Theory of Constraints Handbook - James Cox Iii [78]
project managers create properly buffered project plans;
task managers follow priorities;
identify and capitalize on opportunities for continuous improvement; and
train and coach new managers.
To communicate and reinforce a clear change in focus, it is probably appropriate to term the Critical Chain support group as Execution Management Office (EMO). This group should be professionally knowledgeable in Critical Chain Rules and practices, and expert in execution management software.
How is non-project work handled with Critical Chain?
Up to 10 to 50 percent of work that a typical project-based operation has does not come from projects. Examples of such work include sales support, field support, and special tasks that cannot be classified as projects. All such work potentially interferes with following buffer-based priorities for project work. To make matters worse, non-project work often does not go through a central coordination and control point, or gate; it just lands on people’s desks.
When non-project work is little (~10 to 15 percent of the total workload for a set of resources), a practical solution is to establish a central gating and dispatching mechanism. Emergency work is immediately assigned, preferably to those people who are not working on red tasks, while other work is assigned to people as they finish their project tasks.
If non-project work is substantial (more than 20 percent of the total workload for a set of resources), it is best to dedicate capacity for it. Otherwise, not only will it be difficult to follow buffer-based priorities for project work, but non-project work will suffer as well. If it is important to give everyone a chance to perform project as well as non-project work, a rotating pool can be established whereby people are assigned to non-project work for only a few weeks at a stretch.
Should the scope of a Critical Chain implementation include vendors and subcontractors?
If vendors supply long lead-time items, and procurement of those items is on the projects’ critical path, the improvement in project cycle times may be limited if vendors are not included in the implementation. Organizations can still achieve the full potential increase in Throughput of internal resources (typically 20 to 25 percent), but only 10 to 15 percent reduction in overall cycle times. Achieving greater reduction in cycle times requires offering vendors an incentive for faster supply, and perhaps implementing Critical Chain (or Drum-Buffer-Rope) in the vendors’ operations.
If subcontractors perform a significant amount of work for the project, the improvement gains in Throughput as well as cycle time may be limited if they are not involved. If proper incentives are provided, subcontractors can be persuaded to execute their work in accordance with the Three Rules of Critical Chain—to the benefit of both parties.
How does Critical Chain improve quality?
Critical Chain helps improve quality by cutting down firefighting and multitasking and by creating time at the beginning of a project for full kitting. Moreover, metered release of projects checks the temptation to start them before fully defining the requirements, which minimizes later changes and the rework, errors, and multitasking that emanate from them.
Critical Chain seems to be all about timelines; what about controlling costs?
Of course, costs of a project cannot be managed without regard to project benefits. It is sometimes possible that the benefits far outweigh the costs of doing projects faster. In most other cases, costs can be a relevant concern.
There are two viewpoints about timelines and costs. One viewpoint is that they are in conflict—shortening timelines costs more money. The other is that the longer projects take, the more they cost, so there is no need to worry about costs as long as projects finish faster. However, both these assertions are only partially correct.
Many adopters of Critical Chain have found