Update April 2, 2012

Dear all,

Besides writing my articles and feedback on the articles/books/other literature, I will be sharing the synopsis of the articles that I have read with you all so that we enrich our knowledge by giving and sharing. Please feel free to write your feedback, so that I can improve the writing and develop new skills, as needed. Thanks again.

Best Regards,
R S Prasanth

QUALITY PYRAMID – PRIME MOVER TOWARDS ORGANIZATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS

Quality Management is one of the prime movers that drive a company towards maintaining high ethical standards and have a disciplined way of working towards resolving issues.

The baseline that is responsible for the foundation of the quality system is the ‘Mission Statement’ and ‘Vision Statement’. There has been an ambiguity about the mission and vision statement. A mission statement states the goals and purpose of the organization currently. A vision statement addresses the futuristic goals that the organization is pursuing to achieve and the services it wishes to offer. Both the statements guide quality of an organization and must be aligned with the strategic and business goals of the organization.

This mission statement and vision statement is the ground rule under which an organization operates. Based on the current and futuristic goals outlined by the mission and vision statements, brainstorming of potential quality policies and objectives is done. There will be few not significant and some might duplicate. It is important to funnel down the significant quality policies and objectives.

Based on the quality policies and objectives, two arms of the quality management come into existence. The two arms are the Quality Assurance (QA) and Quality Control (QC) systems. Quality Assurance refers to the planned system of reviewing and monitoring the quality of the organization. This involves reviews and verification done by independent third parties. Quality control refers to the activities used to verify compliance with the technical and administrative requirements of the protocol under which the operations are performed. There are several quality control tools used to analyze and interpret data graphically and statistically.

Then, the supplementary quality documentation, popularly known as the ‘Standard Operating Procedures’ (SOPs) are documented.

 Establishing this portion of the Quality Management System (QMS) is a key ingredient for organization’s integrity and operations. However, there is another piece that is important to complete this pyramid, ‘Right People for the Right Job’.  Organization needs to have personnel with right attitude and competence to drive the operations and ensure the sustainability of the organizational effectiveness. The personnel need to be trained properly and adequately to perform the job. The training should be documented and future training goals for the staff should be updated by the management on a periodic basis.

Now, the pyramid is complete.  To make this pyramid effective and vibrant, the management and the personnel are required to perform the following operations: (a) Internal audits (b) Management reviews (c) Generating corrective actions (d) Capturing preventive actions (e) Employee recognition and motivation.

Internal audit needs to be performed annually (minimum) by an organization to verify the compliance with the quality policies, procedures, internal and external requirements (standards/criteria). The operations of the organization need to be reviewed and effectiveness needs to be determined. It should be performed by independent, third party personnel.

Management reviews is performed after the internal audit. The issues noted during the internal audit and other actions pertinent to the organizational goals are discussed during the management review meeting.

Corrective actions are actions taken after a non-conformance is identified. Implementation and follow-up of corrective actions is mandatory for effective quality assurance. Preventive actions are actions taken before a non-conformance is identified. This can avoid penalties in future and unnecessary expenses. Preventive actions are stitch in time. As all know, ‘A stitch in time saves nine’.

Finally, employees need to be motivated by the management. The employees must be rewarded for outstanding work and appropriate recognition must be provided. This re-energizes the employees and builds trustworthiness of employees to the organization.

In summary, constructing a quality pyramid is quite a work. More importantly, ensuring the stability and efficiency of the quality pyramid can be accomplished only by periodic monitoring of the systems and review of the organizational performance.

EFFECTIVE APPROACH TO PROJECT ESTIMATION

Project estimation is a complex task. Several parameters need to be considered. The primary focus should be on the project outputs and how is it going to make the process effective. The tangible and intangible benefits for the client should be discussed. Effective tools such as client meetings, brainstorming of ideas, ishikawa diagrams, pareto analysis, affinity diagrams and cost analysis must be considered for deployment while working on the project charter. Brainstorming and affinity diagram in combination make a powerful tool to funnel down the salient points and improve the focus towards achieving the project objectives. Ishikawa diagram, popularly known as fish bone diagram can be used to drill down the potential causes and effects that will influence the project. Pareto analysis can be used to identify the major components for the project.

After all this analysis and conclusions, resource allocation and time management must be considered. Gantt chart is a powerful tool for working out the optimal time for completion of the project.

The primary steps in the project estimation are:

-          Scope of the project

-          Time constraint / Process velocity

-          Effort required for the completion of the project / Resource allocation

-          Stakeholder buy-in

Scope of the project

Consider the project like a house construction.  Identify the scope of the project. Instead of making it a big meal, proportion them into small portions and create modules for the project. The module should be kept simple and easily workable. Identify the timeline for each module and update the project charter. Keep reviewing the project charter on a periodic basis to ensure the project is on track and is within the timeline proposed by the client. If any amendments are to be made, discuss it with the client team and update the project charter.

