This area contains materials designed to enhance your understanding and implementation of the Critical Chain and Project Manifesto/Relay Race concepts and tools.

Log In

You Must Be Logged In to View these Resources

Introduction to Critical Chain (YouTube)

This introduction to Critical Chain gives you an overview of the basic concepts — in less than 15 minutes.

Critical Chain Project Management: Coming to a Radar Screen Near You! (PDF)

The Cutter IT Journal (Vol. 16, No. 3, March 2003) gives an introduction to Critical Chain and some user experiences. This issue was provided to ProChain Solutions by Cutter Consortium.

Scheduling for Success with Critical Chain (PDF)

Rob Newbold describes the Critical Chain scheduling approach and how it can be used to build schedules that will transform your organization.

Protecting Earned Value Schedules with Schedule Margin (PDF)

Rob Newbold, Charlene Budd, and Chuck Budd explain how to user schedule margin (and hence buffers) with Critical Chain. This article was published in the summer 2010 edition of The Measurable News.

The Tyranny of Deadlines (PDF)

Deadlines are ubiquitous, but they also create a disastrous conflict as we look for compromises between late enough to be feasible versus early enough to incentivize speed. This paper explains why deadlines are frequently missed, why they so often result in late, slow projects, and how this conflict can be avoided. It was first presented at the 2013 PMI Scheduling Community of Practice conference in Orlando, Florida.

Pharmaceutical Scheduling Issues (PDF)

Dr. Wendell Simpson and Rob Newbold describe typical problems in the pharma world and how they can be addressed via critical chain scheduling (October 2011).

Project Planning and Control when Time Matters (PDF)

In this article, published in the Fall 2010 edition of the Production and Inventory Management Journal, Dr. Wendell Simpson explains the need for robust project planning processes in delivering projects quickly and predictably.

The Billion Dollar Solution (PDF)

This document provides excerpts from Rob Newbold’s book, The Billion Dollar Solution. The book describes in detail how you can create a billion-dollar solution in your organization.

ProChain OS Video Series Summary (PDF)

Learn about the new ProChain Operating System Video Series and why you should watch! This document also provides all the links discussed in the series.

Episode 1: Agree (ProChain OS Video Series) (YouTube)

In this video, Rob Newbold introduces the ProChain Operating System and the problems it addresses. He also discusses step 1, Agree: agreeing on your objectives and how you can tell those objectives are being met. Tools include the Project Charter and the Risk List.

Episode 2: Align(ProChain OS Video Series) (YouTube)

Episode 2 continues the ProChain Video Series with step 2, Align. Rob explains why alignment is important and how to get it. He includes an in-depth discussion of the major ProChain alignment process, critical chain scheduling.

Episode 3: Advance (ProChain OS Video Series) (YouTube)

This episode covers step 3, Advance. Rob Newbold talks about the paradigm and values needed to get lasting results as you employ the ProChain Operating System tools and processes with your projects.

Episode 4: Implementation (ProChain OS Video Series) (YouTube)

This fourth and final episode shows how to apply the three steps of the ProChain Operating System – Agree, Align, Advance – to achieve an effective, long-lasting implementation.

Understanding Task Engagement™ (PDF)

Ron Davison talks about multitasking, task engagement, and the key areas to focus in order to break the vicious multitasking cycle.

Task Engagement™ and the Four Quadrants of Work (PDF)

Ron Davison explains what Task Engagement is and how it relates to your day-to-day work.

Personal Productivity) (PDF)

What can you do if you’re interested in applying Project Manifesto concepts in your organization, but don’t have the buy-in to get everyone to do it? How can you apply the concepts in your daily life? Read this document to get some ideas.

The Manager’s Manifesto Guide (PDF)

This document explores the different concepts in The Project Manifesto in depth. It covers values, work standards, rollout tools, and more.

Project Charter Template

This is a sample Project Charter document in Microsoft Word format. Use it to help gain alignment on your project objectives and deliverables.

Project Team Checklist

This Excel spreadsheet contains a sample checklist that you can use to make sure team meetings cover the essentials of good critical chain project management.

Multitasking Game

New and improved! This multitasking game is a great illustration of why multitasking can be so detrimental to cycle times, productivity, and predictability.

Attacking Unproductive Communication (PDF)

In this article, Wendell Simpson and Bill Lynch make the case for clear and stable priorities in any project organization.