Hw to make your Projects run like a Symphony
Executing projects is like conducting an orchestra.
We need to bring together various inputs like:
– resources,
– equipment,
– decisions and
– corrective actions
throughout the life of a project.
Unfortunately, uncertainties get in the way.
Tasks take longer.
Requirements change.
Technical glitches happen.
Vendors donโt deliver on time.
As these uncertainties unfold, even the well prepared plans go awry.
Execution priorities become:
– unclear (which tasks to do first) and
– unsynchronized (every department, every person starts prioritizing their tasks differently).
๐๐จ, ๐ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐ฃ๐๐๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ ๐จ๐ซ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐จ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ.
Waiting for resources because they are assigned to other tasks.
Waiting for specifications, approvals, materials, etc., because the supporting resources were busy elsewhere.
Waiting for issues to get resolved because experts are firefighting other issues.
Waiting for decisions because managers have too much on their plates.
Waiting for all feeding legs of the project to come together at integration points.
As these wait times accumulate:
– projects become late,
– firefighting starts,
– Priorities keep changing,
– Multitasking becomes the norm for people.
๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐๐ซ๐ฌโ ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐๐ฅ๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐ซ๐จ๐ฅ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐๐ฌ. They often suffer a near-total loss of control.
Holdups keep happening.
Managers cannot predict when a project will finish.
Managers donโt know how much capacity is needed.
No matter how many resources are provided, resources are still overloaded.
While projects continue to run late.
The net impact:
– Projects take much longer than they should,
– Deliver less scope than planned,
– Projects are costlier than they need to be
– Resources are less productive than they might be.
Critical Chain solves all these problems.
Critical chain synchronizing task priorities. Within and across projects, and within and across departments.
To synchronize, Critical Chain uses 3๏ธโฃ rules:
1. ๐๐ข๐ฉ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ข๐ง๐ : Limit the number of projects in execution at one time.
2. ๐๐ฎ๐๐๐๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐ : Discard local schedules and measurements. Use total buffers to protect against uncertainties.
3. ๐๐ฎ๐๐๐๐ซ ๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ: Use buffer consumption to
– measure Execution.
– drive execution priorities and
– managerial interventions.
It doesn’t matter what you call it.
As long as you use the above 3 rules, you will get super results.