Parkinson's Law in Project Management - Revision history

S203224 at 10:32, 10 January 2022

2022-01-10T10:32:14Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 10:32, 10 January 2022
Line 1:		Line 1:
			''Author: Erika Marie Strøm''

	Parkinson's Law states that work expands to fill the time available for its completion.<ref name="Essay"> Parkinson, C. Northcote (November 19, 1955) [https://www.economist.com/news/1955/11/19/parkinsons-law "Parkinson’s Law"], ''The Economist''. Retrieved 13 February 2021.</ref> It was formulated by British historian and author Cyril Northcote Parkinson in an essay for ''The Economist'' in 1955.<ref name="biblo"> Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica [https://www.britannica.com/biography/C-Northcote-Parkinson "C. Northcote Parkinson"], ''Britannica''. Retrieved 13 February 2021.</ref>		Parkinson's Law states that work expands to fill the time available for its completion.<ref name="Essay"> Parkinson, C. Northcote (November 19, 1955) [https://www.economist.com/news/1955/11/19/parkinsons-law "Parkinson’s Law"], ''The Economist''. Retrieved 13 February 2021.</ref> It was formulated by British historian and author Cyril Northcote Parkinson in an essay for ''The Economist'' in 1955.<ref name="biblo"> Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica [https://www.britannica.com/biography/C-Northcote-Parkinson "C. Northcote Parkinson"], ''Britannica''. Retrieved 13 February 2021.</ref>

S203224: /* Incentive Schemes to Encourage Early Completion */

2021-03-05T11:05:08Z

Incentive Schemes to Encourage Early Completion

← Older revision		Revision as of 11:05, 5 March 2021
Line 85:		Line 85:

	===Incentive Schemes to Encourage Early Completion===		===Incentive Schemes to Encourage Early Completion===
	Chen and Hall (2021) suggest incentive schemes applicable to CPM and CCPM to eliminate or mitigate Parkinson's Law. To encourage early delivery, an employee is rewarded for early completion. The schemes are designed to assure the employee works in their own interest and eliminates the potential for strategic behaviour by a group. To ensure the employee cannot fake their completion of a task, a certification of completion is provided by an independent expert. The early completion is passed on in the project, resulting in improved project performance. The schemes also encourage higher efficiency at each task level and ~~resolves~~ student syndrome. The incentive schemes are easy to implement, but are not directly applicable as organisations have different approaches to performance incentives. Nonetheless, the schemes proposed provide a basis to design schemes on.<ref name="incentives"/>		Chen and Hall (2021) suggest incentive schemes applicable to CPM and CCPM to eliminate or mitigate Parkinson's Law. To encourage early delivery, an employee is rewarded for early completion. The schemes are designed to assure the employee works in their own interest and eliminates the potential for strategic behaviour by a group. To ensure the employee cannot fake their completion of a task, a certification of completion is provided by an independent expert. The early completion is passed on in the project, resulting in improved project performance. The schemes also encourage higher efficiency at each task level and resolve student syndrome. The incentive schemes are easy to implement, but are not directly applicable as organisations have different approaches to performance incentives. Nonetheless, the schemes proposed provide a basis to design schemes on.<ref name="incentives"/>

	== Annotated Bibliography ==		== Annotated Bibliography ==

S203224: /* Annotated Bibliography */

2021-03-05T11:01:52Z

Annotated Bibliography

← Older revision		Revision as of 11:01, 5 March 2021
Line 94:		Line 94:
	::In this paper, Herroelen and Leus reflect on the use of Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM). The fundamentals of CCPM are explained and the advantages and disadvantages are analysed. They conclude that CCPM oversimplifies scheduling and make suggestions for further research.		::In this paper, Herroelen and Leus reflect on the use of Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM). The fundamentals of CCPM are explained and the advantages and disadvantages are analysed. They conclude that CCPM oversimplifies scheduling and make suggestions for further research.

