Seeking optimum project duration extensions

Abstract

It is well-known that changes to a project's definition during the course of the project can cause significant disruption, and greatly extend a project's duration if no extra resources are committed to the project. However, it is also well-known that the opposite policy, of throwing as many resources as possible at the problem to try to keep to the original schedule, can be very expensive, and is often in fact counter-productive ($2000 hour). The underlying causes of the results for these two extreme policies are systemic, are often hard to quantify, and are often significantly under-estimated. This paper describes the system dynamics technique for modelling a project, using as a case-study a model drawn up for a delay and disruption claim; this model closely reflected the project both as budgetted and as actually occured. It then shows how this model could be used to find an optimum trade-off between the two extreme policies, giving an optimal project extension.