Tag: Strategic

Critical Chain Project Management: Everything You Should Know

Written by James Baxter on October 28, 2020. Posted in Articles. 1 Comment on Critical Chain Project Management: Everything You Should Know

Project managers need practical techniques and methods to plan and track project timelines and prevent delays.

At the same time, they need to consider limited resource availability and task dependencies without overworking their employees.

These methods help prevent projects from deviating from their original plans. The Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM) method is one of the most reliable techniques for managing project timelines and resources.

In this article, you’ll learn the basics of CCPM, which will help you decide if this method is appropriate for your company.

The Origins of CCPM

In 1997, Dr. Eliyahu M. Goldratt developed and published Critical Chain Project Management as an outgrowth of one of his other innovations, namely the Theory of Constraints (TOC).

To improve production capability and the degree of efficiency, TOC focuses on distinguishing and adjusting bottlenecks, as does the critical chain method.

What Is CCPM?

Critical chain project management is a project planning method that focuses on task resources. These resources include people, money, equipment, and physical space, among other things.

CCPM creates an environment where people can quickly identify and monitor dependencies between tasks and resources. It also lets project managers handle uncertainty and unforeseen situations by:

Bringing task duration estimates to an average
Planning a schedule backward starting from the due date to make sure tasks are done when needed
Protecting the project by putting buffers in the plan
Controlling the plan and getting feedback by monitoring the buffers

Unlike the critical path method (CPM), this one doesn’t aim to find the absolute best schedule. Instead, it tries to find a good enough solution.

CCPM uses the concept of buffers to make sure that resources are available when they’re required for the completion of a task. Four types of buffers are the following:

Project Buffers are inserted between the last task and the completion date and make sure the date doesn’t change.
Feeding Buffer is set at the end of non-critical chains to prevent any delay from the critical chain.
Resource Buffer is inserted at the beginning of the critical chain and ensures it has the essential resources.
Capacity Buffer provides on-call resources in case unforeseen budget issues arise.

Why Use CCPM

Traditional project management tools usually suffer from budget and time overruns of up to 50–200 percent. Project managers base their plans on predictable tools and experience, but eventually, something’s bound to get out of control. Traditional project management processes are geared to manage uncertainty and reduce risks by:

Increasing task durations and taking worst-case scenarios into account.
Starting work early to avoid delays.
Starting multiple tasks at once.
Concentrating on start and finish points.

Chain management offers several benefits:

It allows a team to monitor the whole project’s life cycle and how their efforts move the tasks along.
It increases team productivity and capability by letting everyone concentrate on their tasks.
It reduces student syndrome, which is when people put off work until the last minute.
It allows you to experience a more timely project completion by considering the minimal time needed and not focusing on safety margins.
Significantly decreases the critical requirements.
Reduces the effects of Murphy’s law and Parkinson’s law.

Steps You Need to Take to Be a Pro at CCPM

1. Define the Critical Chain

Identify the most important tasks as well as ones that are the most time-consuming. These tasks will make up your critical path. You should begin your work with the most important tasks and then organize others in descending order.

2. Design 50/50 Timelines

Each task’s duration represents an estimation of how long it’ll take to complete. However, such estimations typically include excessive safety time. By cutting the duration in half, you will create a sense of urgency in your team and push them towards a more productive and efficient timeline.

3. Identify Resource Constraints

Your resources are your time, budget, employees, office, equipment, etc. By identifying and eliminating the resource constraints before you start, nothing will catch you off guard in the middle of the project and delay your tasks. Thus, you will be able to plan everything accordingly.

4. Design A Detailed Model for Your Project

It’s best if you create a detailed CCPM model that includes task descriptions, available resources, a time table, time buffers, and the due date. You should definitely share it with your team and let them know what others are doing and how the project is progressing.

5. Implement Buffers

Buffers are important to project management tools used for unexpected changes and uncertainties. They will help your team finish the job faster because they act as shock absorbers and control the process. This way, you’ll have all the information you need to take recovery actions.

6. Abolish Multi-Tasking and Limit The Focus

Make sure your team members have just enough on their plates to keep them focused on individual tasks, but not so much that it will force them to multi-task, which will reduce productivity and stretch the timeline.

Bottom Line

Critical chain management can be helpful for many projects, as it allows them to be completed on time, without compromises and waste, and within budget. It can help you lead your team to better productivity, efficiency, and speed.

The Business Analysis Hierarchy of Needs

Written by Joe Newbert on September 16, 2020. Posted in Articles.

The business analyst’s journey is an enduring one.

You find yourself amongst broken systems, inefficient processes, contradictory information, blue-sky ideas, and unhappy customers. Which do you address first?

The stakeholders’ response of “everything, now” is the conflicting norm.

