A key management challenge today is juggling multiple projects in the face of shifting priorities and overcommitted teams. Studies show that multi-tasking and context switching lead to suboptimal performance and execution, but is single tasking enough? In order for single tasking to be effective, people must know which tasks bring the most value to the organization, a deceptively simple problem. Common strategies, such as assigning revenue to tasks or prioritizing by ROI, are difficult to use in practice and ignore a crucial factor: the value of time. "Value-based scheduling" is a new approach that integrates product value information with engineering and project information to assign a "cost of delay" to every task in an organization. Using this technique, individuals' tasks can be automatically prioritized by value so that everyone knows which tasks have the biggest impact on the organization. This technique can also be extended to scheduling an entire project portfolio by value, integrating marketing and engineering updates automatically. The resulting schedules are load-leveled and have realistic completion dates that maximize the value of the project portfolio.

1. Lakeway
T E C H N O L O G I E S
Value-based Scheduling:
Getting your Group’s Priorities Straight
Rino Jose, Ph.D.
r.jose@lakeway-tech.com
COPYRIGHT © 2010, LAKEWAY TECHNOLOGIES LLC
Friday, January 8, 2010

2. TIME
TARGET
Lakeway
COPYRIGHT © 2010, LAKEWAY TECHNOLOGIES LLC T E C H N O L O G I E S
Friday, January 8, 2010

3. TIME
TARGET
Multitasking gives a false sense of security
Lakeway
COPYRIGHT © 2010, LAKEWAY TECHNOLOGIES LLC T E C H N O L O G I E S
Friday, January 8, 2010

4. TIME
TARGET
Multitasking gives a false sense of security
Lakeway
COPYRIGHT © 2010, LAKEWAY TECHNOLOGIES LLC T E C H N O L O G I E S
Friday, January 8, 2010

5. Multitasking = Bad
TIME
TARGET
“No priorities” means missed targets
Lakeway
COPYRIGHT © 2010, LAKEWAY TECHNOLOGIES LLC T E C H N O L O G I E S
Friday, January 8, 2010

6. Multitasking = Bad
Lakeway
COPYRIGHT © 2010, LAKEWAY TECHNOLOGIES LLC T E C H N O L O G I E S
Friday, January 8, 2010

7. Multitasking = Bad
Lakeway
COPYRIGHT © 2010, LAKEWAY TECHNOLOGIES LLC T E C H N O L O G I E S
Friday, January 8, 2010

8. Multitasking = Bad
The answer isn’t single-tasking alone...
Lakeway
COPYRIGHT © 2010, LAKEWAY TECHNOLOGIES LLC T E C H N O L O G I E S
Friday, January 8, 2010

9. Multitasking = Bad
Lakeway
COPYRIGHT © 2010, LAKEWAY TECHNOLOGIES LLC T E C H N O L O G I E S
Friday, January 8, 2010

10. Multitasking = Bad
“Identify the tasks that will create the most value and
focus on those.”
Lakeway
COPYRIGHT © 2010, LAKEWAY TECHNOLOGIES LLC T E C H N O L O G I E S
Friday, January 8, 2010

11. Need to Know Task Value
raightforward for individuals
St
1. Draft blog post
2. Buy milk
3. Send birthday card to brother
4. Replace guest room sink
5. Clean desk
Lakeway
COPYRIGHT © 2010, LAKEWAY TECHNOLOGIES LLC T E C H N O L O G I E S
Friday, January 8, 2010

12. Need to Know Task Value
ier for orga nizations
Trick
Lakeway
COPYRIGHT © 2010, LAKEWAY TECHNOLOGIES LLC T E C H N O L O G I E S
Friday, January 8, 2010

