Top Managers Must Play an Active Role Mere sponsorship by top managers is not enough. In successful implementations the top managers take on a more active role for the first 6 to 12 months. 1. Junior managers don’t even know that company can remove some policy obstacles. Only senior managers can identify Read more…
Better Planning and Visibility help BUT BIG Performance Gains Come from Managing Differently Good plans are essential. Rate of buffer consumption is an effective way to track progress. Increasing the rate of execution requires changing the way you manage execution. If you need only better planning and visibility, you can achieve Read more…
Buffer Management: Use Buffers to Measure Execution It is possible to finally establish a single priority system in execution if you have: – low Work In Process and – plans with adequate safety at project level and NOT task level, Focus on tasks according to buffer (safety) consumption. Give the highest priority Read more…
Most people believe that If you hold people accountable, they will finish individual tasks on time and on budget. The entire project will then be on time and on budget. Instead we ask to Discard Local Schedules and Measurements, and use Total Buffers. The traditional approach is to turn task schedules Read more…
Limit the number of projects that you are working on at one time. Compared to available capacity, too many projects are in execution. This causes execution priorities to become confusing. For example, If several projects are in execution, different departments focus on their work differently. All projects can make some progress. But projects Read more…
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 don’t deliver on time. As these uncertainties unfold, even the well prepared plans go Read more…
For traditionally-managed projects, two assumptions guarantee project completion delays: 1️⃣ Project task times is predictable, and 2️⃣ Traditional project management system is effective. We ask resources to provide an estimate of the time required to complete a particular task. Once resources have reported their estimated (and safe) times, management requires Read more…
In theory, we assume that the activity time is the mean time to complete an activity. In reality, what time does the resource manager give? Is it the mean time? Seldom. Usually if you are asked to provide a time estimate for a task, you will pad the time a little (or a Read more…
In my first job, I had dual reporting.I was doing a project for Walgreens e commerce.My project manager was responsible for ensuring that I finished the job on time. Since I was in Bangalore, I also was reporting to the Bangalore resource manager.My resource manager was responsible for ensuring that Read more…
Goal of a project is to complete a project, which usually translates into:– minimizing the costs associated with the project, – completing the project on time, and – completing the project as described in the specifications. But what is the real goal of the project? We can classify project goals into 2 types: Read more…