Improving the Planning System Performance
February 6th, 2006 by HalArticle Series - Project Meeting Protocols
The planning system is likely to become more reliable just because you are giving your attention to reliability; it follows the axiom: what gets measured gets done. However, without deliberate systematic attention to the design of the system planning system performance will settle on a plateau.
Planning (un)reliability is a function of (at least) five factors: dependence, variation, uncertainty, system design, and competence. The processes of making work ready, promising publicly, and reporting complete by announcing when you are done are usually sufficient for building competence for operating as last planners within the system. The acts of promising, re-promising, and estimating times to perform build the capability for doing those actions more competently through time. Using the Project Meeting Protocols (mentioned in previous postings) improves performance. But there is generally more to improve beyond what individuals responsibilities.
At least once every three weeks conduct a meeting with the project team to review the accumulated reasons for plan failure.
One significant impact on group performance is the design of the project. For instance, if work has been fractionalized by specialty, then the effects of dependence (you can't start 'til I finish) are increased. One of the usual (greatest) reasons for planning failure is the prior work of others wasn't completed. Often times work can be structured in a way that decouples one person's work from another. That, in turn, increases the reliability of the project. Another common reason is a constraint was uncovered once the task was started. This would point to a failure of the make-ready process of look-ahead planning.
What can you do? At least once every three weeks conduct a meeting with the project team to review the accumulated reasons for plan failure. Organize the reasons for failure in a Pareto chart. Look at both the frequency of the failures and the significance of the failures. Use CEDAC or other problem-solving approaches to understand the underlying causes of the failures. Decide in the meeting what actions you will take to eliminate the underlying reasons for the planning failures. Follow-up on each of the actions each week until all have been accomplished.
Regular attention to the functioning of the whole planning system can make the difference between just good performance and a project that is a real joy for all involved.
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