Project Cage Match

From the abstract:
Executives believe starting their project now means it will end sooner. Unfortunately, starting one more project costs significantly more than just time. Sharing limited resources causes all the current projects to sub-optimize. Multitasking is costing your organization a fortune.

Are you tired of being time-sliced across too many projects? Learn how value decreases when you work on multiple simultaneous projects and increases when you focus and deliver on a single project.

Transcript

1. Agile / Scrum Training | Lean Software Development | Agile Organizational Metrics | Executive Coaching | Improved Team Dynamics | Improved Efficiency
   PROJECT CAGE MATCH
   Multitasking versus Critical Chain
   9th Annual University of Texas at Dallas
   Project Management Symposium
   August 13-14, 2015
   

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2. @JeffreyGoodReq
   goodrequirements.com
   www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreydavidson
   

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9. Critical Path
   ¨ Determines CRITICAL
   activities
   ¨ Provides shortest path
   to project completion
   

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11. Barry Boehm, Software Engineering Economics, 1981
    Ease of Estimating
    

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12. Interchangeable Resources
    

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13. Blockages Solved w/Additional Resources
    

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14. Starting Sooner = Finish Faster
    

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15. No Waste in Multitasking
    

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16. Continuous Partial Attention
    

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17. Task Switching
    

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18. Multitasking
    

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19. 20
    3 Projects, Unlimited Resources
    A
    B
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    P1
    P2
    P3
    3 Projects & 3 Project Managers
    ¨  With unlimited resources Critical Chain will show how to
    schedule the project.
    

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20. 20
    3 Projects, Specialized Resources
    3 Projects & 3 Project Managers & 3 Resource types
    ¨  BLUE resources specialize in earliest tasks, i.e. ABC
    ¨  YELLOW resources specialize in middle tasks, i.e. DEFG
    ¨  GREEN resources specialize in the late tasks, i.e. HIJ
    A
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    P1
    P2
    P3
    

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21. ??
    ??
    ??
    3 Projects, Shared Resources
    A
    B
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    P1
    P2
    P3
    3 Projects & 3 Project Managers & 3 Resource types
    How many weeks will it take to finish the project?
    

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23. Critical Chain
    ¨ Considers chain of
    tasks AND resource
    dependencies
    ¨ Improves focus
    

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24. Critical Chain: Notes
    ¨  Pressure to show early progress on all
    projects leads to the detriment of all
    ¨  Individual, task-level safety buffers are
    harmful. It’s better to have an aggregated
    safety at project level
    ¨  Disadvantage: No room for slippage, or the
    end date slips. Mitigate via buffers in the
    chain
    

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25. 20
    3 Projects, Shared Resources #2
    3 Projects & 3 Project Managers & 3 Resource types
    Add a FlowMaster, stay on current tasks until
    complete
    A
    B
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    D
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    P1
    P2
    P3
    

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26. ??
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    3 Projects, Shared Resources #2
    P2
    P3
    P1
    3 Projects & 3 Project Managers & 3 Resource types
    Add a FlowMaster, stay on current tasks until
    complete
    A
    B
    C
    D
    E
    F
    G
    H
    I
    J
    

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27. Benefits of Focus
    

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28. Cost of Delay by Project
      Project 1   Project 2   Project 3  
    Purpose
    New
    product  
    Operational
    savings  
    Reduce
    support
    costs
    Cost of
    Delay
    $ 10,000 /
    week  
    $ 8,000 /
    week  
    $ 5,000 /
    week  
    TOTAL
    Cost of
    Delay
    

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29. ??
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    Project 1: Comparison
    P1
    P1
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    New Product has a $10k weekly Cost of Delay
    ¨  How long was the project delayed?
    ¨  What was the project’s Cost of Delay?
    

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30. P2
    ??
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    Project 2: Comparison
    P2
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    Operational savings has a $8k weekly Cost of Delay
    ¨  How long was the project delayed?
    ¨  What was the project’s Cost of Delay?
    

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31. ??
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    Project 3: Comparison
    P3
    ??
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    P3
    Reduced support costs have a $5k weekly Cost of
    Delay
    ¨  How long was the project delayed?
    ¨  What was the project’s Cost of Delay?
    

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32. Cost of Delay by Project
      Project 1   Project 2   Project 3  
    Purpose
    New
    product  
    Operational
    savings  
    Reduce
    support
    costs
    Cost of
    Delay
    $ 10,000 /
    week  
    $ 8,000 /
    week  
    $ 5,000 /
    week  
    TOTAL
    Cost of
    Delay
    22 weeks
    $ 176,000
    28 weeks
    $ 280,000
    16 weeks
    $ 80,000
    

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33. Focus Wins
    

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34. www.davisbase.com | @davisbase |#BecomingAgile
    Thank you!
    Project Cage Match
    

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35. References
    ¨  Clarke Ching, “Multitasking is Evil.” Unpublished
    paper; 2014.
    ¨  Jeffrey Davidson, “Project Cage Match: Multitasking
    vs. Critical Chain.” UTD PM Symposium; August 13-14,
    2015.
    ¨  Eliyahu Goldratt, The Goal: A Process of Ongoing
    Improvement. North River Press; 1984.
    

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