Page 176 - DCAP304_DCAP515_SOFTWARE_PROJECT_MANAGEMENT

Software Project Management

Notes Critical Chain approach is perhaps the most important new development in project scheduling
in the last 30 years. Used properly, the Critical Chain approach is an extremely powerful means
of gaining more predictability, productivity and speed from your project plans. It has been
found to be an effective tool to protect projects from uncertainty.

Task Explain in a group of four in your words that by using the Critical Chain Method,
how the projects can be completed more quickly?
Self Assessment

Fill in the blanks:
5. CCPM (Critical Chain Project Management) puts more emphasis on the resources required
to …………………….. project.

6. …………………… durations (providing worst-case estimates) is done to ensure a high
probability of task completion.
7. Critical Chain approach is perhaps the most important new development in
……………………. in the last 30 years.

9.3 Critical Chain Project Management Approach

The CCPM approach is identical to the TPM approach up to the point where the project network
diagram is defined and the critical path is identified. The traditional project manager would next
conduct a resource leveling exercise targeting resource usage on the critical path. At this point,
the critical chain project manager develops the critical chain plan. In the discussion that follows,
we describe each of the CCPM planning steps for you by way of a simple example. We will use
as an example the project shown in Figure 9.2.

Step 1: Creating the Early Schedule Project Network Diagram

Figure 9.2 shows the early schedule for a simple seven-task project same as TPM might make.

Figure 9.2: The Early Schedule

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