But that doesn’t help…

At any given time only one thing can be the most important—only one item can be top-priority. Yet if we don’t know what that is, we might be fixing the wrong thing at the wrong time. Or, fixing the right thing at the wrong time, as solid solutions are only so on strong foundations.

You can pinpoint the right level to work on at the right time, by understanding the business analysis hierarchy of needs.

Figure 1 The Business Analysis Hierarchy of Needs

Needs lower down the hierarchy must be satisfied before you can attend to needs higher up.

Problem – the creation of opportunity.
When it comes to business change, there needs to be a problem or an opportunity. When it comes to business analysis, you need to discover the need, explore the situation and understand the objective in order to move up the hierarchy.
Solution – the creation of capability.
Many businesses build ineffective solutions because they jump into solution-mode or focus on technology. It’s important you build a product that addresses stakeholders’ needs. And your solution must be baked into a holistic business system.
Service – the creation of competence.
This is where you realise operational efficiency. The idea is that as the solution settles, the business starts to become more organised and less dependent on you. By enabling operations effectively you move the needle onto business as usual.
Impact – the creation of transformation.
This is where you realise the change is not about transaction but transformation. You are not deploying a function, but rather a product/service that impacts somebodies. You need to focus on changing behaviours, and managing emotions.
Utility – the creation of satisfaction.
You started with a promise (not a guarantee) about the change you were seeking to make. To achieve total satisfaction you need to maximise usefulness, productivity, profitability, or other benefits. This should be the objective of your change.

The business analysis hierarchy of needs is a compass that can be used to co-create “value” from a base with opportunity towards the pinnacle of utility.

The TRIFECTA – Bringing Together People, Process & Technology

Written by Alycia Michels on September 10, 2020. Posted in Articles.

Many of us have been at an organization where the business has identified there is a problem or an inefficiency, but the root cause has not been identified.

Sometimes, people feel they don’t have time to spend looking into the issue and then the problem lingers. Other times, the quick fix is let’s hire more people or let’s buy this piece of technology. You might be nodding your head, but these seemingly quick fixes are usually not the long-term solution.

I often get approached by groups that have a problem, but they don’t know what is causing the problem. Recently, I was approached by a group that had spent months trying to improve their operations. They brought in different people to help turn things around, but they still were not seeing the expected improvements. They were at the point, where they were contemplating a new technology solution. While this may sound like a slam dunk for many people, I am a strong believer that you need to figure out your current state before making a recommendation for the future state.

To figure out the current state, it requires bringing together what I call the TRIFECTA. The TRIFECTA is people, process, and technology or some refer to it as the three legs on a stool. The TRIFECTA is essential to having successful business and/or teams. You can have one, but without the others you will struggle to succeed.

People –

You can hire amazing people with great skills and experience, but if you have inadequate processes or technology these people may struggle. When people struggle, they often get frustrated and can potentially quit. You can give a person a canoe, but if you don’t tell them where the water is or give them a paddle and tell them how to use it, they may not make it far.

Process –

You can have wonderfully detailed standard operating procedures (SOP), but if you do not have the people that are invested in following the SOP then it is just words and pictures on paper. If you do have great people and processes, but lack technology you can only scale so far. You can give a person instructions, but if they are in French and you can’t read in French and you don’t have a device to translate them with you are left with a lot of paper that might end up being beneficial to start a bonfire.

Technology –

This is my favorite. “If we just buy “x” system it will fix all of our problems”. I really wish it was this easy, I truly do. However, there is no easy button in life. You can have great applications and software, but if people don’t know how to use it or aren’t bought in on why they should use it then you have this wonderful technology just collecting dust on a shelf. You can buy a bike, but if you don’t learn how to ride it, then you just have a nice a bike.

While pulling together the TRIFECTA might seem like a tedious task, in the long run it often pays off. In the above example, we spent two weeks interviewing team members, mapping out processes, and identifying opportunities. We discovered over 100 opportunities and put together themes for leadership to prioritize. It took a few months to execute the identified changes and technology enhancements, but they have seen improvements across the organization and the process flows hang in the office as a reference and training aid.

Some of you might be thinking we can’t spend two weeks on this because “we have a business to run”, “I already have a full-time job”, or “we will do it later”. Taking the time to meet with teams and talk about the people, processes, and technology that is used in their day to day helps identify problems or inefficiencies. In my experience the root cause is often more than one thing, but a myriad of things, if you don’t talk about them, they can linger.

Some organizations may think that they can throw anyone in and they can do a great job at business process analysis, but it really requires a person with a specific set a skills and behaviors. They don’t have to know anything about your business or process, but they need to be curious and passionate about learning how things work and have a desire to help improve the process. A person that can ask tough questions and help identify where the opportunities are.

