Handy Frameworks for Better Project Operations

BACKGROUND

As much as I enjoy writing Mapping or Operations-themed posts that could make for an interesting read, there is a considerable amount of learning that I have to do prior which makes the entire process all the more stimulating for me.

This topic - Handy Frameworks for Better Project Operations - had me revisit the study material from my postgraduate education seven years ago (2014-15). Most of the core subjects in my Global Logistics and Supply Chain Management specialization were crammed in a quadrimester towards the end of the one-year international masters program and while the professors were adept at imparting knowledge, one did not have the time to dwell on the scope and utility of the content.

Figure 1: Spiral-bond Notes from Operations Courses

Akin to a perfume, most of what I had learnt has dissipated over time - with the exception of the subject matter taught by Professor Arvind Subramanyam who was as meticulous about documentation as he was precise in his delivery. To make the learning experience consistent for all, he used to circulate printouts of what he was going to cover in the session with the students and these had to be punched and find their way into a spiral-bound folder without fail.

While this did not go down well with my classmates who wanted to be spared from being instructed like school kids, however, it is this folder which has remained an important point of reference for me, much more than the PowerPoint decks shared by the other faculty, or my own illegible notes for that matter😊.

P.S. I do tend to write an elaborate context - so you may want to jump to the main section or choose to read a particular framework directly from the Section Hyperlinks below-

I have started to believe that the corporate culture here in India resembles my course design. There are scores of tasks to accomplish within unreasonable deadlines and rather than patiently addressing one-task-at-a-time, one is compelled to prioritize, multitask and deploy a 80-20 mindset (which invariably turns to 50-50) and the inefficiencies adversely affect the quality of output (read Flexible-time approach of Scheduling). However, (the lack of) operational acumen is not what corporate leaders highlight in their conferences, rather what one typically hears is along these lines-

Our manufacturing facilities are state-of-the-art
We deploy cutting-edge technologies
We've received investment for X million dollars to be deployed for market expansion
Our commitment to environment and sustainability remains steadfast

The reality is not that rosy though - the pursuit of rapid growth often comes at the expense of sound Operations. Do try evaluating the performance of an organization based on these questions-

How readily and accurately can its staff summarize a project - with dates, timeline, flow, contact points, current stage and subsequent plan of action?
How many times do you have to explain, follow-up or chase a person or a department to obtain the necessary feedback?
How complicated is it to implement new policies, methods or processes at the organization?
How often does its procurement team connect with its suppliers to clarify, revise and share additional information about their quotations?
How often do you have to deal with hierarchy and power centers to push your proposal through?
How often there is a noticeable discontinuity in effectiveness whenever a new joinee replaces the departing one despite having a large notice period with enough scope for extensive knowledge transfer and hand-holding?
How often do you have to share inconsequential information before a matter of concern to you is processed?

I surmise that only a handful of organizations would fare well on these counts. Operationally, these aren't complicated to perform, but the general inability or unwillingness to do so is perturbing. For many organizations these aspects do not even matter as long as the customers continue to buy the product and the salary keeps flowing into the bank account at the beginning of each month.

No wonder, the corporate culture prevalent in India today reeks of self-aggrandizement. Large organizations do not mind paying millions to loathsome scamsters masquerading as Top Tier Consulting firms but hesitate to give adequate compensation to dutiful staff and haggle with desirous suppliers seeking undue favors as if they are slaves. Instead of asking how can you work with us to address this problem we're facing?, the question posed to vendors almost always is how can your solution clean our mess? (Oh, and we are ready to buy it only if your solution comes at a lower price than the one which created the mess in the first place😏). In the paraphrased words of an unabashed Operations Management professor and practitioner, Mr. Boman Moradian, all it takes is an agile, more operationally adept competitor to come in and knock the living daylights out of such elephants.

Structured and Persistent are two words which embody the essence of sound Operations to me. Structured because much of what Operations entails is implementing a systematic method of performing processes, and Persistent because one typically has to pursue the said method in a disciplined manner over a period of time to extract its utility progress towards the desired outcome.

Speaking of Operations as a body of knowledge, while some topics do appear overwhelming, the concepts are rooted in practical wisdom and on the implementation of frameworks - which sits well with me. And it is these frameworks that I had documented in that folder which has remained embedded with me - I have utilized some of them at consulting projects previously and even do so today while operating my firm. Unsurprisingly, they constitute a significant portion of this post.

