacement Project Status
From:             Randy Billingsley
________________________________________________________________

Progress:
 17% complete / 7 days remaining

Burn Rate:
 Yellow

Pace: 
Green

Completed Tasks:

None

Task(s) Underway:

Research blue light options (Randy Billingsley)––planned recovery actions include finding an alternate supplier.

Next Steps:

Order and receive blue lights (Purchasing Department and Randy Billingsley)

END OF REPORT


________________________________________________________________

Jim says, “That looks simple enough. And, this is information which comes right out of the software. As long as I or the members of the project teams add some notes to the tasks they are working on, we can export the project data and create a quick report.”

Self-Directed Executives Support

I say, “I like it, but why don’t we give everyone read only access and let them login anytime they want and see the status for themselves?”

Gary says, “We could do that, too. Many people already check things like their bank accounts or insurance policies online. The hurdle to check the status of an important project is not much different.”

Jim says, “I could also include updates and share notes on recovery plans, if necessary. Our senior management can review them and be informed well in advance of any pending disaster.”  I chuckle.

Don’t Forget to Be Social

“One more idea,” Gary says, “Is to agree on periodic, at least once a month, progress meetings with the customer, stakeholders, business owners, etc. and the internal delivery team. We are social animals after all and getting together every now and then would be good.”

I say, “As Morpheus said, “There is a difference between knowing the path and walking the path.” There is a difference between planning a project and exciting on one. As long as everyone involved in the project knows where to go for the answers they are looking for, we should be in good shape.”

Next Steps

“Which reminds me,” I say, “Are we ready to starting entering my top priority projects into the software?”

“That’s what I’m here to help you with,” Gary says, “The sooner we get projects entered, we will start to see the contention for resources between projects. With more and more projects running in the software will help. You will get a better idea about how many projects you can have underway without overloading your resources.”

I say, “I’m going to assume we have too many running right now based on the way we have operating for the past few years.”

Gary says, “Right, and we’ll have to prepare you to address the obvious concerns of your CEO and other executives. If you thought not starting on this project right away was a problem. Wait until you see how many other project may need to sit in your pipeline until you have the resource capacity to work on them.”

“Oh, great,” I say with a sigh, “I can’t wait to have that conversation.”

I turn to Jim and ask if he needs anything else. A nope is all I get as he walks out my office door. I’m glad he is on my team. He’s picked up on the changes we need to make to the way we manage projects. I know it won’t be that easy with everyone.

More Critical Chain Solution Elements

Facing Down the System

Getting control of our projects is going to be a challenge. The alternative is to continue suffering with the stress and poor performance. I need to gather my strength and do the work. Make the change happen. Never give up.

We have so many people who work hard and try to do their best each day. But, I can see many of them are burnt out and make only the smallest efforts. It pains me to see this because it’s the system I helped create; the system I supported for so long. But, no longer. I may not like the medicine I’m about to take, but it looks to be the only thing that is going to make us well.

However, the system we have imposed on our folks is disrespectful. We ignore the work load we place on our people. We throw the work over the fence and expect them to pick it up. Not only pick it up, but do a good job with it––be on time, quality is job one, and be efficient. We must stop launching projects without knowing the impact on our resources.

Everyone knows task durations are padded, but they are only a compromise which has degraded to lose––lose situation. They employees lose because they have tried to meet all their project commitments and failed.

The company has done its best to secure work for everyone. But, then it allow its employees to squander these opportunities by allowing them to miss on our commitments. That may seem harsh, but everyone complains about missing due date, or going over budget, and the unique ways we trim content from the project. But, nothing changes.

How long can this go on? Especially since I now know there might be a better way. I can not keep it from them or fail in convincing my company to go along with these changes. The time has come to do something different. I’m going to aim high. Like Bruce Lee said, “Not failure, but low aim, is the crime. In great attempts it is glorious even to fail.”

The Non-Software Salesman Returns

Gary came back the next day. We reviewed the new elements of the solution he proposed when planning, or re-panning existing, projects:

    • Determine the touch time and estimate the task durations.
      Calculate the critical chain of the project.
    • Place a buffer at the end of the critical chain and at the end of each feeding leg.

