Turk and Gadeken give sound advice.Wayne Turk's excellent article, "Quality Management--A Primer" in the July-August issue was chock full of practical tips, turning an abstract term (quality) into something tangible, and passing on expertise so that our younger, less experienced managers don't have to learn the hard way--by trial and error. I especially liked the emphasis on keeping a management reserve. Thank you, Mr. Turk, for pointing out that it is not always popular, but is still a prudent thing to do. On all projects, unexpected things happen, so why not keep some extra funds to deal with extra work? I also appreciated the emphasis on using Earned Value Management Earned Value Management (commonly abbreviated and referred to just as EVM) is a project management technique that seeks to measure forward progress in an objective manner. EVM is touted as having a unique ability to combine measurements of technical performance (i.e. . Too often, especially in my area (software), people want to state that they're 50 percent, 80 percent, or 95 percent complete without any objective basis for coming to such a conclusion. EVM EVM Earned Value Management EVM Evaluation Module EVM Error Vector Magnitude EVM Electronic Voting Machine EVM Expert Group on Vitamins and Minerals EVM Economic Value Management EVM Extraneous Vegetable Matter EVM Extra-Value Meal EVM Electronic Voltmeter sure beats gut-feel any day. Perhaps the most important nugget Nugget A 15 year Gold FHLMC (Freddie Mac) bond; similar to a Dwarf. was about requirements: avoid scope creep The continual enhancement of the requirements of a project as the system is being constructed. Scope creep occurs frequently in information systems development and is often responsible for going way over budget when the changes occur in the coding and testing stages rather than in the without additional funds; and prioritize requirements so that you know what can be eliminated if budget cuts come. Better to have a less functional product than no product at all! More Than Rules I also enjoyed Owen Gadeken's article "Ethics in Program Management" in the same issue. I agree strongly that organizational culture  This article or section is written like an .Please help [ rewrite this article] from a neutral point of view. Mark blatant advertising for , using . and leadership are critical factors in maintaining an ethical organization. I liked his analysis of value conflicts: "right vs. wrong" and "right vs. right." It's so easy for people to lose sight of the six pillars (basics) of ethics, and how hard it can be to follow all of them at the same time. I would like to add a third values conflict: "right vs. the appearance of wrong." Something can be legitimate (like taking a modest gift from a contractor) yet can give the appearance of not being okay. I suggest that people--especially leaders--avoid even the appearance of impropriety Appearance of impropriety is a term often used in reference to a situation whose ethics is deemed questionable. It means that any layperson, without knowledge of the facts, would assume that something he/she saw or heard was inappropriate or a violation of a rule/regulation. , as subordinates are always watching and following examples. I think it is interesting that more people don't realize, as the article points out, that "ethics is ... much more than just a set of rules." The recent mandatory all-hands training on ethics seemed to me to be education on the rules, and not the values. I'd be interested in knowing what Dr. Gadeken thought of it. Al Kaniss Naval Air Systems Command The Naval Air Systems Command, or NAVAIR, is the part of the United States Navy which provides materiel support for naval aircraft and airborne weapon systems, such as guided missiles. NAVAIR was established in 1966 as the successor to the Navy's Bureau of Naval Weapons (BuWeps). |
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