Be detailed!

Steven Covey wrote in his book, 7 Habits of highly Effective People, to "start with the end in the mind". Steven argued that this is one of the principle for personal success. Surprisingly, this was concluded by Napoleon Hill in his book, Think and Grow Rich, too.

I am not refering to the abstract nature of Law of Attraction, though I never denied the possible existance of such law. In project, being able to think of the end point in detail is crucial. The more detailed, the project manager/engineer is the more issues can be highlighted at the beginning of the project.

Issues that is identified earlier is not a problem. On the other hand, problem is an un-identified and un-controllable issue.

Put the detail in your mind. Scrutinize the proposal, contract, plan or schedule!

Responsibility on Change

A senior is used to tell me that as a project engineer, we are here to manage changes. It is further affirmed by Rob Kennaugh in his book "Project Management 101 Tips and Tools for Success". The author argues that Project manager is a change agent and he added that change is not usually welcomed in our "regular" world.

I agree with such notion, as I have previously written that

"REGULARITY = COMFORTABLENESS"

However that is not What I would like to highlight today. Instead, I have learned this very day, that as a project engineer, we are not only responsible of what we are changing. The concern is not only on the modification of the regular things. However a good project engineer will also take precaution on the impact of the changes on the existing object.

For example, In changing a tyre of a car, we should not be merely concern on the quality of the new tyre. Instead we have to ensure that the new tyre will perform according to the intention and will not introduce bad effect on the main object.

The Know All Guy

One characteristic of good project manager is able to answer all questions about his/her project. It does not necessarily to have the complete answer but being able to take the responsibility and direct the questionnaire to the right guy.