Tools that can be used: Project fragmentation, Gantt chart, Scheduling software, Pareto chart (identify the critical components), Pie chart (Module-Time Allocation, graphical illustration).

Time Constraint / Process Velocity

Time is the biggest player in any project. Time Management is a critical task for a project leader. Process velocity implies the optimal time taken to complete the project in a streamlined way.

Simple steps for time management:

-          Identify the process steps/stages of the project

-          Work out the optimal time for each stage and improve the process velocity

Tools that can be used: Brainstorming, Project fragmentation, Gantt chart, Scheduling software.

 Effort required for the completion of the project / Resource allocation

Resource allocation is a critical part of the project. Resources should be trained and competent with right attitude and commitment towards achieving the project targets and objectives. It accounts for the major portion of the project expenditure. Keeping the resources optimal as required rather than overloaded or under-utilized keeps the project momentum up to speed.

Tools that can be used: Gantt chart, Scheduling software, Cost analysis

Stakeholder buy-in

Above all, buy-in from the stakeholder decides the success of a project. To achieve buy-in from the stakeholders, following activities must be considered:

-          Periodic meeting with the client and influenced parties (stakeholders) on the project developments, deliverables and progress. It must also address the financial benefits and functional improvements.

-          Email updates to client and joint reviews on project charter

-          One to one meeting with critical stakeholders

Tools that can be used: stakeholder analysis, Pie chart (Project Progress, graphical illustration).

 In summary, project estimation is a critical task in project management. The drawback on project estimation is that it is subjective and varies from people to people. Meetings are required to achieve consensus on the desired overall project timeline and module timelines. Several iterations need to be performed to get to the optimal timelines. The deliverables needs to be mentioned clearly and honestly. There is no room for gimmicks in project estimation. It should be realistic, simple and practical with tangible and intangible benefits to the client and other stakeholders.

Greening and Sustainability

GREENING AND SUSTAINABILITY

“Go Green” is becoming the concept adopted by most of the organizations. Several buzz words such as Sustainability, Global Warming, and Green Building have been spreading around. Well, let us look what sustainability means. A sustainable material or a building is one that is eco-friendly, safe for people, energy efficient, toxic free and in compliance with the green standards and regulations.

An integrated design of the key features and optimizing the requirements to meet the desired results plays a key role in the implementation of sustainability. United States Green Building Council (USGBC) and Green Building Council Institute (GBCI) have a program to evaluate and certify green construction / interiors/ cores and shells/operations and maintenance/neighborhood development (in the development stage). The projects are evaluated under various categories that are mandated as per the established requirements.

Getting back to having a cursory look at the broad categories for LEED certification for new construction, as per LEED version 2.2, following had to be addressed and implemented:

Ø  Sustainable Sites: Measures must be implemented to ensure erosion and sedimentation control as part of the building code requirements. Control measures can be the use of silt fences, straw bales and sediment traps. Key factors that add credit to sustainable sites are site selection, site development, community connectivity, brownfield redevelopment, alternative transportation, protection and restoration of habitat, storm water design, heat island effect and light pollution reduction.   

Ø  Water Efficiency: Measures such as using greywater, water-saving and waterless plumbing fixtures can be implemented for water efficiency. Key factors that add credit to water efficiency are water efficient landscaping, innovative wastewater technologies and water use reduction.

Ø  Energy & Atmosphere: Implementation of potential strategies such as wind, solar, biomass, geothermal, low impact hydro, and tapping renewable energy is recommended. Key factors that add credit to energy and atmosphere are fundamental commissioning of building energy systems, energy performance, refrigerant use and green power.

Ø  Materials & Resources:  Recommended potential strategies are FSC certified wood, use of recycled and regional materials. Key factors that add credit to materials and resources are building reuse, construction waste management, material reuse, use of recycled, regional and renewable materials.

Ø  Indoor Environmental Quality: Potential strategies include minimizing ETS transfer,  ventilation simulation, IAQ management plan, air testing, use of low emitting materials, indoor chemical and pollutant source control, thermal comfort and lighting controls.  Key factors that add credit to Indoor Environmental Quality are minimizing ETS, increasing outdoor air delivery monitoring, increased ventilation, effective controllability of thermal comfort and lighting systems.

Ø  Innovation & Design Process: Key factors that add credit to innovation and design process are innovative ideas that add sustainability to the building and have low impact on the ecosystem.

Currently, we have LEED V3 version with more requirements specified in the LEED reference guides by USGBC and GBCI. LEED V3 version will be discussed in the upcoming blogs.

Welcome to the Blogspot - Introduction

Hi,

I am Prasanth S Ramakrishnan. In this blog, I am going to share the knowledge that I have gained thru education and experience. Things in the list include posting articles on various subjects, feedback on some reading, some lessons for thoughts, sharing the bottlenecks in the path and how to make them the stepping stones for improvement.

I will start publishing the blogs soon....please pass your valuable comments and if any suggestions for improvement are always welcome...Thanks....

Cheers,
R S Prasanth