I don't intend to market the recent flick with the similar name, but as a project manager your resource (individual) on the project is worth a lot of money in terms of the bills you pay to your shrink (depression, anxiety and fear of loosing the resource.)
I always thought that guys in sales or marketing face a lot of action, but to my new experience a lot of action also takes place in operations - this time more to do with people you already have and should be working for the organisation - surprisingly many of them are the rope in a tug-of-resource-war.
Management terms it as "organisation dynamics", let me term it "bull****"*. It's hard to say who works and doesn't, you can choose to apply the pereto theory of 80:20 or your own grandma recipe, bottomline this is where you are and this is what you have - "manage"
Another million dollar resource is - time. In project management we estimate time based on number of people working simultaneously to get the job done technically time gets classified as man-months, man-days, man-hours, etc. but later the man-is-not-found. In reality time remains time, no human can defy it; not even project management.
But just like the movie, a PM is very close to his team/people; some team choose to work along, and some the PM needs to drag along. This relation creates a strong bond between people, it overlooks the management-scientific measurements involved in calculating efficiency or defects - what it results is in a creation where all of them worked together...and achieved something.
Which is worth much more than a million dollars...
* No offense to any management guru's or lectures I've attended. I still strongly want to test many theories I've read in the classroom.
Monday, March 14, 2005
Thursday, March 10, 2005
Zzzzzzip...
I wish I could share ordeals of other PM's then of my fellow PM, who always manage's to ask for some event in his life. This time it was not his team member but the client.
Most of us will pray once a week or once in a bluemoon, a PM prays everytime he sends a delivery to his client, actually the prayers never ends, it plays at the back of many minds.
So, on the fateful night my PM just like any other honest and supporting one, uploads a zip file (know more about zip files later) on the file server for the client to download and review the works. Tada, the zip file zips it's way to the client...
Now...
A conversation begins between my fellow PM and the client's participant* (CP).
PM: Hi.
CP: Hi, thank you for uploading the file. But this is a zip file.
PM (Thinking - "so???"): Yes, it is.
CP: How do I use this file???
PM (Scratching his head, willing to shoot the questioning person at sight): Just simply unzip the file.
CP: How can you unzip the file?
PM (Visualizing pressing the trigger): Use Winzip...
CP: No, no, no...please upload seperate files again.
PM (Visualizing shooting multiple bullets) : there are over 100 files, it'll take me a lot of time to upload.
CP: I understand the effort you are putting in, please upload all files.
PM: Give me a moment...
In the meanwhile, he calls up the client manager and ask for help, his response "the customer is always right"...
Irony, is for real :)
*PS: The CP has 10 years of experience in this line of business !!!
Note: No human, animal or computer was harmed in this event.
Most of us will pray once a week or once in a bluemoon, a PM prays everytime he sends a delivery to his client, actually the prayers never ends, it plays at the back of many minds.
So, on the fateful night my PM just like any other honest and supporting one, uploads a zip file (know more about zip files later) on the file server for the client to download and review the works. Tada, the zip file zips it's way to the client...
Now...
A conversation begins between my fellow PM and the client's participant* (CP).
PM: Hi.
CP: Hi, thank you for uploading the file. But this is a zip file.
PM (Thinking - "so???"): Yes, it is.
CP: How do I use this file???
PM (Scratching his head, willing to shoot the questioning person at sight): Just simply unzip the file.
CP: How can you unzip the file?
PM (Visualizing pressing the trigger): Use Winzip...
CP: No, no, no...please upload seperate files again.
PM (Visualizing shooting multiple bullets) : there are over 100 files, it'll take me a lot of time to upload.
CP: I understand the effort you are putting in, please upload all files.
PM: Give me a moment...
In the meanwhile, he calls up the client manager and ask for help, his response "the customer is always right"...
Irony, is for real :)
*PS: The CP has 10 years of experience in this line of business !!!
Note: No human, animal or computer was harmed in this event.
Wednesday, March 09, 2005
Sleeping with estimation...
[Rated R - Explicit Content, Parental Advise Recommended]
Never in my wildest of dreams I'd thought I'll be sleeping with estimations in my dream. Hmmm...yeah, I'll term this syndrome as estdreamation (dreaming about estimation sheets) and am sure that's the new word that oxford needs to consider for their next dictionary release apart from sms meanings.
I mean, I am not that comfortable with numbers and I land up spending most of my day juggling with numbers. To top it all, I really haven't seen any of my numbers come to life; this of course is because I am yet to go live on a project. So, whatever I do today must mean something tomorrow. It's more or less like planning for how hard, how long and how much will the axe hurt, when it hits your foot. (Yikeees!!!)
Am, sure I'll have more episodes of "Sleeping with estimation" than the episode count of "Kyunki Saas bhi kabhi bahu thi" or "Sex, and the City"...
