Completing Projects Faster at a LOWER Cost

This is an excerpt form a longer article.  Read the complete article here:

http://www.auxilium-inc.com/Completing-Projects-Faster.htm

When businesses have plenty of money and clearly see the benefit of completing projects more quickly, it’s easy to just throw money at certain projects because the ROI is favorable. During a recession this is a tougher decision because funds are more limited and business leaders must spend more cautiously.

Wouldn’t it be nice to get projects completed faster and at a lower cost? This might seem far-fetched but the reality is that most organizations have the potential to achieve faster cycles times while reducing their spending on projects.  This was discovered by Preston Smith and Don Reinertsen during the research for their book Developing Products in Half the Time, New Rules, New Tools.

The situation gets worse for many companies during a recession because spending cuts often hinder productivity and increase project cycle times.

The best possible results are achieved by eliminating wasteful activities and implementing rapid development methodology. Outcomes must first be defined in terms of measurable financial gains and the ideal target for completion time. Is the objective to increase the cycle time with reduced spending, the same level of spending, or slightly increased spending? How fast can you afford to go, knowing that the quickest possible cycle time is very expensive?

Other questions must also be answered:

• What is the cost of delay?
• What are the bottlenecks that affect cycle time?
• What deficiencies in the development process impact cycle time and cost?
• Are you using the best lifecycle model to achieve rapid completion time?
• Who is actively ensuring maximum efficiency for the given cycle time goals?
• Do your risk management practices enable your team to achieve best-case results?

If these are not easy questions to answer and resolve, investing in the assessment and solutions for both short-term and long-term results is well worth the money.  Do you think your company has potential to improve cycle times AND reduce project costs?