When there is more than one.
WHAT MAKES IT DIFFICULT
Shared people Competing priorities No single view of commitments
WHAT TO ESTABLISH FIRST
A list of everything in progress.
WHY
Most organisations cannot say what they are working on.
WHAT TO RECORD FOR EACH
Objective Owner Status When it is due Who is working on it
WHAT TO ESTABLISH SECOND
Priority order.
WHY ORDER RATHER THAN CATEGORIES
Everything labelled high priority means nothing is.
WHO SHOULD SET IT
Whoever can decide between competing demands.
WHAT TO DO ABOUT PEOPLE ON SEVERAL PROJECTS
Recognise the cost of switching between them.
WHAT THAT COST IS
Substantial, and consistently underestimated.
WHAT TO PREFER
Fewer projects, finished, rather than many in progress.
WHY
Work in progress delivers nothing until it completes.
WHAT TO LIMIT
How many projects run simultaneously.
WHAT THAT PRODUCES
Faster completion of each.
WHAT TO REVIEW REGULARLY
The portfolio, not individual projects.
WHAT TO ASK
Should this still be happening Is anyone actually working on it What would we stop to accelerate something else
WHAT TO DO ABOUT PROJECTS NOBODY IS PROGRESSING
Stop them formally, or resource them.
WHY FORMALLY
Dormant projects consume attention and appear in reports.
