Critical Chain Project Management

The Artech House bestseller, Critical Chain Project Management, now builds on its success in a second edition packed with fresh, field-tested insights on how to plan, lead, and complete projects in “half the time, all the time.” It provides you with expanded coverage on critical chain planning, multiple project selection and management, critical change project networks, OPM3, new Agile and Lean techniques related to critical chain project management (CCPM), and effective strategies for bringing about the organizational change required to succeed with this breakthrough method. This cutting-edge work gives you full understanding of the CCPM techniques, tools, and theory you need to develop critical chain solutions and apply them to all types of projects. You get clear instructions on how to build single-project critical chain plans and how to stagger projects in a multiple-project environment. You also learn buffer management techniques for avoiding the pitfalls of committing too much or too little to any specific project, and for meeting project time and cost commitments every time. Moreover, the book integrates key features of PMBOK (Project Management Body of Knowledge) with critical chain to help you master key project management skills not covered in other critical chain books, such as scope control and risk management. This easy-to-follow guide offers you the power to shorten project delivery time, eliminate cost and scheduling over-runs, manage project resources more efficiently, reduce stress on your project team, and finish projects that meet or exceed expectations. Over 100 illustrations help clarify this innovative method that has produced well-documented results in a growing variety of project environments. Contents: Begin at the Beginning - Project Success. Defining the Problem. Success With Critical Chain. Summary. TOC, PMBOK™, Lean and Six Sigma - Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK™) Lean. Agile, or Light, Project Management. Six Sigma. System of Profound Knowledge. Theory of Contraints. Change Management. The Grand Synthesis. Summary. The Direction of the Solution - Deciding What to Change. Toward a Core Dilemma. Toward Desired Effects. Solution Feasibility. Determining What to Change To. Summary. The Complete Single-Project Solution - From System Requirements to System Design. Developing the Critical Chain Solution. Buffer Sizing. Exploiting the Plan Using Buffer Management. Features (More or Less) from PMBOKTM. Common Misunderstandings. Starting a New Project - Project Initiation Process. The Project Charter. Stakeholder Endorsement. The Work Breakdown Structure. Responsibility Assignment. Milestone Sequencing. Work Packages. The Project Work Plan. Change Management. Project Closure. Summary. Developing the (Single-Project) Critical Chain Plan - Process. Good Enough. Examples and Practice. Buffer and Threshold Sizing. Cost Buffer Sizing. Methods to Create the Plan. External Constraints.