As the name suggests, lean project management is all about saving resources and using them efficiently within the project. But the problem is that in this case any management concept or methodology can be called lean, because in the end they are all needed for the same purpose, aren’t they? In this article, we’ll find out which project management concepts are associated with lean management and what makes them different.
Lean Project Management is an approach to any type of project management that involves a continuous effort to reduce the major types of waste (overproduction, waiting, inventory, task time, outsourcing costs, etc.) and to increase the value of the final product or service produced by the team.
In other words, Lean Management is about delivering projects as quickly as possible without losing quality.
But what methodologies can be directly associated with lean management?
Traditionally, most flexible management systems, often referred to as agile, fall into this category. However, it is important to note that most does not mean all.
The most vivid and well-known representatives of lean methodology are:
- Kanban system,
- Lean Project Management (LPM).
Although, this could also include concepts:
- Andon,
- Six Sigma,
- Kaizen,
- 5S
- and others.
Although the Kanban approach was fundamental, because it started the era of lean production, when working with projects under lean management is meant Lean Project Management approach.
In Lean Management, you should only focus on the essentials. The assumption is that there is nothing superfluous.
The Lean Project Management concept even has its own framework — LeanPM. It was developed by the Bulgarian Lean Project Management Foundation.
Principles of Lean Project Management
Since LPM is based on the same principles as the Kanban system, it is not superfluous to describe them for understanding:
- Production should focus on the value of its final product and nothing else. To do this, you need to reduce losses, reduce product volume and inventory, and deliver a quality product the first time (again, to reduce potential losses due to rework).
- You need to prioritise the people who add value to the product — reward them, train them and encourage their continuous improvement.
- Value must be increased. To do this, the product must meet customer requirements, its production must be optimised and demand, the best indicator of compliance, must increase.
- Lean production should also be facilitated by optimising external factors such as agreements with suppliers, finding better supply chains and much more.
All of this is more than relevant when applied to projects of any kind.
Let’s look at what the principles of Lean Project Management sound like:
Loss elimination/minimisation
To reduce losses, you must first understand what exactly your product is worth — what its value is to the end customer. Based on the initial data about the value, you can formulate a list of tasks, functions and actions necessary to achieve it. All actions and tasks that do not lead to the identified value can be considered losses.
Examples of lost production:
- Too much stock in warehouses — overproduction.
- Unnecessary operations and lead times (e.g. unnecessary movements in the warehouse or on the conveyor belt).
- Defective products — rejects.
- Waiting time for business processes to be completed (e.g. due to red tape — approvals, signing of unnecessary papers, unnecessary reporting, etc.).
Examples of waste in software development:
- Unnecessary application features.
- Excessive feature requirements — overstock or just in case.
- Unnecessary development steps.
- Unnecessary actions by specialists (e.g. searching for information and studying the possibility of using different frameworks).
- Fixing bugs and problems in the software caused by a poorly organised development and testing process.
- Lengthy approvals and waiting for higher management to take action.
- Time for long-term transfer of the project to the customer — with training of their specialists, development of documentation, creation of interactive help sections, etc.
These and other project losses must be eliminated. To do this, they need to be regularly identified and business processes adapted.
Doing good from the start
The principle seems simple and deceptively clear. In fact, in order for a project to be of high quality, it is logical to carry out a certain amount of preparatory work: studying the market, agreeing details with the client, defending the most logical and convenient implementation schemes, and much more.
There is always a risk of going to extremes. For example, if the team never gets to the point of developing the project because they get too deeply involved in theoretical preparation, such as developing specifications, market research, and so on.
Or, on the contrary, the preparation phase is too quick and easy and not enough time is spent on important aspects that will have a significant impact on the future development of the project.
There needs to be a middle ground that puts the interests of the client or customer first.
The ideal solution for lean projects is to implement a transparent control system at all stages of the work, so that control is continuous, without waiting between different stages.
The bottom line is that the quality control system must be integrated into the production processes.
For this purpose, it is logical to use specialised project management software such as Projecto.
Supporting those who add value
If the project team is small, the issue of authority and division of rights is not as acute. But if the team is large, the overall progress of the work can suffer greatly due to problems with approvals, lack of skills, materials and other issues.
The ideal lean project is one in which decision-making authority extends down to the lowest level. But the greater the responsibility, the greater the skills and involvement.
Therefore, you need to invest in your team members’ professional development, broadening their horizons and skills, training, rotation and other preventive measures.
If you don’t, you will inevitably have to increase the level of control. And this creates unnecessary business processes: approvals, checks, document production, communication protocols, etc.
Continuous improvement
Optimising business processes in a Lean project must become an internal culture. If your approaches do not change and adapt to market conditions, you will lose very quickly.
Analysing results and adjusting future actions should be part of the product or service cycle.
- The current value system within the company.
- The product being produced (it may require tighter control).
- Management methods (an authoritarian approach does not fit well with lean management).
- The level of professionalism of the workforce.
- The project management software systems used (they may be too complex and require lengthy training).
- And others.
But if the factors are in favour of LPM, it is better to implement this methodology.
