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Project Half Double – Developing a new radical project paradigm

The objective of Project Half Double is to increase the competitive performance of the Danish industry by radically increase accuracy, pace and impact on the development and innovation activities that take place in the form of projects. As an example and guiding principle, the last 15 years the operation of the company (production and service) has undergone great improvements through lean and other process improvement methods. Thus Project Half Double must do for the company’s development and innovation tasks what Lean has done for the running of the company and in this way create a quantum leap in the competitive performance of Danish companies.

In order to achieve this, Project Half Double will find a project method that can raise the success rate of our projects. We will do this by focusing on one particular target area, namely the reduction of projects’ lead time to effect. Our claim is that there is a direct correlation between short and intensive project processes and their ability to create an effect on the bottom line – for many reasons. For example there is no doubt, rationally speaking, that a short, ”thick” and well-staffed project executed within three months is preferable to four long, thin projects, running side by side for a whole year. Thus, we harvest the fruits of the first project after three months, whereupon a new one can commence. So already after six months we see the impact of two completed projects, while the alternative is four half-finished projects without any value creation whatsoever. Something, moreover, which with a high degree of certainty still applies after the estimated project period of one year, since the efficiency of key staff members drops drastically when they participate in more than two concurrent projects.

Ultimately, it is our objective to increase the speed at which we develop new products and services. In this way we can increase the competitive performance of Denmark and contribute with an important piece in the battle for future jobs and welfare.

Implement Consulting Group has the main responsibility for Project Half Double, which has been established and planned together with The Danish Industry Foundation. The project involves, amongst others, a number of pilot partners offering pilot projects in Danish companies to try out new methods.

Aarhus University will lead the research part of Project Half Double, which also involves Technical University of Denmark (DTU) as participants and Copenhagen Business School as review partner. The research part includes documenting practices in the pilot projects and evaluation approach for the pilot projects.

Official web page for Project Half Double http://www.projecthalfdouble.dk/   

Description of Project Half Double at Danish Industry Foundation web page http://www.industriensfond.dk/projecthalfdouble