LEAN SCHEDULING

Their.investigation.discovered.that.project.teams.used.a.lot.of.different.

ways.to.plan.their.projects.. Some.teams.used.detailed.schedules,.while.

other.groups.only.planned.the.major.milestones..Planning.in.many.cases.

led.to.problems.in.project.execution..The.plans.quickly.got.out.of.date.and.

became.unreliable.as.sources.of.information.about.a.team’s.progress..Since.

project.managers.developed.the.plans,.the.teams.did.not.have.much.vis-ibility.into.how.the.plans.were.developed.and.did.not.take.ownership.for.

living.up.to.the.plan..It.was.no.surprise.that.the.plans.that.did.exist.often.

fell.apart.in.mid-development.

One. key. finding. was. that. product. developers. often. had. to. fight. fires.

because. their. stakeholders. reconsidered. key. decisions.. In. fact,. a. fire. in.

one.place.could.trigger.a.fire.someplace.else,.simply.because.the.team.lost.

focus.on.the.entire.project.and.accidentally.started.a.new.fire.while.they.

put.out.the.original.fire..Suzanne.says,

We. came. to. the. conclusion. that. plans. should. make. sure. that. decisions.

Level 0.is.the.Milestone.Schedule..It.outlines.all.of.the.major.milestones.

and.checkpoints.that.the.project.team.must.hit.if.they.are.going.to.

Level 1.is.an.overview.of.the.Key.Decisions.for.the.project..Unlike.Level.0,.

Level.1.is.built.specifically.for.each.project..Every.Level.1.looks.differ-ent..The.key.decisions.are.defined.and.put.in.a.sequence.and.relation.

to.each.other.to.build.the.development.logic..The.team.will.identify.

the.knowledge.required.to.make.each.of.the.decisions,.leading.to.work.

packages.(sets.of.activity.to.acquire.the.knowledge).at.Level.2.

Level 2.shows.the.Major.Activities.and.Deliverables.over.the.next.two.

to.three.months.that.the.team.needs.to.complete.in.order.to.hit.the.

Philips: Comprehensive Lean Scheduling  •  111

updated.once.per.month,.when.the.team.adjusts.the.plans.already.

made.for.the.first.two.months.and.then.adds.the.third.month.

Level 3.is.the.Detailed.Plan,.and.it.only.goes.two.to.three.weeks.out..This.

plan.shows.the.immediate.action.items.that.the.team.is.working.on.

right.now,.in.order.to.finish.the.major.activities.and.deliverables.of.

Level.2.on.time..It.may.be.in.the.form.of.a.gridded.time.line.with.days.

across.the.top.and.sticky.notes.to.represent.tasks,.or.it.may.be.kept.as.

a.simple.list.with.the.action.item,.owner(s),.and.due.date..This.list.gets.

updated.frequently—as.often.as.every.day.and.at.least.once.a.week.

Philips

Level 0Level 1Level 2Level 3

Person A

Decision IPD Milestone

TFC IPP

Lean Scheduling

Person B Person C Person D

FIGURE 9.2

Levels.of.Lean.Schedules.

ViSUAL PRoJect PLAnS

Good.visual.project.plans.have.these.common.elements:

•. Visual.project.plans.have.a.home,.and.all.stakeholders.know.

where.it.is..The.home.is.big.enough.to.keep.the.most.essential.

team.information.visible.without.having.to.open.anything.or.

look.behind.anything..The.home.can.take.many.forms..It.could.

be.a.physical.home.such.as.a.dedicated.conference.room.or.a.

virtual.home.such.as.a.team.website.

•. Visual. project. plans. include. only. the. information. essen-tial. to. running. the. project.. If. a. tool. doesn’t. apply,. it’s. not.

included..This.is.in.direct.conflict.to.most.standard.product.

development. processes. that. consist. of. lists. of. deliverables.

to. be. produced. for. each. phase,. sometimes. ordered. into. a.

prepopulated. Gantt. chart..It.is.amazing. how.much.time. a.

project.manager.can.spend.updating.and.maintaining.these.

deliverables.

•. The.information.flow.of.the.visual.plan.is.evident.in.the.layout.

and.structure.of.the.plan..It.is.clear.how.the.project.goals.will.

accomplish.the.team’s.mission,.and.how.milestones.will.drive.

accomplishment.of.the.goals..Tasks.at.one.level.relate.to.the.

tasks.at.levels.above.and.below..In.a.well-designed.visible.plan,.

a.person.new.to.the.project.can.start.at.one.corner.of.the.plan.

and. follow. the. flow. of. information. to. the. end.. By. the. time.

someone.has.read.the.entire.plan,.he.or.she.also.has.a.good.

grasp.of.the.project.

•. Visual.project.plans.answer. the. “why”. question. as.deeply. as.

they.answer.“what”.and.“how”.questions..This.is.important.for.

keeping.the.team.in.alignment,.especially.as.the.project.enters.

into.its.busiest.phases.when.it.is.easy.to.forget.the.reasons.that.

the.project.was.funded..The.project.team’s.goals.and.objectives.

are. kept. front. and. center. so. that. the. team. has. the. constant.

reminder.that.this.project.is.linked.to.real.business.results..This.

helps.them.make.the.right.decisions.

Philips: Comprehensive Lean Scheduling  •  113

One.of.the.major.problems.with.project.planning.in.product.develop-ment.is.that.the.volume.of.changes.is.overwhelming..If.one.attempts.to.

track. a. product. development. program. of. any. complexity. using. Gantt.

charts,.a.weekly.status.update.can.require.hours.of.work.by.the.project.

manager.to.bring.the.Gantt.chart.in.alignment.with.current.reality..Since.

Gantt.charting.software.automatically.adjusts.everything.as.the.schedule.

changes,.milestones.get.moved.that.shouldn’t.be.moved,.sometimes.with-out.the.project.manager.or.the.team.noticing.that.dates.have.changed..This.

encourages. product. development. program. managers. to. avoid. detailed.

planning,.which.makes.it.easy.for.schedule.risks.to.go.unrecognized.until.

it’s.too.late.to.fix.them.

With.this.multilevel.model,.the.detailed.plans.that.change.the.most.

are.the.easiest.to.change:.Simply.move.sticky.notes.around.or.re-sort.

the.activity.list..At.the.same.time,.the.major.milestones.remain.fixed.

in.a. visible.location.. If. the. team. changes. the. schedule. so. much. that.

they.cannot.meet.a.schedule.requirement.in.the.next.tier.up,.they.will.

discover.it.as.soon.as.they.adjust.their.plans..When.low-level.activi-ties.are.broken.into.days,.slippages.and.schedule.risks.have.no.place.

to.hide.