A lack of planning on your part...

[gwynn]

... does not constitute an emergency on mine.

I deal with this situation far far too often. It generally comes in one of three forms:

1. Designs that were sent out for client review and not reviewed (and subsequently marked up with major changes) until the final design deadline is looming.

2. Formwork/falsework that has been built and the workers don't realise it needed to be designed by an engineer until they are seeking approval to pour concrete.

3. Large projects with time critical items that are left sitting on the client's desk until the time left before final design is needed is half the time required for design.

The first instance I have been proactive in dealing with, in that I follow up and ask when the mark-ups are coming, if they do not appear shortly after submission or I know the contact person is routinely slow (which does not always gain any benefit).

Other than actually allowing someone else's lack of planning to become my emergency, does anyone have any advice on how to deal with such situations?

 

[macmet]

I'm not sure I have a solution to preventing it entirely. But, what I found helps, is applying the 'a lack of planning on your part is not an emergency on my part' philosophy by not letting people get away with it right from the start. I found by putting your foot down right from the start, people take your deadlines more seriously.

Of course, there are times when it is not necessarily a lack of planning that caused the delay and you have to be realistic.

I also try to make sure nothing falls between the cracks. Never assume that because no one has said anything then nothing is wrong. Ask for updates or when you might get a response often. But set realistic deadlines. Perhaps a weekly call to discuss all outstanding issues may help.

 

[GregLocock]

I have a schedule of deliverables for each program. This tells us when certain data is due, and who is responsible for delivering it. Somebody somewhere broke this down into a daily schedule, so in theory I could look up day 15 before the next gateway, and discover that in fantasyland I should be generating the suspension loads, and the FEA guy should have just finished the statics checks on his model.


In reality something akin to macmet's idea does work. We know what deliverables there are for each system team, those are discussed once a week by the team. Anything that is under control just gets a nod and a turn-up date assigned, typically a month away. Anything that is falling behind will be mentioned every week. This relies on the integrity of the relevant team member, but I get the impression that most engineers realise that early warning of screwups is the best course of action. I suppose you could call that project management by checklist, not unreasonably.

That is not to say that nothing falls into the cracks. But you have to start with a list of deliverables and responsibilities.



Cheers

Greg Locock


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[berkshire]

Employing a progress chaser armed with a timeline planning chart and the authority to ask about the progress on items helps.
B.E.

 

[MikeHalloran]

We called Dominic an expediter. His job was to maintain a PERT chart, by hand, including pestering people for deliverables or commitments. At the time, I didn't appreciate how critical he was to the company's survival. I'd apologize if I could find him.



Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[KENAT]

Having decent project management doing most of the things others mentions helps. Although, a lot of them are more manageable when it's an internal issue, not an external customer causing the problems.

You can potentially assign financial consequences when dealing with an external customer. For instance if you can get it into you contract that if they don't give feedback on submittals within say 14 days then it's assumed they are OK, the relevant invoice will be submitted, if they do come back with requested changes it'll be a new charge and if it's going to require 'overtime' to meet schedule then there is a premium on the rate or similar. Maybe even reserve the right to not do work if they want unreasonable time scales. Carefully write up the contractual coverage with clear assumptions and exclusions so that when they say 'but you didn't design the XY widget' you can point it it wasn't in the contract so will be an extra charge and the timeline will have to be mutually agreed.

Obviously this will have to be balanced with customer satisfaction etc. but hopefully you see the point. Try and put in incentives for them to give prompt feedback and cover yourself for if they don't.

Of course, this is probably easier when there isn't as much competition from other hungry folk in this current economy.

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[MechEng2005]

From first contact with customer, delivery date is always listed as "XX weeks after receipt of approval" or something along those lines.

It helps to know your customer too. Some people seem to like it when you nag them. Others just don't realize the effect of procrastination and such. I've also resorted to "approval for material purchase" when I can't get complete design approval but really need to get critical parts or materials on order.

-- MechEng2005

 

[brandoncdg]

Can I add that a major revision means that the plans are getting a major revision and can't be rushed just because you think it's a simple couple of line changes? Did I mention a major revision is not a simple change?????

I just went through this with someone that didn't understand lowering a large chunk of a hillside plan means adjusting everything connecting to that large chunk. They did this 2 times within days....... Of course no one wants to pay for the changes either.

Civil Development Group, LLC
Los Angeles Civil Engineering specializing in Hillside Grading

http://www.civildevelopmentgroup.com

http://www.civildevelopmentgroup.com/blog