Critical Chain Project Management
Almost all projects fail in terms of timings and costs, but this is not because we don’t plan carefully enough, but rather because we plan to fail. Main reasons for wrong planning are:
1. We plan assuming our project will not change its scope, but it always does. You will never find a project where the scope never changed during the project phase. In the best case, the change was minor, but usually changes are significant enough to impact your project. The question is: if we know the plan will change, why do we plan assuming it will not?
2. Tasks end after the deadline or in the best case the last day: A project is made of tasks, and the probability of tasks ending before the deadline is zero, which means that the probability of a project ending by or before the deadline is also zero. This is due to 2 main factors:
a. Student’s syndrome: as students do, if I know I have enough time I’ll start my tasks after the project’s start of that tasks (i.e. if I have 10 days to perform a task but I know I can do it in 5 days, I’ll probably start day 3, 4 or 5, which means I’ll eliminate the safety stock from my tasks and may, in the best case, finish that task the last day (if nothing happens)
b. The last 20% is the slowest: when you look at how people advance in their project they usually get very fast to the 80% completion of a task but take much more time for the last mile. When people start early and get fast to the “80%”, they tend to relax or if they know that they may finish earlier they spend more time than needed improving details that are not really needed or just wait until the last day to end their tasks.
Additionally people don’t tend to finish earlier than expected because when timings for tasks are negotiated, managers push for less time and employees to have a Safety Stock as they don’t want to be punished for being late. If it happens that they finish a task earlier than planned they would be giving the message to their managers that they could have finished earlier and they won’t receive extra-time in their next negotiation”. Although one might think “this won’t happen to me and my project”, one should just look at the facts.
I know that for me when I am under a great deal of stress I am much more apt to complete things on time or even ahead of time, however, if I have plenty of time and know that the there is little to know time constraints aside from the actual deadline, I will either not complete the assigned task, it will be late, or I will complete it at the last possible moment. I know this about me as a fact, no different than I know I am a mother, and yet I have not been able to change it.
This process captures those activities which can be completed simultaneously and those that must be completed prior to beginning another phase, the “critical” activities (Grochels, 2012). Therefore this method gives the product manager knowledge of how long the project will take, which activities must be completed on time, how much it will cost to speed up the process and what the least costly way to finish the project faster would be (Baker, 2002). These benefits greatly increase the probability of a project being completed on time and on schedule, however they system does have
All organizations and businesses exist to meet some specified goals with some predetermined strategies and resources. A basic measure of effectiveness in an organization is evaluating how much an organization is able to achieve, and comparing it with the expected achievements to make sure that goals tarry with results. If the real performance deviates from the set expectations, measures to cater for that are taken. Delivering goals or results within the time periods and financial costs is a key component of organization and business success. The management or appropriate project leaders have to look at the available resources and budget on them to meet customer expectations and needs. In all projects time management is of essence according Hurink (2011).
Projects developed by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) go through a planning process that includes the determination of the project’s schedule. To determine the schedule, highway construction projects are divided into several activities and the time management of these activities will define the project’s duration. In order to improve the productivity and facilitate the execution of the project, an effective planning is needed. An organized Work Breakdown Structure can enhance the project duration. However, there are certain unexpected and unavoidable factors, which can delay the project’s termination: (1) Conflicting Weather Conditions (2) Temperature, (3) Project’s location, and (4) Workers’ shifts.
Every day I see myself, and I see people putting off projects in an attempt to find the right time to put them into practice now. We tend to stay in our comfort zone without wanting to go beyond that. With all these concepts studied can clearly see that there is no right time, nor guarantee of success without risks, but the view can be formed when the things and the way scenarios are winning, we need to be more creative and learn to deal with what we cannot predict.
Projects are widely used by many organizations and government institutions in the course of conducting their business. One of the reasons for this is because they have been proven to be effective in initiating change and translating strategic programs into daily activities. However, it has been established that most projects fail to deliver on time, budget, and customer specifications. In most cases, this failure is caused by over-optimism by the project management team. This over-optimism commonly referred to as optimism bias can simply be defined as overestimating the projects benefits and conversely underestimating its cost and duration time. Research have portrayed that this is often caused by failure to properly identify, understand, and manage effectively the risk associated with the project therefore putting its success at jeopardy(Mott McDonald, 2002). Fortunately, this biasness can be detected and minimized during the project gateway process.
