CONTACTS 

SUBJECTS
Downsizing
PM Career Opportunity
Cross-functional Teams, eliminate PM
Reengineering
Skills Deficit
PM, Trends, Changes, Innovations
TQM
Reengineer Enterprise Management KM AI Project Management Use Tech to
Empower Reengineer Reduce Bureauracy Unproductive Regulation Policy P

1112 -
1112 -    ..
1113 - Summary/Objective
1114 -
111401 - Follow up work at ref SDS 2 line 160, ref SDS 4 line 270.
111402 -
111403 - Bob said that about 5 years ago Varian created a project management
111404 - department.  Bob's explanation gave the impression that the "project
111405 - manager" an Varian is principally a scheduling and possibly a cost
111406 - engineer.  The lead person seems to be a "Product Manager" in
111407 - marketing.
111408 -
111409 - The product manager seems to initiate new products from discussions
111410 - with customers and market research activity.  It reflects HBR and
111411 - other commentary recommending that marketing be the driving force of
111412 - an organization, i.e., customer driven.
111413 -
111414 -     Bob indicated the project management sheme intended to solve a
111415 -     prior problem when engineering was the lead function in product
111416 -     development, and often caused increased costs, delays and/or poor
111417 -     results for the product because of arbitrary decisions which
111418 -     optimized engineering, but harmed manufacturing, sales, support,
111419 -     distribution.
111420 -
111421 - The product manager supports a process intended to result in a set of
111422 - written requirements which engineering then designs, similar to the
111423 - process discussed with Morris at Chips, ref SDS 1 line 88.  Bob
111424 - indicated that difficulties arise from written requirements that are
111425 - inadequate, which may conflict with performance policies and
111426 - standards.  I asked if there is a data base or other record that shows
111427 - the chronology of discussions and analysis so others can follow the
111428 - reasoning that led to understandings about what is needed.  Bob said
111429 - the record is generally not very comprehensive.  Much of it is by
111430 - word-of-mouth in ad hoc telephone discussions, email, meetings and
111431 - notes that are not readily accessible across the organization.  Delays
111432 - and re-work arise because various functional groups need input from
111433 - the product manager, who is often in meetings with customers on sales
111434 - efforts.
111435 -
111436 - He indicated they have a separate group of project managers, similar
111437 - to PG&E, except insteading of leading the cross-functional team, they
111438 - are simply one of the functions that reports to the product manager.
111439 -
111440 - Bob indicated the product managers typically come from engineering or
111441 - operations, then get an MBA and go into marketing.  This theoretically
111442 - gives them the background to appreciate the demands of these
111443 - functions, however, once they enter marketing problems of coordination
111444 - seem to occur.
111445 -
111446 -
111447 - TQM
111448 - ---
111449 - Followed up discussion the other day on TQM ref SDS 5 line 134.
111450 -
111451 - Bob said Varian has been trying TQM for the past several years also.
111452 - Once a month a new vision statement was issued.  This caused
111453 - difficulty remembering which vision was the current one and how work
111454 - related to objectives (the vision) from one month to the next.
111455 -
111456 -
111457 -
111458 -
1115 -

SUBJECTS
Email Degrades Writing, Understanding
Metrics

1505 - Summary/Objective
1506 -   ..
150601 - Follow up work at ref SDS 4 line 142.
150602 -
150603 - Proof Reading Email to Avoid Mistakes
150604 -
150605 - Bob said the solution he has adopted to avoid errors in his writing
150606 - using email is to print the messages he prepares, before sending them,
150607 - wait 30 minutes or so to proof read his message.  He feels this clears
150608 - his mind from what he wrote, so the proof reading does not read past
150609 - the mistakes in the material.  Bob was concerned that this wastes a
150610 - lot of paper because sometimes this method takes several iterations.
150611 -
150612 - He said the method of using a secretary was faster, because she
150613 - provided the second mind that caught the errors.  One or two passes at
150614 - the most was adequate.  With email he often needs 3 - 5 passes.
150615 -
150616 - This reflects the recent article on checking written text before
150617 - sending it. ref SDS 3 3332
150618 -
150619 -    [On 960509 encountered example from Intel. ref SDS 6 3968]
150620 -
150621 -
150622 -
1507 -