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GoldrattCriticalChainProjectManagement

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CriticalChain
WhatisCriticalChain?
CriticalChainProjectManagement(CCPM)isamethodologyforplanning,executingand
managingprojectsinsingleandmultiprojectenvironments.
CriticalChainProjectManagementwasdevelopedbyDrEliGoldrattandwasfirst
introducedtothemarketinhisTheoryofConstraintsbookCriticalChainin1997.Itwas
developedinresponsetomanyprojectsbeingdoggedbypoorperformancemanifestedin
longerthanexpecteddurations,frequentlymisseddeadlines,increasedcostsinexcessof
budget,andsubstantiallylessdeliverablesthanoriginallypromised.

Problemswithtraditionalprojectmanagement
Whenplanningforanupcomingproject,estimatesfortaskdurationsarerequired.Inorder
fortheplantobetreatedasrealistic,muchtimeisspentensuringestimatesareaccurate.
Accurateestimatesgiveusincreasedprobabilityandhighconfidenceinthetaskcompleting
ontime.Thisallowsadditionalsafetytimebeyondtheworkcontenttimerequiredtobe
embeddedwithinthetaskduration.Themoresafetyinataskthemorethereisatendency
tobehaveinthefollowingways:
Notstartingthetaskuntilthelastmoment(StudentSyndrome)

Healthcheck

Delaying(orpacing)completionofthetask(ParkinsonsLaw)
Cherrypickingtasks
Asaresult,thesafetywhichwasincludedattheplanningstageiswastedand,ifMurphy
strikesandproblemsdooccur,tasksoverrun.
InadditionManagementforce(forintuitivebutinvalidreasons)peopletoworkonmore
thanonetaskatoncecreatingmultitasking.Thisdrivespeopletoswitchbetweentasks
leadingthemtoelongatetimeestimatesinplanningandfurtherwastetheembeddedtask
safetyinexecution.
Resourcesworkingontasksalsonaturallyresistreportinganyearlyfinishes.Ifanearly
finishisreported,theestimateforthetaskisrecognisedastoolong.Whenasimilartask
onadifferentprojectisestimated,theinitialresponsewillbetoagainuseaworstcase
duration.Thiswillinevitablybechallengedasthesimilartaskwasfinishedearlylasttime.
Increasedpressurewillbeplacedontheresourcetoacceptashorterestimatethistime.
Theriskisthatthis,shorterestimatewillnotoffersufficientsafetytotheprojectshoulda
problemoccur.Henceresourcesensurethatsufficientsafetyisalwaysembeddedineach
taskestimateandtheentiresafetyisusedinexecutionofthetask.Thisgameisplayedby
managementandresources!
Insummary,delaystotasksarepassedontotheentireprojecthoweverbenefitsfrom
tasksfinishingearlyarerarelypassedontothesameproject.

CriticalChainSuccessTips
>PrepareforSuccessfulProject
Delivery
HowdoweensureourProject
organisationconsistentlyprepareswell
forprojects?
>MitigatingClientDisruptions
Howcanweinfluencetheclientto
takeactiontoremovethedelay?
>KnowingwhenNOTtointervene
...isalmostasimportantasknowing
whenTOintervene
>PlanforUncertainty
...focusonthecompletionofprojects
ratherthantasks
>HowtoreduceBadMultitasking
HowreducingBadMultitasking
signifcantlyincreaseyourproject
completionrate...
>BadMultitaskinginmulti
projects
Hasadevastatingimpactuponthe
durationoftasksinprojects

CriticalChainArticles
>Clearandconcisepriorities

>AnEffectiveExecutionAbility

>Excellentalignmentinplanning

CriticalChain,byDrEliGoldratt

ThetraditionaltoolsusedtomanageprojectsCriticalPathMethod(CPM),Program
EvaluationandReviewTechnique(PERT),Gantt,PrinceEtc.donotaddressthemisuseof
embeddedsafetyandconsequentlythebehaviourstheydrive.