13. Checklist
Task
Need to Know Task Value
Send process charts back to client
Send message to Rob
Log time
Attend PM status meeting
Reply to Vitaliy
Add splash video to homepage
Reply to Derrick
Reply to Pete
Send note to MIke at FEI
Go through slides and take notes
nizations
Prepare for BSD PM training workshop
orga
Submit invoice
ickier for
Rewrite “5 Principle for Project Success” as a blog post
Tr
Finish up Frontier RC2
Add table of contents to workshop doc
Revise workshop slides
Transcribe notes from BSD training
Take notes on Steve Johnson talk
Read through marketing document
Create templates for Lakeway material
Send check to SAO
Send report and slides to client
Move Frontier sources to git
Get nginx running
Revise BSD report
Create graphviz gem for Ubuntu
Schedule meeting with Tom next week
Read “SPIN selling”
Send message to George about pricing
Ranking a team’s
Revise product positioning matrix
Prepare for meeting with Tom
Display only frontier tasks in urgency/value chart
tasks can be tedious
Revise license agreement for Frontier
Prepare for case study questions
Set up interview with Tyler
Draft Frontier user manual
Draft case study report
Reply to Ed
Send Rob podcast from HBR on selling
Add Marcom material to git
Send Ed the PM workshop slides
Pay Regence bill
Set up monit
Set up new business cards
Create Hyper-V version of Frontier
Finish going through Flash training
Set up demo version of Frontier
Draft post on the value of a positioning matrix
Add testimonials to homepage
Get permission to use quotes
Set up demo with Curt
Set up Frontier server
Revise Technical Consulting agreement
Review entrants for Itanium awards
Lakeway
Check graphviz tests
Create workflows for Curt
Reply to Doug on lunch meeting
COPYRIGHT © 2010, LAKEWAY TECHNOLOGIES LLC Look into Salesforce.com T E C H N O L O G I E S
Set up WebEx
Friday, January 8, 2010

14. Need to Know Task Value
ier for orga nizations
Trick
Ranking a team’s
tasks can be tedious Managers don’t have
enough visibility
Lakeway
COPYRIGHT © 2010, LAKEWAY TECHNOLOGIES LLC T E C H N O L O G I E S
Friday, January 8, 2010

15. Need to Know Task Value
ier for orga nizations
Trick Communicating top-level
goals is difficult
Ranking a team’s
tasks can be tedious Managers don’t have
enough visibility
Lakeway
COPYRIGHT © 2010, LAKEWAY TECHNOLOGIES LLC T E C H N O L O G I E S
Friday, January 8, 2010

16. Need to Know Task Value
ier for orga nizations
Trick Communicating top-level
goals is difficult
“Identify the tasks that will create the most value and
focus on those.”
Ranking a team’s
tasks can be tedious Managers don’t have
enough visibility
Lakeway
COPYRIGHT © 2010, LAKEWAY TECHNOLOGIES LLC T E C H N O L O G I E S
Friday, January 8, 2010

17. HOW?
Lakeway
COPYRIGHT © 2010, LAKEWAY TECHNOLOGIES LLC T E C H N O L O G I E S
Friday, January 8, 2010

18. Divide Revenue Across Tasks?
1
5 43 2
$0.5M
$1M
$1M
$1.5M
Lakeway
T E C H N O L O G I E S
Friday, January 8, 2010

19. Divide Revenue Across Tasks?
Dependencies complicate
priorities
1
5 43 2
$0.5M
$1M
$1M
$1.5M
Lakeway
T E C H N O L O G I E S
Friday, January 8, 2010

20. Divide Revenue Across Tasks?
Dependencies complicate
priorities
1
5 43 2
Dependencies complicate
$0.5M
$1M value
ROI has the
$1M same problems
$1.5M
Lakeway
T E C H N O L O G I E S
Friday, January 8, 2010

21. Rank by Product Value?
#1 $75M Jupiter
#2 $50M Neptune
#3 $40M Saturn
#4 $10M Mars
Lakeway
T E C H N O L O G I E S
Friday, January 8, 2010

22. Rank by Product Value?
#1 $75M Jupiter
#2 $50M Neptune
#3 $40M Saturn
#4 $10M Mars
Does a typo in Jupiter outrank a critical feature in
Neptune?
Lakeway
T E C H N O L O G I E S
Friday, January 8, 2010

23. Rank by Product Value?
#1 $75M Jupiter
#2 $50M Neptune
#3 $40M Saturn
#4 $10M Mars
No priority guidance within a product
Lakeway
T E C H N O L O G I E S
Friday, January 8, 2010

