[18] Anatomy of a Robust Project Plan

The next figure illustrates many of the features that make up a robust project plan. Specifically, the tasks of the primary sequence of the plan are identified, as are the tasks of the component sequences. Further, the component tolerances and, more importantly, the project tolerance are included as integral parts of the plan. Finally, the commitment date is clearly indicated, after having been selected so as to provide an appropriately high level of confidence that the project can be delivered on or before the commitment date.



However, the most important of these features cannot be shown by any figure. The most important features of a robust project plan are the plan’s four forms of accuracy: accuracy with respect to deliverables, …logistics, …duration, and …budget. These features are the result of discipline, your and that of your superiors.

This concludes the Robust Project Design content. As I stated clearly at the beginning, good project plans are absolutely necessary for successful operations, but they are in no way sufficient. Today, the widespread use of the matrix management model ensures that the single-project model is little more than a recipe for disappointment. For truly effective operations in product development today, we need a multiproject management approach. This will be the focus of the future writings.

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