Never in my wildest of dreams I'd thought I'll be sleeping with estimations in my dream. Hmmm...yeah, I'll term this syndrome as estdreamation (dreaming about estimation sheets) and am sure that's the new word that oxford needs to consider for their next dictionary release apart from sms meanings.
I mean, I am not that comfortable with numbers and I land up spending most of my day juggling with numbers. To top it all, I really haven't seen any of my numbers come to life; this of course is because I am yet to go live on a project. So, whatever I do today must mean something tomorrow. It's more or less like planning for how hard, how long and how much will the axe hurt, when it hits your foot. (Yikeees!!!)
Am, sure I'll have more episodes of "Sleeping with estimation" than the episode count of "Kyunki Saas bhi kabhi bahu thi" or "Sex, and the City"...
Monday, March 07, 2005
The week begins...but delayed
Oh, i missed to write the blog yesterday... it was my day filled with excitement. I somehow don't agree on writing words like "busy" or "hectic", they don't have that much fun in it.
The Monday or Mournday whichever you choose came, lot's of happy faces morphing to shocked faces as they started their day (here's it's your email which greets you). I was too excited to change my facial expression :)
Most of the day was spent working with some of the most brilliant minds I've ever come across, sadly my organisation chooses to call them "resources"; if I were given a chance I would have called them guru's. Some have mastered their art, and some are in the process of it. Whatever you say, it's fun being around. I wish I could work closely with most of them, and learn along.
The rest of the day was spent on an excel sheet, tweaking productivity figures for a possible project...bottom line "how we maximise profits in view of the effort". Don't scratch your head, even I was scratching mine while working on the excel sheet, didn't get a thing but managed to finish something.
The day went by pretty fast, and at 930 in the night, I caught my self taking pictures and posting them (check out the profile - yikees!!! i look plump)
Will write more as the action takes place...
The Monday or Mournday whichever you choose came, lot's of happy faces morphing to shocked faces as they started their day (here's it's your email which greets you). I was too excited to change my facial expression :)
Most of the day was spent working with some of the most brilliant minds I've ever come across, sadly my organisation chooses to call them "resources"; if I were given a chance I would have called them guru's. Some have mastered their art, and some are in the process of it. Whatever you say, it's fun being around. I wish I could work closely with most of them, and learn along.
The rest of the day was spent on an excel sheet, tweaking productivity figures for a possible project...bottom line "how we maximise profits in view of the effort". Don't scratch your head, even I was scratching mine while working on the excel sheet, didn't get a thing but managed to finish something.
The day went by pretty fast, and at 930 in the night, I caught my self taking pictures and posting them (check out the profile - yikees!!! i look plump)
Will write more as the action takes place...
Friday, March 04, 2005
Blog Friday!!!
After hurriedly typing a gizllion email, attending production and team meetings, and the phone. I do resort to perform my (painful for reader) ritual of typin my blog...
My fellow PM did not manage to return home on time, and last I heard was a scream when he was returned home, guess it was around mid-night (he stays in the same building, where I stay). Sigh...
-----> Snooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooz
We returned to work, and guess what F.R.I.D.A.Y. is HERE...
Who wanna work?
NO ONE :)
(I am thinking of a full form for the acroynm for F.R.I.D.A.Y but later)
Hour later after our arrival at the desk, we decide to meet at the coffee table to share our voes again, I kept quiet and decided to listen. This time around an interesting story came up from the guy who left at mid-night...
There's this project he's working on, and his resource was asked to review a Video for him. Although, his resource was half excited to finish the work, but never the less started to do his task. After a while, the phone rings and this resource says..."dude, there's no audio in the video"...the PM panics and rushes to his desk...even he is startled as to what went wrong!!!
For half-an-hour they both scratch their heads and try to figure out what went wrong with the audio...
Pop comes a voice from behind "dada, headphones kothay" (bengali-english-translation: dude, you are not wearing the head-phones)
now what do I say, we bursted out laughing...poor man a.k.a PM :)
My fellow PM did not manage to return home on time, and last I heard was a scream when he was returned home, guess it was around mid-night (he stays in the same building, where I stay). Sigh...
-----> Snooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooz
We returned to work, and guess what F.R.I.D.A.Y. is HERE...
Who wanna work?
NO ONE :)
(I am thinking of a full form for the acroynm for F.R.I.D.A.Y but later)
Hour later after our arrival at the desk, we decide to meet at the coffee table to share our voes again, I kept quiet and decided to listen. This time around an interesting story came up from the guy who left at mid-night...
There's this project he's working on, and his resource was asked to review a Video for him. Although, his resource was half excited to finish the work, but never the less started to do his task. After a while, the phone rings and this resource says..."dude, there's no audio in the video"...the PM panics and rushes to his desk...even he is startled as to what went wrong!!!
