Critical Chain Project Management (2nd ed.)

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.

Thiscutting-edge work gives you full understanding of the CCPM techniques, tools,and theory you need to develop critical chain solutions and apply them to alltypes of projects. You get clear instructions on how to build single-projectcritical chain plans and how to stagger projects in a multiple-projectenvironment. You also learn buffer management techniques for avoiding thepitfalls of committing too much or too little to any specific project, and formeeting project time and cost commitments every time. Moreover, the bookintegrates key features of PMBOK (Project Management Body of Knowledge) withcritical chain to help you master key project management skills not covered inother critical chain books, such as scope control and risk management.

Thiseasy-to-follow guide offers you the power to shorten project delivery time,eliminate cost and scheduling over-runs, manage project resources moreefficiently, reduce stress on your project team, and finish projects that meetor exceed expectations. Over 100 illustrations help clarify this innovativemethod that has produced well-documented results in a growing variety ofproject environments.

Contents:

Begin at the Beginning -ProjectSuccess. 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 theSolution - Deciding What to Change. Toward a Core Dilemma. Toward Desired Effects. Solution Feasibility. Determining What to Change To. Summary.

The CompleteSingle-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. Reducing Planned Time (a.k.a. Dictated End Dates). Enterprise Wide Resource Planning. Frequently Asked Planning Questions. Summary.

Developing theEnterprise Multiproject Critical Chain Plan - Identifying the Multiproject Constraint. Exploiting the Multiproject Constraint. Features of Multiproject Critical Chains. Introducing New Projects. Frequently Asked Multiproject Questions. Summary.

Measurement and Controlling the Plan - Project Roles. Buffer Management. Cost Buffer. Quality Measurement. Responding to the Buffer Signals. Milestones. Change-Control Actions. Frequently Asked Measurement-and-Control Questions. Summary.

Implementing the Change to CCPM - Implementation Model. Vision of the End. Implementation Theory. To Pilot or Not to Pilot? Plan the Change. Move Ahead! Measure and Control Implementation. What If Implementation Progress Stalls? Summary.

Project Risk Management- Defining Project Risk Management. Risk Management Process. Identifying Risks. Planning to Control Risks. References.

Theory of Constraints Thinking Process Applied to Project Management - Synthesizing the Principles. Applying Goldratt’s Thinking Process to Project Management. Current Reality Tree. Prerequisite Tree. Transition Tree. The Mutliproject Process. Future Directions. Summary. Conclusion.

Glossary. List of Acronyms. About the Author. Index.

Lawrence P. Leach ispresident of Advanced Projects, Inc. and a certified Project ManagementProfessional (PMP). He received his M.S.ME. from the University of Connecticutand his M.B.A. from the University of Idaho.