Project Management - A suitable system?

The issues in foregoing post can be offset by replacing the conventional linear incremental system by cyclical systems such as Deming-Shewhart cycles. Deming-Shewhart cycle of Plan-Do-Check-Assess described in 1930s is conducive to project management. It is also referred to in PMBOK of Project Management Institute and TCM framework of Institute of Cost Engineers.

The cycle attempts to plan projects in measureable parts, execute them, measure them and take corrective action. Frequency of planning, execution, measurement and correction vary among projects. Thus, the PDCA cycle creates a short-lived system and closes itself at predetermined intervals. Linear incremental systems on the other hand are enduring and intermittently improved at unforeseen contingencies.

Breakdown of project into measureable packages of work is imperative to project management because PDCA management is equivalent to measurement. An enumeration of works on a project is called a Work Breakdown Structure WBS. Works may be measured in three methods:

1. Quantity of work executed and quantity of resource-effort in fixed duration of time.
2. Quantity of work executed and duration consumed for fixed efforts of resources.
3. Duration consumed and quantity of resources at fixed stages of work.

The second model of measurement is generally used in pareto-optimization and operations research. It makes the domain of analysis extremely multi-variate. Resource-efforts seldom remain constant or cyclic in practical projects; hence, this model is not amenable to cyclic system. Controls based on this model constitute Go/No-Go Decisions or Binary Control techniques, wherein trial runs about a method can be used to decide about application of the method to an ensemble.

The third model of measurement is suitable in Post-Control or Retrospective Control techniques. It is by far the most accurate model of measurement and hence followed for commercial operation of projects – to receive and make payments. However, since works are not repetitive, this method is not suitable for implementation of cyclic systems.

By far, the most suitable method is to analyse work done and resources employed in fixed spans of time because time domain is uni-dimensional. All variables can be related to time and cycle frequency can be easily defined in time. Monitoring work on limited periods offers possibility of imposing Steering Control. This has been used in defintion of Meredith-Mantel Cybernetics (2006).

To conclude, it is necessary to measure work for fixed effort before the project (or part thereof), for fixed duration during the project (or part thereof) and for fixed work after the project (or part thereof).