For half-an-hour they both scratch their heads and try to figure out what went wrong with the audio...
Pop comes a voice from behind "dada, headphones kothay" (bengali-english-translation: dude, you are not wearing the head-phones)
now what do I say, we bursted out laughing...poor man a.k.a PM :)
Thursday, March 03, 2005
The Coffee Break
As I went for my coffee break, I took along my fellow PM's who's eyes are about to pop out after continuous stare at the screen, and some of them now see the real world in 1024x768 resolution and preferred to carry their Inboxes with them.
After, a sigh of relief we all manage to grab a cup-of-coffee and discuss the mundane issues and problems we usually face and the last time we didn't face any is hard to recollect. We all babble jargons of efforts, resources, documentation, conference-calls, etc. just to sound knowledgeable; otherwise project management has done good stuff to our IQs. I have lost track of it totally.
As we return to our designated starting line (or desks or cubicles or concentration cells, whatever), starting point because this is where the chase for resources begins, I pop'd a question..."dude, what time heading home?"...I got my million dollar question's answer. "I am planning to leave, half past 9pm. Let's hope I can make it"
Will he leave half past 9pm or half past mid-night?
Oh, and the rare gems, I was telling the truth, couldn't find any of them...more later...
After, a sigh of relief we all manage to grab a cup-of-coffee and discuss the mundane issues and problems we usually face and the last time we didn't face any is hard to recollect. We all babble jargons of efforts, resources, documentation, conference-calls, etc. just to sound knowledgeable; otherwise project management has done good stuff to our IQs. I have lost track of it totally.
As we return to our designated starting line (or desks or cubicles or concentration cells, whatever), starting point because this is where the chase for resources begins, I pop'd a question..."dude, what time heading home?"...I got my million dollar question's answer. "I am planning to leave, half past 9pm. Let's hope I can make it"
Will he leave half past 9pm or half past mid-night?
Oh, and the rare gems, I was telling the truth, couldn't find any of them...more later...
Wednesday, March 02, 2005
Reality Check
Although, I was/am excited being a Project Manager (PM). It's just that I discover new abilities of oneself, as we go along performing the roles of a PM.
It never occurred to me that availability of an individual or more aptly titled "RESOURCE" in a competitive business world, can actually measured in percentages and all of us over perform keeping in mind the brackets of 100% allocation...still can't conclude are we over-capable or 100% can be quantified 100% of your life time in the organization !!!
Let's not forget, a resource can not be a resource unless it matches the skill requirement of a project.
Ok, I know I am not making much sense here, and it's the same case with me, even I can't make much sense of what I am writing.
So, in situations of confusion and finer elements of text, we bring along a smarter and more experienced resource, a Specialist...these are the rare gems in the organization who are actually rare* to find, either they are on leave or are not on their seats or they are allocated in such a manner that 100% is just to less to quantify their efforts in PM terminology. More on the rare gems, after a coffee break :)
*Note: I have all the respect on the planet for all my fellow human beings in the organisation. I mean no harm in any manner, unless otherwise asked for.
It never occurred to me that availability of an individual or more aptly titled "RESOURCE" in a competitive business world, can actually measured in percentages and all of us over perform keeping in mind the brackets of 100% allocation...still can't conclude are we over-capable or 100% can be quantified 100% of your life time in the organization !!!
Let's not forget, a resource can not be a resource unless it matches the skill requirement of a project.
Ok, I know I am not making much sense here, and it's the same case with me, even I can't make much sense of what I am writing.
So, in situations of confusion and finer elements of text, we bring along a smarter and more experienced resource, a Specialist...these are the rare gems in the organization who are actually rare* to find, either they are on leave or are not on their seats or they are allocated in such a manner that 100% is just to less to quantify their efforts in PM terminology. More on the rare gems, after a coffee break :)
*Note: I have all the respect on the planet for all my fellow human beings in the organisation. I mean no harm in any manner, unless otherwise asked for.
Tuesday, March 01, 2005
Notice the "url"
If you take a close look at the URL of this blog its "pmslife.blogspot.com", trust me PMS is a part of PM's life :) and that's what I intended to write in this blog.
Incase, your dirty thoughts have started to take over your brains, PMS means Physical and Mental Stress !!! unless your are a girl PM (due respect to the opposite sex)...
It all sounds like super human stuff, but if project management was rocket science, I wouldn't be alive to write this blog...
Incase, your dirty thoughts have started to take over your brains, PMS means Physical and Mental Stress !!! unless your are a girl PM (due respect to the opposite sex)...
It all sounds like super human stuff, but if project management was rocket science, I wouldn't be alive to write this blog...
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