TOC in Project Management · Lesson 5 of 6
High-frequency management
Two conflicts slow every project: experts protecting their own commitments, and people torn about escalating. A short daily meeting built on elapsed time breaks both.
WIP control and full kit improve the flow of projects and release capacity. That capacity can now be used to plug two more sources of wastage: weak collaboration between people, and slow resolution of issues.
The collaboration conflict
Three experts work on the same project. Each one is focused on their own commitments:
Expert 1: I’m focused on my commitments.
Expert 2: My commitment is important.
Expert 3: My commitment is important too.
When Expert 2 needs a quick input from Expert 1 to proceed, Expert 1 is torn between helping a peer now and protecting their own deadline. Each small delay is reasonable on its own; together they create endless micro-coordination issues, especially in support groups that serve many teams.
The escalation conflict
Rapid issue resolution has two parts: seeing the issue and resolving it. The obstacle to both is a conflict inside the person who owns the issue:
The daily meeting
High-frequency management puts both conflicts to rest with a short, disciplined routine:
- A daily departmental meeting for design, procurement, planning, manufacturing, support groups, and cross-functional teams where needed.
- Fixed time, fixed place, fixed participants. It happens whether or not there is a crisis.
- Everybody aligns to a common priority: the same project sequence from WIP control.
- Monitor elapsed time, not opinions: how many days each task has been open, and how many days each issue has waited for resolution.
- Escalate by elapsed time: an issue open for N days goes up a level automatically.
- Visual charts show each team its projects: start and end dates, tasks in progress with their elapsed time, and pending issues with their age.
Pause and think: why track the elapsed time of an issue rather than asking “is it under control?”
- Because people lie
- Because numbers look better in reports
- Because it’s faster to type
- Because “under control” invites the escalation conflict; elapsed time is a fact that triggers action without anyone having to judge themselves
Asking someone to declare their own problem forces them into the conflict. A counter of days open makes escalation routine and blameless.
Yes, but…
In an organisation where execution processes are not well defined, issues will be too many, many of them cross-functional; resolution will take long, meetings will run over, and daily management will lose its edge. So it needs an enabling structure:
- A project management group (PMG) that owns the process and chases cross-functional issues.
- Clear hygiene processes: change orders and extra claims, cost management, timely collections, and process documents that make execution easier.
Check your understanding
Answer all five. Get four right to complete the lesson.
1. The collaboration conflict is about…
- Teams refusing to meet
- Budget disputes
- Experts torn between helping a peer now and protecting their own commitments
- Customers changing scope
Each small delay is reasonable; together they stall the project.
2. The escalation conflict makes people…
- Detect and raise issues late
- Escalate everything immediately
- Ignore priorities
- Work faster
Fear of looking incompetent delays escalation until it’s defensive.
3. A daily high-frequency meeting should have…
- A different time each day
- Fixed time, fixed place and fixed participants
- Only senior managers
- No agenda
Routine is what makes it reliable.
4. Issues should be escalated based on…
- Who complains loudest
- The project manager’s mood
- Customer size
- The number of days they have been open
Elapsed time makes escalation automatic and blameless.
5. What makes daily management effective where processes are weak?
- Longer meetings
- More managers
- An enabling structure: a project management group and clear hygiene processes
- Nothing
Without them, issues are too many and meetings run over.