Critical chain project management principles

1. Critical Chain Project Management Brief Idea Overview

2. Does this remind you of something? Project 1 Project 2 Project 3 Project 4 Project 5 Project 6

5. How do people deal with uncertainty? 50% 80% People add time (safety) to their plans to increase probability of meeting their individual commitments. In reality, people pad task estimates to have 80 – 90% chance of delivering on time… … and every aggregation level adds some more safety! Safety

7. Student’s syndrome – valid not just for students Milestone - task planned due date Time Effort Murphy People plan to start as soon as possible, but then waste all safety!

8. Parkinson’s Law – reality bites “ Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.” People prefer to use remaining time to do a “better job” rather then report early completion

9. Task dependencies – project delay accumulation Task integration points 15 d (delay) A (10 d) B (10 d) C (10 d) D (5 d) Plan 15 d “ D” can start only when “A”, “B” & “C” are finished. How long will the project really take? 5 d (early finish) Early finishes are not propagated through project at all, but delays are propagated always!

10. Resource dependencies – multi-project delay accumulation Resource integration points A C B D Project 1 Project 2 Resource α Resource α Tasks “A” & “C” have 50% chance of delay. What is the probability of task “D” starting on time? Delays propagate across projects through resource dependencies!

11. Multitasking – real project plan killer Task for project A finished It is not only the waste in multiple set-up times, but the significant increase in task total durations! Task for project C finished PLAN REALITY Task for project B finished Project A setup A setup B setup B setup C setup B setup C setup C setup DELAY DELAY Project B setup Project C setup NO MULTITASKING Project A Project B Project C setup setup setup One Resource DELAY

16. # 1 – Put safety (buffer) where it can do most good (protect the longest project path) Start safety safety safety safety safety safety safety safety s afety safety 1/2 of task durations 1/2 1/2 Project buffer protects the due date safety 20–50% P=95% Finish Finish P=80% P=80% P=80% P=80% P=80% P=80% P=80% P=80% P=80% P=80% P=80% P=8,6%

18. # 2 - Release projects into execution based on the constraint availability Project 1 Project 2 Project 3 C C C C C C C C C C C C

19. We must reduce multitasking of constraint, therefore we must stagger project starts based on constraint availability Project 1 Project 2 Project 3 # 2 - Release projects into execution based on the constraint availability 30-70% C C C C C C

21. # 3 - Drive execution priorities based on relative buffer consumption Project priority is determined by the status of the project buffer - the less buffer remaining, the higher the priority

23. CRITICAL CHAIN IMPLEMENTED

24. Who will be affected and how? PROJECTS Project team member Project manager Project office Line manager Top managers / sponsors

25. We have consistent and instant information about projects that require our attention. We have objective data about status of each project % of project completed % of buffer consumed Top managers / sponsors

26. Project manager I have instant information about project status and estimated due date. I also have information, on what project tasks to focus on to restore buffer penetration

27. We can prepare precise impact scenarios of new projects to running projects based on constraining resources and let top managers decide. Resource overload Project office

28. I have detailed overview of task priorities my department is working on. I have information about planned resource requirements from projects to my department Priority task Not urgent Priority task coming in 3 weeks Utilization overview In 4 weeks we will have issue Line manager

29. I have clear priorities of my project tasks, both current and future. Task progress reporting is so simple! Priority task My current tasks “ hot potato” coming How many days until finished? 2 Project team member

32. What next?

33. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION