Overview
Lean Project Management applies Lean Principles to the effective management of project execution. It seeks to reduce and eliminate waste from project management processes which typically cause delays in project execution, leading to increased costs and a poor end-customer experience.
Additional costs are typically incurred on a project when delays occur (for example where external contractors must be retained for a longer period of time than originally planned), or where the scope of the project expands from that agreed at the start of the project.
The Lean wastes which are normally addressed are the wastes of Overproduction (producing what’s not needed or producing it earlier than needed), Overprocessing (duplication/unnecessary work), Waiting (delays) and Defects (work not done right-first-time).
Lean Project Management targets these wastes and improves the end-customer experience by:
- Clarifying the project deliverables by clearly defining the specific project requirements, removing any ambiguity concerning the work required.
- Ensuring that the project governance structure is in place, setting expectations for how project review, reporting and communications are achieved.
- Producing a detailed list of tasks to be achieved and through the medium of the PIT (performance, issues and targets) meeting to review them on a daily basis.
- Communicating specific project assignments to individuals eliminating duplication of work.
- Highlighting upcoming pilot/qualification builds and improving readiness for execution, improving readiness to comlpete them right-first-time.
- Identification of critical path items requiring attention both internally and externally, highlighting these to all stakeholders and following through to prevent silppage in achievement of project goals.
Through Continuous Improvement Lean Project Management introduces improvements (for example, readiness reviews/checklists) which result in more value-add for customers by reducing or eliminating entirely the wastes listed above.
Benefits of Lean Project Management
Benefits arising from Lean Project Management, include:
- enhanced customer experience for direct client and end-customer
- improved internal and external communications
- Reduction in non-value adding activities
- Increased focus on critical path items leading to reduction in delays to the project
Recent results, working with a medical device manufacturer in Ireland, included:
- Improved clarity and visibility for the management team internally and the end-customer’s project team on the status of development of project documentation
- Reduction in non-value add activities
- Improved readiness for project qualification builds
- Improved productivity in contractor team
Learn More
Contact us to learn more about LBSPartners Lean Project Management offering.