TOCICO

Critical chain project management (CCPM), from the earliest beginnings to one of the major shifts in project management over the last forty years, represents a paradigm shift in project management and one that is still being explored. CCPM is not just about managing projects or about managing programmes. CCPM is a business methodology that challenges the way you do business, the way you manage people, the way you engage with clients and suppliers – it is a systemic way of managing in the project environment if not THE way to manage! There are software systems, training systems, implementation systems all designed to help you implement and manage according to CCPM principles BUT despite all the success that has been achieved there are still three areas to be addressed: 1. The people dimension. a. This is about developing internal people to maintain and sustain the progress – always challenging the status quo, never satisfied with 'now' and looking to what must be done tomorrow, this is a leadership role rather than a management one. We have too many managers and not enough leaders. Leaders are people who can inspire, who can encourage, who can help to draw out of those around hidden potential, leadership is a necessary condition for any organization and that includes project driven ones. b. It is also about managing the change process – this is where coaching comes in – working with each individual, sitting alongside, helping them to overcome the barriers they perceive will prevent them from moving forward. This is about helping those involved to see just how the changes will affect them, and allow them to be what they wanted to be in the first place – good project managers, good resource managers, good engineers and so on. This is about releasing the potential within each person and using that potential to gain significant economic advantage and secure jobs into the future. 2. The metric dimension. a. It is an old cliché but if the measures don’t change neither will much else – and still many people even within successful CCPM organizations have not thought through the metric changes required. So a short part about the importance of changing the metrics for any chance of a successful implementation, 3. Sustaining the progress. a. The technology does not sustain progress, people do, so invest in the people, recruit the best when needed, train them, coach them, allow them to make mistakes, and above all train and coach them to make really informed choices.