He promised to give us a demo of the software, but there were three more areas of the solution he wants to cover. What happens after the planning stage and the differences in managing a critical chain project. And, what the new solution elements are in a multi-project environment.

Gary says, “has it happened that the start of major project phases is often delayed due to missing necessary things, e.g., site surveys, network design, equipment specifications, quotations, approvals, etc?”

“Sure, I say, “it happens all the time. We start work without all the required items. We are forced to. It results in rework. We talked about this earlier.”

Gary says, “during the first few weeks of the change you are considering, the number of open projects will come down. That’s because we will start to see the work load on your resource pool. Some resources will be overloaded and some will be underutilized. The underutilized resources can be re-assigned to the open projects, further reducing multi-tasking, reducing the project lead times, and thus finishing more projects on-time.”

The Full Kit Solution Element

“When the necessary thing needed to start a project are not available, some of the re-assigned folks can be focused on ensuring all major pieces, e.g., site surveys, network design, equipment specifications, quotations, approvals, etc., are in place. By doing so, you do not delay the project once it starts and rework goes down.”

“I’ll be in charge of that group since that’s all I seem to be dealing with these days anyway,” Jim says.

“Thank you, Jim,” I say, “I’ll make sure you don’t get overloaded with your regular work.”

Gary says, “one of the best features of managing a critical chain project is that the tasks along the critical chain do not change thought the life of the project. That’s assuming, of course, that nothing major happens which required the project to be re-planned.”

Re-Plan vs. Don’t Re-Plan

“That’s a good point, when do we re-plan and when don’t we re-plan,” I say. “I realize we were re-planning every time we made an update to our critical path based project plans. But, I’m not sure when we need to re-plan using critical chain.”

“The urge to re-plan comes from the need to address the variabilities which occur during the execution of a project,” Gary says. “But, be careful when you decide to re-plan since the progress on the project work stops. Why? Who is doing the work of the re-planning? Usually the same folks that are working on the project. These folks must stop what they are doing, check the potential change to the project, determine its impact on scope, budget and due date. And, then re-schedule the project and get back to work. This could take hours, or days, and usually is enough of a disruption to cause a loss of momentum.”

“See what I mean? Re-planning a project is an important decision which I would rather not make if I didn’t have to,” I say.

“I agree. You need to account for the variability and you need to maintain momentum to complete the project,” Gary says. “During the management of a project there will always be differences between what was planned and what actually happens. It’s also a good assumption that project success is enabled by constant movement toward to project goal.”

I’m growing impatient, this is common sense. I say, “True, but what about re-planning to account for the task, resource and duration variations?”

“This is what the shock absorbers, or project and feeding buffers, are for. When the variability exceeds the time of the task duration estimates, buffer is consumed. It’s like the shock absorber being depressed when your car goes over a bump. The project buffer is able to handle the accumulated bumps throughout the life of the project. In some cases, when tasks finish sooner than planned the project buffer can spring back. The same goes for the tasks of the feeling legs and the feeding buffers.”

“So, under normal conditions, there shouldn’t be a need to re-plan, right?” I ask.

“That’s correct. But, there is an important way to use the project buffer which project managers find helpful. When I show you the software, you will see that the project buffer is divided into three, equal zones––green, yellow, and red. At the beginning of the project, the project buffer consumption will be in the green zone; no consumption. There is nothing for the project manager to do other than help the team move through the initial tasks of the project.”

Stop Issuing Task Due Dates

“By the way, the project tasks will be listed in priority order, the critical chain and non-critical chain tasks identified, and about when they need to start so that the project stays on track. What you may miss are the due dates usually associated to each task. Since we are not interested in each task finishing on time, there is one change folks like Jim need to make when assigning tasks.”

Jim says, “I expected something like that, but what do you mean exactly.”

Gary says, “it’s a minor, but important change. There is no difference in how you assign tasks, but I won’t make any assumptions. If I was you, I would meeting the resources assigned to the tasks you want to start. I’ll use the information used to plan the tasks, e.g., task description, success criteria, and estimated duration. And then make sure the resources assigned to the task understand what needs to be done.”

