Vikram Bakshi's Blog, page 45
October 6, 2017
Is ‘Junoon’ needed in Project
Is ‘Junoon’ needed
in Project or Operation Work ?
Projects cannot be treated as 9 to 5 job, coming to office passing some routine orders or taking feedback and so on. A project or Operation needs a ‘Junoon’ to drive it against all odds. VUCA situation will surely come and there will be discouragement, disillusionment, boredom, but if Junoon is there, the project goal will be achieved in delivery and cost come what may….
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September 30, 2017
OVERCOME VUCA LOSS AND CHAOS IN YOUR BUSINESS /PROJECT / OPERATION
You are suffering from VUCA problems in your project and operations that are causing delays /losses/ rework/ cost overruns.
There is failed commitment from team, contractors, suppliers & all stakeholders.
There is loss of face with customer and new business orders going to competitors
THEN HOW ABOUT GETTING SOME CHANGES IN THE WAY YOU ARE DOING THINGS
Then get this Game Changing book to share with you how to prevent loss and chaos by using disruptive methods and tools.
Read true leadership stories from armed forces and corporate how vuca was conquered
Learn forward thinking, inspired planning and relentless execution with battlefield leadership and be the force multiplier of your company
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AVAILABLE NOW AT ALL LEADING WEB STORES OF SAGE , AMAZON, INFIBEAM, FLIPKART
AND PRE LAUNCH 25 % DISCOUNT OFFER BY AMAZON
START READING ON KINDLE
September 25, 2017
All Aspiring Project & Operations Managers get a real insight and true account of what happens during planning and execution!
For all aspiring to get in Project and Operations
Get a real insight and true account of what all happens during Project and Operations the chaos which can be avoided to prevent losses!
Well here is the book ‘The Forward Looking Manager in a VUCA world’ that is correlating many aspects of inspired planning and execution of the project .
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This book is taking you all on a virtual tour of a project lifecycle from start to finish at every step what happens and what can go wrong
This book is for all young Engineers and MBA graduates and any professional like Armed Forces Veterans Aspiring / Seeking new role in Project and Operation Management companies. This book is so special as it talks about planning by Head Office leaders in target and tactical planning as well execution and contingency planning when things go wrong by decentralized teams and junior leaders.
During your interviews you are often at a disadvantage to explain the process of planning and execution of project or operation as you may not be aware of what goes on and what are the interconnections between various departments. Even when you join the company it takes a while for you to settle down and understand what is happening.
The author is from Armed Forces background has blended best practices of Armed Forces with corporate best processes most of which are also part of work culture in companies he has worked. The whole concept of warfighting where leaders lead the way fighting in trenches has been translated how junior leaders and even senior management will have to evolve as forwarding looking managers and get into trench warfare. They will have to sense the first thing that is going wrong in a project or operation to address the problem in time and prevent a loss to the company to control the expenses for countering VUCA issues.
There are many examples from different corporate industry and Armed forces to make a point better understanding for a layman. The reader will relate to these examples and case studies with the complete range of human characters and emotions what made these people fight out VUCA situations and come out as the winner. It shares with us many sacrifices of Armed Forces battles and hard work in business struggles that many managers may not be aware of, but I am sure it will inspire them to have a serious purpose of tackling any problem that comes in the way.
If you’re looking for a good overview of Project Management topics, leadership to make it happen, feel the emotions in real stories, absorb the disruptive learning tool and methods to prevent VUCA and most importantly learn to be the forward-looking manager, this is your book. I can safely vouch that this book is a must for anybody wanting to get in thick of operations and projects and for those companies that want to cut down losses.
Happy reading and at same time learning!
order your copy at
https://in.sagepub.com/en-in/sas/professional-books-india
September 22, 2017
WHY NOT BE THE DISRUPTERS RATHER BEING DISRUPTED IN THE MARKET!
ALL PROJECT AND OPERATION MANAGERS & EXECUTIVES !
The origin of the book ‘The Forward Looking Manager in a VUCA world’ is deeply rooted in disruption caused within the industry as many players are crashing due to cost overruns of handling VUCA problems and new leaner companies who have smartly improved their own management of RPVs (Resource, Processes, and Values) are reducing the cost of their own Projects or manufacturing operations.