	Chen, B. & Hall, N. G. (January 16, 2021). Incentive schemes for resolving Parkinson’s Law in project management. ''European Journal of Operational Research. 288 (20): 666–682.		Chen, B. & Hall, N. G. (January 16, 2021). Incentive schemes for resolving Parkinson’s Law in project management. ''European Journal of Operational Research.'' 288 (20): 666–682.
	::This paper suggests incentive schemes to mitigate or eliminate Parkinson's Law. The schemes encourage early delivery of completed tasks while avoiding group strategy. They are applicable to the scheduling techniques Critical Path Method and Critical Chain Project Management. The paper thoroughly explains how incentive schemes are used and how they affect project performance. The incentive schemes cannot be directly applied to a project as organisations have different performance incentives, but serve as a basis on which incentive schemes can be designed.		::This paper suggests incentive schemes to mitigate or eliminate Parkinson's Law. The schemes encourage early delivery of completed tasks while avoiding group strategy. They are applicable to the scheduling techniques Critical Path Method and Critical Chain Project Management. The paper thoroughly explains how incentive schemes are used and how they affect project performance. The incentive schemes cannot be directly applied to a project as organisations have different performance incentives, but serve as a basis on which incentive schemes can be designed.

	== References ==		== References ==
	<references />		<references />

S203224: /* Annotated Bibliography */

2021-03-05T11:00:07Z

Annotated Bibliography

← Older revision		Revision as of 11:00, 5 March 2021
Line 94:		Line 94:
	::In this paper, Herroelen and Leus reflect on the use of Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM). The fundamentals of CCPM are explained and the advantages and disadvantages are analysed. They conclude that CCPM oversimplifies scheduling and make suggestions for further research.		::In this paper, Herroelen and Leus reflect on the use of Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM). The fundamentals of CCPM are explained and the advantages and disadvantages are analysed. They conclude that CCPM oversimplifies scheduling and make suggestions for further research.

	Chen, B. & Hall, N. G. (~~June 12~~, ~~2020~~). Incentive schemes for resolving Parkinson’s Law in project management. ''European Journal of Operational Research. 288 (20): 666–682.		Chen, B. & Hall, N. G. (January 16, 2021). Incentive schemes for resolving Parkinson’s Law in project management. ''European Journal of Operational Research. 288 (20): 666–682.
	::This paper suggests incentive schemes to mitigate or eliminate Parkinson's Law. The schemes encourage early delivery of completed tasks while avoiding group strategy. They are applicable to the scheduling techniques Critical Path Method and Critical Chain Project Management. The paper thoroughly explains how incentive schemes are used and how they affect project performance. The incentive schemes cannot be directly applied to a project as organisations have different performance incentives, but serve as a basis on which incentive schemes can be designed.		::This paper suggests incentive schemes to mitigate or eliminate Parkinson's Law. The schemes encourage early delivery of completed tasks while avoiding group strategy. They are applicable to the scheduling techniques Critical Path Method and Critical Chain Project Management. The paper thoroughly explains how incentive schemes are used and how they affect project performance. The incentive schemes cannot be directly applied to a project as organisations have different performance incentives, but serve as a basis on which incentive schemes can be designed.

	== References ==		== References ==
	<references />		<references />

S203224: /* Annotated Bibliography */

2021-03-02T09:42:06Z

Annotated Bibliography

← Older revision		Revision as of 09:42, 2 March 2021
Line 88:		Line 88:

	== Annotated Bibliography ==		== Annotated Bibliography ==
	Project Management Institute, Inc. (July 8, 2019). ''Practice Standard for Scheduling (3rd ed.)''. Project Management Institute, Inc. (PMI)~~. pp. 9–43~~.		Project Management Institute, Inc. (July 8, 2019). ''Practice Standard for Scheduling (3rd ed.)''. Project Management Institute, Inc. (PMI).
	::PMIs practice standard for scheduling describes the latest techniques and tools within the area of project scheduling. The practice standard elaborates on ''A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide)'' and includes additional techniques to mitigate Parkinson's Law such as Critical Chain Project Management. PMIs standards are trustworthy sources to good and accepted practices within project management.		::PMIs practice standard for scheduling describes the latest techniques and tools within the area of project scheduling. The practice standard elaborates on ''A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide)'' and includes additional techniques to mitigate Parkinson's Law such as Critical Chain Project Management. PMIs standards are trustworthy sources to good and accepted practices within project management.

