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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