The million-dollar question to every Program Manager comes down to schedule versus (_fill in the blank_). Be the reasonable budget, resource, priority, quality, or relevance, the constant struggle of the PM is keeping a schedule without sacrificing too much from the project itself.
I have seen varied examples in the industry: new product introduction life cycles lasting up to three years (risking the loss of technology advancement in the market) and very aggressive tear-down life cycles that sacrifice quality and accuracy (quite possibly acting as a catalyst to this company's slow demise).
For the purpose of this piece, I want to chat about an experience where I prioritized process over schedule, review some of my reasons behind it and share what I have found.
Projects executed prior to any process improvement, require the process to be revisited but there may not be any tracking information to recreate the process. This becomes an issue for quality assurance and recall purposes. It is also difficult to know at what point of the process the issue occurred. This makes it difficult to immediately implement improvements for current and future projects in the pipeline.
Even the imperial dynasty in China kept records with a type of part number in order to be able to track who owned what part of a weapon or statue. That person faced capital punishment in the case of a defective failure. Quality control and responsibility ensured high-quality work. The same is true in the present, although with a different set of consequences.
Another issue with maintaining the same process time after time or even not having any process at all is the amount of patch-up work required to maintain such a broken system. If I don’t have a streamlined process to release even the most simple document, I place that document at risk of missing a step, missing an approval, or missing an improvement needed to graduate to the next revision. I have experienced a higher than normal yield loss in an engineering build due to the wrong revision of a specification being released to a contract manufacturer. Upon tracking this I ensured there was a dual-approval process moving forward to ensure the release of this specification was not left up to one poor busy electrical engineer but reviewed by a team of qualified contributors.
Where then, does that place us with prioritizing process over schedule and vice versa? Ultimately the purpose of implementing process improvements is to streamline and improve the schedule. Therefore, if implementing improvements is pushing out the schedule it may defeat the purpose. I recommend implementing the improvements in increments similar to Agile methodology in software. Starting with an initial list of improvements and re-evaluating helps to determine the pain points to prioritize.
Some items that are easy wins in implementing from the get-go include: labeling documents and builds labeling revisions, and numerical versions. Other easy wins are adding feature call-outs, versions, and consistent key product indicators.
Periodic team check-ins are also an easy win. These open sessions can be used as an opportunity for the team to share their accomplishments, collaborate on ideas, and utilize as a forum to cultivate solutions for any pain points or issues along the way. The ROI on the check-ins should be very high with minimal time used. Having working groups divided up into sections to address the needs of specific sub-teams or individuals is another efficient way to ensure the best use of time.
In the end, it is possible to implement improvements in increments to support the schedule and the process. This reduces disruption and allows the team to maintain the backing of executive management.
Hi Everyone! So many changes since I started this career-based blog. I was blessed enough to have the opportunity to be elevated from Project manager to Technical Marketing Engineer while also expanding my family and having two small children. Given that - I want to expand my scope and focus on what it is like to be a professional working mom in the Silicon Valley. With that said - I hope you enjoy my blog and get something beneficial from it! Happy Balancing!
Monday, March 9, 2020
Sunday, March 1, 2020
Creating a Zen Workplace
Needless to say, work can be stressful as can live.
Luckily, motherhood is likely more stressful. I say luckily because, in comparison to screaming children, cooking, cleaning, laundry, pulling siblings apart, picking up toys, stepping on the same toys that were just picked up, etc, etc, etc...work can seem like a breeze.
I’m a mom. The spa is like a distant dream at times. On the same note: self-care is essential. Working mothers fitting self-care into their day are not only doing themselves a favor but also doing their families, colleagues, friends, and family a favor.
A physician’s assistant and an occupational therapist suggested that I make my workspace a spa. Why not? I work at a desk in a community area that is mostly quiet and I have the opportunity to do so with minimal money spent. Here are some ways I turn my office time into spa time: thanks to a few added aesthetics and resources.
Minimalist Work-space
I have a small desk with no drawer space. This is the best thing that has ever happened to me. All those things I used to waste space with are gone. I take all my notes on my smartphone. I rely exclusively on my electronics of collateral, I PDF and email all my collaboration and I keep as little as possible on my desk. Even then I feel I might have more on my desk than I actually need.
My desk includes a pencil holder with a few pens, a sharpie, and a highlighter. The highlighter is overkill in my humble opinion.
I push all my wires behind the desk. My headphones are hung from an existing metallic arm holding up one of my expanded monitors and I still have a little room for my coffee cup and my morning fruit choice.
