Listen before Reacting

Got this has a email forward... jus thought of sharing... Gud Read..

When I was at the customers place, we got into a discussion with the customer and my colleague repeatedly interrupted the customer during the conversation.

We were discussing an important point regarding the UAT exit criteria for the project. Since the customer was repeatedly interrupted, the discussion didn’t progress much.

Neither did we get an opportunity to express our views, as the customer was not willing to listen. We ended up having the same position we started with, i.e. entirely opposing viewpoints. This happened during one of my previous projects.

Post the discussion when I checked with the colleague, he said that the customers’ views were not acceptable to him and that is why he interrupted the conversation. From my colleague’s view point, what he did may have been right, but we did not make any headway in the discussion.

When I pointed out this to him, he said that he didn’t accept what the customer was saying and that is why he did what he did.

Now this is a scenario which we face many times in our work life. We come across opposing views in our interactions with team members, customers and our bosses. How we handle these scenarios where the views are opposite to what we hold, will determine how we fare as project managers/leaders.

The secret (it is no secret at all) is to remind ourselves that ‘understanding is not accepting’. To elaborate, just because we understand something, it doesn’t necessarily mean that we have to agree to what is said.

If this is still confusing, let us roll back a bit and go to our school days.In our science books, we were taught many theories regarding the planetary system and one of them is the geocentric theory. It basically says that the earth is the centre of the universe and all planets and sun travel around it. Now we all know it is wrong and we also know the facts. But if there is a question asked about this theory in exam, will we say that we won’t respond as we don’t accept the theory? We don’t do that. We understand the theory, but we don’t accept it. We just answer the question knowing very well that the idea is very wrong. All that we need to do is to bring the same thought process to our professional life.

Ok, conversations at work place are not the same as being taught science lessons at school. A person can always think that listening to what is being said may be misunderstood as accepting the point. If we send across the message that we are only trying to understand what is being told and may or may not accept the view, then our purpose is met.

This can be done by using the sentence “I am trying to understand what you say though I may not agree with you”.

Used judiciously, this will win us lot of trust and respect from our colleagues and customers.Try this for sometime in conversations when we listen to opposing views, which may not be agreeable to us for whatever reasons and we will definitely see a sea change in our attitude and how we conduct ourselves in conversations.


We won’t necessarily interrupt conversations where the view is not acceptable to us.· We become better listeners. This helps us to win the trust and confidence of people whom we move with (because we listen better).

Because we listen better, there is a higher probability of making others agree to our view/idea. And finally, for all we know (or don’t know), the opposing view that we don’t like may be the right one or the better one, under the circumstance. We may even end up changing our position and accepting the view/idea.

But no problem, we accepted something after we understood. So go ahead and give it a try

Gantt Chart

A Gantt chart is a popular type of bar chart that illustrates a project schedule.

Forefather of project management is Henry L.Gantt, called the father of planning and control techniques, who is famously known for his use of the “Bar" chart as a project management tool.

His work is the forerunner to many modern project management tools including the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) and resource allocation.

The first Gantt Chart was actually developed by Karol Adamiecki, under the name Harmonogram. As Adamiecki did not publish his chart until 1931, this famous chart bears Gantt's name.

Gantt charts illustrate the start and finish dates of the terminal elements and summary elements of a project

Terminal elements and summary elements comprise the work breakdown structure
Gantt charts also show the dependency (i.e., precedence network) relationships between activities.

Advantages

Time is explicit

All tasks visible in relationship to others

Deadlines are shown

Project Status at intermediate times is shown

Gantt charts have become a common technique for representing the phases and activities of a project work breakdown structure (WBS), so they can be understood by a wide audience.

Limitations

Gantt chart is easily comprehended for small projects that fit on a single sheet or screen, they can become quite unwieldy for projects with more than about 30 activities.

Projects are often considerably more complex than can be communicated effectively with a Gantt chart.

