Assignment 5-1 blog entry

In module two, the topics deal largely with a project’s lifecycle and how HCI can affect the process. In my personal experience at my current company, I have seen many different project outcomes. Typically though my company will wait to the last minute to get the IT department involved. An example would be our opening of a new plant which involved using data from a totally different system from an Italian company. The data was to then be implemented into our system and used to begin production at a new plant in Africa. To start out, the IT department was not even asked for a quick estimate for a project. After the project was already in the works and deals were signed, our department was asked for a budget to get the new plant up and running and to get the Italian system integrated with ours (to be done in an hour.) The budget was then taken by the executives and reduced by a certain percent to make it more to their liking. Since there was no proper planning, of course the project has gone way over budget and they are still struggling to make things work.

Another thing that I have learned over the years is that user resistance to change can be a large hindrance to a project. If you do not have the support of the upper management (the user’s bosses), getting a project implemented can be an uphill battle. One of my counter parts has seen a year’s worth of his work be flushed because he was not able to get the proper buy-in from the users. Unless and even when their bosses feel strongly about and enforces a project, it still may not be successful. An interesting side note to this is that I have noticed that this does seem to vary differently among cultures. In our Mexican plant, even with the language barrier, we have a much easier time putting projects into place. The managers there say it will be done and it is done.

In regards to dealing with other cultures for projects, another interesting issue that we have had deals with how people react with time lines differently. In our dealings with the Italian companies and their employees, it has sometimes been frustrating in that at least in our experiences, they have different views and priorities when it comes to time. Many times we were told that certain things would be done and information would be given and we would sometimes get nothing at all. I know this happens everywhere but in my experiences it has been much more prevalent in our dealings with several Italian companies and their employees.

Still another issue I have seen in different ways is the “Yes it will be done tomorrow!” issue. Tomorrow comes and again it is “Yes it will be done tomorrow!” In projects, people involved need to all be included in the plan and they need to all agree that it is a do-able plan. They then need to not be afraid to give the bad news when things are not going as they should be. If companies could find a way to always hear the truth, they would be much better off in the long run.