So let me share with you fifteen such frameworks - categorized under the three phases of a Project, Implementation, Monitoring and Planning - which you may use to understand and/or improve the operations at your organization to good effect. You can download the diagrams and templates from the hyperlinks towards the end of each section.

FRAMEWORKS FOR PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION PHASE

1. AIDAS Theory of Selling - Funnel-based approach to map Sales Operations

AIDAS, an acronym for Attention, Interest, Desire, Action and Satisfaction, entails keeping a tab on the buying journey of customers as it progresses through each of these phases. Doing so helps to determine which phase to focus on and what the customer's priorities are, which helps to set the actionables for the next phase. Utilized by marketing professionals predominantly, the AIDAS framework is a simple and effective tool to improve Sales Operations as well.

The AIDAS framework is shaped as a funnel because the number of prospects get sieved through each phase of the selling cycle - Consider Tom the manufacturer who emails a brochure to 100 prospects to draw their attention/generate awareness (A) about his products. Only 20 respond expressing their interest (I) to opt for a demonstration. After doing so, only 10 exhibit a desire (D) to buy and float a request for quotation. Out of the 10 quotations shared, only 6 are acted upon/accepted (A). Post the delivery, 2 customers opt to return their defective products, leaving 4 customers who are actually satisfied (S) with their purchase.

There are variants of this model such as AIDA, AIDCA and AIDCAS - the crux being if one tracks the buying journey of customers, one can easily categorize them under 3-7 distinct buckets in a funnel-based framework.

Figure 3. AIDAS-based Sales Reporting template that I had prepared for a client - can be downloaded from the link shared below

The key to highly effective Sales Operations, in my opinion, is to inculcate the disciple to document the stages in sufficient detail, monitor it at regular intervals, and to formulate/revise the course of action when the need arises.

Read more on AIDAS Theory of Selling here. Access the template of the framework here.

2. Process Chart - to delineate and measure the time spent towards productive activities

Not to be confused with the Process Flow Chart which is an expanded diagrammatic view, a Process Chart captures the time taken to complete sequential processes in a workflow. Each process is labelled as per its dominant characteristic which can be either of Operation, Transportation, Inspection, Delay/Waiting or Storage. Those processes which directly help in the conversion of input to output are classified as Operation, while the other labels, assigned as applicable, essentially aren't productive to the cause.

Figure 4: Process Chart of an Engineering Workshop. One can use symbols (right) instead of checkmarks as well

Process Cycle Efficiency (Total Process Time spent on Operations ÷ Total Process Time) is a useful metric to understand what portion of time is being spent on productive activities. The objective for an organization is to continually improve the process cycle efficiency by finding ways to reduce the time spent on unproductive activities - elaborated in the SCAMPER section. Do note that cost implications are not considered in the Process Chart, the only thing that is measured is time. As cost tends to be directly proportional to the time spent on performing an activity, lowering the denominator (total process time) is likely to reduce the overall cost of production.

Read more on Process Chart here. Access the template of the framework here.

3. Project Charter - to prepare a broad, albeit exhaustive summary of the project

Project Charter is a neatly structured document which contains an authoritative summary of the project scope, objectives, risks, the people involved, and other relevant details. Once signed as a mark of acceptance by both the supplier and the customer, it can also be considered as a legal agreement.

While the technical definition of a Project Charter can be accessed here, the method of developing it and content to be included within can vary - here is a useful guideline document which you can refer. The template in Figure 4 was shared by my professor - Mr. Arvind Subramanyam, and I use it to this day, not only to summarize consulting projects but also as a means to formally respond to a Request for Quotation (RFQ).

Read more about Project Charter here. Access the template of the framework here. If you choose to use it, do print it on A3 paper (set as default) as it appears more impressive in a large frame.

4. RACI Chart - Matrix to assign responsibility and authority at work

RACI Chart, technically known as Cross-Functional Roles and Responsibility Matrix is a useful way to map who is in charge of what, be it tasks or processes. At large organizations or even those that are scaling up, one can often witness a lack of accountability at one extreme and clashing responsibilities at the other and this matrix helps clarify individual roles and alleviate such issues.

