Project Management

There was a lot of discussion that happened about the Quality of our deliverables in the recently concluded Steering Committee Meeting and I was travelling back to Chennai from Bangalore, with thoughts filled with the same.

I was travelling by Shatabdi Express and when the train crossed Katpadi, I just went outside the A/c Cabin to the place near the Toilets, just to stretch my leg and to get some fresh air. As I was standing there, I noticed the Train Attendant sitting their on a carton box and counting the number of cups. I realised that he must be getting ready for his return journey or probably the next journey.

As I was noticing him, thoughts just ran to the lifestyle that he would be having and also his work environment, work etc. I had opened the door of the train and just then another train attendant came and asked me if I am done with what I am doing. When I asked him as to why he is enquiring, he told me that he has to check some cables behind the door and he feels that one of the cable has burnt. I asked him to go ahead and do his work and he checked some wires and then smiled at me and said that one of the wires have got burnt and the same has to replaced in Chennai. Then I saw him filling some logs and also brought his Supervisor and explained the problem to him and he then signed in those logs.I was a silent spectator to all these and still the Catering attendant was continuing his counting without getting affected by what is happening around him.

Immediately I started comparing this to the work that we do back in office. The lifestyle that I have is multiple times better than what is available to the two characters that I spoke about. The monetary compensation that I get is again multiple times that of what they get. And lot more, the work environment, work life balance, etc, everything seems to be lot better for us. But still the amount of cribbing that we do is lot more than what these people would have done.

Again, as a traveller, will I be happy if the attendant makes mistake while serving the food, instead of Vegetarian food, what if her serves non vegetarian food? Incase I ask for water and what if he delays the same by 15 minutes? While serving food, if he spills food on us, how would we feel? I can keep going on... Even for him Customer Service is primary and he cannot afford to make mistakes. It is not Ok if there is a failure and he may not get the second chance to correct the same. Lets take the case of the Electrician, when he asked me if I am done with my work, I again saw customer service, he was bothered that my journey is comfortable. Again, if you typically look at that problem he handled and the logs he filled, I dont think he complains and I am sure that he will have it fixed in Chennai, he will certainly not be ok to travel back to Bangalore with the wire not fixed. And imagine he has to meticulously do all this for every compartment in the train, I also witnessed the difficulty he had in filling those logs in the moving train, still he did not complain. He went about doing the work meticulously.

Comparing the same with the facilities that we have, why are we cribbing a lot to do reviews, documentations, version controls etc. Why are we taking bugs very easily? Why do feel okay if there are bugs in our code and if our code is not tuned for the best performance? Dont you think that we should provide the best quality for our customer? Is it not necessary to take care of our customer?

Quality is non negotiable and just because you dont see tangible problems, does not mean that mediocrity in the deliverables are accepted. What is applicable to the Catering Attendant and the Electrician when you are the customer is as well applicable to us when we are delivering services to our customers. Just imagine if that electrician ignores and waits for the customer to complain that it is not working well, if it had resulted in a fire accident in the compartment, is what he does is ok? Same way lets put us also in the line of fire and ensure that we are giving the best quality and also lets feel that if there are bugs in the code that you develop, it is a disgrace to you. Lets remember and empathise our customers situation by thinking about ourselves as a customer.

Best practices are well defined.
They'll keep you out of a bind.
The PMBOK® says how,
So follow it now
And project success you will find.

Every project begins with a charter.
This isn't a matter to barter.
It enhances success.
This isn't a guess.
Not doing it makes the job harder.

The team must then detail the scope.
That means gathering all of the dope
To meet all the needs
And describe all the deeds
So good results are more than just hope.

Next, develop a full project plan.
It takes some effort, but you really can
Include all nine of the skills
And five phases, no frills,
To be done by each woman and man.

Then build a WBS
So the work is more than a guess
And the things to be done,
Though it may not be fun,
Are defined in detail (more or less).

From there you must build a network.
Some say this drives them berserk.
I.D. predecessors
And show the successors.
You need this for the project to work.

It's time to define the resources
And quantify all of the forces
That do all the things
That ultimately brings
A plan that the whole team enforces.

Then a detailed schedule is built.
Establish the dates with no guilt.
Just do the math
Find the critical path
And you're ready to go on, full tilt.

Now it's time for the work to be done:
Each activity, from number one.
No one can shirk,
All must do their work,
For completion is often hard-won.

Continually monitor and control.
Don't let anything fall through a hole.
You're under the gun
To be sure things are done
Per the plan, and with no folderol.

Time to get an ongoing measure.
You cannot do it at leisure.
But Earned Value's the way
To be able to say
"Here's our success." What a pleasure.

Close out the project when done.
Perhaps looking back it was fun.
Don't forget lessons learned:
Where were you burned?
Have all of the stakeholders won?

Bruce R. Shaw, a PMP® since 1992, has had a career as an engineer and project manager since 1961. Now retired from formal employment, he teaches basic project management and PMP® exam preparation classes in the Washington, DC area. He may be reached at brucershaw@verizon.net.