24. WHAT NOW?
Lakeway
COPYRIGHT © 2010, LAKEWAY TECHNOLOGIES LLC T E C H N O L O G I E S
Friday, January 8, 2010

25. “Value-based Scheduling”
Lakeway
T E C H N O L O G I E S
Friday, January 8, 2010

26. Key Insight #1: Value of Time
#1 $75M Jupiter
#2 $50M Neptune
#3 $40M Saturn
#4 $10M Mars
Lakeway
T E C H N O L O G I E S
Friday, January 8, 2010

27. Key Insight #1: Value of Time
80
$75M Jupiter
60
$50M Neptune
$40M Saturn 40
20
$10M Mars
0
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
Release Date
Lakeway
T E C H N O L O G I E S
Friday, January 8, 2010

28. Key Insight #1: Value of Time
80
$30K/d Jupiter #3
60
$130K/d Neptune #2
$380K/d Saturn #1
40
20
$5K/d Mars #4
0
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
Release Date
Lakeway
T E C H N O L O G I E S
Friday, January 8, 2010

29. Key Insight #2: Dependencies
Need to account for dependencies
Lakeway
T E C H N O L O G I E S
Friday, January 8, 2010

30. ASIDE: CRITICAL PATH
Task B
1d
Task C
1d
Task F
Task A 1d
1d
Task D
1d
Task E
2d
Lakeway
T E C H N O L O G I E S
Friday, January 8, 2010

31. ASIDE: CRITICAL PATH
ES: 2 EF: 3
Task B
1d
ES: 2 EF: 3
Task C
1d
ES: 4 EF: 5
ES: 1 EF: 2
Task F
Task A 1d
1d
ES: 2 EF: 3
Task D
1d
ES: 2 EF: 4
Task E
2d
Compute early data by sweeping forward through tasks
Lakeway
T E C H N O L O G I E S
Friday, January 8, 2010

32. ASIDE: CRITICAL PATH
ES: 2 EF: 3
Task B
1d
LS: 3 LF: 4
ES: 2 EF: 3
Task C
1d
ES: 4 EF: 5
ES: 1 EF: 2 LS: 3 LF: 4
Task F
Task A 1d
1d
LS: 4 LF: 5
LS: 1 LF: 2 ES: 2 EF: 3
Task D
1d
LS: 3 LF: 4
ES: 2 EF: 4
Task E
2d
LS: 2 LF: 4
Compute late data by sweeping backwards through tasks
Lakeway
T E C H N O L O G I E S
Friday, January 8, 2010

33. ASIDE: CRITICAL PATH
ES: 2 EF: 3
Task B
1d
LS: 3 LF: 4
ES: 2 EF: 3
Task C
1d
ES: 4 EF: 5
ES: 1 EF: 2 LS: 3 LF: 4
Task F
Task A 1d
1d
LS: 4 LF: 5
LS: 1 LF: 2 ES: 2 EF: 3
Task D
1d
LS: 3 LF: 4
ES: 2 EF: 4
Task E
2d
LS: 2 LF: 4
Critical path goes through tasks with no slack
Lakeway
T E C H N O L O G I E S
Friday, January 8, 2010

34. ASIDE: CRITICAL PATH
ES: 2 EF: 3
Task B
1d
LS: 3 LF: 4
ES: 2 EF: 3
Task C
1d
ES: 4 EF: 5
ES: 1 EF: 2 LS: 3 LF: 4
Task F
Task A 1d
1d
LS: 4 LF: 5
LS: 1 LF: 2 ES: 2 EF: 3
Task D
1d
LS: 3 LF: 4
ES: 2 EF: 4
Task E
2d
LS: 2 LF: 4
Critical path goes through tasks with no slack
Lakeway
T E C H N O L O G I E S
Friday, January 8, 2010

35. ASIDE: CRITICAL PATH
ES: 2 EF: 3
Task B
1d
LS: 3 LF: 4
ES: 2 EF: 3
Task C
1d
ES: 4 EF: 5
ES: 1 EF: 2 LS: 3 LF: 4
Task F
Task A 1d
1d
LS: 4 LF: 5
LS: 1 LF: 2 ES: 2 EF: 3
Task D
1d
LS: 3 LF: 4
ES: 2 EF: 4
Task E
2d
LS: 2 LF: 4
Critical path goes through tasks with no slack
Lakeway
T E C H N O L O G I E S
Friday, January 8, 2010