S203224: /* Incentive Schemes to Encourage Early Completion */

2021-02-28T22:59:51Z

Incentive Schemes to Encourage Early Completion

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:59, 28 February 2021
Line 85:		Line 85:

	===Incentive Schemes to Encourage Early Completion===		===Incentive Schemes to Encourage Early Completion===
	Chen and Hall (2021) suggest incentive schemes applicable to CPM and CCPM to eliminate or mitigate Parkinson's Law. To encourage early delivery, an employee is rewarded for early completion. The schemes are designed to ~~ensure~~ the employee works in their own interest and eliminates the potential for strategic behaviour by a group. To ensure the employee cannot fake their completion of a task, a certification of completion is provided by an independent expert. The early completion is passed on in the project, resulting in improved project performance. The schemes also encourage higher efficiency at each task level and resolves student syndrome. The incentive schemes are easy to implement, but are not directly applicable as organisations have different approaches to performance incentives. Nonetheless, the schemes proposed provide a basis to design schemes on.<ref name="incentives"/>		Chen and Hall (2021) suggest incentive schemes applicable to CPM and CCPM to eliminate or mitigate Parkinson's Law. To encourage early delivery, an employee is rewarded for early completion. The schemes are designed to assure the employee works in their own interest and eliminates the potential for strategic behaviour by a group. To ensure the employee cannot fake their completion of a task, a certification of completion is provided by an independent expert. The early completion is passed on in the project, resulting in improved project performance. The schemes also encourage higher efficiency at each task level and resolves student syndrome. The incentive schemes are easy to implement, but are not directly applicable as organisations have different approaches to performance incentives. Nonetheless, the schemes proposed provide a basis to design schemes on.<ref name="incentives"/>

	== Annotated Bibliography ==		== Annotated Bibliography ==

S203224: /* Incentive Schemes to Encourage Early Completion */

2021-02-28T22:57:43Z

Incentive Schemes to Encourage Early Completion

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:57, 28 February 2021
Line 85:		Line 85:

	===Incentive Schemes to Encourage Early Completion===		===Incentive Schemes to Encourage Early Completion===
	Chen and Hall (2021) suggest incentive schemes applicable to CPM and CCPM to eliminate or mitigate Parkinson's Law. To encourage early delivery, an employee is rewarded for early completion. The schemes are designed to ~~assure~~ the employee works in their own interest and eliminates the potential for strategic behaviour by a group. To ensure the employee cannot fake their completion of a task, a certification of completion is provided by an independent expert. The early completion is passed on in the project, resulting in improved project performance. The schemes also encourage higher efficiency at each task level and resolves student syndrome. The incentive schemes are easy to implement, but are not directly applicable as organisations have different approaches to performance incentives. Nonetheless, the schemes proposed provide a basis to design schemes on.<ref name="incentives"/>		Chen and Hall (2021) suggest incentive schemes applicable to CPM and CCPM to eliminate or mitigate Parkinson's Law. To encourage early delivery, an employee is rewarded for early completion. The schemes are designed to ensure the employee works in their own interest and eliminates the potential for strategic behaviour by a group. To ensure the employee cannot fake their completion of a task, a certification of completion is provided by an independent expert. The early completion is passed on in the project, resulting in improved project performance. The schemes also encourage higher efficiency at each task level and resolves student syndrome. The incentive schemes are easy to implement, but are not directly applicable as organisations have different approaches to performance incentives. Nonetheless, the schemes proposed provide a basis to design schemes on.<ref name="incentives"/>

	== Annotated Bibliography ==		== Annotated Bibliography ==

S203224: /* Implications on Project Management */

2021-02-28T22:55:14Z

Implications on Project Management

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:55, 28 February 2021
Line 24:		Line 24:

	== Implications on Project Management ==		== Implications on Project Management ==
	The behaviour associated with Parkinson’s Law has a great influence on project performance. Along with student syndrome, it is one of the reasons why projects are routinely inefficient and delayed.<ref name="incentives"> Chen, B. & Hall, N. G. (~~June 12~~, ~~2020~~) [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0377221720305476 "Incentive schemes for resolving Parkinson’s Law in project management"]. ''European Journal of Operational Research.'' '''288''' (20): 666–682. doi:10.1016/j.ejor.2020.06.006 </ref>		The behaviour associated with Parkinson’s Law has a great influence on project performance. Along with student syndrome, it is one of the reasons why projects are routinely inefficient and delayed.<ref name="incentives"> Chen, B. & Hall, N. G. (January 16, 2021) [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0377221720305476 "Incentive schemes for resolving Parkinson’s Law in project management"]. ''European Journal of Operational Research.'' '''288''' (20): 666–682. doi:10.1016/j.ejor.2020.06.006 </ref>