In the bargain new players are offering stiff competition in a price war to established companies and a disruption has occurred in the industry namely projects , operations and products. The customer wants better cheaper and faster results and whoever delivers it is the worthy winner in the market.
However let me explain first what is VUCA. The term VUCA is from Armed Forces and has now been adopted in the Corporate environment as well. It is because the companies find similar situations of survival during times of turbulence.There are many surprises and unexpected turn of events that can delay the project or product output. It is so much a prerequisite today to understand why are companies in troubled waters and it can be prevented by foreseeing and timely correction of a VUCA situation.
Likewise, a Project Manager can face many VUCA conditions in his project. Problems not anticipated earlier, slow down the projects. It can impact the schedule, delay the deliverables and cause cost overruns. It can also snowball into the delayed integration of other activities, making the project a non-starter even before it gets off-the-ground. All subsequent planning and execution for project will fail. The Product manufacturing cost rises up due to hidden waste cost which nobody notices.
However all VUCA issues can be controlled by keeping an eye on unknown future laden with VUCA circumstances. The book will give a detailed insight how to anticipate prevent and control problems and issues that suddenly come up in Project and Operations in form of a VUCA situation . That will help in controlling schedule and cost overruns.
If you control cost then you disrupt the market !
As I mentioned earlier ; Disrupt before getting Disrupted’ or “Disrupt the Disrupters.” The managers of all companies have now an important role to play i.e. be the Forward-looking managers to cut the losses and cost of handling VUCA. In the bargain cause a disruption by doing a project at a lesser cost. That is very much possible by disruptive tools and methods as discussed in this book.
This book contains a lot of disruptive tools and methods for becoming a forward-looking Manager. The book is a concise and crisp collection of examples and real stories from Armed Forces and Corporate to help in understanding various topics of project management functions. A must read for every manager wanting a career into project world.
The Forward-looking manager in a VUCA world is an engrossing book as it combines true fiction stories with nonfiction management practices. The theme of the book is, of course, to foresee, plan and execute any Project or operation.
The main purpose of the book is to also explain how planning is an iterative process starting from strategy to tactical planning to operational planning and execute it relentlessly to RACE towards the success. The Managers have to imbibe the ‘RACE’ culture which is the new working model for any company to make a mark in the market. The author has acronym RACE as ‘R’ stands for rapid delivery, ‘A’ for absolute scope, ‘C’ for class quality and ‘E’ for an economical cost.
So happy reading and make your companies and project win against trouble water !
For synopsis : https://vikrambakshi.co/
For review of the book : https://vikrambakshi.co/testimonial/
For ordering your copy click the link https://in.sagepub.com/en-in/sas/professional-books-india to deal with VUCA in both personal and professional life.
September 21, 2017
How Armed Forces Veterans can make a difference in Corporate Operations and Projects to control VUCA and prevent losses /delays ?
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All over the world, veterans are contributing a lot in all fields. However the transition is not so easy. There is a lot of ground to cover. Starting first with Veterans, from my own experience, my skill sets in Armed Forces was managing a disciplined force that knew the meaning of a word called “Commitment“. A simple handshake was enough to seal a word and for that one was ready to give his life also.
However in one telecom company I served earlier , It was strange to see minutes of meeting forgotten the moment managers left the conference room. It was also odd that nobody talked about progress or feedback. One looked like an oddball if feedback was sought.
Well that is one example of humor tone but corporate life taught me loads of patience to deal with such issues. There are always a couple of failed commitments, for whatever reasons, mostly flimsy or avoidable ones. Only if someone had thought of the problem causing delay earlier, probably it would not have happened.
The best part is losses are all unintentional, nobody in corporate also means it to cause a delay or loss deliberately, but it is inevitable then, that is how the way things go !
Now most of these delays and cost overruns can be controlled. However that is possible if managers learn to be one step ahead of ‘VUCA’ problems that will come to delay your project or cause cost overruns. Now what is VUCA that causes all problems like delays and cost overruns?
VUCA means Volatile, Uncertain, Complex , Ambiguous situation. It is a terminology taken by Corporate from working conditions of Armed Forces.
Volatile : means the working condition suddenly become laden with problems.
Uncertain situations : Might know quite a bit about the situation, but we are unsure how next to proceed
Complexity : Where we may be aware of the outcome of our actions, We may have many key decision factors that are clouding our ability to make a judgment.
Ambiguity: Low in both the situational awareness and the predictability of the outcome of our actions.
