Break Down Departmental Barriers in Pursuit of a Common Goal Many processes are cross-functional. The same is true of projects. This point is about dissolving the “us versus them” scenario that so often exists in one form or another within …
Point 9 – Deming in Project Management Read More »
Drive out Fear and Create Trust Fear encourages short-term thinking. One of Deming’s classic stories was about a foreman who didn’t stop production to repair a worn-out piece of equipment, because he feared that stopping production would mean missing his …
Point 8 – Deming in Project Management Read More »
Teach and Institute Leadership It is the age-old distinction that usually merits much lip service and little true implementation. There is supervision/management, and then there is leadership. Project managers can either be supervisors or leaders, regardless of their job title.
Job/Task-Related Training A quality organization understands the value of the people who work in it. The same goes for project management. Training project managers, analysts, and everyone else who regularly works on projects in the company methodology, soft skills, etc. …
Point 6 – Deming in Project Management Read More »
Continuous Improvement This is one of my favorite points from Dr. Deming. I see so many mistakes that are made again and again, and lessons learned that are either completely undocumented or filed away after a project, never to be …
Point 5 – Deming in Project Management Read More »
Consider Costs and Benefits of the Entire System and Deliverable Lifetime The textbook wording of this point varies, but is usually something like “Stop making decisions purely on the basis of cost.” When I read the various descriptions however, I …
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Inspection is a Tool for Improvement, Not a Whip Deming’s third point urges practitioners to design quality into processes, using inspection as an information-gathering tool to do so. In project management, the processes and systems make up a methodology. Does …
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Adopt a Philosophy of Cooperation Where Everyone Wins and Teach it to Everyone Often, projects can become battlegrounds where the project manager and team are at odds with the sponsor and other stakeholders. These conflicts can arise when the project …
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Commitment from the Top to Continuous Improvement as a Way of Life Deming’s first point is an important one. There needs to be commitment from the top to make continuous improvement a priority. To do it right, most firms would …
Point 1 – Deming in Project Management Read More »
Dr. W. Edwards Deming was recently re-introduced to me in my Project Performance and Quality Assurance class. I have heard of him before and touched on some of his philosophy in other classes, but focused much more in-depth this time. …
Deming’s 14 Points in Project Management Read More »
A while back, I watched the PBS production “A Class Divided”. If you haven’t seen it, I recommend it. It was especially interesting when applied within the context of project teams. The video hinted to some of the quality and …
Project Team Diversity Read More »
Have you ever let someone down even though you had tried your best and thought you were doing what they wanted? Few things are frustrating as putting forth tons of effort only to find out you were working on the …
Good Requirements are SORTA NUTS Read More »
