Comments on: Meetings, Project Portfolio, and Lean http://jrothman.com/blog/mpd/2008/05/meetings-project-portfolio-and-lean.html Management, especially good management, is hard to do. This blog is for people who want to think about how they manage people, projects, and risk. Sat, 22 Nov 2008 02:17:11 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.1 By: Steve Holt http://jrothman.com/blog/mpd/2008/05/meetings-project-portfolio-and-lean.html#comment-9378 Steve Holt Wed, 28 May 2008 18:40:23 +0000 http://jrothman.com/blog/mpd/2008/05/meetings-project-portfolio-and-lean.html#comment-9378 Regarding your search for a reference regarding quality and quantity of management decisions, I first saw this point made by Ajai Kapoor of Realization Technologies at the 2005 Theory of Constrains International Certification Organization annual conference. His point was that as projects are staggered it reduces the decision making multi-tasking of managers and, hence, people reporting to them spend less time waiting for answers and projects complete faster with higher quality. This, in turn, means fewer rework loops and fewer decisions for managers, leading to even faster projects. It creates a "virtuous circle" in which the benefits reinforce each other. You can see references to the point in the Postscripts from Realization's past conferences here: http://www.realization.com/postscripts.htm This has been pseudo-codified within the Critical Chain Project Management community by rules of thumb saying that in a massively multi-tasking project system 25% of all projects should immediately be frozen to provide sufficient time for people (and managers) to get to the tasks that are stacking up-including management decisions. (Some go further and say that first 25% of current projects should be outright canceled since they won't be completed anyway.) Regarding your search for a reference regarding quality and quantity of management decisions, I first saw this point made by Ajai Kapoor of Realization Technologies at the 2005 Theory of Constrains International Certification Organization annual conference. His point was that as projects are staggered it reduces the decision making multi-tasking of managers and, hence, people reporting to them spend less time waiting for answers and projects complete faster with higher quality. This, in turn, means fewer rework loops and fewer decisions for managers, leading to even faster projects. It creates a “virtuous circle” in which the benefits reinforce each other. You can see references to the point in the Postscripts from Realization’s past conferences here: http://www.realization.com/postscripts.htm

This has been pseudo-codified within the Critical Chain Project Management community by rules of thumb saying that in a massively multi-tasking project system 25% of all projects should immediately be frozen to provide sufficient time for people (and managers) to get to the tasks that are stacking up-including management decisions. (Some go further and say that first 25% of current projects should be outright canceled since they won’t be completed anyway.)

]]> By: jim ward http://jrothman.com/blog/mpd/2008/05/meetings-project-portfolio-and-lean.html#comment-9358 jim ward Wed, 28 May 2008 13:27:34 +0000 http://jrothman.com/blog/mpd/2008/05/meetings-project-portfolio-and-lean.html#comment-9358 I am a little confused by the above. I am assuming that you are talking about functional managers as opposed to project managers. I do not believe that managers should be making many decisions about projects. The decision about whether to authorize and staff a project belongs to management. The decision about who should manage the project is also a management decision. After those decisions are made, the project manager should have the authority to make virtually all project related decisions. Maybe I need some specific examples from you about project related decisions that managers are making on a weekly basis. I am a little confused by the above. I am assuming that you are talking about functional managers as opposed to project managers. I do not believe that managers should be making many decisions about projects. The decision about whether to authorize and staff a project belongs to management. The decision about who should manage the project is also a management decision. After those decisions are made, the project manager should have the authority to make virtually all project related decisions. Maybe I need some specific examples from you about project related decisions that managers are making on a weekly basis.

]]> By: Joe Arnold http://jrothman.com/blog/mpd/2008/05/meetings-project-portfolio-and-lean.html#comment-9354 Joe Arnold Wed, 28 May 2008 12:51:54 +0000 http://jrothman.com/blog/mpd/2008/05/meetings-project-portfolio-and-lean.html#comment-9354 I love these tactical methods like these to highlight what is really happening. Useful tool. My previous indicators were merely how stressed-out or frantic they were. I love these tactical methods like these to highlight what is really happening. Useful tool. My previous indicators were merely how stressed-out or frantic they were.

]]> By: Dwayne Phillips http://jrothman.com/blog/mpd/2008/05/meetings-project-portfolio-and-lean.html#comment-9350 Dwayne Phillips Wed, 28 May 2008 11:40:11 +0000 http://jrothman.com/blog/mpd/2008/05/meetings-project-portfolio-and-lean.html#comment-9350 Interesting thoughts. I especially agree with the concept that few decisions are more obvious than many decisions, hence the insecure manager (the one striving to be perfect) would rather make many decisions as hiding poor decisions is easier. My current office has about twice as many projects as we should. The managers cannot seem to cancel any despite all the engineers begging them to. Fear is a tough devil at work. Interesting thoughts. I especially agree with the concept that few decisions are more obvious than many decisions, hence the insecure manager (the one striving to be perfect) would rather make many decisions as hiding poor decisions is easier.

My current office has about twice as many projects as we should. The managers cannot seem to cancel any despite all the engineers begging them to. Fear is a tough devil at work.

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