Lean-Driven Project Management: Q&A

A Lean Champion, Norbert has published his first book ("Lean-driven Innovation") and has spoken at many conferences in the United States and other countries.

  Agile   Change Management   Innovation   Manufacturing   Quality   Work Breakdown Structures (WBS)  

Our webinar Lean-Driven Project Management shared some lean principles and practices and gave examples of how they could be used in a large variety of projects. Here, the presenter continues the conversation with this Q&A session that followed his presentation.

1. It is great to have something to improve PM, such as lean. But many people do not understand what lean is; many regard it related to IT. What is the meaning of "lean" in a bigger context? What has PMI said about lean being fitted to all industries? 
Lean principles have been applied by many different industries: manufacturing, services, government. The key is to understand the principles and correctly apply them where there is an opportunity. There are many opportunities in PM.

2. Does the chief engineer represent the role of project manager in Wa methodology?
Not sure I understand “Wa” methodology. The Toyota chief engineer has full responsibility for both the car specification and the creation of the car. The position is a technical one and project manager, with people from functions assigned to the chief engineer similar to how we would assign engineers to a project team.

3. When you refer to managing people (w/o authority), are you referring to self-organized resources?
No, not really. I refer to a project manager who manages a team of functional experts for the …

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