The project is a carefully selected set of activities chosen to meet the predefined objectives by using the resources like time, money, people, materials, energy, space, provisions, communication, quality, risk etc. Projects need to be performed and delivered under certain constraints. These constraints are Quality, Resource, Scope and Time (QRST).
Project = Quality + Resource + Scope + Time
(Remember P=Q+R+S+T)
One constraint cannot be changed without impacting the others. i.e.
• Increased Scope typically means increased Time and increased Resources.
• Decreased Time means increased Resource and reduced Scope.
• Decreased Resource mean increased Time and reduced Scope.
The objective of a project is to deliver high performance, reliability and value to the end customer. The end result of a project should be more predictable, mature and defect free performance.
To achieve this, documenting a project is very important.
Presenting a seven step model which provides a good framework for documenting a project :
STEP 1 : DEFINE PROJECT, PURPOSE AND SCOPE
• List down customer needs and expectations (Requirements collection).
• Define the project mission (in not more that a single line).
• Identify and focus on strategically important areas/problems.
• Choose an appropriate project team (hardworking + talented).
• Choose a Team Leader who knows the processes.
• Determine how much progress can be expected with the time.
• Create a basic framework and execution plan for the project.
STEP 2 : MEASURE CURRENT SITUATION
• Understand the present process
• Flow chart the present process and identify the weak/strong points/links in it.
• Collect real time data to identify the real problems
• Standardize the process, if necessary
STEP 3 : CAUSE ANALYSIS
• Dig down for the root cause of the problem [RCA (Root Cause Analysis)]
• Identify the major potential causes and work against them immediately.
• Verify them with data, if possible.
STEP 4 : SOLUTIONS
• Choose between alternative solutions. Better to consult with the Customer at this point.
• Keep solutions simple, efficient and cheaper. The word "efficient" is usually just a code word
for "Cheaper" in modern day business environment.
• Identify barriers to implementing solutions and try to break those as soon as possible.
• Plan and make necessary changes. Use PDCA or Six Sigma techniques.
STEP 5 : RESULTS
• Evaluate the solutions and verify them.
• Collect data, to compare before and after improvement.
• Compare results with what we expected.
• Results should be approximately same as expected.
• If results are more or less than expectations, work on it.
STEP 6 : STANDARDIZATION
• Standardize the new process for future reference.
• Document carefully the changes made.
• Error proof the process.
STEP 7 : FUTURE PLANS
• Review what have been learned from this project
• Decide whether to continue with this project (maintaining part), or
• Close project and move on to a more pressing and challenging project
Quality of a project is calculated on the basis of customer's satisfaction.
Remember "CUSTOMER SATISFACTION IS QUALITY".
Now a question that comes into the picture is that "how do you know that your customer is satisfied ?". A general mindset to measure customer satisfaction is to examine the number of complaints that customer have raised. Now this is a reactive measure. It only responds after the event and it really doesn't measure satisfaction but only dissatisfaction. Financial complaints do not really tell if the customer are any more or less satisfied with the product or services. So how to measure ? Managers and directors often say "if our customers are unhappy, they soon tell us". Well do they ? If on a personal level you rarely write a complaint, what happens as a company level - is it different ?
I am just predicting the expected response of customer in this scenario. I think the customer could not afford the time to complain and they will definitely work for an alternative solution. So measuring levels of customer satisfaction is not only a key element for a project, it is also an important measure of the health of the organization. So action to establish, review and improve customer satisfaction is very important.
There are many modes of survey that can be used to measure the Customer satisfaction till some extent like :
On-line Survey : A link (URL) can be provided to the customer where they can give their views about the project. It should be objective type so that it can be filled in less time. By this way, the customer can complete the survey on-line and give their feedback.
Mail : Send the questionnaires and reply paid envelopes to the customers. Customers use freepost envelopes to return the completed questionnaires to you.
Tele-Interview : Conduct telephonic/video interviews with the customers.
So don't wait until its too late.
-- Sanat Sharma
No comments:
Post a Comment