The normal practice to manage project timelines is to have contingencies built into the project. What if the project have been designed stripped of such contingencies, any methods or approaches that can be considered to conceive time without extending the project timelines? Saving Changes...
Financial Management Specialist | US Peace CorpsYaounde, Centre, Cameroon
It gets complicated when contingencies aren't factored in...
To an extend, a redesigning may be necessary
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1 reply by Mohamed Akmal Mohamed Ayub
Feb 04, 2021 8:46 AM
Mohamed Akmal Mohamed Ayub
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The contingencies were not left out. They were built in but the client wanted the contingencies to be removed thus shortening the project dramatically but I am aware it came at a huge risk.
What can be reconsidered in the redesign of the timeline without changing the end date ? (Client outright refuse to consider this) Project crashing was considered but it will not change the dependencies thus limiting its usefulness. Any other methods/ideas that will minimise the additional risks that can be potentially added to the project?
It gets complicated when contingencies aren't factored in...
To an extend, a redesigning may be necessary
The contingencies were not left out. They were built in but the client wanted the contingencies to be removed thus shortening the project dramatically but I am aware it came at a huge risk.
What can be reconsidered in the redesign of the timeline without changing the end date ? (Client outright refuse to consider this) Project crashing was considered but it will not change the dependencies thus limiting its usefulness. Any other methods/ideas that will minimise the additional risks that can be potentially added to the project? Saving Changes...
Rule #74 in NASA's hundred rules for PMs states "All problems are solvable in time, so make sure you have enough schedule contingency-if you don't, the next project manager that takes your place will."
Having a client strip out all contingency is a failure of risk management. As PMs, we need to always help our clients do the "right thing" even if that is not their first impulse and proceeding to lead a project where you know there is no contingency for risk realization is setting yourself, your team and your client up for failure.
In such cases, if the client remains adamant, you need to make THEM accountable for schedule delays which were the result of realized, identified risks.
If you are in this situation, if scope cannot be re-negotiated, then schedule compression techniques such as fast tracking or crashing the schedule could be assessed but they all come at a cost.
In our project Client is doing same as we are M&E contractor, Civil contractor is delayed in giving the hand over of metro station and wayside area and civil contractor has used the all the schedule contingency from the master schedule but Customer is adamant to push us to meet the end date. The basic problem I realised that they are not ready to accept the reality that project is delayed. Basic PM rule to have realistic plan but some customers does not want to face the reality Saving Changes...
George FreemanThought Leader | Author | Architect| Florida, United States
If you are prevented from “buying time,” then you can consider the following (as examples):
- Reexamine the work products using architectural expertise, finding variant approaches to realize them (as end-state imagined) in a condensed timeframe.
- If the funds/resources exist (as stated by Kiron), then create a parallel development stream for independent work products (i.e. Fast Tracking), or crash it by adding additional resources to your currently planned work products (an idea that normally gives a literal meaning to the word “crash”).
- Find work products (e.g. a maintenance application if software development) that can be deferred to a future phase without affecting the critical objectives / value propositions.
- On the more negative side: [A] Refactor/tailor the objectives with your business owner, creating the development room you need. [B] Allow your business owner to redefine success – did I just say that (tongue-in-cheek). Saving Changes...
in this situation, schedule compression techniques such as fast-tracking or crashing should be the way to accomplish the project timeline as it was planned. Saving Changes...
Taking out all contingencies usually equates to planning to finish late. Other than fast-tracking, or crashing the schedule, about the only other solution is to de-scope the project. All the nice to have but not must have items are eliminated. That usually doesn't make the customer happy.
This situation is an example of why teams will hide their contingency planning, and why PMs often limit how transparent they are with the client.
While it is bad to have contingency built in at every level of the WBS, if teams know that the PM isn't building in any contingency, they will pad their estimates themselves.
To avoid this situation, PMs will often limit how much detail is shared with the client. Otherwise, they will try to manage your project for you, like they did in this case. The published schedule may be at a higher level than the working level schedule to limit the client's ability to try and question and renegotiate every task, or to try and line-item-veto parts of the plan, like your contingency planning.
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1 reply by George Freeman
Feb 04, 2021 4:08 PM
George Freeman
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Hi Keith,
Thank you for being transparent and presenting the reality of the “corporate politic” in project modeling. We don’t want to mention it, but we would be abdicating our responsibility as an accountable project manager if we didn’t consider this element and ethically adapt our presentations and approaches accordingly.
The corporate politic is the mechanism for executing “change” in an enterprise, and “we” as project managers are in the business of “change.” Hence, it’s incumbent on us to understand its flow; otherwise, we might be swimming up-stream, eventually running out of energy and succumbing to exhaustion – well, you get the picture.
Great points!
Saving Changes...
Sergio Luis ConteHelping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based OrganizationsBuenos Aires, Argentina
While I am a big fan of magic, If you believe in magic then you are lost. On the other side, the method to work based on contingencies or anything you can take as constraints is constraints based planning that was created in ´50 inside manufacturing with basement on mathematical theory of operative investigation and was taken time after by Eliyahu M. Goldratt in Critical Chain. Saving Changes...
George FreemanThought Leader | Author | Architect| Florida, United States
Feb 04, 2021 1:38 PM
Replying to Keith Novak
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Taking out all contingencies usually equates to planning to finish late. Other than fast-tracking, or crashing the schedule, about the only other solution is to de-scope the project. All the nice to have but not must have items are eliminated. That usually doesn't make the customer happy.
This situation is an example of why teams will hide their contingency planning, and why PMs often limit how transparent they are with the client.
While it is bad to have contingency built in at every level of the WBS, if teams know that the PM isn't building in any contingency, they will pad their estimates themselves.
To avoid this situation, PMs will often limit how much detail is shared with the client. Otherwise, they will try to manage your project for you, like they did in this case. The published schedule may be at a higher level than the working level schedule to limit the client's ability to try and question and renegotiate every task, or to try and line-item-veto parts of the plan, like your contingency planning.
Hi Keith,
Thank you for being transparent and presenting the reality of the “corporate politic” in project modeling. We don’t want to mention it, but we would be abdicating our responsibility as an accountable project manager if we didn’t consider this element and ethically adapt our presentations and approaches accordingly.
The corporate politic is the mechanism for executing “change” in an enterprise, and “we” as project managers are in the business of “change.” Hence, it’s incumbent on us to understand its flow; otherwise, we might be swimming up-stream, eventually running out of energy and succumbing to exhaustion – well, you get the picture.
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