The Chart itself is not complicated to prepare although it must be developed with consensus among the stakeholders. At first, all the unique activities in a project must be identified. Thereafter, each person/team is assigned one (or more) category based on the assumed role towards fulfilling that activity. The four role categories are-

Responsible: One who has the duty to complete the activity. Typically, the process owner(s)
Accountable: One who is responsible for the outcome of the activity
Consulted: One with relevant expertise whose advice can be sought while performing the activity
Informed: One who should be kept updated about the stage of activity and the progress made

Typically, all process blocks are listed vertically and all personnel/designations are listed horizontally. Once the chart is prepared, the output tends to be compelling-

I had modified the RACI Chart in one of my projects to include Organisation Chart, Process Owner, Process Time Taken and Process Dependencies in order to make the document more wholesome-

Figure 7: Modified RACI Template which I had used for a consulting project

Read more on RACI Chart here. Access the modified RACI template here.

5. SIPOC Diagram - to map processes and its key elements

SIPOC, a framework commonly used in Project Management and Six Sigma workflows, is an acronym for Suppliers, Inputs, Project Steps, Outputs and Customer. With a SIPOC Diagram, one can obtain an overview of the processes and its context in terms of the material, information and the resources involved. Creating a SIPOC Diagram entails-

naming a process
defining its starting and ending point
listing the key outputs of the process
defining the customers i.e. those who receive the outputs
arriving at distinct project steps - decisions and/or feedback should not form a part of it
listing key inputs to the process
defining the suppliers i.e. who sends these inputs

Figure 8. SIPOC Diagram snapshot of a construction project

While Customer Acceptance Criteria (refer Figure 7) is typically not documented in a SIPOC Diagram, it is a useful summary of the organization's understanding of the project as well as the expectation of the customer at each stage. Essentially, those aspects where failure to comply with customer preferences would result in rework and additional costs are noted in this section.

The SIPOC Diagram also helps in knowledge transfer in that it can be used to train new joinees or transferred employees. Being a high level document, SIPOC lays the base for more detailed workflows such as the Work Breakdown Structure and Process Flow Chart.

Read more on SIPOC Diagram here. Access the template of the framework here.

FRAMEWORKS FOR PROJECT MONITORING PHASE

6. Postponement Possibilities Framework - to align Production strategy with Product Demand

Postponement happens to be a favorite topic of mine in all of Supply Chain Management - I find the concept to be profound and evaluate organizations from the prism of if/how they utilize it to reap competitive advantage. Essentially, Postponement entails delaying key production or processing activities (and the investment that goes with it) as much as possible till the time the customer confirms the order. There is a cricket analogy which explains this concept beautifully - Postponement is akin to how MS Dhoni chases down a score in a limited overs cricket match - he bides his time and hangs in there till the very end, keeping the required rate just within reach before unleashing his powerful shots in the final overs to put pressure on the bowling contingent and win the game.

Operations-savvy organizations strive to...

predict end-customer demand, by monitoring point-of-sale (PoS) data
continually transition to a more Pull-based supply chain approach (refer Push-based approach)

...because volatility in customer demand reverberates across the supply chain and magnifies as one goes upstream in the network. By adopting Postponement i.e. moving to a Pull-based system, an organization can not only improve its working capital and better serve changing customer expectations but also reduce the Seven Wastes of Lean Production such as overproduction, overprocessing and waiting in its Value Stream.

The framework below highlights the possibilities for adopting Postponement - a manufacturer can visualize where the current Production strategy lies and the options available for him/her to move to a more Pull-based system. For example, Make to Forecast is a pure-Push production strategy at one end of the spectrum where the manufacturer does everything from Design to Distribution prior to the customer order confirmation whereas Engineering to Order is a pure-Pull production strategy which lies at the other end of the spectrum where the manufacturer delays everything from Design to Distribution till the customer order confirmation. The strategies between either ends of the spectrum are a hybrid of Push and Pull - for example, Assembling to Order means that a manufacturer completes designing, purchasing and fabricating activities prior to receiving customer order confirmation whereas subsequent activities such as assembling, packaging and distributing would commence only after receiving customer order confirmation.

Procurement Possibilities Framework - Operations Improvement — Figure 9. Procurement Possibilities Framework. Adapted from Yang & Burns (2003)

Let me emphasize that it is neither necessary nor advisable for all organizations to move to a pure-Pull system of Operations. Rather, they must strive to find a right fit based on

the nature of their industry
the characteristics of their supply chain
and the needs of their customers

The framework does a good job in suggesting the possibilities to re-align the Production strategy based on the evolving customer buying preferences and behaviour as well as based on the prevalent business and competitor strategy.

