Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM)

Definition - What does Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM) mean?

Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM) is a project management methodology introduced in 1997 by Eliyahu (Eli) M. Goldratt. It applies Goldratt's Theory of Constraints (TOC) to resolve project task and delivery issues.

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Techopedia explains Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM)

CCPM addresses issues related to project timing, increased costs, performance and under-delivery, versus traditional methods, such as critical path, where the emphasis is placed on tight scheduling and ordered tasks.

CCPM approaches projects by applying the following steps:

Planning: This stage includes defining the critical chain, which is comprised of critical tasks; reducing task estimates and safety.
Execution: Project resources are prioritized according to determinations defined in the planning stage.
Review: Buffer management is applied to assess the status of each task. Buffers and their consumption rates serve as excellent touch point indicators for projects and related tasks.