Critical Chain Method, a New Perspective for Project Management

We all have been working on projects in different industries, with widely different scopes and resource constraints. We are proud of our achievements as project managers and we often have an idea about what was behind the success or otherwise of a project. But, the truth about all projects across all industries, is that 30% of all projects are cancelled before delivering their goals. Functioning projects, on the other hand, fail at an alarming rate to deliver project goals or fall far behind their scopes. The sheer waste of money due to cancelled and failed projects amount to millions of dollars across the world. The bottom line is that, the advances made in project management are not on a par with those in other industries such as technology and communication. Underdelivered goals, overrun budgets, overrun schedules and unhappy clients are frequent manifestations of projects as we have best known.

Improvement in any human endeavor is possible only if we are courageous enough to critically analyze our rate of success. Though unpleasant, we need to accept the reality that we have a problem in project management. How well we define the problem will determine the eventual solutions we find.

When asked why so many projects fail, the responses received do not show consistency. Commonly stated reasons are the uncertainties lying outside the system and considered beyond control such as bad weather, suppliers problems and bureaucracy at government level. Some attribute failure to conflict between senior managers and project managers. Reference to the well documented reasons for project failure testify to but one thing: there is no commonly agreed cohesive set of factors contributing to project failure that we can learn from. Interestingly though, they all imply two common characteristics of all projects. First, all projects assume that projects deliverables can be precisely estimated and operations, exactly implemented. Consequently, any deviation is considered as a weakness at the planning stage. The next crucial assumption is the undue reverence to the system. The project system itself has never been doubted but accepted as trouble free.

Dr Goldratt, proponent of the Critical Chain Method, put the problem, for the first time, in the proper context. He asked what problems, in the system, cause so many project failures. He pointed out a direct relationship between project failure and the system used.

In order to understand the relevance and importance of Critical Chain Method as an alternative to the Critical Path Method, let’s first have a look at the various attempts taken over the past 40 years to improve project performance. As Dr Goldratt himself points out, previous solutions predominantly focused on increasing the detail at each level of a project. Earned value and derivative cost schedule control systems, for example, produced hundreds of pages of procedure and thousands of activities, with some activities of few hours in duration. Unsuccessful results made the project planners to create more detail and activities as solution. It activated a vicious circle, in which the fundamental belief that the project failure is caused by insufficient detail, drive managers to load project with ever increasing details. Results were the mounting costs, ever expanding schedules and project, at most, failing to meet essential technical requirements.

Furthering the subject of previous solutions, we find none of the solutions so far advanced to be effectively dealing with the uncertainty inherent in any project. Traditionally, what we are accustomed to as a measure of reducing uncertainty, is to put more effort into estimates, on the one hand, increase project detail and depth on the other hand. Again the same scenario of ‘more documentation and more detail’.

Finally, all attempts at solving project performance problems could be described as trials to improve implementation while the system itself at fault.

In this backdrop comes the new theory, sometimes known as a method or concept, Critical Chain Method of project management, CCMP. Though it can not be thought of as a panacea for all ills of modern project management, evidence from its implementation in projects point to the following benefits in contrast to traditional Critical Path Method.

Following the Critical Chain Method of Project Management, the biggest achievement is improved project success demonstrated by projects completed on time, within budget and full scope, while helping improve business growth. Most projects following CCMP were reported to have been completed in half the time that similar projects took in the Critical Path Method.

The debate about the usefulness and practicality of Critical Chain method against Critical Path method is not yet over. However, there are several key problems inherent in CP method and CCMP has shown promise. Though the existing evidence of success does not prove the theory of Critical Chain Method of Project Management comprehensively, as a competing new theory and solution to ever present problems of Critical Path Method, it is advisable that today’s project manager go beyond his comfort zone and restructure his ‘thinking’ in line with CCPM. We must never lose chance of a critical evaluation of a promising new theory, however ingrained in convention we are.

Project Leading to Failure? 10 Useful Tips…

As a project manager, you are responsible for the overall success of a specific project. Suppose that, when 70% of the total duration of a project is complete, suddenly you realize that your project is going to fail. Being quite perplexed, you will look for probable solutions. Here are some important tips that will surely help you in this dire situation:

