Pitfalls of technology company

Pitfalls of technology company

My first 3 years of management consulting allowed me to figure out how to use standard tools: business process modeling, PMBoK , KPI system , etc. We spoke a lot of clever words, implemented SAP, 1C, Project received money for it and left. I did not see the real results of my work. Since then, earned an allergy to slick consultants in ties.


Someone, probably, worked all his life, but I wanted real things. I handed over to PMP and went on to technologize the construction developer “from the inside”. At first, everything went smoothly, problems were found, solutions were implemented, even everything began to turn and spin. But after six months, it turned out that there was no strong effect: the contractors mow, the tenders are not held in time, the deadlines are broken.
It turns out that the wrong / not deeply diagnosed problems. Standard diagnostic techniques such as the McKinsey method, the search for duplicate functions, the involvement of experts, surveys, etc. - proved to be useless. The reasons:

• in construction to track all interactions of construction managers, tender department, designers, contractors, technical supervision is not real
• Decisions made strongly affect all elements of the system. For example, the adjustment of project documentation leads to changes in project documentation, project schedule, budget, contracts with contractors

Accounting systems allowed to determine the symptoms and localize the problem area. We knew at what point which application was delayed, how much the contractor stood idle with no money, we had statistics on how much for what types of work there was a shift. But an enormous number of “underwater” interrelated processes did not give an opportunity to find an objective reason. And then I had to "generate".

Idea 1. Volley all their batteries for all possible problems. Did not work. This approach turned out to be too laborious. Solving a minor problem creates new real-world problems elsewhere. For example, an attempt to detail the project schedule and strengthen control led to the fact that it ceased to be a working decision-making tool and turned into a purely “reporting” tool.
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Idea 2. Statistics of typical causes. All deadlines in the project schedule were classified for typical reasons:



It turned out. that the performers reported the most "convenient reason". Even if it was different from the vision of related units, the subcontractors, as a rule, were silent. Most often in all troubles blamed the contractor. When they offered to fine the contractor, there were 10 reasons why this contractor should not be fined (the decision on the fine was made by the construction manager). As a result, it became clear that these reasons are not objective and the idea has died.

Idea 3. Managed conflict . Since we cannot receive objective information directly, let's do it so that the performers themselves give it to us. Appeals like “We are a team,” “Let's make a dream company,” and even cash awards for the proposed ideas for the technologization did not work.
Then they decided to act on the "bad." Introduced a working system of fines. In case of violation of the regulations, which led to the failure of deadlines on the project schedule, a penalty was imposed within 2 days. Fines of the person in whose area of ​​responsibility there was a failure of the terms, in the form of a fixed percentage of annual income. If the contractor believes that the failure of the deadlines occurred due to another subcontractor, it is in his interest to provide the facts that confirm this.
Separately, we had to establish a system for penalizing contractors when the contractor was automatically discharged to the contractor, if the manager did not point out any mistakes made by the customer. Contractors, of course, did not agree on this alignment and rolled out a lot of information that was previously hidden. As a result, a stream of objective facts was created that allowed us to dig deeper and solve problems that are deeply hidden.

The essence

As in the series “Doctor House”, the whole point of technologization comes down to the correct diagnosis. Sometimes you have to change the system only to provide objective information about the problems that arise, but it's worth it.
For a project activity, when it is impossible, and it is harmful to fix everything with regulations, it is not realistic to obtain objective information directly. As one of the ways to obtain objective facts - the creation of controlled conflicts.