Project management software can show schedule dependencies as lines between activities, displaying a large number of dependencies may result in a cluttered or unreadable chart

Gantt charts only represent part of the triple constraints of projects, because they focus primarily on schedule management.

Triple Constraints & Task Dependency

Project Management


The discipline of organizing and managing resources (e.g. people) in such a way that the project is completed within defined scope, quality, time and cost constraints.

The application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities to meet project requirements.

Traditional Triple Constraints

Time: The time to complete the project reflected in your project schedule.

Money: The project budget, based on the cost of the resources: the people, equipments, materials required to do the tasks.

Scope: The goals and tasks of the project and the work required to complete them.

Task – Definition

Task is an activity that has a beginning and an ending.

Each task is scheduled using the formula

Duration = Work / Resource effort (Units)

Work = Duration * Units

Fixed Work

Work is fixed & changes in Duration & Units does not affect the work to be done.

Fixed Duration

Total span of active working time (Start to finish of a task, as defined by the project & resource calendar) required for completing a task.

Fixed Units

Assigned units (resources) is a fixed value irrespective of changes in work or duration.

Task Dependency

Duration = Work / Resource effort

Duration is the actual amount of time that passes before the task is done.

Work is the effort required over a period of time to do the task.

Resource effort is the amount of effort resources are assigned to the task and their allocation.

For example, if:

Three painters work two days on a task, with an effort of 8 hours per day, the work for each resource is 16 hours: (2 days * 8 hours)

The total effort of the resources is 24 hours per day: (3 painters * 8 hours)

The total work for the task is 48 hours: (2 days * 8 hours * 3 painters)

The duration is 2 days: 48 hours / (3 painters * 8 hours)

Understanding this formula is important to understanding how changes you make to tasks affect the project schedule.

Task Dependency [Predecessor]

Finish-to-Start(FS)

Task (B) cannot start until Task (A) finishes

Finish-to Finish(FF)

Task (B) cannot finish until Task (A) finishes

Start-to-Start(SS)

Task (B) cannot start until Task (A) starts

Start-to-Finish(SF)

Task (B) cannot finish until Task (A) starts.

Project Management

Project management is the art or science of planning, organizing and managing resources to bring about the successful completion of specific project goals and objectives.

Project Management developed from different fields of application including construction, engineering and defense.

Henry Gantt, called the father of planning and control techniques, who is famously known for his use of the Gantt chart as a project management tool, for being an associate of Frederick Winslow Taylor's theories of scientific management and for his study of the work and management of Navy ship building.

His work is the forerunner to many modern project management tools including the work breakdown structure (WBS) and resource allocations.

Two mathematical project scheduling models were developed:
1. "Program Evaluation and Review Technique" or PERT, developed by Booz-Allen & Hamilton.
2. "Critical Path Method" (CPM) developed in a joint venture by both DuPont Corporation and Remington Rand Corporation At the same time, technology for project cost estimating, cost management, and engineering economics was evolving, with pioneering work by Hans Lang and others.

In 1956, the American Association of Cost Engineers (now AACE International the Association for the Advancement of Cost Engineering) was formed by early practitioners of project management and the associated specialties of planning and scheduling, cost estimating, and cost/schedule control (project control). AACE has continued its pioneering work and in 2006 released the first ever integrated process for portfolio, program and project management (Total Cost Management Framework).

In 1969, the Project Management Institute (PMI) was formed to serve the interests of the project management industry. The premise of PMI is that the tools and techniques of project management are common even among the widespread application of projects from the software industry to the construction industry.

In 1981, the PMI Board of Directors authorized the development of what has become A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide), containing the standards and guidelines of practice that are widely used throughout the profession.

The International Project Management Association (IPMA), founded in Europe in 1967, has undergone a similar development and instituted the IPMA Competence Baseline (ICB). The focus of the ICB also begins with knowledge as a foundation, and adds considerations about relevant experience, interpersonal skills, and competence.

Both organizations are now participating in the development of an ISO project management standard.