“I’ll do it later this week, I have time” some of the most commonly used words for procrastinators. Individuals who are procrastinators sometimes feel they work best under pressure, giving them a way to self-sooth themselves when facing reality of the work that lies ahead. Many procrastinators have very busy lives, such as working full or part time, others are juggling family life with kids in addition to work. It seems as if finding the balance between their everyday lives while attending school are for many a recipe for disaster. Those who leave work until the last minute are really never able to find the time to accomplish the work. If we take procrastinators for face value we ca...
An essential part of time management is the initiation of a task. Starting a task is the path towards completing it. The key to initiating a task is the mindset of a person. There are two kinds of mindsets, one being the deliberate mindset and the other an implemental mindset. The implemental mindset is the “action phase” in which consists of a positive view towards the task.It is important in time management to begin a task early although the mind is typically focused only on present events. It has been studied that the mind categorizes time in a particular way, the example given is how activities are planned for the day, money is budgeted for the month, and goals are set for the year. The mind is set on present
Procrastination is when people put other tasks, like clubbing with friends, ahead of completing the project assigned. There are seven categories of procrastination listed by Hoffman and Julie within Stop Procrastinating Now! 10 simple & Successful Steps for Student Success which students may fall within. The first is the “perfectionist procrastinator” where students usually get the project done ahead of time but because of wanting the project to be perfect they turn it in late. The second type is the “relax, it can wait procrastinator” which are students who think they have enough time so they focus on other activates. The problem is that students misjudge how long to wait and end up handing their projects in late. The third is the “fantasizer procrastinator” which are students who think about how their project fits into the big picture. These students turn their project in late because of “ambitious (although unrealistic) dreams pertaining to his goals and thus seldom is able to begin the project” (Hoffman and Julie, 19). The fourth type of procrastinator is the “last minute procrastinator...
Using this you can keep keen eye on activities that trigger start of other activities. Delay in those might lead to delay in the overall project.
Defining the project scope is identifying all the work in details that the project will accomplish in order to achieve its final goal. The work includes the activities identified in the Log frame and the activities the project team has identified that will be necessarily to support the project and all the other circumstances surrounding that delivery of the project. Scope is very important in the definition of project requirements at the start of project life cycle and missing any part of the scope can cause unforeseen extra cost and variation to the project cost and even the final product, get something totally different than you would expect. Effective scope management is one of the key factors produce the project success.
This type of procrastination is not only an academic issue but it may also be a life style habit. People will put off getting the job done because they simply "don 't have the time". Most adult 's have jobs and families, and may find it hard to manage work school and family, therefore they mismanage their time. By the end of the day they are not able to get to the work done. By telling themselves they will get to it tomorrow without setting a designated allotted time to complete the task at hand. Needless to say this can cause the task to either not get done or quickly get done without too much thought.
A series of project plans include only two steps: One is to think of them in a rough time sequence, the other is to arrange them in an order of importance. Sometimes importance dictates
Project management is said to be completed within time when it completed within the “triple constraints”: cost, time and quality. And in a lot of causes, one them is sacrificed so as to meet the other two. Project managers prioritize which ones are the most important.
The aspect of Critical Chain Project Management was established and publicized in the year 1997 by one of the prominent scientists by the name Dr. Eliyahu M. Goldratt. This assumption of the Critical chain management developed its roots through the basis of the Theory of Constraints (TOC), which was formulated by Dr. Goldratt’s inventions viz. This Project Management Method emerges into action subsequently with the initial Project Schedule is arranged, thus, this arrangement involves the formation of the task dependencies and planning essentials (Mahadevan, p.168). The developed critical work becomes revised following the concept of the Critical Chain Method. Therefore, with this regard, the methodology is attributed and this assumes the constraints in connection with every task that is incorporated.