ESD.36J System & Project Management

Project Management- The Human Aspect ­

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Instructor(s)

Prof. Olivier de Weck

Lecture 21

11/18/2003

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- Outline

� Project Management - Human Aspects � Role and Skills of Project Manager � Class Gallery of “Project Managers”

� Tribute to Thomas J. Kelly � Biography - Brief History of the Lunar

Excursion Module (LEM) Project � “From The Earth To The Moon” - Part 5

“Spider” - ca. 45 min

� Nine Talking Points

11/18/03 - ESD.36J SPM 2

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- Project Manager -personal skills

� Communications (verbal & written) � Delegating � Interpersonal skills, motivator � Focus � Consideration of alternatives � Technical and Planning skills

� main focus of this class so far

� Patience & sense of humor

Ref: ASME - DETC conference, PM workshop

11/18/03 - ESD.36J SPM 3

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- Barriers to Verbal Communications

� Not listening to other points of view � German proverb: “Reden ist Silber - Schweigen ist Gold”

� Suspicion or dislike of other person, “chemistry” � Preoccupation - outside emotion or worry � Poor timing � Insufficient explanation, hidden assumptions � Status differential � The “good news” complex � “Knowing the kinds of questions to ask is a major

managerial skill”

11/18/03 - ESD.36J SPM 4

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- Written Communications

� Short - Simple - Soon (S3) � The Fog Index

� 1. Count 100 words in body of text (2 or 3 places) � 2. Count # of sentences in the 100 words. Add to

the count the number of colons and semicolons. � 3. Count the number of 3 or more syllable words

in 100 words (nouns excluded) � 4. Add numbers 2 and 3. � 5. Multiply by 0.4 � 6. Judge

11/18/03 - ESD.36J SPM 5

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- The Fog Index (cont.)

� Basis for comparison� The Bible = 5 to 6� Typical Newspaper = 6 to

� Atlantic Monthly = 13+

7� Time & Newsweek = 8

� Try not to exceed 8 or 9. � “The one thing that most of us do better than

anyone else is read our own writing”

11/18/03 - ESD.36J SPM 6

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- Delegating

� Why people don’t delegate � Takes more time to explain than to do the job � Mistakes are or can be too costly � It can be done quicker! � Some actions cannot be delegated (PM responsibility) � Employees are specialists without systems knowledge � People are already too busy

� Guidelines for delegating � Assign responsibility & authority � Follow up � Don’t delegate just unpleasant tasks � Have trust

11/18/03 - ESD.36J SPM 7

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- Project Management - Class Input

� Human aspect is key to project success � Role of Project Manager: “Leadership”

� Motivation and Inspiration: Explains constantly “why are we doing this?” - “Motion is not a substitute for direction”

� Coordinates various efforts, sets goals, tracks progress � No set of methods or tools can substitute for good leadership:

“good” personality � Crisis Management - “shields” team from external pressures � Deals with politics - obtains support from top management � “Balance is everything” � Trusts his team, Respects other opinions, Form diverse teams,

Seeks consensus

Ref: ESD.36 class inputs

11/18/03 - ESD.36J SPM 8

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- Class Gallery of Project Managers

� Type 1: “Perfectionist” � Type 2: “Entrepreneur” � Type 3: “The Emperor” � Type 4: “Rough Diamond” � Type 5: “Mr. Diplomat” � Type 6: “Strong Woman”

11/18/03 - ESD.36J SPM 9

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- Type 1 - Perfectionist � Code Names

� “Perfectionist”, “Metrics Maniac”, “I-know-more-than-you”

� Planning and Technical Skills� Very detailed, disciplined to the last level of detail, tracks

everything, excellent domain expert� Leadership

� Focuses on completion, tends to do things himself if not completed exactly as envisioned, µ-manager

� Personality� “Military” style commander, low trust in team members,

doesn’t accept criticism, sums up action items in detail� Quotes/Tactics

� “That’s easy!”, “Is it done yet?”

� (+) - Confidence, Dedication, Skills, Sense of Quality� (-) - Doesn’t listen well, Arrogance, Lack of Trust

11/18/03 - ESD.36J SPM 10

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- Type 2 - Entrepreneur � Code Names

� “Entrepreneur”, “Gunslinger” � Planning and Technical Skills

� Good pre-planning, fuzzy in details and execution, works on many ideas in parallel, “big picture” person

� Leadership � Motivator, has and communicates vision, delegates a lot,

“thinks-out-of the box”, seeks non-standard solutions � Personality

� “salesman”, tinkerer, fun to be around, loves industry & job � Quotes/Tactics

� “This is viable!”, “If we build it they will come!” � (+) - Optimism, Charisma, Creativity � (-) - Stubbornness, Reckless decisions w/o data

