Advanced Multi-Project Management: Achieving Outstanding Speed and Results with Predictability

  • 6h 53m
  • Gerald I. Kendall, Kathleen M. Austin
  • J. Ross Publishing
  • 2013

Even in a well-managed multi-project environment, it is not unusual to see half of all projects completed either late, over budget or with cuts to original scope. However, the proven approach presented in Advanced Multi-Project Management has enabled large, medium, and even small organizations to consistently complete their projects faster, within original scope and budget, and increase the number of projects executed with the same resources by as much as 70%. The list of companies that have used this methodology for stunning results includes some of the biggest, well-known names in the world—Boeing, Rio Tinto, ABB, and Chrysler. This guide details the six gears that must work in unison to drive speed and predictability within an organization.

Key Features

  • Presents the full strategy and detailed tactics to transform any multi-project environment, including how to speed up and synchronize multiple projects correctly with the same resources and delivering projects on time, on budget, and within the original scope
  • Helps firms consistently generate over 50% more project throughput
  • Outlines the 10 essential steps needed to create valid project networks and task estimates in a multi-project environment
  • Illustrates examples of how to define resource skill sets in a multi-project environment and effective ways to align all projects to prevent constant conflicts over resources
  • Explains the five most common bad practices in project management today—from defining tasks at too great a level of detail to allowing stage gate systems and approvals to slow down projects
  • Reveals software requirements necessary to support small, medium, and large multi-project environments

About the Authors

Gerald I. Kendall, PMP, Principal, TOC International, is a distinguished thought-leader, noted management consultant, sought-after speaker, best-selling author, and recognized expert at program management and project portfolio management, supply chain logistics, and strategic planning, with extensive implementation experience around the world since 1968. He is an active member of the Project Management Institute and the author of numerous articles and four books including the best-selling Advanced Project Portfolio Management and the PMO.

Kathleen M. Austin, Principal, APT Concepts, is a published author globally recognized for her 20 plus years of work in Theory of Constraints and integrated TOC Lean-Six Sigma implementations. She has also been involved in the instruction, development, coaching and mentoring within strategic planning, project/portfolio management, supply chain management, and software development. Kathleen served over 12 years in the US Air Force as an acquisition project manager and manufacturing manager for radar, missile, and aircraft programs. Ms. Austin earned a BSBA degree from the University of Nebraska and her Masters Degree in Logistics Management from the Air Force Institute of Technology.

In this Book

  • Introduction—The Multi-Project Problem
  • Resource Conflicts
  • Poorly Defined Project Networks
  • The Biggest Leverage Point for Improving
  • Project Networks
  • Strategic Buffering—Insulating Projects from Variability
  • Controlled Project WIP—Aligning and Activating Multiple Projects
  • Fast Execution, Single Priority System, Recovery
  • Enterprise Resource Planning
  • Multi-Project Software Requirements
  • What Is It All Worth?
  • Level of Detail—Not the Lowest Level
  • Step 1: The Project's Measurable Goals, Tangible Scope, and Sponsor Criteria
  • Step 2: The Backbone
  • Step 3: The Skeleton
  • Step 4: Additional Dependencies—First Risk Avoidance
  • Step 5: Checking against Project Goals and Scope—Second Risk Avoidance
  • Step 6: Resourcing
  • Step 7: Expert Scrutiny—Third Risk Avoidance
  • Step 8: Time Estimates—Fourth Risk Avoidance
  • Step 9: Duration Reduction without Compromise
  • Step 10: Final Project Risk Assessment—Fifth Risk Avoidance
  • Three Points of Network Insulation
  • Operations versus Project Responsibility—Resource Insulation
  • Project-to-Project Insulation
  • Common Cause versus Special Cause Insulation
  • Setting Project Priorities
  • Two Different Ways to Align Multiple Projects
  • "What If" Analyses on Timelines and Resources
  • Finalizing the Project Schedule and Activation
  • Project Manager Execution Role
  • Resource Manager Execution Role
  • Senior Management Execution Role—Daily Fast-Track Meetings
  • Senior Management Execution Role—Full-Kitting Projects
  • Senior Management in Stage Gate—How to Avoid the Huge Damage
  • Senior Management Execution Role—Portfolio Review Process
  • Distinguishing between Temporary Bottlenecks and Need to Hire/Contract
  • Supervisor and Management Loads
  • Increasing Load on Operations from Project Completion
  • Short-, Medium-, and Long-Term Challenges
  • Software Planning Requirements—Buffers, Global Resources, and Alignment
  • Software Execution Requirements—Buffer Penetration, Project, and Resource Trends
  • Role-Based Software Views
  • Executive Buy-In and Simulations
  • Conclusions
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