Veterans if employed in Projects and Operations have the uncanny ability and natural instincts due to years of survival training, to sense the danger lurking around the corners. Like in any battle situations veterans start with the knowns and build upon them. Later as work progress there is continuous vigilance to seek out the unknowns and work to understand what information is missing and what obstacles are preventing us from moving forward.
The only problems veterans face is connecting the dots of different facets of project and operations initially. They are totally at sea what is happening and by the time they find out and settle down, they lose the opportunity to make an impact.
The Forward-Looking Manager in a VUCA world getting published and launched by SAGE ( Sept end) . It is a book especially written by a Veteran for all Veterans also apart from corporate managers.
This book will enable an easy transition to an Armed forces officer taking a premature requirement and stepping into corporate projects and operations. The book connects all past experience and skill sets of Armed Forces officer with new requirements of Corporate skill sets. The Corporate will also understand the value a veteran brings with him. It is a win win situation for both.
The book is easy to read and provides actual information what all happens at each stage of a Project from start to finish. More so it shares in a progressive and iterative manner as the project progresses, how VUCA problems can be anticipated, prevented and controlled. The author has shared many disruptive methods and tools that were used in Indian Armed Forces and now also being practiced in many MNCs and good Project/Product companies like Thermax where the Author is currently employed.
For more details and synopsis about the book click https://vikrambakshi.co/
Any veteran seeking a new career in civil street: Order your copy : The Forward-looking Manager in a VUCA World.
HAPPY READING AND A GOOD SECOND INNINGS!
https://in.sagepub.com/en-in/sas/professional-books-india
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REVIEW FROM DG RESETTLEMENT
This is a book targeted at armed forces veterans who aspire for a second career in the corporate world. The book will also serve as a guide for managers in the corporate world to dealing with VUCA effectively.
The book imbibes best practices of the armed forces as applicable in the corporate world which they can relate to easily. It is highly recommended that all officers and other ranks who are retiring read this book to understand how various departments work and function.
The experience we gain in the armed forces is immense and our skill sets are unique. When we enter the corporate world, we should contribute in a valuable manner in whatever role we have been assigned.
The ethos and values of the armed forces continue to remain our guide in whatever field we choose. The leadership qualities of the armed forces personnel stand out, and these have been amply highlighted by various examples in the book. I compliment the author for his detailed research and articulation while bringing out this book.
—Maj. Gen. Jagatbir Singh, VSM
Director General (Resettlement)
September 4, 2017
What Lies Ahead.
I am in the process of writing a book, It is related to anticipation of problems that may come when we do a project or business operations. These problems come in the form of VUCA. ( Volatile, uncertain , Complex and Ambiguous situation) at all level from strategy to operational actions.
I always believe that we do a lot of planning but the execution fails. One of the main reasons execution fails is we don’t anticipate Risk that will come in future at strategy and tactical level. We think we have made the perfect plan without considering what all problems will come, and when it actually comes, we get busy in firefighting those rather focus on supporting the team that is doing real execution
Second main reasons are we don’t anticipate how our plan is finally going to be understood by the execution team, it is because we don’t train them, we don’t empower them. The real plan which we made at Head Quarter goes for a toss the first time we meet with the enemy, after that it is continuous change and being flexible with planning decentralized to the operating team that will also execute it. We have to train them also to anticipate the problems , change plan accordingly and execute .
In Armed Forces, the plan made at strategy level gets translated to tactical level and finally to the operational level and real actionable steps. This is what has needed in the corporate project also , our plan should finally connect to a blue collar force who is going to execute it and the supervisor who is going to supervise it.
This book advocates , Rather reacting to an emergency , it is better to plan its prevention or be ready to reduce its collateral damage so that we keep ourselves aligned to originals performance parameters of schedule cost and scope of quality as much as possible.
The planning and execution revolve around a concept coined by me R.A.C.E. R stands for rapid delivery, A stand for an absolute scope without any rework, C stands for class quality and E stands for the Economical cost. It is usually said that we can do a project only with a triple constraint that is sacrificing either of time , cost, quality , you cannot have a complete scope with everything on time within cost and within quality, something will have to sacrifice. Well this books advocates it is possible to archive all four if you anticipate VUCA issue in advance and prepare for it and manage it in time to curtail its adverse effects
However, the book is more about forward thinking’ and preventing V.U.C.A situation. I will be discussing a couple of disruptive tools which is practices in Armed Forces and Good Project companies.
