Britain's got talent......

Yes, there's no doubt about it, Britain's certainly got talent. Although the weird Scottish one with the bushy eyebrows is probably bottom of voters Gallup polls at the moment with the European and local council elections looming this week we're all expecting a massive backlash after the MP's expenses row. In fact Labour are trailing the polls at an all time low.

We have all seen the undoubted talent of David Cameron to jump on a bandwagon and its only surprising he hasn't done it whilst juggling flaming batons and silmultanously riding his eco-friendly unicycle.

Nick Clegg has got his tuppence worth in as well but hasn't mentioned his talent for bedding young women in his liberal student daze and adding notches to his bed post.

Of course the minor parties have also got in on the act with their pathetic Party Political broadcasts filmed on a flip video in some dark corner of a dodgy housing estate, with crumpled crosses of St George fluttering in the barbeque smoke.

However, its never over untill the fat lady sings and with house prices showing some positive signs, shares on the up, inventories at an all time low and the price of oil creeping up once more we might avoid the shrill tones of the wee Scottish lassie until after the next General Election.

So who's fault is it...?

At the end of a project it's always a good idea to have a Project Review Meeting. This is sometimes called a post mortem for obvious reasons and should be used to identify what went wrong with a project and what were the reasons behind it going wrong. This is particularly appreciated by Senior management who like to demonstrate that no stone has gone unturned. Of course it is also an opportunity to identify what went right and why. Project managers should always take the opportunity to accept credit for what went right and to shower praise on members of the team who exceeded expectations. Things which went wrong, of course, are rarely any individuals responsibility and tend to be systematic or process errors for which the team have identified a solution. Even the worst situations can have a positive outcome.

Champions League Final

Tonight it's the Champions League final between Manchester United and Barcelona and millions of football fans around the world will be glued to their T.V sets cheering on their adopted team.
So what's all this got to do with project management or business..? you might ask. Well, it could be argued that Sir Alex Ferguson is the ultimate project manager - he plans things to the n'th degree, he identifies and manages risk, he gets the most out of his team, he always delivers on time, he manages cost and his customers love him !!!

In other words he's just like your typical project manager. Enjoy the match whichever side your on.

Minimize product cost at the design stage

Once the product spec is agreed with the customer the product design stage can begin. It should be noted that this is the key stage for minimizing product cost. At every point the design engineer should reference the product spec in deciding what components to use and what tolerances are required. The design should take into account component and material cost and every effort will be made to minimize cost. If the spec can be exceeded without impacting on cost then this should be done but not if there is a negative impact on cost.
The design should be maximised for efficiency and manufacturability and costs minimized before moving on to the prototype stage.
Every cent saved at the design stage will be a saving throughout the product life cycle whereas every additional cent lost in design will require an expensive redesign in order to be recovered.
The design stage is the key stage to minimize product cost.

what does your customer really want..?

Before you can decide whether your product quality is up to scratch you need to know what your customer really wants.

This is done via the product spec. Before the project timescales are defined and before the development stage the product spec needs to be defined and agreed with the customer. This needs to be done using a controlled document which is signed off by both parties. Following this any proposed changes from either side has to be agreed in writing.
This has a number of advantages:-

1) The customer defines exactly what they want.

2) The supplier clarifies its limitations.

3) Any ambiguity is removed from the process.

4) Spec creep is minimised; this is where the customer regularly tightens up or expands the original spec.

5) The project timescales are defined by the agreed spec.

This process is earier said than done and it is the Project Managers responsibilty to ensure the spec is agreed before development starts.

Reduce costs not quality....

"Everybody wants to reduce manufacturing costs but not at the price of quality"....this is what a senior CEO said to me last week.

"Who said you had to reduce quality ?"

This is a common misconception, that by reducing cost you automatically reduce quality.

But first we have to define "quality" - what is "quality" ?

1) Is it something which is rare ?

2) Is it always expensive ?

3) Is it perfect in every way ?

4) Is it something which exceeds the customers expectations ?

YOU DECIDE by completing our poll ................................

When will the economy recover ?

Today we're running a poll on when the economy will recover. There has been much talk recently about the "green shoots" of the economy both here and in the U.S so lets find out what you think ?

