Would you believe that a 10% increase in the workload on your teams could double the length of a project?
Would you believe that a 10% increase in the workload on your teams could double the length of a project?
Most companies are trying hard to achieve predictable end dates.
One of the most difficult things about making process improvements is knowing where to start. Doing the wrong thing is a waste of time and money, and...
In general, companies can take two approaches to calculating risk exposure, a quantitative approach and a qualitative one. There are pluses and...
Running a daily standup meeting seems pretty simple right? After all it’s just another meeting. Well not really. The daily stand-up process is...
Here is a simple formula for quickly estimating Cost of Delay: the profit lost per-month of delay.
Total COD = Lost Month Cost + Peak Reduction Cost.
In order to examine risk exposure and uncertainty in greater detail, let's look at the different types of risks --uncertain events...
We begin the analysis phase and look at risk drivers and the 5 Whys technique - a simple and powerful technique for discovering the root of the...
Hardware development companies that have moved from manual project boards and sticky notes to Agile project management software or electronic Kanban...
As engineers, we are adaptable by nature. We solve problems — that’s our job! And as we adapt to the new normal, we are all adopting new online tools...
A couple of weeks ago we discussed Rolling Wave Planning, what it is, and what the benefits are. This week we are going to discuss how to implement...
If you want your product development projects to run smoothly, you need to have a regular cadence for long-term planning, short-term planning, and...
A couple of weeks ago we shared some Lean and Agile case studies that demonstrated how the benefits of implementing Playbook methods and tools far...
A fundamental principle of Lean is smooth, continuous flow. Turbulence is caused any time that the flow of work is interrupted by something in its...
Hardware product development is different than software. Both types of products go through a build-test-learn cycle, but the most obvious difference...
Getting your team up to speed on Lean? We have a number of free resources to support you, including a downloadable guide to Lean Project Management...
Product development is hard, but with the right short and long-term planning in place, launching ahead of...
Mitigating a risk essentially means deliberately doing something to reduce risk exposure - to burn down the...
Projects are late one day at a time. So, ask yourself, do you and your team know the number one priority for today? Why does speed matter? Because...
You pretty much have to have your head in the sand not to notice the changes in hardware product design innovation and new product development that...
In a previous post we discussed that there is no doubt project management methods have evolved and...
Milwaukee Valve won big implementing Playbook software and Lean project management. This Lean case study demonstrates how Lean transformation can...
Recently we’ve had a number of questions regarding the management of critical resources across multiple projects. Here are some tips for ensuring...
Risk management has four steps. It is cyclical, and each risk, issue, question, and opportunity is put through the process as quickly as possible....
What is a shared project buffer?
To accommodate for the uncertainty in the work estimates and the resource’s availability to do the work, the...
A lot has been said over the last several years about the fallacy of increased productivity when a person multitasks. Lean, Agile, and the Theory of...
The first step in risk management is identifying risks and capturing them in a risk management spreadsheet. In risk identification and capture teams...
This is the ninth part in our in-depth series on Lean Agile project management.
We've covered a variety of Lean principles that have a direct impact...
Product development is a risky business. So how do you effectively minimize the impact of risks on your project? In short, you...
What is the difference between push vs pull?
In a pull system, teams pull tasks from the backlog. As opposed to a push system where work is pushed...
This is the fifth part of our series on Lean Project Management. In this post, we look at resource management.
Change is hard. There is no doubt about that. However, if you want to create flow among new product development teams, and ultimately speed up...
A fundamental principle of Lean is smooth, continuous flow. Flow is achieved by eliminating turbulence caused when the flow through any process is...
This is the third part of our series on Lean project management.
In this post we discuss visual management’s and Kanban's role in Lean and Agile...This is the second part of our series on Lean Agile Project Management.
In Part 1 we recognized that one of the primary drivers of success in product...
Feeling like you are using the wrong tools to achieve your product development goals?
This is Part 1 of a series of posts on Lean Project Management
So how do you increase certainty in project decisions. In part we can increase certainty by increasing the accuracy of our impact estimates.