Decorations
In the beginning, I had a lot of little nick back decorations back in the ancient days of cubes. I even had a live beta to keep me company.
One live object is ok: a plant or a small fish in a small simple fish bowl is ok. I recommend a single succulent for a plant choice.
One art project per child can be placed on the walls: strategically and with plenty of distance in between each one. If your child has awed you with their latest work: I suggest switching out the art so as to not clutter the wall.
I keep a 2-inch x 3-inch Japanese zen garden on my desk. Alway with the stones placed intricately in and out of the small garden box. This is both a relaxing activity to arrange and periodically rearrange; and an aesthetically pleasing decoration.
Soothing Music
One of the many wonderful things about smartphones: is that smartphones offer many wonderful things. One includes a barrage of music apps that offer free or inexpensive music streaming. Some of these stations are perfect relaxing music for work and can be played at such a low volume that only I am enjoying the light tunes. Some choices for me are classical, spa, the 40s, and meditation music. iTunes offered a lot of free radio stations years ago that included an eclectic Mediterranean playlist. I prefer instrumental music for peaked focus. I also prefer something slow-paced to keep me grounded. These stations set a more professional tone than rock, house hip-hop.
No Thanks
I stay away from posed photographs because it feels like someone is staring at me: posed photographs are usually unnatural and frankly: I will see everyone when I get home. Framed photos take up space and I don’t like the idea of distracting my colleagues as well as myself with a school picture of my 4-year-old.
Now I have a desk I enjoy working at and the only distraction includes me talking to myself out loud during certain times of the day. During this time it may be a good idea to check my playlist and switch back to ‘spa’ if I have not all ready.
Luckily, motherhood is likely more stressful. I say luckily because, in comparison to screaming children, cooking, cleaning, laundry, pulling siblings apart, picking up toys, stepping on the same toys that were just picked up, etc, etc, etc...work can seem like a breeze.
I’m a mom. The spa is like a distant dream at times. On the same note: self-care is essential. Working mothers fitting self-care into their day are not only doing themselves a favor but also doing their families, colleagues, friends, and family a favor.
A physician’s assistant and an occupational therapist suggested that I make my workspace a spa. Why not? I work at a desk in a community area that is mostly quiet and I have the opportunity to do so with minimal money spent. Here are some ways I turn my office time into spa time: thanks to a few added aesthetics and resources.
Minimalist Work-space
I have a small desk with no drawer space. This is the best thing that has ever happened to me. All those things I used to waste space with are gone. I take all my notes on my smartphone. I rely exclusively on my electronics of collateral, I PDF and email all my collaboration and I keep as little as possible on my desk. Even then I feel I might have more on my desk than I actually need.
My desk includes a pencil holder with a few pens, a sharpie, and a highlighter. The highlighter is overkill in my humble opinion.
I push all my wires behind the desk. My headphones are hung from an existing metallic arm holding up one of my expanded monitors and I still have a little room for my coffee cup and my morning fruit choice.
Decorations
In the beginning, I had a lot of little nick back decorations back in the ancient days of cubes. I even had a live beta to keep me company.
One live object is ok: a plant or a small fish in a small simple fish bowl is ok. I recommend a single succulent for a plant choice.
One art project per child can be placed on the walls: strategically and with plenty of distance in between each one. If your child has awed you with their latest work: I suggest switching out the art so as to not clutter the wall.
I keep a 2-inch x 3-inch Japanese zen garden on my desk. Alway with the stones placed intricately in and out of the small garden box. This is both a relaxing activity to arrange and periodically rearrange; and an aesthetically pleasing decoration.
Soothing Music
One of the many wonderful things about smartphones: is that smartphones offer many wonderful things. One includes a barrage of music apps that offer free or inexpensive music streaming. Some of these stations are perfect relaxing music for work and can be played at such a low volume that only I am enjoying the light tunes. Some choices for me are classical, spa, the 40s, and meditation music. iTunes offered a lot of free radio stations years ago that included an eclectic Mediterranean playlist. I prefer instrumental music for peaked focus. I also prefer something slow-paced to keep me grounded. These stations set a more professional tone than rock, house hip-hop.
No Thanks
I stay away from posed photographs because it feels like someone is staring at me: posed photographs are usually unnatural and frankly: I will see everyone when I get home. Framed photos take up space and I don’t like the idea of distracting my colleagues as well as myself with a school picture of my 4-year-old.
Now I have a desk I enjoy working at and the only distraction includes me talking to myself out loud during certain times of the day. During this time it may be a good idea to check my playlist and switch back to ‘spa’ if I have not all ready.