Subject: Project Management

Topic: Planning Projects

Difficulty: Medium

The Critical Chain Method has its roots in another one of Dr. Goldratt’s inventions: the Theory of Constraints (TOC). This project management method comes into force after the initial project schedule is prepared, which includes establishing task dependencies. The evolved critical path is reworked based on the Critical Chain Method. To do so, the methodology assumes constraints related to each task.

A few of these constraints include:

There is a certain amount of uncertainty in each task.

Task durations are often overestimated by the team members or task owners. This is typically done to add a safety margin to the task so as to be certain of its completion in the decided duration.In most cases, the tasks should not take the time estimated, which includes the safety margin, and should be completed earlier.If the safety margin assumed is not needed, it is actually wasted.

If the task is finished sooner, it may not necessarily mean that the successor task can start earlier as the resources required for the successor task may not be available until their scheduled time. In other words, the saved time cannot be passed on to finish the project early. On the other hand, if there are delays over and above the estimated schedules, these delays will most definitely get passed on, and, in most cases, will exponentially increase the project schedule.

With the above assumptions, the Critical Path Methodology of project management recommends pooling of the task buffers and adding them at the end of the critical path:

Communication planning

A project communication plan that will guide the messages to a project’s affected stakeholders is a critical part of any project. How well you communicate throughout the life cycle of your project can make the difference between success and failure.

During the planning phase of your project, you need to create a high level Communication Management Plan that defines the general communication requirements for your project. This plan should include:

The plan’s purpose and approach

Communication goals and objectives

Communication roles

Communication tools and methods, and

High level project communication messages

It’s also helpful to include any specific requirements or standards that govern your project, if applicable.

Creating Your Project Communication Plan

A communication plan isn’t created in a vacuum. Although there are some standard items you’ll include in your plan, such as Project Kick Off, Review, Status, and Team Meetings, it’s important to spend time gathering input from all stakeholder groups to ensure the plan is comprehensive. That said, it’s also important to note that changes may need to be made to the plan as the project moves forward. Here’s the general framework.

Plan Purpose and Approach

Include a high level description of the plan, why it exists and a general idea of how you will implement the plan on your project. Think of this as a summary section. I always like to do this section last – even though it’s first – because it helps you capture the essence of what you’ve detailed in the plan.

Communication Goals and Objectives

Define what you expect to achieve by communicating. This could be any number of things and is dependent on what your project will accomplish. Generally, these should be focused on educating and updating anyone impacted by the project. Here are a few ideas:

Increase knowledge about the project and why it’s important

Create a dialogue among employees and key stakeholders to gain acceptance of the project

Provide opportunities for feedback from stakeholder groups

Communication Roles

Communication won’t come from just one person during your project. Clearly define all roles and their corresponding communication responsibilities. Here are a few roles to consider:

Project Sponsor

Project Manager

Leadership / Management Team

Steering Team

Project Lead

Project Team Member

Communication Tools and Methods

What tools you use and how a message is delivered will vary from project to project. The key to remember is to not get “stuck” using a single method for your communication messages. Your preferred tools and methods should be those where the receiving group will have the best chance for comprehending what you are communicating.

Brainstorming a list of possible methods can get you started. Here are just a few:

Meeting summaries

Status reports

Newsletters

Formal presentations

Surveys

Internet / Intranet Web Page

Informal small group meetings

Brown bag lunch workshops

High Level Project Communication Messages

It’s a good idea to include a matrix in this plan of the specific project management related communication, such as project kick off, status and review meetings. Define the key objective, topic of discussion, delivery method, frequency, audience, and role that owns responsibility for making it happen. This helps set the expectation and boundaries for project communication.

It can also be helpful to turn your matrix into an informative “at a glance” graphic that can be shared and used by anyone on the project.Project Communication Infographic Other Communication Plan RequirementsIf there’s a chain of command for specific communications, it may be helpful to define a flowchart to ensure everyone is clear on what’s required.

You may also need to include a communication escalation process for critical project impacts.It’s important to remember that each project will have a different communication impact and therefore a different communication management plan. Working from a basic framework will help ensure key components are included.

You can pick up a free template to help you get started here to give you an idea regarding the structure and content of your plan.In addition to the matrix of project related communication, you need to develop a Project Communication Action Plan to reach the broad audience of stakeholders for your project. Your action plan will dictate who hears what and when they will hear it. It’s a detailed plan that includes:

Project Communication Action Plan

I know it’s a lot of work, but you don’t have to start from scratch. You can get a copy of the Project Communication Action Plan template here.Moving Forward With Your Communication PlanProactively creating your Communication Management Plan and Project Communication Action Plan at the beginning of your project will take some effort, but buy you a lot of time down the road when you’re knee deep in deliverables. Managing it on a regular basis like you do your project plan will save you a lot of headaches and give your project a greater chance for success

Critical Path Methodology

Critical Path project management defines three types of buffers:

Project Buffer: The total pooled buffer depicted in the image above is referred to as the project buffer.

