Being staffed on my second project in the last two weeks of December was a little unexpected. While I was excited about getting off the bench and learning new things, I had hoped the new project wouldn’t start until January. But things happen as they do. So what’s the new project?
I’m working with three other consultants on a healthcare project in Los Angeles. We are looking at the IT side of the healthcare company to find opportunities to reduce cost/improve service. Unlike the last project, I joined this project from the get-go so technically, this is my truly first project.
One of the first things that I’m beginning to understand is how consulting is both an interesting and boring career. Take this project. It is scheduled for six weeks, from data collection to analysis to presentation. Given the short timeframe, we are utilizing an approach to solve the client’s problem that was developed during a previous project. Rather than reinventing the wheel, we are adapting previous outputs to make it custom tailored to this specific client. It’s like custom tailor suits versus bespoken. Sure, we make it fit, but we don’t go through the work of taking the full measurement.
As bad as I make that sound, the actual work in the project is customized for the client. While we have an approach developed based on a previous client’s work that is similar, even minuet changes on the client side forces us to re-adapt and change our approach.
But besides all this high-level stuff, I’m actually excited about learning something entirely different. For me, most everything is new so I’ve tried to concentrate on core consulting skills rather the specific business skills. Core consulting skill is best thought of as thinking analytically and structured thinking. I worked with a co-worker to recreate an issue-tree to help me understand the different work streams in this project and how they are interrelated to answer the key question of reducing cost for the client. This was the first time I’ve actually worked through an full issue-tree to frame the work and it was truly amazing how much it help explain what, how, and why we were doing the type of work required to answer the key question.
But learning to structure my thinking is only one thing new. I am learning how to manage expectations , especially creating the balance between worklife and non-worklife. I have realized now that managing expectations is almost as important as the work you actually product. Take the following example. You’re given some work that you’ve never done before. The manager allocates 3 hours to learn and produce some outcome. You go straight through and start tackling the work. After a few minutes, you find that you can actually finish the work in 15 minutes. You rush through; finish the work ahead of time. You’re manager is surprised and thus allocates you some more work expecting better outcomes and thus giving you a short timeframe. Eventually, you’re going to hit a wall where you’re going to miss an expectation.
In the above example, there are several steps you can take to manager the expectation the work produced. For one, you shouldn’t just dive into the work right away if it is given with some learning time. Create an approach and allocate time to different aspects just as you would create an approach to the large client project. This five minute prep-time can be as simple as thinking about the assignment, understanding what you need to do, etc. As they say, properly done prep-work can save you a lot of time later on so you don’t have to go through rework because you failed to understand some thing. After the approach, complete the work, but try to understand more than what you are doing. For example, if you are given the simple task of formatting something and you’ve finished the work in five minutes but were given 30 minutes, spend the remainder of the time reading the document. Try to understand why you were given the task of formatting the document and how the document ties to other documents. Learning to understand what you are doing or understanding the big picture is more important as you move up and get promoted so try to do it earlier. Besides, there is not always a positive reason to turn in work early. Now, if it is major work and you can turn it something early because it will save you/client/company money, then that is a calculated move. But turning in work early on simple tasks simply shows that you are an efficient worker bee and more work should be allocated to you given the same timeframe. Now, while it is great for the company to have you humming along at 100% efficiency at all times, we humans aren’t machines and that type of work simply is brutal. Rather, you should see when work should be turned in early and when it should be managed as on time. Finally, let people know how you work. Tell them if you think you’ll need more time early on and ask about it. It doesn’t help you or your boss to come back to him five minutes before it is due to say you need more time. If you set the expectation early, then others can work with you or around you. Obviously, this doesn’t mean asking for five hours to generate a single PowerPoint slide, but it does mean managing the time given to you.
Ask and you will/can be rewarded.
Friday, December 21, 2007
Sunday, December 09, 2007
Pale Blue Dot
Sometimes, you find something truly unique and interesting to read while browsing through the numerous humor and news websites ... even if it was written a few years back.
Below is an image taken by Voyager 1 in 1990. It is a photo of the planet we and all humans currently inhabit as seen from 3.7 - 4 billion miles away.
"Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there-on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.
The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds.
Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.
The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand.
It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known." - Carl Sagan
Below is an image taken by Voyager 1 in 1990. It is a photo of the planet we and all humans currently inhabit as seen from 3.7 - 4 billion miles away.
"Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there-on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.
The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds.
Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.
The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand.
It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known." - Carl Sagan
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
A quick introduction for CRM, ERP, and SCM
Today, I wanted to summarize an topic that I've been trying to get a basic understanding in my field. What does CRM, ERP and SCM actually mean? I hear these terms but what do they stand for? I decided to summarize what I've learned from CIO Magazine.
This post will began with an explanation of ERP since it is an component that both CRM and SCM can utilize. This will follow with CRM and SCM. Finally, I will discuss how the three systems work together. Sources for this post is listed below.
1. ERP stands for Enterprise Resource Planning software. What ERP software attempts to do is "integrate all departments and functions across a company onto a single computer system that can serve" ever department. Why would this be good for a company?
A typical example is that ERP can improve "the way [a] company takes a customer order and processes [the order] into an invoice and revenue." By using the same software across different departments, people can see in real time what is happening. Orders are processed faster through improved communication by utilizing the ERP software. There is a reduction in human error and lost paper (or knowledge) as information is retained in one centralized location.
Now, multiple this idea across all departments. Imagine HR being able to see Finance (improve HR's ability in staffing or compensation) while Finance can view Shipping (to determine if revenues should be counted for once a product is shipped).
However great the promises of ERP, the reality can be quite different. The first reality check is actually finding a software that works well across all departments. Each department has its own unique requirements that requires special software. To have one piece of software be the best in every field is a tall order. Second, ERP entails a more connected system. This is great in the theoretical stage but in real life, real-time systems is costly to maintain and update. Froe example, pre-ERP, HR was using its own software and processes, but post-ERP requires HR to update and provide the most recent information into the system. Otherwise, other departments, say Finance, might use out of date HR information in the ERP system to produce financial reports. That would occur less since pre-HR, Finance might actually have to call up HR to get the latest data. So with ERP, there must not only be new software, but new processes have to be created in the way people perform their jobs. In the previous example, the HR department might have to redesign some of their business processes.
Ultimately, those new processes are what brings the biggest improvements with an ERP implementation. Once a standardized procedure is implemented company wide, the ERP software will benefit from people utilizing the new business processes.
2. CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management. The goal of CRM is "to learn more about customers' needs ... in order to develop stronger relationships" such as
Since the goal of CRM is "to learn more about customers' needs" and to build relationships, CRM is important for those companies that do not have a understanding of who their customers are or what their customer needs. A CRM system will include softwares and processes that can collect, analyze, centralize customer data from a variety of sources to help improve customer understanding. As example of CRM in action is a retailer collection information (Web, mailing lists, credit cards) that it can then combine to help target those customers through either promotional items (discounts) or products (special offerings).
3. SCM stands for Supply Chain Management. The purpose of SCM is to help "plan, source, make, deliver and return" products. In general, SCM applies more for manufactures, but SCM can also apply to retailers.
Think of a ship building company. It needs to plan how many ships to build and the resources they require (steel, electronics, wiring, etc.), choose suppliers to provide the raw materials or semi-raw materials (guidance systems, engines), manufacture the ship, help with logistics after manufacture, and manage returns (defects, recalls).
Now, while each industry might requires a different type of SCM system (manufacturing might focus more on planning, sourcing and making while retail might care more about delivery and return) the overall goal with SCM is to improve either each individual step which hopefully will improve the overall processes. Why is this good?
Think of terms such as "just-in-time." Pre-SCM, manufactures had a difficult time planning for production. Overproduction would often result in a waste of resources will underproduction meant lost profits. Retailers would sometimes be at the mercy of manufactures and would have to keep warehouses full in the event demand rises. But SCM can help solve some of these problems with the right information. Retailers could provide manufactures data on demand so manufactures can plan strategically to source and make products. This helps reduce delivery and manufacturing costs by making only as much as needed. Furthermore, excess returns are reduced.
With the event of global manufacture and extended supply chain, SCM becomes even more important. With companies located sometimes across oceans, having processes and systems in place to gain information regarding your supplies chain is vital to company planning. Rather than just examining the immediate supply chain, now, a manufacture might look at the supply chain of its suppliers and or its customers (retailers) to help planning. In turn, retailers or suppliers might examine the manufacture supply chain.
