MPI's research indicates that 90% of all projects undertaken fail in that they are not completed within the original target completion date or budget. Through our work with leading edge clients all over the world, MPI has developed a simple five step process that anticipates and prevents the most commonly made mistakes. This methodology is called the 5 Step Project Success Cycle. The methodology is founded on the philosophy of multi-discipline team project management, where all those actively involved in the project participate in the Project Success Cycle. The five steps are as follows:

1. Organize the Project/Process

Includes defining the objective, identifying project participants and determining the reporting requirements at each level in the organization.

2. Structure the Process Model (Interactive Process Discovery)

In this step, the project team collaboratively builds a process model defining all the work that needs to be completed and the sequence in which the work needs to be performed. The result is an unlimited resource baseline that shows if it is possible to reach the objective in the desired time. 

3. Optimize Resources

Once the team has established that it is possible to reach the objective given unlimited resources, team members now address the resources available to determine if there are any resource constraints jeopardizing timely completion of the project. If there are significant resource overloads, the project team uses resource analysis to brainstorm solutions that resolve the resource conflicts.

4. Gain Commitment

At this point, the project team knows that the project can be completed successfully given the assumptions that went into the project plan. The specification can reasonably be met and sufficient resources are available. The assumptions that went into the plan are now tested by requiring each project participant to sign-off on their portion of the plan to certify that they will meet their commitments to the plan. If project participants are not comfortable signing off on the plan, their concerns are once again considered and the plan is altered to address their concerns.

5. Manage the Project

If steps 1 through 4 have been completed, the project team can be assured that the objective is reasonable, that resources are in place and that co-workers believe the project can be successful. All that remains is to monitor progress against the plan and to communicate progress to the project participants. When slippage occurs, the project team once again can use the project model to brainstorm solutions for getting back on schedule. These revisions must then be communicated back to the entire project team.

We can show you how leading edge organizations are using this methodology and our software to implement Concurrent Engineering and Continuous Quality Improvement while cutting product development cycles in half.