My team develops 2 to 3 types of products.
For each product certain standards must be adhered to.
The standards are clearly defined, well documented and easily accessible by everyone.
Still, people sometimes forget to adhere to certain steps in the standard.
How do I ensure that people always remember to adhere to all steps in the standards (document)?
Are there any best practices in this regard?
Any suggestions which have proven to work will be greatly appreciated. Saving Changes...
Hans RobbersSenior Director| SalesforceVlissingen, Netherlands
Shahriar,
Two other suggestions
Create an acronym which you are going to use to remember the sequence or standards to be applied, e.g. Is your estimate SMART. This will work for a while.
Since you are working with flash and banners I assume it is rather gui oriented. Why not create a screen saver which shows the standards in one or more screens in a funny way
Hans Saving Changes...
Ravi AnandProject Manager| Fujitsu ConsultingPune, India
Make a quality check list, before delivery the product all the check should be done.... Saving Changes...
William WiliamsProject Manager| W3src ConsultingCanyon, Tx, United States
Unclear from the post and later comments if there are functional managers involved in addition to your role as project manager for these team members but, for the moment, let's assume that is the case. If so, this seems to fall more in the area of how people do their job (functional) than a process or project matter.
While verification of standards and quality is certainly in the project / process flow, teaching people how to do their job is not. A functional or line manager is typically responsible for that kind of mentoring and training. My recommendation is to escalate as an issue to the appropriate manager / department head.
If there is no such role in your organization, you have a different issue entirely. Saving Changes...
Linda HillProgram Manager| MicrosoftRenton, Wa, United States
If it's truly an oversight, a reminder to the person and a note to include it (if it persists) in the perfromance review. I would discuss the impact of the person overlooking the process step in your weekly 1:1 meeting and monitor thereafter in the project. Saving Changes...
Standards are important so establish the following to make this a repeatable best practice:
Assign a Product Manager/Lead to do a product review.
Host a standards meeting to review what is working, not working, issues, constraints, etc. - allow them to vent and share stories
Follow up with those team member and mentor them. Engage them to understand the benefit and how their contribution is valued
Create a standards review committee of peers - review and disapprove any undocumented standards. Discuss issues, resolve them, move on
Consider your role is to maintain the standards in innovative and creative ways; engage your teams.
All the best,
~N. Saving Changes...
Mary Grace LazoProject Manager| SMITS, Inc.Mandaluyong, Philippines
Using creative posters in reminding the team with processes is very effective. Based on experience, this makes the people remember the tasks better because of the visuals.
For other processes/document deliverables, we ensure that it is emphasized during work shop and regular project meetings to ensure that it will be delivered for compliance and as pre-requisite to other tasks.
Saving Changes...
Michael AdamsSolutions Architect| LANLLos Alamos, Nm, United States
I'll have to give a 2nd to Naomi Caietti. Get your team involved in discussing the standards. Schedule some time for this. You should lead, but not control the discussion.
Examine why your team thinks the standards are there, what is the benefit for each standard, and explore if there are other ways to fulfill on the reason for unpopular standards.
If you get your team involved, if they explore and discover the importance of the standards, they'll have ownership of those standards. Additionally, you might discover that there is a better way to do things than what is currently in place. Saving Changes...
Aryamer BasrahProject Manager| PT Vale Indonesia TbkKab Luwu - Soroako, South Sulawesi, Indonesia
Agree with Ravi Anand suggestion to provide checklist as the tools for your team. In addition, you may perform regular audit in how your team comply with the standards and procedures. By doing this, you will identify any problems why some people missed to follow the standard. Saving Changes...
arlene trimbleAssistant IT Director| Local GovernmentAlamo, Ca, United States
If you are using a standard tool to document and track your projects, this would be a good reminder for project members to complete. If it is not on the system, then the update is considered as "unknown" and not countable. Go with the data that you can get from your tool and base your updates and discussions from this standard reporting tool. Saving Changes...
