in well developed timing plans and generally not so well thought out risk management plans. There are project managers who will try anything to cling on to the timing plan they developed at the start of the project whilst everything else falls apart around them.

So where should you start? Well everything starts with the customer who benefits from the end result of th

From the point of view of an outside observer it would appear that every project is doomed to be late, over budget or both. For large public construction projects in the UK such as the Millennium Dome, Wembley Stadium and more recently the London Underground refit, this would truly appear to be the case.

Even on a smaller scale many product development projects tend be misguided in what they will achieve within the planned time frame. There are normally a number of stock excuses for such a failing. These can range from “There was an unexpected change made by the customer”, “We underestimated the amount of time required” or even “We didn’t understand the risks involved”.

In the arena of customer / supplier projects there seems to be an increasing trend to win the project and then worry about how to deliver within the cost, timing and quality later. This normally results in compromised delivery for the customer or sometimes financial losses to the supplier.

In a study by TBC (Tylee-Birdsall & Co) it was determined using the value mapping procedure that most technical design projects could theoretically be completed in half the time if they were managed perfectly and there was no rework required. If we therefore assume that most projects are 50% efficient we can easily bring this up to 80% or even higher if methods to reduce rework and delays were put in place.

Most project management training courses concentrate on time and risk management. This results in well developed timing plans and generally not so well thought out risk management plans. There are project managers who will try anything to cling on to the timing plan they developed at the start of the project whilst everything else falls apart around them.

So where should you start? Well everything starts with the customer who benefits from the end result of th

be misguided in what they will achieve within the planned time frame. There are normally a number of stock excuses for such a failing. These can range from “There was an unexpected change made by the customer”, “We underestimated the amount of time required” or even “We didn’t understand the risks involved”.

In the arena of customer / supplier projects there seems to be an increasing trend to win the project and then worry about how to deliver within the cost, timing and quality later. This normally results in compromised delivery for the customer or sometimes financial losses to the supplier.

In a study by TBC (Tylee-Birdsall & Co) it was determined using the value mapping procedure that most technical design projects could theoretically be completed in half the time if they were managed perfectly and there was no rework required. If we therefore assume that most projects are 50% efficient we can easily bring this up to 80% or even higher if methods to reduce rework and delays were put in place.

Most project management training courses concentrate on time and risk management. This results in well developed timing plans and generally not so well thought out risk management plans. There are project managers who will try anything to cling on to the timing plan they developed at the start of the project whilst everything else falls apart around them.

So where should you start? Well everything starts with the customer who benefits from the end result of th

be an increasing trend to win the project and then worry about how to deliver within the cost, timing and quality later. This normally results in compromised delivery for the customer or sometimes financial losses to the supplier.

In a study by TBC (Tylee-Birdsall & Co) it was determined using the value mapping procedure that most technical design projects could theoretically be completed in half the time if they were managed perfectly and there was no rework required. If we therefore assume that most projects are 50% efficient we can easily bring this up to 80% or even higher if methods to reduce rework and delays were put in place.

Most project management training courses concentrate on time and risk management. This results in well developed timing plans and generally not so well thought out risk management plans. There are project managers who will try anything to cling on to the timing plan they developed at the start of the project whilst everything else falls apart around them.

So where should you start? Well everything starts with the customer who benefits from the end result of th

oretically be completed in half the time if they were managed perfectly and there was no rework required. If we therefore assume that most projects are 50% efficient we can easily bring this up to 80% or even higher if methods to reduce rework and delays were put in place.

Most project management training courses concentrate on time and risk management. This results in well developed timing plans and generally not so well thought out risk management plans. There are project managers who will try anything to cling on to the timing plan they developed at the start of the project whilst everything else falls apart around them.

So where should you start? Well everything starts with the customer who benefits from the end result of th

in well developed timing plans and generally not so well thought out risk management plans. There are project managers who will try anything to cling on to the timing plan they developed at the start of the project whilst everything else falls apart around them.

So where should you start? Well everything starts with the customer who benefits from the end result of the project. Make sure you understand fully the customer’s expectations for the project. If the project is internal research then make sure you know who all the stakeholders are and find out their expectations. You must also be prepared for expectations to change.

Any project essentially applies a process, or number of processes, to turn a set of data and/or materials into a final product (or products). At each stage different products are created. Therefore a product approach to managing the project can be adopted which is comparable to a manufacturing process. The difference to a manufacturing process is that each project is different. You do not get the opportunity to apply the full project process more than once and therefore it cannot be developed in the same way as a manufacturing process.

This approach is called “product based planning” and is an integral part of methodologies such as PRINCE2 (PRojects IN Controlled Environments). One thing that must be remembered with such a method is that it must remain flexible and allow for change in the project. Change always happens and you must plan to accommodate it.

Once you know what your different product stages are you can then start to look at the tasks required to move from one product to the next and begin to pull together a timing plan. The initial timing plan and tasks list should be viewed as one possible route to a destination. You will need a good vision of the road ahead in order to change the route