36. ASIDE: CRITICAL PATH
ES: 2 EF: 3
Task B
1d
LS: 3 LF: 4
ES: 2 EF: 3
Task C
1d
ES: 4 EF: 5
ES: 1 EF: 2 LS: 3 LF: 4
Task F
Task A 1d
1d
LS: 4 LF: 5
LS: 1 LF: 2 ES: 2 EF: 3
Task D
1d
LS: 3 LF: 4
ES: 2 EF: 4
Task E
2d
LS: 2 LF: 4
Lakeway
T E C H N O L O G I E S
Friday, January 8, 2010

37. ASIDE: CRITICAL PATH
ES: 2 EF: 3
Task B
1d
LS: 3 LF: 4
ES: 2 EF: 3
Task C
1d
ES: 4 EF: 5
ES: 1 EF: 2 LS: 3 LF: 4
Task F
Task A 1d
1d
LS: 4 LF: 5
LS: 1 LF: 2 ES: 2 EF: 3
Task D
1d
LS: 3 LF: 4
ES: 2 EF: 4
Task E
2d
LS: 2 LF: 4
Lakeway
T E C H N O L O G I E S
Friday, January 8, 2010

38. ASIDE: CRITICAL PATH
ES: 2 EF: 3 ES: 3 EF: 4 ES: 4 EF: 5
Task B Task C Task D
1d 1d 1d
LS: 2 LF: 3 LS: 3 LF: 4 LS: 4 LF: 5
ES: 1 EF: 2 ES: 2 EF: 4 ES: 5 EF: 6
Task A Task E Task F
1d 2d 1d
LS: 1 LF: 2 LS: 3 LF: 5 LS: 5 LF: 6
Lakeway
T E C H N O L O G I E S
Friday, January 8, 2010

39. Key Insight #2: Dependencies
Need to account for dependencies
Lakeway
T E C H N O L O G I E S
Friday, January 8, 2010

40. Key Insight #2: Dependencies
$
Value
ES: 2 EF: 3 ES: 3
ES: 2 EF: 4
EF: 3 ES: ES: 3 EF: EF: 4
4 5 ES: 4 EF: 5
Task B Task C
Task B Task D C
Task Task D
1d 1d
1d 1d 1d 1d
LS: 2 LF: 3 LS: 3
LS: 2 LF: 4
LF: 3 LS: 4 3 LF: 5 4
LS: LF: LS: 4 LF: 5
ES: 1 EF: 2 ES: 2 EF: 4 ES: 2 EF: 4 ES: 5 EF: 6 ES: 5 EF: 6
Task A Task E Task E Task F Task F
1d 2d 2d 1d 1d
LS: 1 LF: 2 LS: 3 LF: 5 LS: 3 LF: 5 LS: 5 LF: 6 LS: 5 LF: 6
Release Date
Lakeway
T E C H N O L O G I E S
Friday, January 8, 2010

41. Key Insight #2: Dependencies
$
Value
ES: 2 EF: 3 ES: 3
ES: 2 EF: 4
EF: 3 ES: ES: 3 EF: EF: 4
4 5 ES: 4 EF: 5
Task B Task C
Task B Task D C
Task Task D
1d 1d
1d 1d 1d 1d
LS: 2 LF: 3 LS: 3
LS: 2 LF: 4
LF: 3 LS: 4 3 LF: 5 4
LS: LF: LS: 4 LF: 5
ES: 1 EF: 2 ES: 2 EF: 4 ES: 2 EF: 4 ES: 5 EF: 6 ES: 5 EF: 6
Task A Task E Task E Task F Task F
1d 2d 2d 1d 1d
LS: 1 LF: 2 LS: 3 LF: 5 LS: 3 LF: 5 LS: 5 LF: 6 LS: 5 LF: 6
Release Date
Lakeway
T E C H N O L O G I E S
Friday, January 8, 2010