CriticalChainProjectManagement
CriticalChainProjectManagementaddressestheseissuesinthefollowingways.
Planning
CriticalChaintheCriticalChainisdefinedasthelongestchain[notpath]ofdependent
tasks.Inthiscase,dependentreferstoresourcesandresourcecontentionacross
tasks/projectsaswellasthesequenceandlogicaldependenciesofthetasksthemselves.
ThisdiffersfromtheCriticalPathMethod.

EstimationsToreducethebehavioursandtimewastingassociatedwithhavingtoomuch
embeddedsafety,CriticalChainProjectManagementrecommendsthattaskestimatesare
cuttohalfthelengthofanormalduration.
SafetyCriticalChainProjectManagementusessafetyBufferstomanagetheimpactof
variationanduncertaintyaroundprojects.Thesafetyatatasklevelisaggregatedand
movedtostrategicpointsintheprojectflow.Therearethreetypesofbuffer/strategic
pointsnecessarytoensuretheprojecthassufficientsafety:
ProjectBufferAprojectbufferisinsertedattheendoftheproject
networkbetweenthelasttaskandthecompletiondate.Anydelaysonthe
longestchainofdependanttaskswillconsumesomeofthebufferbutwill
leavethecompletiondateunchangedandsoprotecttheproject.Theproject
bufferistypicallyrecommendedtobehalfthesizeofthesafetytimetaken
out,resultinginaprojectthatisplannedtobe75%ofatraditionalproject
network.
FeedingBuffersdelaysonpathsoftasksfeedingintothelongestchain
canimpacttheprojectbydelayingasubsequenttaskontheCriticalChain.To
protectagainstthis,feedingbuffersareinsertedbetweenthelasttaskona
feedingpathandtheCriticalChain.Thefeedingbufferistypically
recommendedtobehalfthesizeofthesafetytimetakenoutofthefeeding
path.
ResourceBuffersResourcebufferscanbesetalongsideoftheCritical
Chaintoensurethattheappropriatepeopleandskillsareavailabletowork
ontheCriticalChaintasksassoonasneeded.
Execution
PrioritiesAllresourcesonaprojectaregivenclearandalignedprioritiesrelatingtothe
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GoldrattCriticalChainProjectManagement

healthoftheCriticalChainrelativetoitsassociatedbufferandhencetheprojectasa
whole.Aresourcewithmorethanonetaskopenshouldnormallybeassignedtocomplete
anytaskjeopardisinganyprojectsCriticalChainbeforecompletinganyfeedingpathtask.
Completionresourcesonataskareencouragedtofollowtheroadrunnerapproach.When
thereisworkavailableitshouldbeprogressedatthefastestpossiblespeed(without
compromisingquality)untilcompleted.Tasksarenotleftpartiallycompletetoremovethe
temptationtomultitask.Astaskdurationestimateshavereducedsafetytheydrive
resourcestomeetthemoreaggressivedurationsandlimitthebehavioursofStudent
SyndromeandParkinsonsLaw.
Review
BufferManagementtheamounteachbufferisconsumedrelativetoprojectprogresstells
ushowbadlythedelaysareeffectingourcommitteddeliverydate.Ifthevariation
throughouttheprojectisuniformthentheprojectshouldconsumeitsprojectbufferatthe
sameratetasksarecompleted.Theresultisaprojectcompletedwiththebufferfully
consumedonthedayitwasestimatedandcommitted.ProjectManagersdeterminethe
correctiveactionsnecessarytorecoverbuffertimeatpointsintheprojectwherethebuffer
consumptionisoccurringfasterthantheprojectisprogressing.
Remainingdurationtasksaremonitoredontheirremainingduration,nottheirpercentage
complete.Resourcesreportupontasksinprogressbasedonthenumberofdaysthey
estimateuntilthetaskwillbecomplete.Iftheremainingdurationstaysstaticorincreases,
thenProjectManagersandResourceManagerswatchingthebuffersknowexactlywherea
blockageorpotentialdelayisoccurringandcantakedecisiveactionquicklytorecover.
ContactustofindoutmoreaboutthedifferencethatCriticalChainProjectManagement
couldmaketoyourorganisation,eithercompletetheformbeloworcalluson(0)1234
834510.
Ifyouwouldliketopurchasethebook"CriticalChain",pleaseclickhere.

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