4. So how does all this together? To understand this, let's go back first ERP. Since ERP is a software system that is standard across all departments, it is best thought of as a central data warehouse. Both CRM and SCM requires an extensive amount of information for each to work properly. CRM needs data from Finance, Sales, Manufacturing, etc. that have been collect on customers. Similarly, SCM utilizes the data in ERP for planning. But ERP also benefits from CRM and SCM. Each system in turn provides feedback to ERP on new information. While each and function independently, it is the synergies gained from all there system that is one of the biggest gains.
Here is an example of an idea world:
"For example, if you wanted to build a private website for communication with customers (CRM) and suppliers (SCM), you will wan to pull information from ERP, CRM, SCM together to present updated information about orders, payments, manufacturing status, deliver, and return."
Source: "ABC: An Introduction to ERP" by Christopher Koch, CIO, "ABC: An Introduction to CRM" by Thomas Wilgum, CIO, "ABC: An Introduction to SCM" by Ben Worthen, CIO
This post will began with an explanation of ERP since it is an component that both CRM and SCM can utilize. This will follow with CRM and SCM. Finally, I will discuss how the three systems work together. Sources for this post is listed below.
1. ERP stands for Enterprise Resource Planning software. What ERP software attempts to do is "integrate all departments and functions across a company onto a single computer system that can serve" ever department. Why would this be good for a company?
A typical example is that ERP can improve "the way [a] company takes a customer order and processes [the order] into an invoice and revenue." By using the same software across different departments, people can see in real time what is happening. Orders are processed faster through improved communication by utilizing the ERP software. There is a reduction in human error and lost paper (or knowledge) as information is retained in one centralized location.
Now, multiple this idea across all departments. Imagine HR being able to see Finance (improve HR's ability in staffing or compensation) while Finance can view Shipping (to determine if revenues should be counted for once a product is shipped).
However great the promises of ERP, the reality can be quite different. The first reality check is actually finding a software that works well across all departments. Each department has its own unique requirements that requires special software. To have one piece of software be the best in every field is a tall order. Second, ERP entails a more connected system. This is great in the theoretical stage but in real life, real-time systems is costly to maintain and update. Froe example, pre-ERP, HR was using its own software and processes, but post-ERP requires HR to update and provide the most recent information into the system. Otherwise, other departments, say Finance, might use out of date HR information in the ERP system to produce financial reports. That would occur less since pre-HR, Finance might actually have to call up HR to get the latest data. So with ERP, there must not only be new software, but new processes have to be created in the way people perform their jobs. In the previous example, the HR department might have to redesign some of their business processes.
Ultimately, those new processes are what brings the biggest improvements with an ERP implementation. Once a standardized procedure is implemented company wide, the ERP software will benefit from people utilizing the new business processes.
2. CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management. The goal of CRM is "to learn more about customers' needs ... in order to develop stronger relationships" such as
- providing tailored services and products
- help improve sales
- retain and discover new customers
Since the goal of CRM is "to learn more about customers' needs" and to build relationships, CRM is important for those companies that do not have a understanding of who their customers are or what their customer needs. A CRM system will include softwares and processes that can collect, analyze, centralize customer data from a variety of sources to help improve customer understanding. As example of CRM in action is a retailer collection information (Web, mailing lists, credit cards) that it can then combine to help target those customers through either promotional items (discounts) or products (special offerings).
3. SCM stands for Supply Chain Management. The purpose of SCM is to help "plan, source, make, deliver and return" products. In general, SCM applies more for manufactures, but SCM can also apply to retailers.
Think of a ship building company. It needs to plan how many ships to build and the resources they require (steel, electronics, wiring, etc.), choose suppliers to provide the raw materials or semi-raw materials (guidance systems, engines), manufacture the ship, help with logistics after manufacture, and manage returns (defects, recalls).
Now, while each industry might requires a different type of SCM system (manufacturing might focus more on planning, sourcing and making while retail might care more about delivery and return) the overall goal with SCM is to improve either each individual step which hopefully will improve the overall processes. Why is this good?
Think of terms such as "just-in-time." Pre-SCM, manufactures had a difficult time planning for production. Overproduction would often result in a waste of resources will underproduction meant lost profits. Retailers would sometimes be at the mercy of manufactures and would have to keep warehouses full in the event demand rises. But SCM can help solve some of these problems with the right information. Retailers could provide manufactures data on demand so manufactures can plan strategically to source and make products. This helps reduce delivery and manufacturing costs by making only as much as needed. Furthermore, excess returns are reduced.