42. Key Insight #2: Dependencies
$
$
Value
ES: 2 EF: 3 ES: 3
ES: 2 EF: 4
EF: 3 ES: ES: 3 EF: EF: 4
4 5 ES: 4 EF: 5
Task B Task C
Task B Task D C
Task Task D
1d 1d
1d 1d 1d 1d
LS: 2 LF: 3 LS: 3
LS: 2 LF: 4
LF: 3 LS: 4 3 LF: 5 4
LS: LF: LS: 4 LF: 5
ES: 1 EF: 2 ES: 2 EF: 4 ES: 2 EF: 4 ES: 5 EF: 6 ES: 5 EF: 6
Task A Task E Task E Task F Task F
1d 2d 2d 1d 1d
LS: 1 LF: 2 LS: 3 LF: 5 LS: 3 LF: 5 LS: 5 LF: 6 LS: 5 LF: 6
Release Date
Lakeway
T E C H N O L O G I E S
Friday, January 8, 2010

43. Key Insight #2: Dependencies
$
Value
ES: 2 EF: 3 ES: 3
ES: 2 EF: 4
EF: 3 ES: ES: 3 EF: EF: 4
4 5 ES: 4 EF: 5
Task B Task C
Task B Task D C
Task Task D
1d 1d
1d 1d 1d 1d
LS: 2 LF: 3 LS: 3
LS: 2 LF: 4
LF: 3 LS: 4 3 LF: 5 4
LS: LF: LS: 4 LF: 5
ES: 1 EF: 2 ES: 2 EF: 4 ES: 2 EF: 4 ES: 5 EF: 6 ES: 5 EF: 6
Task A Task E Task E Task F Task F
1d 2d 2d 1d 1d
LS: 1 LF: 2 LS: 3 LF: 5 LS: 3 LF: 5 LS: 5 LF: 6 LS: 5 LF: 6
Release Date
Lakeway
T E C H N O L O G I E S
Friday, January 8, 2010

44. Key Insight #2: Dependencies
$
Value
ES: 2 EF: 3 ES: 3
ES: 2 EF: 4
EF: 3 ES: ES: 3 EF: EF: 4
4 5 ES: 4 EF: 5
Task B Task C
Task B Task D C
Task Task D
1d 1d
1d 1d 1d 1d
LS: 2 LF: 3 LS: 3
LS: 2 LF: 4
LF: 3 LS: 4 3 LF: 5 4
LS: LF: LS: 4 LF: 5
ES: 1 EF: 2 ES: 2 EF: 4 ES: 2 EF: 4 ES: 5 EF: 6 ES: 5 EF: 6
Task A Task E Task E Task F Task F
1d 2d 2d 1d 1d
LS: 1 LF: 2 LS: 3 LF: 5 LS: 3 LF: 5 LS: 5 LF: 6 LS: 5 LF: 6
Release Date
Lakeway
T E C H N O L O G I E S
Friday, January 8, 2010

45. Key Insight #2: Dependencies
$
Value
ES: 2 EF: 3 ES: 3
ES: 2 EF: 4
EF: 3 ES: ES: 3 EF: EF: 4
4 5 ES: 4 EF: 5
Task B Task C
Task B Task D C
Task Task D
1d 1d
1d 1d 1d 1d
LS: 2 LF: 3 LS: 3
LS: 2 LF: 4
LF: 3 LS: 4 3 LF: 5 4
LS: LF: LS: 4 LF: 5
ES: 1 EF: 2 ES: 2 EF: 4 ES: 2 EF: 4 ES: 5 EF: 6 ES: 5 EF: 6
Task A Task E Task E Task F Task F
1d 2d 2d 1d 1d
LS: 1 LF: 2 LS: 3 LF: 5 LS: 3 LF: 5 LS: 5 LF: 6 LS: 5 LF: 6
Release Date
Lakeway
T E C H N O L O G I E S
Friday, January 8, 2010

