Page 115 - Straight Talk On Project Management IV

physical movement (calling “green signal” is accompanied by the driver pointing at the green signal).
The premise is that when you coordinate your brain, eyes, ears, mouth and hands you prevent errors
by “raising the consciousness levels of workers” (this according to the Japanese National Institute of
Occupational Safety and Health).
In other words, rather than rely just on a worker’s eyes or trust them to repeat habits each time the
complete a rote task, every step is bolstered both physically and audibly to ensure that the task is
completed accurately.
It’s such a simple idea and highly effective in improving error rates … and yet the system is still
largely confined to Japan (and Malc’s IT projects). Actually, New York City’s subway system adopted
the idea in the 90s, they use a ‘point-only’ variation where conductors point to a fixed black-and-
white “zebra board” to confirm a train is correctly platformed, within two years incidents of
incorrectly berthed trains fell by 57%.

Pointing and calling in an IT Project
In IT Project terms, Malc tells me that calling and pointing has improved many aspects of his
performance. Delivering a Waterfall project recently, calling and pointing at the end of the distinct
stages (and each step within) eliminated any chance of “missing something”.
“When you execute in a linear way it helps to sign post each milestone so that you can confidently
move on to the next,” he told me.

“Being honest,” says Malc, “in the past, sometimes we’d miss something, and you’d have to go back
and make a correction, or someone perhaps doesn’t speak up about something at the time because
they’re afraid to look foolish if they’re wrong. It happens! And we’re usually pretty good at spotting
it later - getting away with it really. Calling and pointing bubbles any issues up earlier for us and it
kinda feels like you’ve got your own back. But you do look and feel a bit of a berk doing it, at least at
first.”

Having your own back
Having your own back may be becoming increasingly important as budgets become more of an
issue. IT Projects are getting more complex, teams are under increasing financial pressure. Deliver
more with fewer resources seems to be the mantra. All well and good, but it does sometimes leave
you more at risk of error.
Just last week, another IT Project Manager friend, Alli, was saying that her team is a quarter of the
size that it was five years ago and that she has noticed an increase in small errors. The folks who may
have ‘double-checked’ your work or been a sounding board at the water cooler just aren’t there
anymore. How many times have you been casually talking with a colleague about a project while the
kettle boils and the conversation has reminded you to check something?

Perhaps Malc’s pointing and calling is the answer? Or maybe when your inhouse capability is letting
you down you should look for Project Management as a Service resources to bolster your inhouse
offer. I have a vested interest in suggesting the latter!

I suppose the point of this blog is – if it works for you do it!
I’d love to hear from you about any quirky approaches to IT Project delivery that you’ve come across
or any great ideas from other industries and sectors that you’ve ‘borrowed’. I’m not sure I’ve come
across anything as strange as ‘pointing and calling’ but then Malc has always been quite eccentric,