Category: Glossary

Rolling Wave planning | Glossary

Manjunath Ingale Leave a comment

Definition:

Rolling Wave Planning is the process of project planning in waves as the project proceeds and later details become clearer. Work to be done in the near term is based on high level assumptions; also, high level milestones are set. As the project progresses, the risks, assumptions, and milestones originally identified become more defined and reliable. One would use Rolling Wave Planning in an instance where there is an extremely tight schedule or timeline to adhere to; whereas more thorough planning would have placed the schedule into an unacceptable negative schedule variance. This is an approach that iteratively plans for a project as it unfolds, similar to the techniques used in Scrum (development) and other forms of Agile software development. The concepts of Rolling Wave Planning and Progressive Elaboration are techniques within the PMBOK Define Activities process and it also describes how the Project Management Plan evolves.

Further Reading:

Book: Playing to Win by A G Lafley and Rogel L. Martin

Set-Based Concurrent Engineering | Glossary

Manjunath Ingale Leave a comment

Definition:

An approach to the design of products and services in which developers consider sets of ideas rather than single ideas. To do this, developers:

  • Use trade-off curves and design guidelines to characterize (or describe) known feasible design sets, and thus focus the search for designs.
  • Identify and develop multiple alternatives, and eliminate alternatives only when proven inferior or infeasible.
  • Start with design targets, and allow the actual specifications and tolerances to emerge through analysis and testing.
  • Delay selecting the final design or establishing the final specifications until the team knows enough to make a good decision.

This approach yields substantial organizational learning. It takes less time and costs less in the long term than typical point-based engineering systems that select a design solution early in the development process, with the typical consequence of false starts, rework, failed projects, and minimal learning.

Further Reading:

Book: Playing to Win by A G Lafley and Rogel L. Martin