lamojai:
I have also had first hand experiences with budgets getting away from you on large projects. There are many reasons why projects go bad and many ways to fix them. Personally, I think that the best way to prevent budget overruns is to restructure the way that we handle one of the most...
Bringing up the book by Christiansen was only a means to generate a thoughtful discussion. I was really wanting to see if there is any consensus upon what changes may be coming to the engineering profession.
Could we have foreseen the effect that low cost computing would have had on our...
Hello All:
I recently finished a book by Clayton Christiansen called "Seeing What's Next: using the theories of innovation to predict industry change". It is the third in a series about Disruptive Innovation and I have read each with great interest.
I have two questions.
1) Has anyone also...
It is incredible to me to see all of the project management solutions that are available today. I have spent several hours reviewing some of these and it appears that in terms of capabilities, they are all starting to merge together.
There is quite an industry that has formed out of the drive...
Thanks IRstuff:
Good video. Perhaps I can summarize.
In order to properly motivate staff, the following should be in place:
1) Money - While money is not a good motivator for work that requires cognitive skills, it must be enough (in the eyes of the staff) or it will unmotivate.
2)...
I have done my best to incorporate the above discussion into a list and have taken the liberty to add my own opinions about what would constitute best practices for Engineering Related Work Assignments. I am placing it below and would appreciate any and all comments.
Best Practices for...
KENAT:
Under this BP, the focus of the managers would be more on technical issues and less on personnel issues. With senior people spending more time on the technical side of the business, there is less technical risk. The result would be higher profits and happier customers.
When a...
IRstuff:
The workplace is competitive. People understand that they are being measured against others. The proposed best practice (BP) merely places the competition on an even playing field with a focus on work product.
With respect to profitability of the company, if the labor costs are...
I think that these are very good points and that they should be discussed in more detail as they are very real barriers to profitability in technology-based companies. Sorry for the length here. If necessary, we can split this into smaller pieces in the future.
1) (IRstuff) It's naive to...
Interesting perspective!! I would assume that with the economics pointing south (i.e., the person is not carrying their own weight and not justifying their own salary), there would be a business decision to cut them loose at some point.
The advantage of managing by task is that the result of...
Hi Kenat:
No, I am not proposing a minimum wage. I am suggesting that for the management of technical work assignments, another best practice could be to change the motivation of staff away from hours and utilization targets to tasks completed correctly. In other words, I am suggesting that...
Hello All:
I have started a Google Doc that I am using to summarize this thread. I will add to it as more people bring ideas and there appears to be a consensus building. There are three sections: 1) those best practices about which there appears to be consensus; 2) those best practices that...
I am going through this thread now to try and start summarizing and I need to ask:
What is a wrap rate?
Also, I used the term "Squishy" to describe that an engineering hour is generally not a fixed amount. There are efficiency, method of measuring, method of reporting, and perhaps other...
IRstuff:
Agreed. The point that I am trying to make is that when we guarantee a base salary level, tie task production to dollars worked against the base salary and pay dollar for dollar above the base, an immediate bonus comes with each paycheck where the staff has exceeded the target.
I am...
Great Points!!
Perhaps we can talk a little more about the "lump sum" issue for managing tasks. In going through the literature on project management, all approaches boil down to managing hours. As Kenat points out, the definition of an hour is ambiguous. It can vary between individuals...