Read more on Postponement here. Access the framework here.

7. Product Ranking Model - to know which products to sell using the Theory of Constraints

I don't think you would have any hesitation in accepting that the primary goal of any organization which is not in the social service sector is to maximize its profits and everything else - the number of customers, employees, factories etc. holds little relevance if the business is not profitable.

Q: So then, operationally speaking, how should an organization maximize its profits (minimize its losses)? A: As per the Theory of Constraints, it can do so by maximizing its Throughput. Throughput is defined as the rate at which the finished products are sold to the customer i.e. the rate of Sales.

Let me explain the concept of Throughput with an elaborate example-

Figure 10. Products ranked as per their Selling Price

Imagine you are heading an organization which produces and sells 10 types of chairs and are reviewing its performance at the end of the financial year. You obtain the Price list and rank the chairs accordingly (Figure 10).

Would doing so help you to identify-

the products to prioritize selling?
the products to continue selling?
the products to discontinue selling?

Not really. This is because you do not know the cost of making each type of chair and thus, the profit to be derived from selling a unit of it.

Thereafter, you retrieve one more data point - the Variable Cost associated with selling a unit of chair (cost of raw material, cost of labour etc.) and compute the Contribution Margin (Selling Price − Variable Cost) and proceed to rank the products based on this derived parameter-

Figure 11. Adding Variable Cost(Expenses) to compute Contribution Margin and ranking the products based on it

Now would you be able to determine which products to prioritize selling, continue selling and discontinue selling? I anticipate that most reader responses would take the form of-

yes, the products that rank high on Contribution Margin (CM) should be given priority
because the Contribution is positive for all products, none of them should be abandoned
Let's include the Fixed Cost in the computation as well

While these are reasonable responses, operationally, they are not the right answers. To reiterate, as per the Theory of Constraints - one can maximize the profits/minimize the losses, only if one maximizes the Throughput and thus, the data in Figure 11 is insufficient to arrive at a meaningful conclusion. Hence you proceed to add additional data points-

the Production Rate per day. Assume that the rate of production is equal to the rate of sales i.e. all that is produced on a given day is sold that day i.e. no ending inventory or product returns
The Fixed Cost (Fixed Plant Operating Expenses) for a year
Your desired Profit from running the business for a year

Thereafter, you proceed to compute Throughput per day (Production Rate Sales Rate per day x Contribution Margin) and proceed to rank the products based on this new metric

Figure 12. Theory of Constraints (ToC) based Product Ranking Model - includes Production Rate, Fixed Cost & Desired Profit

Essentially, instead of focusing on Sales, you are factoring in the organization's ability to produce a particular type of chair as well. And while the Throughput Rank gives valuable insights, it is not enough to answer the questions that I posed to you - these gaps can be plugged by inserting the Fixed Cost and Desired Profit data points and through these, one can derive the Product Ranking based on Theory of Constraints. The labels to ToC Rank in Figure 12 are assigned using this logic-

- If Throughput per day exceeds Fixed Costs + Desired Profits, then the product is a Winner

- If Throughput per day exceeds just Fixed Costs, then the product is So-So

- If Throughput per day is unable to breach even the Fixed Costs, then the product is Resign

There, you have your answers now!

If the organization wants to maximize its profits (minimize the losses), it should prioritize the production and sales of Winners because these carry the highest potential profitability-wise
The So-So category of products are those which can be continued being sold because it still helps the organization to recover its Fixed Costs which is critical in terms of business continuity
The Throughput derived from selling the Resign products is not even sufficient to recover the Fixed Costs. Freeing up resources here and deploying it preferably to Winners would be ideal

If you were to reflect on these suggestions, I'm sure you'll find the Theory of Constraints concept to be as illuminating as I did when I first encountered it.

Some of you may counter that as per the business strategy, producing and selling Chairs E and H (Resign products) can help offer an additional choice to the customers, enter export markets, boost innovation in manufacturing (among a myriad of other genuine reasons), and therefore these should not be done away with. Fair enough, but from an Operational Efficiency perspective, continuing to sell these products at their current production rates would imply that you are negating your chances to achieve the desired profits as well as not pursuing the organization's primary objective which is to maximize the profitability.

