Agile project management is perfectly compatible with an intensive multi-project approach. But is it really desirable?
Agile R&D project management is compatible with intensive multi-projects, but is it desirable?
When training R&D teams in Agile methods, I am systematically surprised by the number of projects run simultaneously. Five, six, eight projects in parallel... it's the norm, not the exception.
Multi-projects: the problems
Managing so many projects simultaneously accumulates problems:
- Slow progress on each project, therefore less motivation
- Priority management by compromise rather than strategy
- A delay on one project cascades to all the others
- A missing resource blocks everything
- Harmful resource optimization: the same person always does the same task
- Efficiency affected by constant context switching
- Stretched-out projects are more vulnerable to incidents
Multi-projects: is it inevitable?
Teams claim they have no choice. Three reasons come up systematically:
- External dependencies force us to wait, so we work on something else
- Management requires it
- Everyone wants their projects at the same time, so parallel delivery must be faster
1. Dependencies
True: external dependencies exist (suppliers, validations, outsourced tests) that create idle time. It makes sense to fill that idle time with another project. But this reality justifies two projects in parallel, not five, six or eight.
2. Management
Management demands multi-projects because they don't know any better. If you find a better way and explain it clearly, they will listen. The real problem: R&D teams themselves don't know how to do it differently.
3. Parallel is faster?
This is the most persistent myth, and it is completely false. Take a simple calculation: 12 projects to complete, each requiring 1 month of actual work. In multi-project mode (all 12 in parallel), each takes 12 months and all are delivered at year's end. In sequential mode (one at a time), the first is delivered after one month, the second after two months... and the last after twelve months.
Result: in sequential mode, 11 out of 12 projects are delivered earlier than in multi-project mode. The last one is delivered on the same date. Nobody is late, and the vast majority of stakeholders receive their project sooner.
Intensive multi-project management is a collective fantasy. Drastically limiting the number of simultaneous projects radically increases overall efficiency, team motivation and internal client satisfaction.
Take action
Discover the Agile Methods for Physical R&D training to learn how to manage your projects differently. Find additional resources on agilitehardware.fr.
Stop chasing all projects at once. Sequence, deliver, accelerate.