This book will be for every budding youngster to a senior manager to understand how either we can disrupt the market by RACE thought the process or get disrupted by smaller new players who have fewer issues and small lean teams to overcome VUCA issues faster . It is all about saving additional cost to correct a VUCA issues later which could have been prevented by little but thinking. That margin is allowing small project companies to make inroads . Let’s disrupt other before we get disrupted.
I will welcome ideas and a title also if need be though I have thought it over for a few days , but still not able to close the cover design and title as I have to share it with my designer also . Side by side completing the book before editing and deciding a launch date. 45 Min or 1 hour every night should allow
Ideas from Armed forces how we used to do planning and execution are welcome and so also from other companies. It will help in making this book useful for next Generation of a project and operational managers and leaders.
September 1, 2017
Construction Planning
Purpose : To define and refine objectives, and to establish a plan of action required to attain the objectives and scope of the project
Refine scope
Define approach
Identify major tasks and deliverables
Define milestones
Develop Work Breakdown Structure
Develop schedule
Define specific skills and resource requirements
Plan review points
Develop plans for managing project
In developing a construction plan, it is common to adopt a primary emphasis on either cost control or on schedule control
Defining Precedence Relationships Among Activities
In forming a construction plan, a useful approach is to simulate the construction process either in the imagination of the planner or with a formal computer based simulation technique. By observing the result, comparisons among different plans or problems with the existing plan can be identified. For example, a decision to use a particular piece of equipment for an operation immediately leads to the question of whether or not there is sufficient access space for the equipment. Three dimensional geometric models in a computer aided design (CAD) system may be helpful in simulating space requirements for operations and for identifying any interferences. Similarly, problems in resource availability identified during the simulation of the construction process might be effectively forestalled by providing additional resources as part of the construction plan.
Defining Work Tasks
Defining Precedence Relationships Among Activities
Estimating Activity Durations All formal scheduling procedures rely upon estimates of the durations of the various project activities as well as the definitions of the predecessor relationships among tasks. The variability of an activity’s duration may also be considered.
Estimating Resource Requirements for Work Activities
The initial problem in estimating resource requirements is to decide the extent and number of resources that might be defined. At a very aggregate level, resources categories might be limited to the amount of labor (measured in man-hours or in dollars), the amount of materials required for an activity, and the total cost of the activity. At this aggregate level, the resource estimates may be useful for purposes of project monitoring and cash flow planning. For example, actual expenditures on an activity can be compared with the estimated required resources to reveal any problems that are being encountered during the course of a project
More detailed definitions of required resources would include the number and type of both workers and equipment required by an activity as well as the amount and types of materials. Standard resource requirements for particular activities can be recorded and adjusted for the special conditions of particular projects. As a result, the resources types required for particular activities may already be defined. Reliance on historical or standard activity definitions of this type requires a standard coding system for activities.
May 22, 2016
Driving Critical Linkages From Planning to Execution
A series of generic controllable planned activities can maximize the probability of execution of the action . Unless all leaders at all level practice the discipline of execution at all levels, Success will not come in form of rapid + absolute + class quality and economical results .
Ponder and Learn : What are those action that if consistently executed will accomplish action .
2 Without people engagement execution will fail , engaging and building awareness and getting their buy in is a process.
Ponder what does it take a solider to follow his leader even risking his life when attacking, simple you as a leader first out first up show them how to do it, they follow you , you lead and that is your task. We all must learn the business of putting things together and tighter , the individual skills and build a team and they will follow you and also .They will learn to depend on each other and will prevent any kind of loss if you buy in and later control the actions of individuals .
3. Planning cannot fully account for everything that will actually happen. Project are not delivered in spreadsheet planning or soft ware programs. They are delivered in real world and where things are messy, which we don’t plan to deal with that.
Ponder the link between Strategic planning to tactical plans to operational planning to cover every aspect how to be ready for uncertainty and something going wrong .
4 Execution is widely ignored and not in sync with people and planning. We makes plan but have we realized that why we fail to execute because we feel it is for junior teams to do so and leave the execution plan to them. Execution has to be a part of a culture at all level and not leave to site team. People think of execution as the operational side of business. Planning strategy and tactically are central to execution, but execution is not tactics. Execution is fundamental to planning and has to shape it for people to do it..
