Re: A Brief Look at History

On Thu, 13 Mar 2008 14:50:04 -0600, John Doty
<jpd@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:

>>> What if the coding is taking place under nine institutional roofs in 
>>> three different countries with four separate funding sources, and 
>>> therefore no single management authority?

Elizabeth said:
>> We've worked on many multi-company collaborations, including one with 
>> seven companies in four countries, and a very strict and tight
timeline. 
>>  What you do is have a meeting with representatives from all the 
>> countries in which you look at the individual assignments, identify the

>> areas in which sharing will be required, and agree on both the 
>> interfaces and other issues such as coding and do***entation standards 
>> for those areas.  Of course, this meeting also deals with many other 
>> issues, such as scheduling, communications, etc.
>> 
>> Works fine, minimal friction.
>
>Perhaps in a very small part of the space.
>
>What do you do if each institution has its own standards, and either 
>refuses to change, or quotes a budget-breaking cost for changing?
>
>What do you do if a critical person simply refuses to go along?
>
>Do you figure out how to succeed, or do you choose to fail?

It's just project management. With good project management, a
project works. Without, it fails. The key is to get the members
to buy in to project objectives and standards; and to make sure
that the objectives and standards are defined.

MPE has done several multi-company, multi-national, multi-funded
projects. We've even managed a few. I charge a lot more for
project management than I do for engineering!

Stephen


-- 
Stephen Pelc, stephenXXX@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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