The Return on Investment in project risk management is high, and therefore worth the effort.
In order to make project decisions such as whether or not to add a new feature, we need an economic model. Cost of Delay is one input into this...
The project team is falling behind schedule at a rapid rate. The major milestones and planned launch date are becoming further out of reach. You are...
The purpose of visual work management software is, among other things, to make knowledge work visible so that it can be effectively managed.
In...
In this post I want to step back from the details in the series on the underlying principles and why they are so important and instead take a quick...
Looking to deepen your understanding of Lean Agile project management?
At Playbook we have a number of free resources available in the Knowledge...
Taking a product from idea to launch is not a simple task. Projects are complex and when you are dealing in the world of hardware development, you...
Feeling like you are using the wrong tools to achieve your product development goals?
This is Part 2 of a series of posts on Lean product...
Feeling like you are using the wrong tools to achieve your product development goals?
This is Part 1 of a series of posts on Lean Project Management...
Did you know traditional methods of project management supported by software products like Microsoft Project have been around for over 50 years?...
While on a recent trip to New Zealand to ramp up a new client, I took a little time after work to see some sights. Coincidently, I was also...
I recently read the new book Team of Teams – New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World, by General Stanley McChrystal. I’d like to share some of my...
What are the key principles of Lean product development? Here are seven, that if applied correctly, can transform your product development process.
Achieving project flow is what enables project teams to have greater confidence task completion and launch dates. At Playbook, we have found that...
At Playbook it's our mission to help you change the world faster! So, we have a number of free resources available on our website to help you on your...
Elon Musk wants you to be inspired. He wants you to be inspired by the future. To him, an inspired future means we are a multiplanet species...
News flash. A Harvard Business Review study confirmed what we already knew--team collaboration is hard.
Yes we knew that. But the study also confirms...
Know your current product development process could use a few tweaks or maybe a total overhaul, but don’t know where to start?
We’ve pulled together...
The first attempt to implement Lean product development is critical. If you don’t get it right, there will be more resistance on the next attempt....
In the previous two blogs I made a compelling case for Lean Product Development being the business opportunity of the century, and then gave an...
In this post, I want to share an incredible case study that demonstrates the unexpected results that can be achieved when you apply the proper set of...
14 tips for calculating cost of delay. Implementing cost of delay and ultimately creating a project economic model for basing project decisions on is...
"...Playbook added that catalytic capability to use all the other pieces in the right way."
This is a guest post by Kathy Morrissey from Strategy 2 Market, a Playbook partner that specializes in new product development consulting for medical...
At the end of each year we compile our list of the top ten Lean and Agile posts. Here’s 2016’s.
So grab a glass of egg nog, make your way to your...
Welcome to Playbook’s Three Lean Product Development Links. Why are projects late? We spend a lot of time thinking about this very question at...
Lean methods and Agile principles recognize that it’s almost impossible to get anything absolutely right the first time. Testing and iterating are...
At PLAYBOOK we spend a lot of time thinking about how to speed up Lean product development projects. In fact, that’s mostly what we do. We take this...
In a previous blog post, I mentioned how electronic lean/agile/kanban visual project management...
Making the trade-off between scope, schedule, and cost, and making decisions that maximize the top-level goal of making a profit is at the heart of...
Visual management allows you to have tangible everyday conversations about the work in progress -- it makes work visible. It's such...
Looking to refine your hardware development process? Here are 7 Lean and Agile principles to refine your process and deliver projects faster...
What is Lean Product Development? The Lean landscape is confusing because there are many flavors of Lean. But here is our definition...
What is Lean project management?
Lean is any process improvement that substantially improves the throughput of your system, sustainably.
So, it is...
What is cost of delay? Understanding Cost of Delay is the key to making product development decisions based on economic loss or gain. In fact, the...
Resource leveling is the process of using a company's resources in the most efficient way possible. To some, high efficiency is the same as high...
It's critical to capture the objects impacted by a risk in order to understand risk exposure, as well as...