Learn to adapt how plan and execution are in loop with people in midst and this loops cyclic even takes place till end . DO not presume that execution will follow a rigid plan linear , we have to keep changing plan many time to remain on prime objective by monitoring and control of risk and uncertainty management .
So lets ponder on all three aspects and how they are linked with which all tools and methods and how Real plans are graduated to Real execution plan at site and all in loop with each other to get the real success catering for real world delays and risk , uncertainty by quick decision making
"Those Who Do Not Learn History Are Doomed To Repeat these mistakes again and again
“Those Who Do Not Learn History Are Doomed To Repeat these mistakes again and again
¡ We are never clear on BC /SOW and hence do not plan accordingly
¡ Our Vision Mission and Strategic plans are not matching with each other and also with BC and SOW.
We don’t identify who are our stake holders or understand how they can help us or we can help them
We don’t take them seriously or identify our allies/ or who will need special follow up.
We don’t ask for a plan from stake holders that will include Initiate plan execute M&C and closing of their individual plan
We don’t have a stake holder register, don’t make one only
We don’t know how and when to interact and make them Mutually accountable with us
Their individual plan is a must for their buy in agreed mutually
Stake Holder don’t take us seriously after any meeting. MOM are not followed up/ no feedback and if asked…they will give any number of excuses / reasons/ obstacles processes that need to be cleared .
We are merely talking a but but Ignoring the impact of real risk threats and opportunities in beginning and not catering for resources to negate that
While making the strategic plan we ignore old lesson learned of similar projects .
Project requirements start with what the user really needs (not what the provider perceives that the user needs) and end when those needs are satisfied as evidenced by successful user validation. However, many projects start with ill-defined user and customer requirements, leading to their discovery by the development process itself and we keep changing designs / proposals with new needs.
DEVELOPING THE PROJECT NETWORK AND SCHEDULE is only Soft ware centric, we refuse to apply ourselves as a result we will feed a data to impress everybody resulting in gaps between reality and soft ware plan
Most project run late
Knowledge workers cannot be effectively managed using command and control paradigms
The art of effective scheduling has largely disappeared from the project landscape.
Uncertainty and complexity are starting to take centre stage.
Activities are not planned with attributes of ownership
Traceability of accountability of activities missing
RBS not matching with WBS
Sequencing of Activities not planned by site in charge or last planner but depended on a fixed CPM given by HO
Calculation of duration of activities not accurate
Problems in CPM , the Critical path by software is 100 % incorrect as we don’t support with correct inputs and feedback to planner, and we don’t know how to manage it to correct
Not Accurate
Does not cater for things going wrong on site
Does not cater for Human element not performing
If a single task on CP is late, entire C P is late
¡ Costing
¡ We don’t do proper costing of all Activities
¡ We don’t track COPQ and do not control account , we don’t do EVM/forecasting etc
¡ Quality/HR/ Communication Misc coordination A few problems :
¡ Quality metrics not worked out in advance
¡ Team not sure what to check& How to check
¡ Untrained team in Quality parameters
¡ Documentation poor
¡ Communication clarity missing
Execution
§ We don’t do proper briefing of team before operation starts
§ There is no clear cut role and responsibilities
§ We don’t do reassessment of situation on ground, the real exact situation for any changes
§ We think our tactical plan is best and to be followed .
§ We don’t ensure team is aware of SOP/drills to be followed.
§ Change and Risk Management We think our plan is the Perfect without any loopholes till we get punched in the face
§ We don’t think of anything going wrong
§ Let it come, we will handle that time is the attitude
¡ Big Gap what we plan and how we execute
¡ Results in avoidable delays miss outs rework over run in cost
All companies make junior /contractor/ customer as over all responsible for our failure and somehow close the project (if we are successful), forget our experience and move on to next project with similar mistakes .
¡ Demanding Customer for whom work keeps changing/ his non commitments
¡ Other stakeholders non cooperation
¡ Non Cooperative Supplier/Contractor
¡ Untrained Team
Political/Economical / Social /Climatic condition not catered for
All companies must take charge and be responsible for planning with own team customer and drive contractors to deliver , with a detailed planning that continues before the execution and even through -out the execution and even later till we close out and get out. Aim is to convert our execution to best possible results against all problems in the world.