Resources are not infinite, rather they have to be allocated prudently - and instead of selling chairs E and H, your organization and its shareholders would be better served if you focus on making and selling more of chairs B and D (Winner products). And if you really bent on utilizing unique strategies, deploy it on the So-So category of chairs which would benefit from being developed into Winners.

Read more on Theory of Constraints here. Access template here.

8. SCAMPER Framework - to redesign business processes

While SCAMPER is a useful technique to brainstorm new ideas to solve problems, its importance in process redesign is immense too. Figure 13 contains the constituents of SCAMPER, definitions and similar trigger words.

Practitioners prefer to extend the Process Chart with SCAMPER columns. In this way, besides visualizing the operations as-is i.e. the processes and its timings, one can also develop the to-be state by brainstorming using SCAMPER to identify ways to redesign the processes and increase the Process Cycle Efficiency, in abid to improve the overall operations.

Read more on SCAMPER here. Access the framework here.

9. Seven Wastes of Lean Production - to identify excesses in the Value Stream

TIMWOOD is a mnemonic which captures the Seven forms of Waste - a concept used in Lean Manufacturing which entails making the product with the shortest Production Lead Time, of the highest Quality, at the lowest Cost, and with the most dependable Delivery.

This framework was developed by Taiichi Ohno (father of the famed Toyota Production System) and helps shed perspective about what types of Waste could exist in the Value Stream and the need to detect and eliminate them. Overproduction is deemed to be the most serious waste of them all as it not only tends to be the trigger for the formation of the other types of waste, but also it leads to bottlenecking across the manufacturing operations. The figure below lists the constituents of TIMWOOD, a short description for each, and some ways in which each of them are formed.

Figure 14. The Seven Wastes of Lean Production - TIMWOOD Framework

Read more on Seven Wastes of Lean Production here. Access the framework here.

10. VATI Analysis - to understand the pattern of Material flow in production and its implications

The VATI Analysis framework helps one to understand the operational characteristics of the plant based on how material flows through it. The exact shape of flow can vary, but broadly it would resemble either of the letters - V, A, T or I. Based on the shape i.e. the Flow Configuration, one can identify the areas that may need regular attention and where the bottlenecks would typically occur. Essentially, what a manufacturer has to target is to keep the material movement fluid across production, which enhances operational efficiency. Certain indicators of fluidity are quick processing, limited WIP inventory, shorter manufacturing equipment setup times, and limited waste-generation. These aspects are not to be improved in isolation, rather, a systems-view needs to be taken to see how the moving parts interact and impact the operations.

The underlying fundamental of VATI is the Theory of Constraints (ToC) which indicates that to attain the objective of maximizing profitability, which is to maximize the rate of production (in conjunction with sales), one has to ease out the most limiting factor i.e. the bottleneck in the value stream.

The four figures below represent the V, A, T and I configurations, its characteristics, where product differentiation tends to occur, where the issues can arise, along with an industry example.

Figure 16. A-Flow Plants (many × one). Diagram Credits: Amy Seth - Intern

Figure 17. T-Flow (many × many). Diagram Credits: Amy Seth - Intern

Figure 18. I-Flow Plants (many × one × many). Diagram Credits: Amy Seth - Intern

To perform VATI Analysis yourself, you'll have to map the material flow at the plant keeping an eye on the areas of convergence and divergence i.e. where there is considerable change occurring in the processing steps - either a coming together or a drifting apart. The shape that manifests will broadly resemble a V, A, T or I configuration and based on that you can utilize the body of knowledge to schedule and control the material flow to boost fluidity in the value stream.

For example, in a V-shaped facility (eg. one-to-many divergent plant such as Oil Refineries) where the same input (crude oil) is continuously utilized at multiple branches which eventually produces multiple types of finished goods, it is common to have issues pertaining to high amounts of WIP and Finished goods inventory in comparison to Raw Material (which is less by virtue of being able to be utilized at any of the branches). Also, at diverging zones, one branch may experience a shortage of input material if other branches grabbing it for themselves.

Contrastingly, for A-shaped plants (many-to-one convergent plants such as Automotive Components), key Raw Material shortages may lead to the Assembly line halting which would result in a pileup of other Raw Material inventory and WIP inventory. Here, the problem of synchronization arises - getting all the branches to release output at the same time for the converging branch to process.

