Pessimistic, dreamy, or reckless, none of these attitudes will help you manage your projects and meet deadlines.
The challenge in the project world, where hazards are a must, is to plan without knowing, knowing that nothing is certain!
To meet this challenge, the Critical Chain (CCPM), which applies the theory of constraints to project management, upends traditional rules and proposes a paradigm shift as a novel way to avoid the pitfalls caused by our habits and behaviors.
As a result, the Critical Chain provides answers to 3 questions that any portfolio or project manager should consider:
1st question : how many projects should you have in your portfolio?
Starting more projects than you can finish is a common pitfall.
And, at the same time, start spending, investing, and accumulating fixed assets without seeing immediate results... Danger!
It's a safe bet that multitasking is rampant when our teams are stressed, under pressure, and feeling both overwhelmed and inefficient.
If the interruptions are constant and resource tension is common, our project volume is unquestionably too large.
The Critical Chain suggests that we learn how to "retain" our projects and serialize their beginnings according to our ability to complete them.
Let's specifically regulate project work in progress based on the capacity of what constrains us the most in our project organization: a specific center of business expertise, expensive equipment, and this constraint, which must both size and pace the number of projects we can lead from the front.
Let's restore some fluidity to our portfolio, because we all know that clogging it up is the most effective way to delay each project.
2nd question : how to protect against hazards?
In the planning phase, we are committed to solving the difficult equation combining the need for reliability, commitment, estimated duration, and the presence of hazards.
Our answer is simple: margin!
If you look closely, we put some margin everywhere, without making it visible for fear of losing it.
These margins are a combination of our experiences (the bad ones stick with us more than the good ones! ), our fears (a priority project will divert our efforts, our estimates must account for this, etc. ), and our professionalism (the estimated duration corresponds to a high probability of completing a task)... Despite all of these safeguards, our projects are frequently late: why is that?
We must face the facts: we frequently squander the margin we set aside when estimating the duration of our tasks when they are completed. This is due to our actions:
- we synchronize with an end-of-task commitment and easily succumb to the student syndrome, which is this sense of urgency in the face of a deadline where the margin has long been gone.
- on the other hand, whether or not there are hazards, we are subject to Parkinson's law, which states that the task execution takes up all of the time planned.
This waste is also the result of an organization that detracts us from our efforts by requiring frequent arbitration to resolve resource conflicts, as well as frequent changes in priorities that cause time-consuming interruptions.
To protect against hazards, the Critical Chain offers a provision that is radically different from the margins.
At the task level, these are systematically withdrawn and pooled in a project buffer.
Indeed, the team's goal is not to complete each task on time, but to complete the project on time, it is therefore the project (or the deliverable that we want to manage) that must be protected.
This pooling also reduces waste because only actors who are confronted with real hazards will use the buffer.
As a result, the buffer is only used if it is required, similar to how insurance is only requested in the event of a disaster.
The buffer is critical for meeting project deadlines, is an important part of the planning process, and accounts for one-third of the project's total duration.
As a result, the planning is both challenged and realistic; it provides execution priorities and early warning signals without being an inaccurate mechanism for time calculation or effort monitoring.
3rd question : how to objectively manage the execution of your projects?
We have changed our planning, we can now reap the benefits in execution.
We have a management tool to direct the project's progress thanks to the buffer, because we can objectively place an update point on the project health graph based on the progress of the work and the level of hazards already encountered.
This “fever chart” visualizes the 3 possible execution zones:
- a green "comfort zone" where progress is greater than the amount of time spent in the buffer,
- vigilance, a yellow zone where progress and consumption are balanced
- a so-called red alert zone, in which buffer consumption is disproportionately high in comparison to progress. In the latter case, it is already too late to act; there is no need to wait for things to get worse before taking action.
This same standardized graph is relevant for project portfolio management: it proposes, if necessary, a prioritization in the execution of professional tasks solicited on various portfolio projects in the blink of an eye and without recourse to endless and time-consuming arbitration meetings.
The fever chart is the single, visual, and objective piloting indicator.
He sanctifies project deadlines so that only top management can change them, it re-questions the relative importance of projects in the portfolio if necessary, and it provides feedback on the planning process for strong management actions.
Finally, it enables continuous improvement to be focused on the primary causes of delay, demonstrating the importance of a systemic and global approach in our complex and interconnected organizations in order to claim improvement.
As a result of the Critical Chain, an entire project organization can significantly improve its ability to meet deadlines (average reduction of 40% in cycle times).
Furthermore, it allows project participants to work in a more "peaceful" environment, where we take the time to do a good job and complete tasks on time, for the benefit of all.
As a result, it is possible to complete more projects with the same teams, triggering a true virtuous circle in which everyone can concentrate on finishing.
The Critical Chain is truly agile in the sense that its dynamic management allows it to react quickly to threats and accepts the challenge of meeting deadlines without sacrificing quality or costs.
It appears to be an ideal support for managing hybrid projects and project portfolios because it provides an elegant solution for synchronizing teams or project bricks using waterfall or agile methods.
Highlighting the best of our practices and of ourselves, isn't this the greatest challenge taken up by the Critical Chain?
Isabelle ICORD, expert in Theory of Constraints and Critical Chain management.
Founder of the company, Pro CC, she works with many French and international manufacturers to improve the management of project portfolios with the help of the Critical Chain.
Co-author of the book:
IQar Pure Project Player for over 15 years and publisher of the PPM solution SuitePro-G.
Today, more than 200 organizations in France trust IQar's tooled PPM platform and more specifically its SuitePro solution -Gto manage their projects, resources and portfolios.
SuitePro-G by IQar is collaborative PPM software designed for businesses looking for a simple, intuitive and connected solution.
Since its creation, < strong>SuitePro-Gattracts and offers companies the opportunity to develop and anchor a project culture.
" The successful company quickly chooses and carries out its best projects. "
Stéphanie Germain,
co-founder of IQar and Certified Professional Coach