Theory of Constraint

This article is about the Theory of Constraint (TOC) in project management (PM).

The underlying assumption of TOC is that the performance of a system constraint will determine the performance of the entire system. The weakest link in the chain is called the constraint. At constraint is anything that limits or prevent higher system performance relative to the goal. There are five steps to follow in this theory: 1) Identify constraint, 2) Decide how to exploit it, 3) Subordinate everything else in the system to step two, 4) Elevate the system’s constraint and 5) Go back to step one to continuously identify and break constrains.

Normally we would find Constraint Management applied in manufacturing and scheduling where TOC can be used to create a buffer around an identified bottleneck activity in a production and then all other operations in the work flow would be subordinated around this bottleneck.

This article will focus on TOC in relation to project management and try to answer the following questions: 1) How does TOC work in a production 2) When and how could it be relevant to apply TOC in project management? 3) What are the pros and cons of using TOC principles in the different phases of a project? 4) In which types of projects could TOC be relevant? 5) Conclusion