46. Key Insight #2: Dependencies
$
Can compute the “cost of delay” for each task
Value
ES: 2 EF: 3 ES: 3
ES: 2 EF: 4
EF: 3 ES: ES: 3 EF: EF: 4
4 5 ES: 4 EF: 5
Task B Task C
Task B Task D C
Task Task D
1d 1d
1d 1d 1d 1d
LS: 2 LF: 3 LS: 3
LS: 2 LF: 4
LF: 3 LS: 4 3 LF: 5 4
LS: LF: LS: 4 LF: 5
ES: 1 EF: 2 ES: 2 EF: 4 ES: 2 EF: 4 ES: 5 EF: 6 ES: 5 EF: 6
Task A Task E Task E Task F Task F
1d 2d 2d 1d 1d
LS: 1 LF: 2 LS: 3 LF: 5 LS: 3 LF: 5 LS: 5 LF: 6 LS: 5 LF: 6
Release Date
Lakeway
T E C H N O L O G I E S
Friday, January 8, 2010

47. Task
Send process charts back to client
Prioritize by Marginal Value
Send message to Rob
Log time
Attend PM status meeting
Reply to Vitaliy
Add splash video to homepage
Reply to Derrick
Reply to Pete
Send note to MIke at FEI
Go through slides and take notes
Prepare for BSD PM training workshop
Submit invoice
Rewrite “5 Principle for Project Success” as a blog post
Finish up Frontier RC2
Add table of contents to workshop doc
Revise workshop slides
Transcribe notes from BSD training
Take notes on Steve Johnson talk
$/d
Read through marketing document
Create templates for Lakeway material
Send check to SAO
Send report and slides to client
Move Frontier sources to git
+
Get nginx running ES: 2 EF: 4
Revise BSD report
Create graphviz gem for Ubuntu
Task E
2d
Schedule meeting with Tom next week
Read “SPIN selling” LS: 3 LF: 5
Send message to George about pricing
Revise product positioning matrix
Prepare for meeting with Tom
Display only frontier tasks in urgency/value chart
Revise license agreement for Frontier
Prepare for case study questions
Set up interview with Tyler
Draft Frontier user manual
Draft case study report
Reply to Ed
Send Rob podcast from HBR on selling
Add Marcom material to git
Send Ed the PM workshop slides
Pay Regence bill
Set up monit
Set up new business cards
Create Hyper-V version of Frontier
Finish going through Flash training
Set up demo version of Frontier
Draft post on the value of a positioning matrix
Lakeway
Add testimonials to homepage
Get permission to use quotes
Set up demo with Curt
Set up Frontier server T E C H N O L O G I E S
Revise Technical Consulting agreement
Review entrants for Itanium awards
Friday, January 8, 2010 Check graphviz tests

48. Property #1: This can be automated
Scenario: Product priorities change due to market event
Market change!
Product Manager Mtg Marketing/Engineering Mtg
New assignment!
Project Meeting Program Manager Mtg
Lakeway
T E C H N O L O G I E S
Friday, January 8, 2010

49. Property #1: This can be automated
Scenario: Product priorities change due to market event
Market change!
Product Manager Mtg
New assignment!
Lakeway
T E C H N O L O G I E S
Friday, January 8, 2010

50. Property #2: Integrates info in all directions
Scenario: A task will take longer than expected
Hmmm...release
date changed
Product Manager Mtg Marketing/Engineering Mtg
Task got bigger...
Project Meeting Program Manager Mtg
Lakeway
T E C H N O L O G I E S
Friday, January 8, 2010

51. Property #2: Integrates info in all directions
Scenario: A task will take longer than expected
Hmmm...release
date changed
Task got bigger...
Lakeway
T E C H N O L O G I E S
Friday, January 8, 2010

52. Summary
Multi-tasking is bad
Single-tasking requires task value
KEY INSIGHTS
1. Value of time is crucial
2. Dependencies matter
Value-based scheduling automatically
prioritizes tasks by value
Lakeway
T E C H N O L O G I E S
Friday, January 8, 2010

53. Hot o the pre !
Lakeway
T E C H N O L O G I E S
Friday, January 8, 2010

54. Hot o the pre !
Work overload has
become the norm
Prioritize ruthlessly
Stop working on projects
with the least return
What needs to get
done now? What can wait until
later?
Lakeway
T E C H N O L O G I E S
Friday, January 8, 2010

55. Lakeway
T E C H N O L O G I E S
Rino Jose
r.jose@lakeway-tech.com
408-518-0489
www.lakeway-tech.com
Friday, January 8, 2010