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 don’t 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). 

𝐒𝐨, 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫. 
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.

𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬’ 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬. They often suffer a near-total loss of control. 

Holdups keep happening.
Managers cannot predict when a project will finish. 
Managers don’t 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 3️⃣ rules:
1. 𝐏𝐢𝐩𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠: Limit the number of projects in execution at one time.
2. 𝐁𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠: Discard local schedules and measurements. Use total buffers to protect against uncertainties.
3. 𝐁𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭: 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.