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Design Process Improvements: You play a key role! |  |
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Hi Jeff, I am confident that you have been part of small group (2-4) project execution discussions that frequently involve “other” functional areas as the subject matter. Going a step further I would anticipate discussions such as this have periodically focused on how others in the organization are a major contributor to the business’s inability to meet objectives. Business unit product development execution problems being outside the scope of our positions brings us a degree of comfort in our roles. Having comfort in knowing that we are not the problem implies we do not need to take any action. This lack of action means things stay as they are and time is spent in useless faultfinding instead of finding real solutions. We become confident that project execution will improve if only “they” would change things. Now for a touch of reality: Execution will improve only if you, as an individual, take action. Whether you’re a manager, worker bee, designer, test engineer, product engineer, marketer, project leader, general manager, director or a VP, you’re an integral part of improvement in project execution. This newsletter will focus on how and why we are all contributors to the solution(s). Jeff Jorvig, IC Design Process Coach
As part of a business management team your participation in design process improvement is crucial. Your role is to mentor and nurture teams down various paths that will first uncover process disconnects and then follow through to final implementation. You must instill both individual ownership and responsibility of incremental improvements to successfully enable the improvement process. The team must feel energized in challenging the status quo. That energy may include challenging you and your assumptions; you must be open to this. In fact, you will want to promote the teams power to challenge the system. This is not as simple as saying you want them to do so. Generally a teams attitude is based on years of experience and ingrained perceptions about their ability to challenge the system. Initially you may need to skillfully encourage a “challenge the system” mind-set in the team as a result of entrenched apprehension about the consequences of speaking freely. Your role as mentor and manager must also include challenging the teams project assumptions and/or lack of detail. It’s obvious to most that without a detailed plan any project will be loaded with surprises and rate low on the predictability scale. If you are seeing minimal planning or documentation on projects you must push back and require it. If it’s the right thing to do for a project, then drive the team to produce it. Simple enough, right? How will you handle the “We don’t have time to do it right” question? Trust me; it will surface and you need to have and answer at hand when it presents itself. To honestly answer that question you must believe in the benefits of proper planning and process. Below is a summary of managements role in enabling
design process improvements:
One key message to managers within the hierarchy of product design teams is this. If you believe the design team must take sole responsibility for improving themselves then you have failed to properly enable the team for success and the status quo will prosper.
As a designer you are the closest to the root issues with project performance. Without your participation in process renewal the areas that have the largest positive impact will not be found or addressed. You are the only one who knows what you need to be operating at the highest level of efficiency, your “success factors” if you will. Staying quiet about your success factors will guarantee that nothing will change. You must have a voice, be confident of using of it and stand firm on your success factors. Proper changes to the design process rarely occur through management’s ability to read minds of those immersed in the daily execution of a project. Never assume that management knows what’s wrong and just does not want to make it happen, for whatever reason. In all honesty that type of thinking is simply a cop out. Take the bull by the horns and drive the fulfillment of your success factors. Your enthusiasm in upgrading the level of performance is the only way an improvement to your project environment will happen. Speak up and if your not heard, speak louder. Management wants you to take the ball and run with it, so what’s holding you back? It is essential that you search and understand the answer to that question. If you decide to lay low, then you have chosen to remain with the status quo and you can’t place the blame anywhere but upon yourself. Here are a few tips on things to consider when driving improvements to your process: A final closing thought for designers. If you choose to accept top down goals, a lack of detailed planning, uncontrolled design changes and a lack of clarity around design deliverables to the business then you are allowing yourself to be the reason for a projects poor execution.
We Need your Input
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