› Introduction

Critical Chain has been described as the most significant new development in project management methodology for forty years. It is used by some of the world's leading corporations and has been proven to deliver phenomenal improvements in ensuring projects are delivered on time, to budget and scope, as well as making peoples working lives easier through reducing 'fire fighting' and multi-tasking. The Levee two day Critical Chain workshop is targeted for programme managers, project managers and other key-people working in a project environment who want to:

• Dramatically reduce project lead times e.g. "time-to-market" of a new product's development, or to ensure the critical launch dates of new IT-infrastructure are met.
• Increase productivity without increasing costs
• Establish effective resource prioritisation across a project portfolio
• Complete more projects, faster and consistently on time while meeting original specifications

This workshop will explain how Critical Chain can be used quickly and simply to realise these objectives within most project environments and gives a detailed action plan for achieving success. Any organisation aiming to become a market leader will find Critical Chain is an essential prerequisite to success.

" Projects managed using the Critical Chain method have been shown to have a far greater chance of delivering the required outputs on time and on budget."
The Definitive Guide to Project Management - Financial Times' Publication (2003)

› Form and Content

The workshop begins by looking at how certain key issues in all project environments frequently conspire to make it extremely challenging to successfully complete projects. Through this understanding, the Critical Chain method is introduced to participants and its application to single project and multi-project environments demonstrated.

The workshop then uses Levee's practical experience in successfully applying the concepts to real life situations to look at both the planning and execution stages of the project life-cycle. Key considerations to be taken into account when using the method are addressed and the challenges and pitfalls of implementations are highlighted through a series of case studies.

The role of software is also looked at. What is on the market? How do they compare? Which should be applied where? An objective overview is given of the current products on the market and their application demonstrated.

By the end of the workshop participants will have a thorough understanding of the method and its potential benefits, seen how it can be applied and will have a step by step guide for implementation within their organisation.

› Outline Agenda

• Current project management challenges
• What is the cause of these challenges?
• How do we make the situation worse?
• What are the criteria for a new approach?
• The Critical Chain Solution
  • Single Project
  • Multi-Project
• Planning Projects
  • Key considerations
• Project Execution:
  • Project Managers Role
  • Resource Managers Role
  • Task Managers Role
  • Portfolio Management
• Supporting software
• An implementation guide
• Challenges and pitfalls
  • Case studies

› Workshop Facilitators

Levee workshops are all presented by experienced accredited facilitators who have successfully implemented the concepts in a wide range of organisations. Using their extensive experience they are able to deliver practical benefits and insights for the participants.