Next time you identify that you have systemic issues, pause and think about if it makes sense to pull a small team together to dive in and do some analysis. Getting leadership approval for a team might seem daunting, however if you put together a business case and document the skillsets that would be needed to be successful it will be easier to share the need and vision with your leadership. You may find once you have successfully pulled together the TRIFECTA there is a desire to repeat it in other areas of the business. Having a small team that can be dedicated to business process analysis and improvements is ideal as it allows for these individuals to dedicate their time to work through these specific problem areas. Some of you may already have people in your organization with the necessary skillsets and behaviors that you could leverage to successfully drive these types of efforts. Your leaders may worry that this type of work will dwindle, but having people with diverse skillsets and behaviors can allow them flex with multiple groups like business analysts, lean champions, or continuous improvement teams.

The Power Of Scenario Planning

Written by Christina Lovelock on July 30, 2020. Posted in Articles. 1 Comment on The Power Of Scenario Planning

True busines agility is achieved by considering what might happen in the future, and developing an outline response.

No one could have PREDICTED the current global situation, but some organisations were better PREPARED for it.

Whether you are delivering projects, products or services, it’s all about the future.

Increasing profit/market share
Increasing customer loyalty
Improving customer experience
Improving quality
Developing and retaining staff
Diversifying the offering
Decreasing costs
Reducing complexity

Each of these aims can be followed by the phrase “in the future”, as that is where they all reside. Most organisations believe they are thinking about the future, but they are usually just extrapolating the present, and that’s not the same thing at all.

What is Scenario Planning?

Scenario planning is a strategic analysis tool which recognises the future is uncertain and unpredictable, and encourages us to explore how we can prepare for it.

There are three broad steps to scenario planning:

Consider what is the current reality for the organisation and wider world, and how that might be different in future.
Consider what those differences would mean for the organisation.
Act on this new knowledge. (This might be: develop a plan, mitigate a risk, explore an opportunity…).

There are many models that facilitate the process of scenario planning, which is usually run as a series of workshops with relevant stakeholders.

Advantages of Scenario Planning

1. Framework

Scenario planning provides an opportunity and framework for people to contribute their fears and ideas in a legitimised and structured way. It’s proactive, and removes some of the worry of being perceived as ‘doom-monger’.

2. Awareness

It encourages us to think outside of our organisational boundaries, and lift our heads from the day-to-day rhythm and routine of work. It asks: what’s going on in our organisation? our sector? the wider economy? in society? for our customers? for our suppliers? and for our staff?

How might this impact our organisation in the future, and what can we do about it?

3. Calm

Scenario planning allows options to be really evaluated, and decisions to be taken before a situation actually occurs. In the face of a crisis, organisational and individual biases can cloud could good judgement, speed of response can overlook better options and fear and blame can impact relationships. It creates the time for a ‘plan for a plan’. Scenario planning offers no certainties, but gives the opportunity to identify indicators: “If we start to see X happening, then person Y will do Z”.

(Yes, some people supposedly thrive under pressure and enjoy adrenaline fuelled situations, but this is not business agility.)

4. Competitive advantage

If we are considering the future and preparing for it while others are not, this gives us a clear advantage. We will be able to respond rather than react, move more quickly and demonstrate our organisational agility.

Common Traps of Scenario Planning

1. ‘Waste of time’

Because many, perhaps most, of the scenarios won’t actually happen, investing time in thinking about them may seem like a waste of time and effort. This may prevent a full range of scenarios from being effectively developed and discussed.

Most people have enough to worry about in their ‘day job’, and do not want to go exploring for further problems. This is narrow thinking and prevents business agility.

2. ‘Lack of imagination’

Some people cannot imagine a different world, and others can imagine it but are embarrassed to describe it. Many organisations do ‘financial planning’ by using a small number of variables (costs, predicated growth etc.) and model best, worst and most likely scenarios. This is safe thinking, and is unlikely to lead to any major breakthrough in organisation

3. ‘Overwhelmed’

It would be relatively easy for even a small group to come up with dozens of plausible scenarios, and generate hundreds of potential actions in just a few hours. Generating the scenarios, then narrowing them down to a manageable number is part of the processes. The discussion about the potential scenarios is often more valuable than identifying every possible future.

4. ‘File in the draw’

If no action is taken as a result of the scenario planning, then the value of the exercise will not be realised. ‘Action’ could range from agreeing options or decisions that will be made in certain situations to making significant changes in strategy or operations as a result of the information the exercise has revealed.

