Project Management – The Kanban Way

I have frequently been asked – how would you actually implement Critical Chain project management? But before I get to that, why would you want to implement critical chain? If you work in an organization that follows traditional project management practices, it is likely that critical chain project management may appeal to your PMO. You can most likely follow the your existing BDUF (Big Design Up Front) process and still implement Critical Chain. The biggest benefit of critical chain is that it will enable you to finish your project sooner. And that’s why you would consider implementing Critical Chain while retaining your traditional approach. A word of caution though: Critical Chain implementation does involve a paradigm shift. To reap the full benefits of Critical Chain, your process will need to change. (see the pdf document by Realization that outlines how projects benefited using critical chain)

So with that in mind, the following outlines how to make the shift to critical chain organization wide. For the purposes of this post, I am assuming that the management is already sold on the concept of critical chain. If you are unsure of what critical chain can do for you, read how it can speed up project delivery. The second most important benefit for me was to predict project failure long before the project got off the rails. Fever charts that track buffer consumption to project duration is an excellent way to figure out when to act when estimates are way off or you are starting to fall behind. (continue reading…)