1. Defining Project Success Criteria and Expectations Properly
   There must be a specific roadmap for the success of the project as well as clear and realistic objectives. Any sort of mistake in this regard would ultimately lead to the failure of the project.
2. Adequate Planning
   Planning for the project progress must be a continuous process. Any sort of changes should be made in the planning process instantly whenever felt necessary.Every member of the project member should be confident about the necessity of these changes. Proper attention must be given in this regard. This process will be really helpful to minimize the possibility of project failure.
3. Improving Communication
   Proper communication is the most important matter for the overall progress of the project. The project manager has to identify whether there is any sort of communication problem between the team members of the project.  He/she should always be alert about the fact that all of the stakeholders of the project should get messages properly and in time. Moreover, he/she should always discuss with the team members and give proper value to their suggestions.
4. Solving Leadership Problems
   Successful leadership is required for every stakeholders of the project, from top to bottom. Everybody should be clear about who is responsible for what in a project. The project manager has to find out whether there is any sort of incapability in leadership that is evident from any person involved in the project, and he has to guide him properly so that all problems regarding this issue are quickly sorted out.
5. Ensuring Plenty of Resources
   The appropriate authority must ensure the quick availability of required resources (both physical and human), otherwise it will be quite impossible for the project manager to ensure that the project ends successfully. Sometimes it will be required to hire resources, and the management should take prompt decision to hire those resources.
6. Setting Realistic Deadline 
   In the case when an impractical deadline is set up for finishing project activities, it will surely lead to inevitable frustration and disappointment. That is why, the project leader should always give proper attention about setting up a completely reasonable deadline. If he/she feels that this deadline cannot be met, he/she must come forward to review the overall progress of the project and set up a new deadline, if possible. Otherwise, he/she should delegate more tasks to the project members to speed up the whole process. In case of necessity, he/she should hire appropriate staff to ensure the smooth progress of the project.
7. Being Conscious about the Budget
   If the project manager becomes certain that the remaining activities of the project cannot be finished successfully with the available budget, he/she should start minimizing the cost and become totally alert in further activities. The project manager should also make sure that the overall quality of the project is not compromised at any level while minimizing cost.
8. Ensuring Strong Monitoring
   As far as the project manager is concerned, he should always be strict enough to ensure the proper monitoring of activities related to the project. Without perfect monitoring, there are every chances that situations may arise which will lead to the last-minute surprise and ultimate failure of the project.
9. Improving Risk Management System
   Less focus on risk management would certainly lead to Project Failure & most often the point of failure would be at the tail end, so all the cost spent on it might get sunk with low or zero ROI. That is why, the project manager should review the risk management strategies regularly so that in any case of emergency, he/she can stand firmly and make quick decisions.
10. Making Certain about the Involvement of Senior Management and Business Owners
    The project manager should always ascertain the proper and timely involvement of the senior management or business owners about all sorts of decisions taken during the project period. This will assist him/her to take necessary measures when required.

Leadership in Project Management – 14 Key Principles

William Deming first introduced the fourteen key principles in his book Out of the Crisis which was published in 1986. These principles still apply to business and project management today. From long standing companies to small businesses just starting out, these principles are key components in successful business and project management objectives and endeavors.

1. The focus is to remain constant with the purpose or goal of your business. Project managers as well as business managers should continuously seek methods to improve your product and your overall service. This is absolutely important for project managers to consider. By continuously striving to improve your product and customer service, you will stay one step ahead of your competition. As it should go without saying staying in business is very important particularly in today’s economy. Staying in business will provide jobs for others.
2. Life is always changing. Things grow, develop, and die to make way for new methods and new life. The same goes for business. Project managers should stay abreast of the new challenges and changes in the business environment. Some new challenges that business face every day is technology. It is difficult to stay on top of the new systems, technological gadgets, and updates that are constantly at our disposal. The challenge of staying current must be accepted. As a project manager you must be flexible and open to new challenges and changes and must act as leaders.
3. Business is constantly susceptible to inspection. This ensures your business is up to code and compliant with local, state, and federal laws and regulations. However, you shouldn’t rely on these inspections to improve your business. You need to study and be aware of the new or changing trends and practices. Do not wait for an inspection, or until it’s “too late”, to implement a new change or make improvements.
4. While cost is important for businesses, and is even more of a key component in today’s economy, the bottom line can’t always be the price tag. A key to business is not the higher price. Instead it is to minimize total cost in order to stay in competition with other businesses. One supplier for any one item can build a long lasting business relationship of trust and loyalty.
5. Project managers and business managers should always have costs and budgets in the back of their minds. While it seems as if this point may conflict with the previous principle, it is important to remember to constantly attempt to improve production and service. However, it is also important to decrease overall costs. Remember the better the production and service the less you will pay in total cost.
6. To make productive and informed workers it is necessary to have on the job training for your employees. Training should be held regularly as business grows and as practices change. This will definitely help employees stay well informed and be successful in their roles. As a project manager or business manager you should stay on top of your employees’ overall performances and address training in areas where needed. Not only will this show your employees that you care about their future at the company but that you are a leader they can count on.
7. Leadership is probably one of the most important areas of project management and business management. A project manager must possess outstanding leadership skills. A good leader should be there to supervise the employees and oversee operations in order to maintain productivity. Today leadership doesn’t stop at just employees but rather it extends to technology as well. Project managers should help improve users’ knowledge and skills as well as oversee the functionality of technology as a whole.
8. Recognize that fear is not an option. Effective leaders should work with employees and team members to remove the fear of failure and the inability or fear of completing tasks or taking on new challenges. If team members feel confident and encouraged they will ultimately be more effective and productive as well as successful in their roles.
9. Tear down walls, figuratively and literally. There should be no barriers between departments. All areas of the business to need to be able to work and communicate with one another effectively to reach one goal: get the job done. As a project manager or business manager, it is an essential part of your job to make sure tasks and assignments get done. Teamwork is the most effective tool in a business setting. In addition, you can also tear down the walls in a literal sense. More and more companies are even instituting an open floor plan which reduces segregation among supervisors, coworkers, and teams. Not only does this open up the doors of communication studies have also shown that employees feel more comfortable in an open floor plan.
10. Teamwork cannot be competitive. Do away with targets and inter-business competitions. This only drives team members and coworkers away from one another and ultimately decreases morale. Reward equally and allow praise among all employees.
11. Leadership is the ultimate key to production. The old fashioned system of setting up goals and standards is obsolete and outdated. Quotas have statistically failed in business in the past. Successful project managers can institute measures and practices of leadership and display those skills to ensure productivity rather than succumbing to quotas and standards.
12. Another crucial component that a project manager must focus on is quality. There are many different ways you can go about establishing quality in the work place. Remember that a team member will always take pride in his or her accomplishments. Do not hinder these feelings among your team members. Quality is absolutely the key to business, but creativity and craftsmanship in your team members will ensure more productivity and a happier work place.
13. Human beings by biological nature have the desire to learn. As people we want to learn, grow, and develop. This goes for our careers as well. Education and self improvement should be constantly emphasized in the work place. Project managers should show team members how they can grow personally as well as professionally. By investing and encouraging team members to learn and grow, the company ultimately grows as a business.
14. All effective members of a business are responsible for the transformation and growth of the business. The company is only as strong as its weakest link. By instituting attitudes of leadership, encouragement, and new philosophies, each team member will do his or her own share of work to help transform the company.