I'll put my neck on the line by gazing into my silicon ball and forecasting the following:-

1) Stock markets - the current rally is a bear rally. Markets will generally decline by early June 2009 to rise again in the next Bull market in October 2009.

2) Unemployment will contine to rise surpassing 3 million in 2010.

4) House prices will turn around in spring 2010.

5) Economic growth will turn positive in Q2 2010.

That's my view so let's hear yours.

Outsourcing saves jobs

It is often assumed that outsourcing costs jobs. Whilst it is often the case that outsourcing key activities may get rid of some jobs it often creates others and remains cheaper overall.

Many companies are struggling to maintain profitability in the current economic climate and face possible extinction. These are usually manufacturing entities which make everything in house. However there are many companies which continue to thrive having outsourced the bulk of manufacture to cheaper third parties whilst retaining their support functions and, most importantly their Research and Development in house. With engineering resource freed up to focus on product development and bringing to market high value, high margin cutting edge products, whilst the "cash cow" of production is outsourced to a competent subcontractor, the company becomes more profitable, innovative and efficient.
Amberhill Associates can help you establish this model.
For more information email us at info@amberhill.biz

Project Management Tip No 105 - Risk Management

Managing Risk is a key part of project management. In order to manage risks effectively it is essential to prioritize action. We suggest the following approach.

1. Identify the severity of each risk and give it a score between 1 and 10.

2. Assess the urgency of action and score 10 immediate to 1 not urgent.

3. Assess the financial impact of the risk and score 10 Major to 1 minor.
4. Calculate overall score = severity x urgency x cost

5. Use these scores to prioritize Action starting with the highest.

6. For each risk identify a mitigation which will minimise risk whilst allowing you to fix the root cause.

7. For each risk identify the root cause and an appropriate corrective action which should then be built into your overall plan.

8. Build all this into a spreadsheet to help track progress.

9. Review on a regular basis.

Need more help ? Contact me - chris@amberhill.biz

At whose expense..??????

No matter which way you cut it, the row over MP's expenses stinks. These people have been elected to office to represent the people and all the indications are that they have been manipulating the system for their own benefit and greed. "Greed is good" you might argue like Gordon Gekko in the movie Wall Street but the difference is these people actually MAKE THE RULES and lecture the rest of us about obeying the law and paying our taxes. How can society function properly when the very people who should be showing leadership are grabbing all they can. MP's have consistently opposed transparency until they were forced to do so under the Freedom of Information Act, under pressure from campaign groups and concerned individuals.

There is an old saying that, in a democracy you get the politicians you deserve. Now that we know what they've been up top there may be a few politicians looking for a new job following the next election.

However, there is another side to all this. The MP's salary was introduced to allow the poor to be elected. Previously only the rich could afford to be represented and we must never revert to that situation. What we need is:-

1) An independent commitee to establish a fair and reasonable salary for MP's comparable to the private and public sector.

2) A fixed annual expense allowance for travel and overnight stays.

3) No second homes allowance; if they need somewhere to stay in London on a regular basis then they can rent or stay in a hotel.

4) The creation of a fully equipped and serviced MP's hostel near Westminster.

5) Full transparency of MP's earnings and expenses.

In order to preserve our Democracy and restore the faith of the electorate we demand nothing less.

Project Management Tip No 104

Project Management Tip No 104

The Project Manager should spend 70% of their effort planning the project and 30% executing it.

Think about it. This may appear counter intuitive at first but the more effort put in to planning the project at the start the easier the execution will be. It is always tempting to run with the project before the planning is completed but this will only end in disaster. If the project is not thoroughly planned out the team will waste a massive amount of effort going down dead ends.

70% planning, 30% execution.

Project Management Tip No 103

"Who is your number one customer ?" I was asked at a recent Business seminar. Hmmm, I began to reel off a list of OEM's when I was brusquely interrupted....

"Your number one customer is your boss !!"

The more I thought about this the more it made sense, or for those of us in the service industry, the number one customer is the client.

So treat your boss (or your client) as your number one customer and you won't go far wrong.

(Of course those of you who answered "Spouse" are probably right too !