New Impact on
"White Collar" (Safer, Knowledge Based) Jobs such as QA,
Design and Development engineering, Customer Support,
etc.
How will these
factors affect your company's High Tech
Projects?
RAPID
CHANGE IN BUSINESS MODELS AND COMPANY
STRUCTURE
Rapid change can
easily add more chaos to that normally present in a high
tech project. Teams are formed and broken up rapidly. Of
all the times when creating a structure for the teams is
necessary - this is the time. Structure is needed for the
internal team members, as well as those working on the
outside. More than ever, following a more formal process
makes sense. This means Project definitions, Work
Breakdown Structures, team kick off meetings, review
meetings and many others. It is almost as if the Project
Manager must act as if all portions of the project team
are working outside the firm.
In this fast
changing environment, the project will be what holds the
team together, not so much the organization. Team members
must identify with the project to a very high
degree.
Some of the areas
critical to success in this environment are not unique or
new to outsourcing and have been described in past APD
newsletters such as:
Value
the Early Days of a
Project -
Are the early days of a project more, or less important?
-http://www.angotti.com/docs/0101%20E_Zine%20Std.txt
The
Critical Value of
Specifications
- The importance of specifications and related documents
to project success -http://www.angotti.com/docs/0201%20E_Zine%20Std.txt
Make
Projects Work with Proper
Planning
- Planning can make or break a project - http://www.angotti.com/docs/0401%20E_Zine%20Std.txt
Periodic
Review Meetings
- Why hold them? Why they don't work? What to do about
it. - http://www.angotti.com/docs/0302%20E_Zine%20Std.txt
So, what needs to
be done isn't new, it is just more critical. Planning and
execution make the project more real. Good, important,
team meetings keep the focus on goals, and off other side
issues. If you follow what is described in these
newsletters, you will have far fewer problems in the
outsourcing environment.
NEW
IMPACT ON "WHITE COLLAR" JOBS
The old idea that
persons that have a high technical knowledge, such as
Design and Development Engineering, QA, Customer Support,
etc, are more in demand, and therefore immune from
layoffs, is now no longer the order of the day. These
"White Collar", jobs are now being outsourced, just like
manufacturing tasks have been.
This situation
has everyone on the project much more interested in
making sure that their tasks provide them with skills
that will be useful during later projects, at this
organization or another. Everyone will also want to know
that his or her knowledge and skills will be useful
during the later phases of the project. This is often the
case if they are making real contributions to the
project, and they see how what they are doing is directly
needed both now and later.
In addition,
rumors that the project is in jeopardy can really impact
productivity. The most critical skill in this more
fragile team situation is that of learning to very
effectively support the team, so that the focus is
shifted from a team member being a "cog in the wheel" to
their being someone that is critical to the project. Each
and every team member must sense that they are supported
by the Project Manager. They must have a sense that they
are a real contributor to the project team. A quality
working team will always exhibit far fewer
problems.
The antidote to
this more fragile employment situation isn’t all
that new. What is needed has already been described in
detail in an earlier pair of APD newsletter articles
covering
Supporting
the Project Team #1 and #2 - How to learn to support the
Project Team:
http://www.angotti.com/docs/0402%20E_Zine%20Std.txt
and
http://www.angotti.com/docs/0103%20EZine.txt
.
By following the
principles outlined in these newsletters, you will be
well equipped to check out the general situation with the
project team including an increase in negative attitudes
and false rumors. False rumors can be corrected as soon
as they begin. Morale problems can be gleaned, focused
on, and corrected in a short time.
NOT
NEW, NOT DIFFERENT
PMs can adapt to
these changing business models presented by outsourcing.
We can intervene when we identify problems brought up by
both the rapid changes in the environment and their
effects on project personnel. The key is to focus on the
fundamentals of Project Management.
THE
NEXT NEWSLETTER
In the next
issue, I will discuss further the effect of outsourcing
various aspects of a project and its effect on the
project effectiveness. This is becoming of much more
concern in recent years.
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