The School of Business and Social Sciences at Universidad ORT Uruguay Raúl Bianchi, Director of Grupo Trúput (an organization that implements management solutions), who delivered a lecture titled “Is It Possible to Finish Projects on Time? – Critical Chain Project Management,” in which he explained how to apply the Theory of Constraints to optimize project management within organizations. The event, which was part of the Management and Business Series, took place on August 6, 2013, in the auditorium of the Pocitos Campus.
The Critical Chain methodology stems from the Theory of Constraints and is used by numerous organizations: the U.S. Air Force, Aluminios del Uruguay, UTE, Ancap, American Chemical, and INCA are just a few examples.
The expert discussed four categories of organizations: simple, complicated, complex, and chaotic. “The Theory of Constraints is a management approach that adds significant value in dealing with complicated and complex situations. Although it employs cause-and-effect tools, it also uses other tools that can accurately predict outcomes,” said Bianchi, referring to the various ways of managing uncertainty
He then showed a video demonstrating how organizations can manage “bottlenecks.” The first image shows a bottle being turned upside down to let the water out. It takes 19 seconds for the bottle to empty, while turbulence builds up inside, causing the flow of liquid to slow down and then resume, allowing the water to flow out. The second bottle is swirled in circles before being turned upside down. This creates a vortex and a flow pattern that allows the water to exit. In this case, it takes only 12 seconds for the bottle to empty. In the third example, a straw is placed in the bottle and blown into before turning it upside down. There is speed and predictability, and the bottle empties in just five seconds.
“In organizations, there is always a constraint—or bottleneck—something that limits peak performance,” the engineer stated, adding: “The constraint determines the maximum potential. And whether or not we are addressing it depends on each organization.” That constraint determines the rate at which our company generates profits. Through a process of continuous improvement, he asserts, we must first identify the constraint in order to improve our procedures.
Bianchi argues that one of the factors that cause organizations to fail is setting specific deadlines for completing tasks. In general, when setting deadlines, people tend to push back the due date as a precaution. However, this results in goals being met later because tasks are also started later.
Bianchi spoke about “Parkinson’s Law,” which states that work fills all the time available. He also discussed “Student Syndrome,” which encourages people to start working at the last minute; “task integration,” which implies that one task must be finished before another can begin; and “multitasking.” Each task has a buffer (extra time in case something happens), but, according to Bianchi, this time is wasted due to the aforementioned bad habits.
What can be done to change these results? “First, adopt some best practices to eliminate silly unforeseen issues right from the start… stop measuring compliance based on time,” Bianchi explains.
He recommends that during execution, there should be no specific deadlines to meet, only the maximum timeframe set for that project. “There are no intermediate deadlines. (The deadline) is only used for planning,” he says. “I want you to think of a likely but unlikely estimate. What I’m asking for is a bare, unfiltered explanation,” he adds. Critical tasks generally account for 10% of the total tasks. There are very few of them, and that is where the focus must be placed, he notes.
He insists that we shouldn’t focus on deadlines, but rather on ensuring that the agreed-upon tasks are completed exactly as agreed. “Your job is to do what we agreed on. And if anything comes up, let me know. Your job is to let me know about any obstacles that are preventing you from moving forward,” he said.
Bianchi also offered some advice to those in attendance. First, for those who are launching new projects, his advice is to “shift from measuring by deadline adherence to measuring by the effort expended. To do this, make aggressive estimates.”
On the other hand, for those who already have projects underway, he suggested setting aside a buffer of resources some time before the next task begins. “I need to keep updating the next resource so it’s ready to go. And cut down on multitasking.”
https://youtu.be/TajoNY8wVxo?si=CpIQlAkoc0ORqD2M