Hello all,
Welcome to the final installment of the combined three-part review for The Mythical Man-Month. Why waste your time with further introductions? Let’s just jump right into it, reader.
Signed,
The Business Bro
Thoughts on scheduling and efficiency
The nature of error accumulation is for delays to add up at the back end. Think about it like a train. If the train is two minutes late getting to the first stop, it isn’t going to be on time to the second stop. With some extra effort, perhaps the train eventually gets back on schedule. But if there is another delay or two, the schedule becomes as useful as termites in a pencil factory.
This general truth isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It might not even be avoidable – if something could get done in half the time, the schedule would probably shrink to reflect it. It will likely just keep shrinking until something runs late. There is only so much slack that can be built into a schedule before the schedule itself will be required to shrink, probably because your boss said so (reader, meet square one - square one, reader). So, what’s the program manager to do?
One strategy is to make sure otherwise independent tasks are not unnecessarily linked together. If the project is organized like an assembly line, each interruption upstream delays the start time of a subsequent step. Dividing the portions of the design into separate sections ensures that teams can start and finish without depending on another step to be completed first.
The danger of local optimization
When a project is broken up and portions are assigned to different teams, one of the biggest threats to overall success is sub-optimization at the team level. By nature, teams will always want to do their very best work. If the communication structure keeps each team in its own bubble, the naturally motivated team might complete technically outstanding components that do not fit together with the other features of the project.
The project leader’s role is to make sure the project is optimized. This will mean some of the sub-components are not optimized. Sometimes, the sub-components will be completely inefficient. The leader's role is to make sure teams understand their role in the overall project. This work is best done behind the scene by eliminating any incentives that might tempt a team to go for their own goals rather than commit to making the project a success.
The point of the organizational chart
The organizational chart defines the process of communicating information. Its sole purpose is to reduce the communication and coordination efforts necessary to execute a plan. A well-defined communication structure means decision makers get the information they need at the right time. Any organization that seeks to produce flexible products must itself be prepared to change.
Organizations that do not understand the nature of a communication framework often become rigid. Despite the talk of flexibility and adaptation, red tape and bureaucracy become the norm and process begins to crystallize. If too many people without decision-making authority require information or key decision-makers cannot access needed information, it’s a sure sign that the organization’s communication structure is broken.
The most subtle managerial skill
The managerial role is very much like a gardener. The goal is not to make people work but instead to make it possible for people to work.
There is also an investor’s mentality required to manage successfully. Just as a long-term investor bets money today for returns tomorrow, a manager who wants to build a strong team must find a way to front-load costs for future benefits.
The critical managerial skill many first-time leaders lack is a willingness to wait for something to grow. This is especially challenging for high-achievers promoted due to their success at solving problems. These people are used to dropping everything to resolve an issue or doing whatever it takes to fix what is broken. The mentality is commendable and the approach often leads to great short-term results.
But managers expecting this mentality to continue serving them well at higher levels of an organization are shortsighted. One problem with this approach is how it will discourage team members. They will grow accustomed to others solving problems for them and will take less initiative over assignments. A manager must be disciplined and wait for as long as possible before stepping in - the key is to strike the right balance between allowing team members to continue learning from mistakes without allowing them to become discouraged from repeated failures or errors.
Another good example of such a challenge comes when bad news is shared during a regularly scheduled status report. The manager must never act immediately. Otherwise, subordinates will start waiting until the status report to share bad news. Instead of misusing the existing framework of a status report to gather urgent information, the manager must create a communication structure so that bad news is shared right away.
Finally, managers who demand full disclosure from their teams must discipline themselves. If they respond to every bit of negative news, team members will become more likely to withhold information. Good gardeners don’t look for weeds every hour and good investors don’t juggle their portfolio every time the market moves – new managers must recognize bad news as part of the growth process and trust their teams to work on continuously building up a successful team.