With the event of global manufacture and extended supply chain, SCM becomes even more important. With companies located sometimes across oceans, having processes and systems in place to gain information regarding your supplies chain is vital to company planning. Rather than just examining the immediate supply chain, now, a manufacture might look at the supply chain of its suppliers and or its customers (retailers) to help planning. In turn, retailers or suppliers might examine the manufacture supply chain.
4. So how does all this together? To understand this, let's go back first ERP. Since ERP is a software system that is standard across all departments, it is best thought of as a central data warehouse. Both CRM and SCM requires an extensive amount of information for each to work properly. CRM needs data from Finance, Sales, Manufacturing, etc. that have been collect on customers. Similarly, SCM utilizes the data in ERP for planning. But ERP also benefits from CRM and SCM. Each system in turn provides feedback to ERP on new information. While each and function independently, it is the synergies gained from all there system that is one of the biggest gains.
Here is an example of an idea world:
"For example, if you wanted to build a private website for communication with customers (CRM) and suppliers (SCM), you will wan to pull information from ERP, CRM, SCM together to present updated information about orders, payments, manufacturing status, deliver, and return."
Source: "ABC: An Introduction to ERP" by Christopher Koch, CIO, "ABC: An Introduction to CRM" by Thomas Wilgum, CIO, "ABC: An Introduction to SCM" by Ben Worthen, CIO
Saturday, December 01, 2007
Being Benched
Part of the life of being a consultant is being placed on the "bench." For those that don't know, being on the bench is the term used when a person is unstaffed. Sitting on the bench for a long period of time isn't a good thing for the company or the consultant for a multiple of reasons that I'll discuss later.
I've been on the bench for about 3 weeks now since the end of my last project. While being unstaffed for a short period, around 1 week, is great after a long and difficult project because it gives you time to catch up, longer periods of bench time isn't so great.
Here's how I've been trying to pass around my time but if you have better suggestions, let me know:
1. Attending training session such as Pricing and Organization Strategy
2. Reading things such as IT Strategy and IT management
3. General reading and keeping up with the issues
4. Adjusting my investment portfolio
But in the end, there are only so many things you can do to improve yourself. Being on the bench for too long hurts your "chargability," or the percentage of time you spend working on projects that can bring revenue to the company. One way to think about chargability is to look at the car rental business.
Imagine yourself as a rental car. The company has paid X amount of dollar to acquire you. In addition, they have spent X dollars upgrading (training and equipping) you. If you aren't being rented (staffed) to some customer, then you are not providing a good ROI for the company.
However, this only paints half the problem for being on the bench for a prolonged period. For yourself, being unstaffed meanings you aren't learning new skills. Sure, I've taken the opportunity to learn new skills through training but unless you put those new skills into actual usage, then those are just theoretical skills. Thus being on the bench for too long is a double whammy.
Finally, as an employee at Accenture, too long on the bench hurts your year end performance revenue since part of our performance is measured by chargability.
With all this said, what can be done to improve this? At the moment, I haven't figured anything out yet.
I've been on the bench for about 3 weeks now since the end of my last project. While being unstaffed for a short period, around 1 week, is great after a long and difficult project because it gives you time to catch up, longer periods of bench time isn't so great.
Here's how I've been trying to pass around my time but if you have better suggestions, let me know:
1. Attending training session such as Pricing and Organization Strategy
2. Reading things such as IT Strategy and IT management
3. General reading and keeping up with the issues
4. Adjusting my investment portfolio
But in the end, there are only so many things you can do to improve yourself. Being on the bench for too long hurts your "chargability," or the percentage of time you spend working on projects that can bring revenue to the company. One way to think about chargability is to look at the car rental business.
Imagine yourself as a rental car. The company has paid X amount of dollar to acquire you. In addition, they have spent X dollars upgrading (training and equipping) you. If you aren't being rented (staffed) to some customer, then you are not providing a good ROI for the company.
However, this only paints half the problem for being on the bench for a prolonged period. For yourself, being unstaffed meanings you aren't learning new skills. Sure, I've taken the opportunity to learn new skills through training but unless you put those new skills into actual usage, then those are just theoretical skills. Thus being on the bench for too long is a double whammy.
Finally, as an employee at Accenture, too long on the bench hurts your year end performance revenue since part of our performance is measured by chargability.
With all this said, what can be done to improve this? At the moment, I haven't figured anything out yet.
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