Great teams deliver great products. To win the game of product development, you need methods that inspire team thinking and teams that know how to...
Looking to create flow and improve your delivery timelines? In this post we share 3 free Lean training resources, including our on-demand webinar...
This post is a bit off the topic of Lean, but totally on topic for everyone interested in integrated product development. The changes taking place...
Let’s face it, Lean project management isn’t a topic that drums up a whole lot of interest in social settings.
This is generally what happens when I...
Welcome to Playbook’s Three Lean Product Development Links. Can Agile be applied to hardware development? It can. Here are three Lean links that...
At Playbook we are always looking for innovative ways to make projects move forward faster, while increasing project...
So what makes a great product development team? Here are three Lean links that will make you rethink your approach to "team!"
Visual project management is critical for creating flow in your Lean product development projects. If you are working with manual project boards,...
Looking for some new material on Lean thinking? This week we have a smorgasbord of big ideas from Don Reinertsen, Michael Balle and the Lean...
This is a guest post by Richard Lindstrom from eBOM, a Playbook partner based in Sweden. Richard attended the LPPDE conference in Raleigh, North...
Manufacturers have known for years that one of the primary tenets of Lean is to identify what the customer...
This is a guest post by Richard Lindstrom from eBOM based in Sweden. eBOM provides cutting edge Lean consulting for R&D companies like SenSair,...
Evaluating risks starts by defining and understanding a project’s objectives. If there aren’t any objectives,...
This week we look at project risk and embracing uncertainty. Is a project team's ability to embrace uncertainty the key to success? After reading...
Recently I came across an article on the Dummies.com website comparing the traditional Waterfall method (Phased and Gated) to the...
In this post we explore why it's time to do product development differently and introduce you to an apporach that works, Exploratory PD® (ExPD). ExPD...
Are you firefighting and multitasking to stay on top of your work? Are you wondering how to establish clear, correct and common priorities in your...
At Playbook, creating velocity in product development projects has been our passion for 18 years. As a result, we’ve analyzed Agile and other product...
Looking to stimulate more innovation and agile problem solving in your organization? This week we explore methods for...
There is no doubt project management methods have evolved and the traditional Phase Gate or...
It makes sense that if you increase speed to market, you increase profit. Unfortunately, organizations are struggling to move hardware development...
Welcome to PLAYBOOK’s blog series: Three Lean Product Development Links. This week we cut straight to the chase with the three most popular blog...
Welcome to PLAYBOOK’s blog series: Three Lean Product Development Links. To deliver a great product, you need a great team. This week's Lean Links...
Davy, the project manager sat alone. Distressed. He leaned over the project plan as he had done so many meetings before, squinting, trying to read...
This is a guest post by Therese Graff from Strategy 2 Market, a Playbook partner about the importance of planning in Lean product development....
I heard recently some people in software development were proposing that there be ‘no projects’, because ‘projects’ create batches and stifle project...
David Paulson, our CEO was recently interviewed by Chad McAllister on his blog, "The Everyday...
Our value added reseller, eBOM, based in Sweden is attending LPPDE Europe and has shared some interesting images and insights into what’s happening...
This is a guest post by Mary Drotar from Strategy 2 Market, a Playbook partner that specializes in new product development consulting for medical...
Product development should be fun, exciting, predictable, and of course profitable too. We also believe it is possible to have schedules that satisfy...
Gaining a strategic advantage through statistics and mathematical analysis is changing the game of product...
At Playbook, we work with a lot of great Fortune 500 companies that are adopting...
Being an Aerospace Engineer by training, I find some parallels from time to time between product development systems and flight systems. One that I...
I am so glad I can say that I did not miss the CU New Venture Challenge Pitch Night held in Boulder this evening. It was an evening of creativity,...
Welcome to Playbook's's blog, Lean and Agile product development blog. Running projects requires the ability to adapt to new information quickly and...
I heard recently some people in software development proposing that there be "no projects," because projects create batches and stifle flow. Being a...
Hello world! This is my first entry into the blogging business. I hope to have many great discussions with you. Please allow me to introduce myself....
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