Resource management
How shared people and capacity decide what gets delivered, and why keeping everyone busy slows the whole portfolio down.
Topics: All insights · Constraints and bottlenecks · Resource management · The cost of delay · Portfolio decisions · Value and business cases · Planning and estimating
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The Variability Tax: Why Smoothing Your Work Buys More Speed Than Adding People
Read the piece: The Variability Tax: Why Smoothing Your Work Buys More Speed Than Adding PeopleQueuing theory shows why two teams at the same utilization can wait very differently, and why smoothing the work usually beats adding more people.
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Decision Latency: Why Your Projects Wait Longer for a Yes Than They Spend Being Worked On
Read the piece: Decision Latency: Why Your Projects Wait Longer for a Yes Than They Spend Being Worked OnProjects spend more of their life waiting for a yes than being worked on, and nothing in the reporting counts that time.
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The Case for Smaller Projects: Why Batch Size Decides How Much Value You Capture
Read the piece: The Case for Smaller Projects: Why Batch Size Decides How Much Value You CaptureBatch size is usually a delivery habit, not a decision. Priced as an economic choice, the big batch costs more, and pays back later than the small one.
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The Efficiency Paradox: Why Busy Teams and Waiting Work Go Together
Read the piece: The Efficiency Paradox: Why Busy Teams and Waiting Work Go TogetherWorkflow efficiency often ends up measuring how busy people are. Flow efficiency measures how much of a work item's life is spent being worked on.
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The Utilization Trap: Why 100% Busy Is the Slowest Way to Run a Portfolio
Read the piece: The Utilization Trap: Why 100% Busy Is the Slowest Way to Run a PortfolioA road jams long before it is full, and so does a team. Why ninety-five percent busy is the slowest way to run a portfolio.
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Start Less to Finish More: The Case for a Portfolio Work-in-Progress Limit
Read the piece: Start Less to Finish More: The Case for a Portfolio Work-in-Progress LimitA portfolio where everything has started is not moving faster. Little's law shows why: the fix is a work-in-progress limit, not more effort.