Feeding Buffer: In a project network, there are path/s which feed into the critical path. The pooled buffer on each such path represents the feeding buffer to the critical path (depicted in the image below), resulting in providing some slack to the critical path.

Resource Buffer: This is a virtual task inserted just before critical chain tasks that require critical resources. This acts as a trigger point for the resource, indicating when the critical path is about to begin.

CCPM Methodology

As the progress of the project is reported, the critical chain is recalculated. In fact, monitoring and controlling of the project primarily focuses on utilization of the buffers. As you can see, the critical chain method considers the basic critical path based project network and schedule to derive a completely new schedule.

The critical path project management methodology is very effective in organizations which do not have evolved project management practices.

Along similar lines, the event chain methodology of project management focuses on determining the uncertain events and the chain reactions they propagate. It is a method of modelling uncertainties, and is based on Monte Carlo analysis, Bayesian Belief Network, and other established simulation methodologies. When they occur, events can cause other events, triggering an event chain, which will effectively alter the course of the project.

It is clear that neither the critical path project management methodology nor the event chain methodology can be considered alternatives to the standard methodology for project management as advocated by PMBOK. While the critical path project management methodology can be at best used as a tool for deriving project schedule networks, the event chain methodology for project management can be used as a tool for quantitative risk analysis.

Centralization of Effective Leadership A chapter has been added that talks about what Project Management Leadership means, and PMI’s expectations of a project management leader. The new edition also reviews competencies and skills that project management professionals must possess. This makes sense, considering that we’ve seen the Exam Content Outline introduce this throughout the last few years, and it was a logical step to bring it into the guide.

Effective leadership is mentioned in the 5th edition but is now being consolidated into one section. Consider this as a continuation of PMI’s message—a call to action that Project Management has three components that aspiring professionals need to continually develop: technical project management, business acumen, and leadership.

Here is an example of a RBS structure taken from Risk Doctor.

An RBS template is typically chosen for the entire organization and it helps making sure all the relevant points are covered. The RBS works like a checklist. During the risk identification stage, the PM works through each of the items and checks those that are applicable for the given project.

The scoring will help the PM understand the areas of the project which require more attention. For instance, if the technical risk has a higher risk score, then the PM must make sure he/she has the right personnel and toolsets to handle the process.

The RBS would help identify the concentration of risks in a certain category and dependencies among risks. The PM can also monitor & evaluate the risk mitigation process over the course of the project. Even more broadly, the RBS can help in comparing competing tenders from different vendors as we now have a quantitative way to compare different project proposals.

Team development

set of techniques used to help project teams learn, grow, and develop into more effective teams. The techniques can be applied throughout the project lifecycle, during team meetings, and/or workshops to facilitate team member affiliation (see Workshops and Facilitation).

The benefits of Team Building at the start of projects are: greater collaboration, where information is shared freely among team members, and team members feel that they have invested themselves in the outcome

enhanced communication

more effective use of resources, talents, and strengths, while minimizing individual weaknesses and/or gaps

improved decision making, while reducing lead times in implementing team actions

greater commitment to team results

higher quality results

See Facilitation for leadership skills and knowledge required to effect team building and for guidelines for conducting team building ice breakers.

enable more effective and productive teams.

To enable team affiliation during working sessions and team meetings.

Procedures

Perform a self-assessment.

Diagnose team behaviors.

Meet with individual team members.

Analyze and synthesize information.

Bring the team together.

Set objectives and goals.

Define and assign roles.

Monitor as required.

Reward the team and team members for performance.

Instructions

At the beginning of a project, each of the project teams (e.g., Project Team, Reference Group, and/or Steering Committee) needs to become focused and to learn how to operate together. Typically, during an orientation meeting, team members are briefed on the overall project structure, project objectives, and timelines (see Project Management).

It is also necessary to clearly define roles. Each team member must understand what his role is and what he is expected to do to contribute to the overall project. This phase of team building can be referred to as "searching," and it is important that searching time is minimized by clearly defining the roles and responsibilities. In addition, each team member needs to understand what everyone else's contribution and role will be during the project. Getting this right upfront can go a long way to facilitate team building.

It is also important for each team member to feel that he or she has been assigned to a meaningful task and that the task is "doable." Unrealistic deadlines and/or requests work against team building. Project leadership is about striking a balance.