	Within project '''scheduling''', it is important project managers are aware of the behaviour caused by Parkinson's Law and how they can minimise it with scheduling. According to Parkinson's Law, a task is either completed on time or delayed. A task is not completed and delivered before its deadline. To achieve the most efficient use of resources and time, the time allocated for each task in a project needs to correspond with the time to completion using maximum effort. If the allocated time is too short, the task is delayed and if it is too long, unnecessary time and resources are spent on the task. According to the the Project Management Institute (PMI) standard ''Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide)'', a number of factors influence the estimated duration of a task, such as the required resources and the inputs provided by the persons most familiar with the work. The accuracy and quality of the duration estimates depends on how detailed and precise available data is.		Within project '''scheduling''', it is important project managers are aware of the behaviour caused by Parkinson's Law and how they can minimise it with scheduling. According to Parkinson's Law, a task is either completed on time or delayed. A task is not completed and delivered before its deadline. To achieve the most efficient use of resources and time, the time allocated for each task in a project needs to correspond with the time to completion using maximum effort. If the allocated time is too short, the task is delayed and if it is too long, unnecessary time and resources are spent on the task. According to the the Project Management Institute (PMI) standard ''Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide)'', a number of factors influence the estimated duration of a task, such as the required resources and the inputs provided by the persons most familiar with the work. The accuracy and quality of the duration estimates depends on how detailed and precise available data is.

S203224: /* Annotated Bibliography */

2021-02-28T22:45:27Z

Annotated Bibliography

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:45, 28 February 2021
Line 94:		Line 94:
	::In this paper, Herroelen and Leus reflect on the use of Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM). The fundamentals of CCPM are explained and the advantages and disadvantages are analysed. They conclude that CCPM oversimplifies scheduling and make suggestions for further research.		::In this paper, Herroelen and Leus reflect on the use of Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM). The fundamentals of CCPM are explained and the advantages and disadvantages are analysed. They conclude that CCPM oversimplifies scheduling and make suggestions for further research.

	Chen, B. & Hall, N. G. (June 12, 2020). Incentive schemes for resolving Parkinson’s Law in project management. ''European Journal of Operational Research.~~'' '''~~288~~'''~~ (20): 666–682.		Chen, B. & Hall, N. G. (June 12, 2020). Incentive schemes for resolving Parkinson’s Law in project management. ''European Journal of Operational Research. 288 (20): 666–682.
	::This paper suggests incentive schemes to mitigate or eliminate Parkinson's Law. The schemes encourage early delivery of completed tasks while avoiding group strategy. They are applicable to the scheduling techniques Critical Path Method and Critical Chain Project Management. The paper thoroughly explains how incentive schemes are used and how they affect project performance. The incentive schemes cannot be directly applied to a project as organisations have different performance incentives, but serve as a basis on which incentive schemes can be designed.		::This paper suggests incentive schemes to mitigate or eliminate Parkinson's Law. The schemes encourage early delivery of completed tasks while avoiding group strategy. They are applicable to the scheduling techniques Critical Path Method and Critical Chain Project Management. The paper thoroughly explains how incentive schemes are used and how they affect project performance. The incentive schemes cannot be directly applied to a project as organisations have different performance incentives, but serve as a basis on which incentive schemes can be designed.

	== References ==		== References ==
	<references />		<references />

S203224: /* Critical Chain Project Management */

2021-02-28T22:38:01Z

Critical Chain Project Management

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:38, 28 February 2021
Line 82:		Line 82:
	<br>		<br>
	During project execution, the consumption of the project buffer is monitored. If activities require more time, it is consumed from the common project buffer and if an activity is completed early, the time is added to the buffer. Using a buffer consumption chart, the project manager can monitor the use of the buffer and take corrective action if needed.<ref name = "cooper"/>		During project execution, the consumption of the project buffer is monitored. If activities require more time, it is consumed from the common project buffer and if an activity is completed early, the time is added to the buffer. Using a buffer consumption chart, the project manager can monitor the use of the buffer and take corrective action if needed.<ref name = "cooper"/>
	The disadvantage of using this method is the risk of oversimplifying the schedule.<ref name = "pitfall"/> Furthermore, this technique may ~~receive~~ resistance from people.		The disadvantage of using this method is the risk of oversimplifying the schedule.<ref name = "pitfall"/> Furthermore, this technique may meet resistance from people in the project.<ref name="incentives" />

	===Incentive Schemes to Encourage Early Completion===		===Incentive Schemes to Encourage Early Completion===