Re: PM Woe

["Raj Machhan" <raj -dot- machhan -at- gmail -dot- com>]

Too much control is stifling and there are many a control freaks out there
who do not miss even  the smallest of opportunities to show who is the
boss. However, I have noticed that a number of software companies are now
adopting a flat organization structure to promote innovation and fresh
ideas. Moving forward, the flat structure is sure to gain wider acceptance,
given the nature of work in the IT/software sector.
The situation Jim is facing is not unusual. As I see it, a proactive
approach could be a possible way out. Come up with a detailed work flow
of the department, rope in the HR people and volunteer for a presentation on
impediments to productivity growth. The presentation, of course, talks about
the roadblocks to productivity taking Jim's department as an example.
Suggest a better way of doing things to the middle and senior management
people. This would not only put the Technical Communication process under
the scanner, but will also initiate a debate to arrive at the best process.
I think it is a great opportunity for Jim to make his mark.

Raj









On 7/23/07, Sharon Burton <sharon -at- anthrobytes -dot- com> wrote:
>
> I like this approach as well. If someone wants to be this controlling,
> then
> let them, I say. No one is actually good at micro-managing. The attention
> span required to do it well simply don't exist. My second marriage would
> have gone much better, I think, if I had the attention span to micromanage
> my passive/aggressive husband. But I didn't and he ultimately was better
> at
> passive aggressive than I was at fighting it. He won. Yahoo for him.
>
> I would also ask for clarification on the word "document". If this
> everything that we might write during the day? Does that include emails?
> Documents that we might start to order our thoughts but might never
> submit?
> How about notes files from talking to people or files meant to track
> things?
>
> Do we need permission to chat with someone in the kitchen/bathroom about
> project issues? Or can we retro-approve those? If so, how? Do phone calls
> count? How about lunch conversations?
>
> I'd then put all the time for all this activity into each schedule,
> including the wait for the permission time - estimate 3 minutes to create
> the request, 10 minutes to receive it.  So you have 15 minute cycles of
> really no activity that forwards the project.
>
> If this is what they want, then let them have it. It's their money; they
> can
> ask that you spend it this way. Remember, "Foolish money spends just as
> well
> as smart money."
>
> sharon
>
> Sharon Burton
> CEO, Anthrobytes Consulting
> 951-369-8590
> www.anthrobytes.com
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Gene Kim-Eng
> Sent: Sunday, July 22, 2007 12:16 PM
> To: vrfour -at- verizon -dot- net; 'TECHWR-L'
> Subject: Re: PM Woe
>
>
> Given the situation you described previously (an out-of-control
> process butting heads with a PMO trying to assume total personal
> control), I think the approach you followed previously still sounds
> like the most operable one.  Send the PMs and PMO 50 emails
> a day with requests to talk to 30 different SMEs, start a new
> document, submit a document for review, release, etc.  Be sure
> each one says "per our current process, further work on this
> project cannot continue without the requested approval."
>
> Don't  view the time spent on these emails as "lost project time."
> If your group charges hours to projects, create a time tracking
> category for "obtain PM/PMO approval" and charge for time
> spent doing it. If you schedule your projects on GANTT or
> similar charts and it takes a day to get those approvals, pepper
> every chart with dozens of one-day "PM/PMO approval" tasks
> during which project progress stands still.
>
> Give the PMO everything he wants and follow his process to the
> letter.  Bury him under the weight of his own requirements.
>
> Or, if by some inexplicable turn of events the PMO's approach
> actually does bring order to the existing chaos, make your group
> the one he holds up to the rest of the company as a shining example.
>
> Gene Kim-Eng
>
>
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