Provide feedback to the team as a whole and to each individual on the team on a periodic basis throughout a project. Be open, honest, and constructive. This may require team and/or task leaders to perform a self-assessment in order to diagnose their own behaviors, and to determine their leadership style and effectiveness. A number of self-assessment instruments and instruments to diagnose team member behaviors are commercially available.

During initial project meetings, as well as in any team meeting when needed, conduct a short team affiliation exercise to help the team "gel." Ice breaker exercises, including personal introductions and/or self-disclosure, can help. Use judgment and an understanding of the culture as a guide to selection of team exercises. Dinners, team lunches, etc., can also be used to help grow a team. Experiment and have fun

Earned value management

EV provides a measurement that allows the project team to readily compare how much work has actuallybeen completed against the amount of work that was planned to be accomplished. The practice ofmonitoring, reviewing, and reacting to fluctuations in EV is known as Earned Value Management (EVM).EVM is an evaluation technique that integrates technical performance requirements, resource planning,and schedules, while taking risk into consideration.

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) memorandum 5-23 requires EVM be used to “monitor andmanage IT project performance”. If implemented correctly and applied diligently throughout the life of aproject, EVM can provide a wealth of information to project teams and even provide an early warning ofpotential project budget, schedule, and overall performance issues.

The basics of EVinvolve understanding three key values:

1.Budget At Complete (BAC) – The budget values established for the work to be performed. How much should the work cost when done?

1. Actual Cost of Work Performed (ACWP) – The total costs actually incurred in accomplishing the work performed during a given time period. How much did the completed work

Monitoring and Controlling Processes

The Monitoring and Controlling Process Group consists of those processes required to

track, review, and regulate the progress and performance of the project; identify any areas in which changes to the plan are required; and initiate the corresponding changes. The key benefit of this Process Group is that project performance is observed and measured regularly and consistently to identify variances from the project management plan. The Monitoring and Controlling Process Group also includes:

controlling changes and recommending preventive action in anticipation of possible problems,monitoring the ongoing project activities against the project management plan and the project performance baseline, andinfluencing the factors that could circumvent integrated change control so onlyapproved changes are implementedThis continuous monitoring provides the project team insight into the health of theproject and identifies any areas requiring additional attention.

The Monitoring andControlling Process Group not only monitors and controls the work being done within aProcess Group, but also monitors and controls the entire project effort. In multi-phaseprojects, the Monitoring and Controlling Process Group coordinates project phases inorder to implement corrective or preventive actions to bring the project into compliancewith the project management plan.

Project monitor and control processes are presented on the next figure e centre of project monitor and control are 2 processes: monitor and control projectwork and perform integrated change control. These processes are mutually relatedthrough change request life cycle management.

Monitor and Control Project WorkMonitor and Control Project Work is the process of tracking, reviewing, and regulatingthe progress to meet the performance objectives defined in the project managementplan. Monitoring includes status reporting, progress measurement, and forecasting.

Performance reports provide information on the project’s performance with regard to scope, schedule, cost, resources, quality, and risk, which can be used as inputs to other processes. Monitor and Control Project Work is the process of tracking, reviewing, and regulating the progress to meet the performance objectives defined in the project management plan. Monitoring is an aspect of project management performed throughout the project.

The Monitor and Control Project Work process is concerned with:

Comparing actual project performance against the project management plan;

Assessing performance to determine whether any corrective or preventiveactions are indicated, and then recommending those actions as necessary Identifying new risks and analyzing, tracking, and monitoring existing project risks to make sure the risks are identified, their status is reported, and that appropriate risk response plans are being executed;

Providing information to support status reporting, progress measurement, and forecasting;Providing forecasts to update current cost and current schedule information; and Monitoring implementation of approved changes as they occur.Inputs and outputs of this process are presented on the following figure:Figure 8. Project Work Monitor and Control Inputs and Outputs Relationships with other processes are shown on the next figure: those planned is the fundamental principle of project monitoring process.Whenever there is a variance, corrective action is required to keep the project on schedule and to budget.

2. Monitoring Process (on a regular basis)

Collect.Get the data about the current status of your project.Measure and Compare.

Compare with baseline plan, highlight any deviation, make a projection based on current data.

Assess and Re-plan.Decide whether corrective actions are necessary.If so, plan, document, and take the corrective actions.

Monitoring and controlling activities

Involves tracking, reviewing, and regulating project progress

Includes status reporting, progress measurement, and forecasting

Reports on scope, schedule, cost, resources, quality, and risks

Controls project and project document changes

Includes control of scope, schedule, costs, and risks

Formalizes acceptance of deliverables

Records quality control results

Implements risk treatment plans and actions

Administers suppliers