Conclusion

Organisations which can adapt will survive and thrive. The ability to adapt quickly is about giving people the time and space to consider how to respond to a range of scenarios, most of which will not come to pass. But for the ones that do – we ‘ll be ready. For the scenarios we didn’t see coming, our organisations will be more able to adapt because we recognise that the tomorrow cannot be extrapolated from today.

Reference:

Scenario Planning, Woody Wade, 2012

A way to manage Risks in Requirement Management Lifecycle Risk Champions

Written by Chintan Jariwala on July 2, 2020. Posted in Articles.

As a Business Analyst, you would already have worked with Risks; and if you have not, it is a miracle.

Assumptions are essential part of requirements and Business Analysts’ one of primary tasks is Requirement Management which included eliciting, analysing and documenting requirements.

What is a Risk:

Risk describes an occurrence or uncertain event which may influence the ability to achieve the goal.

In Requirement Analysis, Business Analyst, with the help of other stakeholders, determines the risks. Being said that, it is very critical how a business analyst manages risks to achieve the business goal.

In principal, the project team and stakeholders need to take informed decisions based on the information at hand to achieve the project goal. Hence, it becomes essential to understand what the risk is all about and ways to manage them. Risks, positive or negative, should be understood thoroughly to define the level of tolerance, and to identify the responses.

There is another way to manage the risk by Business Analyst is to engage with Risk Champions.

A way to manage Risks: Collaborate with a Risk Champion:

Risk Champion is a person who by expertise or authority champions an aspect of the risk management process, but who is not the risk owner. They are a bridge to engage the business, to take care of aspects of the risk management process on behalf of the business and to ensure that business is aware about the impact, positive or negative, to the business. They are equipped/impowered to find the impediments available in the different part of the organization which in return helps to identify the strategy to manage the risk. They need to be involved when the business needs to take any big/small decision impacting multiple department of the organization. Many companies assign Risk Champions for each major functional area of the business, including sales, marketing, operations, HR, IT, legal/regulatory and the financial departments. These champions can be charged with assessing risk both in their individual functional areas and as a cross-functional team.

Apart from Risk Champion, there will be a Risk Owner who will be a Business Analyst, Project Manager, Product Owner, or a Process Owner generally.

Risk Champions should have most of following traits to be successful:

Risk coordinator: Ability to work with multi-functional team for risk management
Understands risk: A good understanding of risk management concepts, principles, and processes. They need to be aware of the compliance requirements as well if the industry is working under regulations.
Experts: Expert in their function / process in which they are champions.
Good soft skills: Strong leadership and motivational qualities; and Good communication skills. Good analytical skills to assist with the analysis of root causes to risk problems.
Influencers: Ability to influence the decision makers to keep the organizational needs above all. They need to work very closely with the head of the function they represent.

How it all works:

Business Analyst with the help of Project Manager, Product Owner, or a Process Owner identifies the risks.
The Business Analyst, who is now the risk owner, engages with the Risk Champion to determine the way to handle the risks.
Business Analyst and the Risk Champion will work with cross functional Risk Champions & stakeholders, in a workshop, to identify the severity and probability of the risk occurrence and any budget requirement.
In this workshop, they will decide the action items for all the stakeholders to take to prepare & execute all the risk management plan.
The Risk Champion, who is working with the Business Analyst, will keep an eye on the progress on all the action items along with the business analyst.
Another session of workshop will be arranged to take the decision using the identified the severity and probability of the risk occurrence and budget requirements.
After the decision has been identified, the plan will be sent to the executive body for approval.
The executive body will evaluate the plan and the champions are required to clarify all the questions raised by the executive body.
After the approval, the plan will be ready to be executed under the supervision of the Risk Champion, who will keep all other Risk Champions in the loop.

Factors to consider:

Pros:

They will provide direct and honest feedback keeping organizational needs in mind.
A well-designed approach which can work in any cross functional venture.
Everyone is aware about the plan and the progress.
Risk Champions will make sure that project team does not deviate from the approved plan.

Cons:

The process is time consuming.
Requires resources with specific skills and dedicated time.
Business Analyst will have to invest his/her time in the Risk management activities along with the Risk Champion.
It can reduce the importance of risk champions if he/she does not have required skillset.

Conclusion

The inclusion of Risk Champions has worked in our organization and it has made our decision-making process robust.

However, in my opinion, not all organization needs nor can afford this structure.

This framework will work greatly in those organizations which are working under any regulatory body including, but not limited to, banks, broking companies, financial services companies.

Risk Championship framework can also work outside the project i.e in the BAU environment with great results.

As a Business Analyst, I always believe that the effect of risk management on any project is underestimated. However, at the end, it is just a framework which is as good as any framework if it has resources with required skills and experience.

In my opinion, Risk Champions are not rival to Business Analyst as they are essential Business Analyst themselves with expertise in Risk management.