It’s a complex process. Designs are complicated, teams are dispersed, everyone is busy. And oh, the work is invisible. Does your project management tool ensure everyone is moving critical work forward?
Complex problems require powerful tools. That’s Playbook. It makes project information visible, actionable and predictable so that you can get there on time, every time.
The biggest cause of slow projects is people working on the wrong thing at the wrong time.
Most projects have hundreds of tasks that need to be completed. And people are often on multiple projects. So how do they decide what to work on each day? They usually guess. And if they guess wrong, the project could slide a day without anyone knowing. One day might not sound like much, but if you only have the correct priorities half the time, the project will double in length.
Playbook makes correct work priorities clear for everyone, across all their projects, every day.
Let’s face it. Things change. Product development projects proceed a lot better when there’s a plan. But let’s be clear. We’re talking about a plan, not a schedule.
A plan is flexible and allows the team to adapt, respond to changes, and see the impact of change, easily. We know it’s going to change, but we also know we’ll do better if we have some clarity around what needs to be done, in what order, by whom, and how long it will take.
Details in the plan are best provided by the people actually doing the work, so Playbook was designed with a simple planning tool that even busy people can use. The additional benefit of having the team members actively participate is that the plans are not only more accurate, but everyone is bought in and knows what’s going on. That’s how high-performing teams win.
The high level of uncertainty in product development makes long-term planning impractical. The good news is it’s also unnecessary.
Playbook allows you to create high-level outlines when you start, and then add increasing amounts of detail as that work gets closer.
This means the near-term work is detailed enough that everyone knows exactly what needs to be done, and when it needs to be done before it impacts the end date.
Playbook takes the buffers out of individual tasks and uses a shared buffer instead. This helps eliminate multitasking and creates more accurate plans and faster projects.
Monitoring the buffers also helps you know when a project is going off track, immediately. So management and teams can take action to mitigate delays the instant they happen. And all of these impact reasons are saved so you can analyze them later to look for systemic issues.
Did you ever consider that some of the information shared in a bi-weekly status meeting is literally two weeks old?
High-performing systems require fast feedback. Short and frequent standup meetings do this by uncovering blockages and communicating issues as soon as they occur.
Playbook processes all of this critical information and facilitates the meetings to ensure these issues are resolved and everyone knows their priorities, every day.
Did you know it’s possible to double the duration of your existing projects simply by adding just 10% more work? Just like rush hour traffic, the impact of overloading a busy system can be exponential.
Wouldn’t it be nice to know if that was happening on your projects, immediately?
Playbook can tell you before it happens, or if you’ve already done it.
Traditional project management methods rely on due dates and pushing tasks on people. Lean manufacturing and Kanban systems taught us the transformational power of pull systems. So why don’t we use them in project management? Playbook does.
Eliminate multitasking, manage WIP, happier teams.
All in one step.
Most managers find out about late projects after they are late. But that’s like applying your brakes after you’ve hit something. Wouldn’t it be nice to predict it before it happens?
Monitoring resource loading helps, but it’s possible to get false alarms. The best early indicator of a late project is the size of the queues.
Playbook was designed to monitor the queues and give you advance notice so you can take action long before the project is actually delayed.
See what it’s like to run a project with the best features of Lean, Agile and Theory of Constraints.
We offer a Free Trial process where we will ramp up 4-5 people from one of your project teams. They will get full access to the on-demand Lean-Agile training as well as two weeks of live coaching to help with the planning, standup meetings, and reports setup. This way you can see it working on one of your actual projects and get feedback directly from the team members.
The Free Trial is 30 days, but you will know by the end of the first or second week if it’s going to work or not. And if you need more time to make decision to move forward, the team can continue to use Playbook to keep that project running without delays!
Set up a discovery call to learn more about running a Free Trial at your company.
Yes, we do offer a local hosting option. However, Playbook is hosted on the Azure cloud and is served from multiple locations around the globe. So security and speed are top priorities.
Set up a call to discuss what works best for you.
Most project management tools are based on methods that were developed over sixty years ago when projects had a lot less uncertainty, and a lot less complexity. Playbook was designed to facilitate a set of methods and principles from Lean, Agile, and Theory of Constraints. These ensure the projects are not only predictable, they also allow you to respond to necessary changes and keep everyone well informed along the way. It's not uncommon for teams to finish their projects before their planned end dates without the typical herculean effort at the end.
Yes. Playbook was designed for the most difficult project scenarios (large teams, long projects, lots of uncertainty, geographically dispersed teams, etc.) However, it works great for simple projects too. We have customers with as few as two licenses. They love the results they get with the methods and the simplicity of the software.
We know things change and people come and go, so we offer both face-to-face and online training for your team. Let’s talk so we can understand your needs better and build a package that works for you.
Playbook was a consulting company long before we developed software. So providing great service is deeply ingrained in our culture. And working closely with our existing customers is how we learn about new problems to solve. But don't take our word for it, here is what our customers have to say.
Yes we do. We offer face-to-face and online options for you and your team. Reach out and we can discuss the approach that is best for you. Alternatively, sign up for free courses in Lean and Agile at Playbook Academy.
Because Playbook records everything that happens to a task, the reporting capabilities are beyond what most people have seen before. We also create custom reports to meet your exact needs. Watch the fourth chapter of the demo to learn more about the advanced reporting capabilities.
Yes, you can watch an 8-minute intro video here.
Or you can watch an in-depth 4-part series here.
Alternatively, you can email us to set up a live demo where we can answer your questions along the way and explore even more of the functionality.
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303-323-4296
info@accuer.com
Lean Project Management
Lean Product Development
Agile Development