11/18/03 - ESD.36J SPM 11

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- Type 3 - The Emperor � Code Names

� “Emperor”, “King”, “Napoleon” � Planning and Technical Skills

� Detailed Planner, Keeps all resources under his control � Leadership

� Autocratic, Views himself as key decision maker, reflects organizational culture, sets very (overly) ambitious targets

� Personality � Domineering, unapproachable, hardworking (long hours)

moody, figure of authority � Quotes/Tactics

� “Create consensus through coercion”, “We need more data” � (+) - Strong Will, Confident decision making � (-) - Not well liked, poor motivator

11/18/03 - ESD.36J SPM 12

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- Type 4 - Rough Diamond � Code Names

� “Rough Diamond”, “Kiwi”, “Experienced and Passionate”

� Planning and Technical Skills� Good planner, uses “heuristics” (rules of thumb) and

experience rather than theory, knows company (+)s and (-)s

� Leadership� Leads by example, masters many details him/herself, goes

”drinking” with team, avoids perfectionism: 20/80 rule

� Personality� Strong “bully” with charm, self-confident, smart, self-made

man, trusts others, casual� Quotes/Tactics

� “You know, I’m a simple mind”, “We’re on my time now!”

� (+) - Fearless, Casual approach, natural leader� (-) - More rigor in decision making, not “polished”

11/18/03 - ESD.36J SPM 13

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- Type 5 - Mr. Diplomat � Code Names

� “Mr. Diplomat”

� Planning and Technical Skills� Proficient planner, but not a natural, acquired PM skills

through formal training, disciplined, avoids fire-fighting

� Leadership� Good leader, anticipates and resolves disputes, seeks

compromise solutions, not “all or nothing”

� Personality� Smooth operator, Excellent client skills, gets concessions

from clients and upper management, high IQ

� Quotes/Tactics� “Let’s all get along”, invites team for dinner after project end

� (+) - Communications skills� (-) - Stays in office late (8am-9pm)

11/18/03 - ESD.36J SPM 14

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- Type 6 - Strong Woman � Code Names

� “Patton-in-Pumps” � Planning and Technical Skills

� Strategic and long-term view, keeps tabs on day-to-day operations, seeks planning input from subject matter experts

� Leadership � Instills mutual respect, not fear, knows what she wants

� Personality � Recognizes personnel needs and wants, Lives by the “Fish”

principle (“have fun”, “customer focus”, “make their day”, “choose your attitude”)

� Quotes/Tactics � “Let’s all get along”, invites team for dinner after project end

� (+) - Vision, Drive, Toughness � (-) - Imbalance between personal and professional life

11/18/03 - ESD.36J SPM 15

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- Project Manager Taxonomy

0-little 10-detailed Planning

0-little 10-much Personality

0 2 4 6 8

10

Delegation

0-formal 10-casual

Location Decision Making

Entrepreneur Emperor Rough Diamond

Strong Woman

Perfectionist

Diplomat

0-office only 10-on-site 0-autocratic 10-consensus

Data based on instructor estimate.

11/18/03 - ESD.36J SPM 16

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- Other comments?

� Off-Campus Sites � Other students On-Campus

11/18/03 - ESD.36J SPM 17

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- Thomas J. Kelly � Biography

� Birth: Jan 1, 1927 Brooklyn � Death: March 24, 2002

� High School 1946 � Bellmore, NY

� Education � Cornell University (‘51) , MIT (1970) � USAF (2 years) 1956

� Grumman Aircraft � 5 year internship 46-51 � 1960-1972 design of Apollo LEM � 1972 NASA Dist. Public Service Medal � retired 1992

11/18/03 - ESD.36J SPM 18

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- Movie Sequence

“From The Earth to The Moon”Part 5: “Spider” - Design of the Lunar Module

11/18/03 - ESD.36J SPM 19

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- Nine Talking Points

� 1) Michelangelo (Sistine Chapel) Analogy � 2) Lunar Orbit Rendezvous Decision � 3) Start of Lunar Excursion Module Project � 4) Role of component and system testing � 5) Errors (leg snapped) and engineering ethics � 6) Challenge of novelty, System Integration � 7) Effect of Schedule pressure � 8) Pre-Launch problems, tolerances (He tank pressure) � 9) Operational testing, realignment, motivation

11/18/03 - ESD.36J SPM 20

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- Thank you to the contributors

� Eduardo Malaga � Celeste Kupczewski � Greg Zito � Nick McKenna � Laura Garza � Christos Sermpetis � Ram Krishnaswami � Sam Weinstein � Massimo Usan � Andrew Bond � Lara Daniv

11/18/03 - ESD.36J SPM 21