In a T-shaped plant (many-to-many plant such as Furniture manufacturing) , multiple types of Raw Material (wood) are processed in separate batches while the point of differentiation (divergence in this case) tends to happen much later in the production process, where the final furniture is assembled using multiple processed woods as inputs. Here, Inventory issues would be prevalent at the WIP and Finished Goods stage. Both, grabbing and synchronization issues may occur at the diverging branch.

I-shaped plants (one-to-many, many-to-one-to-many, many-to-few-to-many plants such as Confectionery manufacturing) typically face issues at the intermediate stages of processing where raw material, manufacturing equipment and resource-sharing issues could arise due to convergence, especially if you consider the high demand-variability that occurs in such industries.

Read more on VATI Analysis here. Access VATI diagrams here.

FRAMEWORKS FOR PROJECT PLANNING PHASE

11. Affinity Diagram - to organize ideas into systematic buckets

The utility of Affinity Diagram to document the output from Brainstorming exercises lies in its simplicity of use. Each idea for improving the operations has to be categorized under an overarching theme and there is no critiquing to be done during the process. Full freedom is given to the participants to convey as many ideas, be it good, bad, costly or naive to achieve the objectives of the organization. Subsequently, each theme and the ideas within are dissected and discussed and the best among them can be shortlisted for implementation.

I can tell you from personal experience that, as rudimentary as this method appears, it is routinely deployed by top management consulting firms at the planning stage of large projects - the themes are considered as independent work streams and have a specific number of consulting resources assigned to it. Those who are familiar with the process (junior and middle executives of the client) share several operations improvement ideas in a breakout session moderated by the consultant resources assigned to that workstream. These ideas are subsequently discussed with the senior members from the client team and a sign-off is obtained on the viable ideas.

Once an idea pool is ready, it is used as a basis to define the objectives of that work-stream - for example, to generate one million dollars in savings by sourcing a new supplier and procuring material in bulk the supplier to generate half a million more in savings. A task force comprising senior members from the client team is subsequently created which is supposed to oversee the project through its tenure. The task force nominates the process owners who are supposed to drive the project implementation and together with the consulting team, a consensus is generated to bring the idea to fruition within a time frame.

Traditionally, this brainstorming activity is done in an in-person meeting with sticky notes and marker pens, but nowadays it is more convenient to hold virtual/remote sessions with staff from multiple teams and geographies being able to participate at a short notice. The Breakout rooms feature on video-conferencing applications helps to have theme-wise discussions within the confines of a single meeting window allowing the senior members from the client and consulting team to jump around, observe, intervene and finalize the actionables for all the work streams at the same time.

Figure 19. Affinity Diagram template containing an example

Read more on Affinity Diagram here. Access the framework containing this example here.

12. Gantt Chart - to schedule project workflows effectively

The Gantt Chart is one of the oldest project scheduling tools in operation and its utility is appreciated to this day. I presume a majority of readers would have used this framework already. While there are several Gantt Chart formats going around - which include more data points, eye-catching visuals etc., I prefer to create and use a simple version on Microsoft Excel as I find it easier to manage it and can modify it with ease.

In professional use, Gantt Chart preparation can also be clubbed with other Operations frameworks such as Work Breakdown Structure and Network Diagram. For those unfamiliar, a Gantt Chart is basically a Calendar-based system of tracking timeline and progress of project activities. It involves listing down the tasks/processes/plan of action on the Y-axis and having the timeline on the X-axis. Thereafter one inputs and color-codes (in blue in the figure below) the timeline of a particular process based on its expected start and end date.

As the project is set into motion, the activities which are completed on time can be color-coded in a particular way (in green below) whereas those which are moderately or extremely delayed can be color-coded in a different way (in yellow and red below). Comments/Remarks can be made within the colored-cells itself and these can be reviewed/revised as per the monitoring cadence. All in all, Gantt Chart proves to be a very effective scheduling System.

Figure 20. Gantt Chart Template with example

Read more on Gantt Chart here. Access my template here.

