Posts by Rob Newbold

Keeping Speed with Buffers

At ProChain, we love buffers. But here’s a dirty secret: buffers can kill speed. How? We know that buffers exist to protect commitment dates. But if the dates are what…

Optimizing Project Management for Medicine Development

Are you struggling to improve execution in your project management endeavors? You’re not alone. Many organizations face the challenge of enhancing productivity and efficiency, especially in fields that demand precision…

Unlocking Your Superpower: The Art of Saying ‘No’ to Prioritize Effectively

Are you struggling to balance saying “yes” to everything and focusing on what truly matters? In a world bursting with opportunities and demands, learning to say “no” effectively can be…

Leadership and Agreement

Most of the leadership books I’ve read talk a lot about the characteristics of a leader, without quite getting to a definition. So I use my own simple definition, consistent…

Why “Islands of Stability”?

I get this question a lot: why the book, why the concept. Here’s the answer. Our previous book, The Project Manifesto, was designed to show what needs to happen in…

Practical Values: How to Conduct Better Meetings

What’s the biggest source of headaches and wasted time in your company? For many people, it’s the frequent, interminable meetings. People often feel like they’re spending all their time in…

Buffers, Safety Time, and The Project Manifesto

The problem with most definitions of the project buffer is that traditional schedules already have safety time. Some of that protection may be in the form of inflated task times…

The “Critical Chain Tool”

I often hear people talk about the “critical chain tool.” They may say “we plan to try the tool” or “please show us the tool.” There’s nothing directly wrong with…

Critical Chain and Research

Many of our ProChain clients do significant R&D work, so people ask us from time to time whether critical chain is applicable in a research environment. The common wisdom is…

Fever Chart Regions

I am sometimes asked how one should decide where the red, yellow, and green regions for a fever chart should go. In this post I will talk about the basics.…