“Yes, that what I usually do, when I have time. And, as you know that doesn’t always happen,” Jim says.

I say with a smirk, “tell me when you did have time, I can’t remember it ever happening.”

Gary interrupts and says, “the key difference is not to mention the task’s due date. Actually, the software does not make it easy to use a date associated with the tasks. Instead, remind the resource the task was estimated to take three days and to do their best to try to finish the task around the same time.”

“Remind them that due to the nature of variability, you don’t expect the task to be finished three days from now. If it does finish in about three days, fine, but if they uncover work that needs to be done to meet the success criteria, do it. This is far more important that meeting the task due date. And, finally remind them that there is a buffer to absorb these differences.”

Actively Managing the Shock Absorbers

“You can also remind them that managing the buffers is something the project manager handles. The project manager will take the appropriate actions, if necessary, to meet the project’s due date. This leaves the resource with nothing to do but focusing on doing good work.”

“I’ll help Jim and the other project managers get the message out. This should reduce our stress and and improve on their feelings of security,” I say.

Gary smiles and continues to say, “over time, the variances may accumulate to the point that the green zone of the buffer is consumed. Now the project buffer is in the yellow zone. The yellow zone of the buffer means the accumulated variability has consumed one third of the available buffer. This is considered to be well within the tolerance of the expected variability.”

“Even when the buffer is in the yellow zone, there is little for the project manager to do. It may behoove you to check on making the necessary and sufficient actions if all the yellow zone is consumed.”

“There may come a time to take action. When the project buffer turns red. Wherever you are along the completing of the project, when this happens, two thirds of your buffer has been consumed. If this happens near the end of the project, it may not be too bad. But, if this happen early in the project, it may be more stressful. The red zone indicator means action must be taken or jeopardize the promised due date.”

Jim says, “This seems like a great way to manage. There isn’t much for me to do as long and the project stays on track. As long as the project buffer is in the green zone. I may finally have time for all the other non-project things that have been aside for far too long.”

“As long as you can plan ahead of time for what the action(s) may be, it should be less stressful. That way we make decisions before our backs are against the wall and customer is breathing down our throats,” I say.

Looking at Gary, I say, “let’s get back to why we planned this meeting. You were going to tell us what happens after the planning stage and the differences in managing a critical chain project.”

“We’ve already covered them. Let’s me summarize:

    • Put someone in charge of full kitting projects and run a full kit meeting before a major project phase starts. The sole goal of this meeting it to ensuring all major pieces are in place so there are no significant delays.
    • Project Managers provides resources with activity durations and estimated start times. Task due date are not mentioned.
    • Project Managers uses buffer management to control the plan.

That’s it,” Gary says.

One More Nagging Issue

Once again it seems too good to be true. And, I can’t find any other issues to ask about. All my issues and concerns seem to have been addressed so far.

But, there is something bothering me. So far we’ve only focused on a single project, not how to manage the multitude of projects we have running in our portfolio throughout the year. I hope my lucky streak continues.

What Executives Need To Know About Quickly Improving Performance In a Multi-Project Environment

The Problem

When too many projects are executed at once many resources will find themselves under pressure to work on more than one task. Bad multi-tasking is unavoidable. This is like the stressful feeling you get when you have 99 things to do today and only time for half of them. Within your company, most of your resources feel the same way.

Prolific bad multi-tasking significantly prolongs each project’s lead-time. This makes it harder to meet your promised due dates. If your lead time or due date performance is not what your customers expect it to be, prolific bad multi-tasking usually has something to do with it.

In every multi-project environment, flow is the number one objective. But, what some managers get wrong is their focus on how many projects their company succeeds to start working on. Rather it is how many projects which are completed is what your customers are paying for.

The statement, “the earlier we start each project, the earlier each project will be finished,” is not correct in multi-project environments. As a good friend of mine used to say:

“Not only the first elephant, but also the last elephant, will 
go through a door much faster if they go in procession.”