13. NTCP Diamond Model - to assess a project across four important dimensions

Figure 21. NTCP Diamond Model with industry examples

The NTCP Model entails mapping a new project's characteristics using the following dimensions-

1. Novelty - how unique the product is for the market (derivative, platform or breakthrough)

2. Technology - the uncertainties involving the technology to be used (from low to super high-tech)

3. Complexity - how complicated is the project scope for the organization (assembly, system or array)

4. Pace - at what speed/criticality does the project need to be completed (from regular to blitz)

Any project can be plotted across all the four dimensions to create a diamond shape. For industries where there product innovations are rapid and new launches happen frequently (Smartphones for example), the diamond will intersect the Fast level in the Pace category. The explanations for each level can be accessed here.

Mapping project characteristics across the four dimensions helps decision makers to know whether the project is right to pursue given the company's strategy and its existing capabilities, what are the risks involved, the resources that would be required, the processes that would need to be utilized and the management style to be deployed. Not only this, the model also helps to demonstrate the gaps between how the project should have been managed and how it was being managed during the project implementation phase or post-project review phase. The shape of the diamond tells a story - the larger the diamond, the greater the potential of the project, albeit with bigger risks involved.

While I haven't had the chance to utilize this model professionally thus far, but I really appreciate the framework as such. Just as a 2 ×2 matrix is useful to categorize so many commonly-used business models, a diamond-shaped framework can be used when one needs to compare and contrast scenarios which have four broad parameters. I had created a semi-automated decision diamond framework to compare how a company's job description fared in comparison to my ideal and minimum preferences for a role - you can download it here (do not use the online version - click file and download as Excel workbook) and modify it to suit your own projects.

Read more on NTCP Diamond Model here. Access the template of the framework here.

14. Product Costing Model - to systematically arrive at an estimate of the product cost

At the planning stage, it is important to arrive at an estimate of the product costing, both internally (cost to manufacture the components) as well as externally (cost to procure the components). The entire structure of operations is dependent and influenced from this aspect and hence, arriving at an accurate cost to manufacture a product is a vital step, which this model helps one to do.

The Product Costing model, captured in the figure below, comprises four broad categories-

Direct Costs
Indirect Costs
External Procurement Costs
Selling General and Administrative Overheads

Direct and Indirect costs are further divided into these buckets - Material, Labour, Equipment and Others. Together, the cost of all these components, when combined, would help you determine an estimate of the Product Cost. Overall, it is a fairly straightforward and effective framework.

Product Costing Template for Project Management — Figure 22: Product Costing Model

Read more on Product Costing here. Access the template of the framework here.

15. Your Custom Creation - Develop a new framework compatible with your organization

We have reached the end of this long post and no, I do not intend to be cheeky with this one. I genuinely believe, espouse and practice a create your own framework mindset for Project planning purposes based on what I intend to document, measure or monitor keeping the stakeholder, organization and overall industry dynamics in mind.

Sometimes I adapt existing models, which you would have observed from this post already, while on other occasions, I create a new framework altogether taking the client objectives and expectations into consideration. Of course, there is a level of intellect involved here, so you must read up on advantages and disadvantages of existing frameworks before designing a new one. Poorly thought-of frameworks will not only complicate the project but also waste valuable time and lower the morale of the client and their workforce.

To unearth points of references for creating a new framework, I can suggest that you document and measure as many operational processes in a structured manner and inculcate this discipline among the workforce across departments. Thereafter, analyze the documented steps and time measurements closely, overlaying it with sector-specific insights and customer preferences and I am certain this would trigger compelling avenues to develop and utilize a framework to treat key focus and bottleneck areas.

Once a framework is developed and put to use, ensure that it is monitored at regular intervals and preventive and corrective measures to improve the process are identified and above all, implemented. Finally, ensure that the output of these operations improvement exercises are recorded, reported and shared with the right stakeholders in your organization in the form of a Management Information System (MIS).

Hope you enjoyed reading this post and found it to be informative. Do access the complete list of templates for the methods discussed above, here. In case you have any queries and/or suggestions, please feel free to connect.

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Broadly, the firm's area of expertise can be split into two categories - Geographic Mapping and Operations Mapping. The Infographic below highlights our capabilities-

Mapmyops (Intelloc Mapping Services) - Range of Capabilities and Problem Statements that we can help address

Our Mapping for Operations-themed workflow demonstrations can be accessed from the firm's Website / YouTube Channel and an overview can be obtained from this brochure. Happy to address queries and respond to documented requirements. Custom Demonstration, Training & Trials are facilitated only on a paid-basis. Looking forward to being of service.

Regards,

Arpit Shah