Our paper looking at the scheduling challenges in agile and distributed projects has been published in the February 2003 edition of PM World Journal: https://pmworldjournal.com/ [1]
Critical path theory is based on an assumption that to deliver a project successfully there is one best sequence of activities to be completed in a pre-defined way. Consequently, this arrangement of the work can be modelled in a logic network. However, while CPM has proved to be an effective controls tool for many types of projects, it is equally apparent the CPM paradigm does not apply to a wide range of other project types including soft projects and distributed projects.
The focus of this paper is to:
- Briefly define the management assumptions that support the use of CPM scheduling, its origins, and limitations
- Develop a classification framework of project characteristics to help define the potential usefulness of CPM scheduling
- Briefly describe some of the management approaches currently used in non-CPM projects including agile and lean, their benefits and limitations
- Consider the application of the framework discussed above applied to a typical wind farm project
- Develop general recommendations for the management of non-CPM projects focused on optimizing the efficient use of resources.
Based on this foundation, two additional papers will look at:
- Implementing a robust system for reporting progress and predicting completion in agile and distributed projects that can be applied to any class of project.
- Assessing delay and disruption in agile and distributed projects where the use of a CPM schedule is not viable.
Download Scheduling Challenges in Agile & Distributed Projects: https://mosaicprojects.com.au/PDF_Papers/P208_Scheduling_Challenges_in_Agile_+_Distributed_Projects.pdf [2]
For more on this topic see: https://mosaicprojects.com.au/PMKI-SCH-010.php#Issues-A+D [3]