William Deming’s fourteen principles of business management are still very effective in the business world today. So what do most of these principles have in common? Leadership. By extending leadership qualities to team members and by applying these principles to all areas of the business, reaching company goals and objectives, regardless of how large or small, will become more visible. These principles begin at the management level and will trickle down.

Decision Making… What’s The Big Deal?

One of the most important tasks a project manager faces on a daily basis is decision making. Project managers are to make all kinds of decisions ranging in importance and priority levels. So as an efficient and professional project manager, how are you supposed to make the best decision that could ultimately impact a coworker, a customer, or a product? Here are some ways that project managers can make the best decisions by using accurate data.

As a project manager you probably already use tools such as spreadsheets, project programs, or even online web based tools to keep track of projects currently in the pipeline, budgets, tasks, etc. It is also most likely that on a weekly or maybe even daily basis, you run reports, check figures, and follow up on tasks and assignments as necessary. This is a great way to keep tabs on projects at their various stages and to see the overall project process moving.

By keeping records and notes, whether manually or digitally, it is safe to analyze this data and make informed decisions based on this. For example, speaking from a product development perspective, if a team member phones or emails you and expresses concern for a particular customer who may want to change the specifications of his or her product halfway through the project cycle, what are some of the implications that go along with this? How will this impact the schedule? How will this impact the budget? These are things that need to be addressed before getting back to the customer with a firm proposal.

This is your chance to sit down, maybe even discuss the details with the particular team member, and analyze where the project currently is in the life cycle, how much room in the schedule is needed to make the changes, if it will impact delivery and manufacturing time, and how much extra costs will need to be configured into the big picture. By analyzing these reports you are able to make a good decision based on the data provided.

Another way to use accurate data in making decisions is on the front end of the projects. How many projects are in the pipeline? When are they expected to come in? When are they expected to turnover? Are there enough resources to accommodate this? By running reports and keeping records of phone calls or emails from sales representatives or direct customers establishing leads, it is easy to recognize how many projects are expected to hit the office at a certain time. By analyzing this, you can see if you have enough resources to manage the work load. If you’ve established that the amount of resources is going to be an issue, then by analyzing reports and data, you’ve just made the decision that you may need to hire resources or initiate schedule changes among staff and team members in order to accommodate larger work loads.

These are just a few examples of what a project manager faces on a daily basis. Again, decisions can range from different priority and importance levels depending on the project or maybe even the customer. All in all, making decisions is always crucial. One particular decision, which may seem unimportant, could very well endanger the quality of a customer’s product, which could jeopardize your relationship with that customer. However, by using and practicing an organized and effective track system, it is easier to analyze project data and make effective decisions based upon this data.