After the frustration of last week I am happy to say that this week has been a lot more productive. I have had to be a bit more aggressive in my pursuit of people’s time and knowledge. This has become easier by the realization that it is actually my job to be a bit of an annoyance to these people! The reason I have been given this project is that these people do not have the necessary time to drive towards its completion. It has become increasingly obvious that my exerting pressure on these people is as much, if not more, important a part of my job as the technical matter. One thing I have learned is that no matter what agreements or budgets there are in place it is still a bit of a dog fight for resources and it is important to work for what your department needs. If you don’t you can, without doubt, be forgotten. However, there is a fine line between keeping your project visible, memorable, in the forefront of individuals minds and becoming a complete annoyance who people will eventually seek to avoid! With call recognition on our internal phones it can be very easy to screen someone’s calls and ignore their requests if they become over frequent. This is the tightrope that I am currently walking and thankfully I have not fallen off yet. But, as with a tightrope walker, if I start to lean too far in one direction this could have a direct and immediate effect on my ability to successfully get to the other side of this project.
As previously mentioned, progress has been good this week. We are starting to get through the parts list pleasingly quickly. Having worked together for a few weeks now our teamwork is improving all the time and the dynamics are becoming more evident and settled. With all our roles effectively established it is definitely easier to get on with the job more efficiently. This has been proved by the fact that as time goes by the pace of our progress has grown almost exponentially. As we encounter, and subsequently solve, more problems I am able to do more of the work myself and look through the remaining part numbers in order to solve similar problems before our meetings. This means that the time spent in meetings is more productive and we do not become stale or frustrated by covering the same ground over and over.
Unfortunately, just as NASCAR drivers can be speeding toward victory only for a tire to blow, a problem can crop up out of the blue(print) that can bring us to a shuddering halt. Such an event unfortunately occurred on Friday and the hour meeting was spent discussing a single issue, with no resolution. This was really frustrating as I had been hopeful that we may even get through the remaining 4 part numbers in that meeting, but the light at the end of the tunnel remained just out of reach. However before the end of the meeting I was able to get an action plan agreed so that by the time we meet next week we will be able to take some more steps forward.
The next stage of the process is to get programs written for the product audits so that they can be checked with the Coordinate Measurement Machine (CMM). Getting these completed is easier said than done! I had arranged a program of deadlines with Mike Green (who owns the CMMs) that stated the first two programs should be written by Friday of this week. Unfortunately this deadline was missed, with only one of the programs being completed. As I have mentioned above there are many different people pulling on the resources that exist, and on this occasion my project was trumped by a more pressing issue (involving the RS Vanes). After this initial setback a short conversation with Mike Green resulted in a new commitment. This means that, for the time being at least, I am back on track! Seems like a good note on which to finish this update!
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