From the category archives:

CPM

Scrum: Inspect and Adapt

by Hal on June 27, 2007

in CPM, Language Action Perspective, Last Planner, agile, collaboration, design, project planning

A lean construction consultant learns Scrum Development. It’s eye-opening!

{ 0 comments }

Why Do Deadlines Matter?

by Hal on May 24, 2007

in CPM, leadership, project control, project planning, project scheduling

Stanford Professor Jeffrey Pfeffer makes a strong case that deadlines are the friend of accomplishment.

{ 5 comments }

What’s Progressive about CPM?

by Hal on November 19, 2006

in CPM, Language Action Perspective, PM practice

CPM scheduling is back in the press. This time with a big-name backer.

{ 5 comments }

Pull Scheduling Lessons from a Paper Machine Rebuild, Paul Reiser

by Hal on September 23, 2005

in CPM, Last Planner, construction, lean

Planned shutdown maintenance of large capital facilities appears to be an ideal situation for lean construction approaches. The Boldt Company share their experience — both successes and failures — on their first attempt rebuilding a paper machine. There’s plenty of learning for all of us doing lean projects. Read on…

{ 1 comment }

No Critical Path! What Is a Project Manager to Do?

by Hal on February 10, 2004

in CPM, PM practice

If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Our common sense understanding of projects has us believe there is a critical path that must be followed if we are to be successful on our project. Many contracts require that an ‘accurate representation of project priorities’ be represented [...]

{ 2 comments }

CPM: What Do You Prefer?

by Hal on January 11, 2004

in CPM, PM practice, PMBoK, PMI, project planning, project scheduling

Over a year ago I published a series of postings on the critical path method that produced all kinds of comments and emails from readers. I collected those postings into a two-page article that I published on this site as CPM: Fool Me Once, Fool Me Twice. Shortly thereafter, Greg Howell caught some [...]

{ 0 comments }

Reframe Your Role for Lean Project Delivery

by Hal on December 31, 2003

in CPM, lean

I received this email today. As I prepared a reply, I decided to share it with readers of this weblog. I started answering with the mechanics of delivering projects on a lean basis, but then it occurred to me that one needs to see their role differently to deliver projects with far less [...]

{ 2 comments }

PDF Available of CPM: Fool Me Once, Fool Me Twice

by Hal on October 8, 2002

in CPM, PM practice, project planning, project scheduling

You can find the PDF of CPM: Fool Me Once, Fool Me Twice in the left column of the weblog. Or, get it here .
LPSThe Last Planner System® is a lean approach to planning and delivering projects. It is based on a hierarchy of planning: should, can, will, and did. LPS is [...]

{ 0 comments }

Comments on the Fool Me Once, Twice Comments

by Hal on October 7, 2002

in CPM, PM practice, project planning, project scheduling

Some very thoughtful comments were made on some of the postings from last week’s series on CPM. I urge you to read those comments. Just click on the “(#) Comments” link at the end of each posting wherever you see a number other than “Please Comment”. I urge you to leave [...]

{ 0 comments }

Let’s Not Be Fooled

by Hal on October 4, 2002

in CPM, PM practice, project planning, project scheduling

Planning is conversation.
The future is uncertain and unknowable. Commitments must be adjusted as the future unfolds. Those adjustments can be done by the project manager or anyone on the project team. However, only those people involved in planning the project will be in the position to notice and then assess the need [...]

{ 0 comments }

Fool Me Again and Again!

by Hal on October 3, 2002

in CPM, PM practice, project planning, project scheduling

Task durations depend on the quality of the conversations.
Schedules are not commitment. We have been fooled enough to know that! Just because we say a task is on the critical path doesn’t mean it will get done. Only when the intended performer promises to perform will it get done (and even then, [...]

{ 0 comments }

CPM: Fool Me Again

by Hal on October 2, 2002

in CPM, PM practice, project planning, project scheduling

Task durations vary.
Experienced project managers will tell you the critical path moves on a project. Why? Tasks don’t start and finish as represented in the project schedule. This would be fine if all the performers for critical path tasks were always available to perform on the project, but this is not the [...]

{ 1 comment }

CPM: Fool Me Twice

by Hal on October 1, 2002

in CPM, PM practice, project planning, project scheduling

Task durations are fabrications.
Let’s say you produce a critical path (for whatever reason). The generally accepted approach is to ask each key performer to provide durations for the tasks and the precedence relationships. With this data you can find the longest path through the network of tasks. With this approach you overcome [...]

{ 1 comment }

CPM: Fool Me Once

by Hal on September 30, 2002

in CPM, PM practice, project planning, project scheduling

Task durations are estimates.
The critical path method (CPM) is considered THE standard for managing projects. Customer contracts often require developing and maintaining the critical path schedule in great detail. Universities teach CPM in project management courses. CPM is the primary function of the best-selling project management software. Large plots of project [...]

{ 2 comments }