The Solution

Vast experience shows that in multi-project environments reducing the number of open projects by at least 25%.  This one action reduces bad multi-tasking without causing work starvation. This also reduces the lead time of all projects and increases the flow.

All you have to do is control the number of projects that are open at any given time.

What does it mean to control the number of open projects?

Start with these three things:

    1. The top manager, after consulting with their subordinates, determined the prioritization of all projects. The company is instructed to stop activities on enough (this means responsible for at least 25% of the load) of the lowest priority projects.
    2. Determine and re-assign the optimal number of resources per task and to the remaining, open projects.
    3. The company must also ensure that as time passes the proper amount of work will be always maintained. Defrosting projects too early will, again, flood the system with work. Defrosting projects too late will lead to starvation of work and extend projects’ lead times. So, frozen projects are defrosted at a pace that maintains the reduced load.

The Results

For example, a large Swiss biotech company offers Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) services for the analysis of biologic, cell line characterizations, impurity testing and cell-based bio-assays. Over the course of three days, the core team and the local works council representative attended our “Increasing Flow” Workshop.

Within one month of implementation, the output of the facility increased 50% from established baseline.

Other outcomes include:

    • Due date performance increased from 65% to 99%
    • Order lead time decreased from 17 days to 5 days (-70%)
    • Employee engagement has increased
    • Net profit over sales ratio increased 35%
    • QA review and the related rework decreased

So, to quickly reduce prolific bad multitasking in your multi-project environment, focus on flow and maintain the reduced level of load on your resources. Your lead times will decrease, your due performance will improve, and the best part–– your stress and the stress on your workforce will go down.

If you want to find out if your organization could get results like these, contact me and let’s work together to find out.  Let’s make it count!

Glimpse Into the History of Project Management Performance

While there are many studies which reveal the success and failure rate of many project like the one’s listed below:

In a study by PricewaterhouseCoopers, they review 10,640 projects from 200 companies in 30 countries and across various industries, and found that only 2.5% of the companies successfully completed 100% of their projects.

A study published in the Harvard Business Review, analyzed 1,471 IT projects, found that the average overrun was 27%, but one in six projects had an average cost overrun of 200% and a schedule overrun of almost 70%.

It also doesn’t take long to see that there hasn’t been much change in the results over the years despite the efforts attempted to improve the results.  Maybe you have experienced similar, persistent project problems.

From the infamous Standish Report of 1994:

The Standish Group research shows a staggering 31.1% of projects will be canceled before the ever get completed. Further results indicate 52.7% of projects will cost 189% of their original estimates. The lost opportunity costs are not measurable, but could easily be in the trillions of dollars.

In June of 2012, a Gartner survey revealed:

In analyzing the collective responses of some 150 participants in the 2011 Gartner five-country survey, the failure rate of IT projects with budgets exceeding $1 million was found to be almost 50% higher than for projects with budgets below $350,000.

From the Project Management Institute Pulse Report:

In 2012, the Pulse research reported dollars lost for that year as US$120M for every US$1B spent on projects. In 2013, that amount was US$135M for every US$1B. Dollars lost is the product of the average percentage of projects not meeting goals multiplied by the average percentage of a project’s budget that is lost if the project fails. Year-to-year variance is caused by changes seen in either, or both, of these two metrics.

From the International Journal of Innovation, Management and Technology, Vol. 8, No. 2, April 2017 shows it’s not an isolated case:

Construction projects around the world have a very poor performance record with respect to being completed within cost, time and quality objectives. Morris considers cost overrun as a “regular feature” for public projects. Causes and factors related to cost overrun in construction projects have been traced worldwide and in specific contexts, e.g., the USA, Nigeria, Indonesia, the UK, Ghana, Kuwait, Philippines and Thailand, Pakistan, Gaza Strip, South Korea, Australia, South Africa, Malaysia, Netherlands, Turkey, Israel, Uganda, and Saudi Arabia.

I’m going to assume many of these projects were lead by professionals or folks who have a lot of experience; at least, enough experience to be assigned to these projects my their manager.

If these folks can produce these kind of results, what chance does everyone else who manages a project have?