The important lessons one derives from this activity are:
o
Division of Work
One important learning from this activity is the division of work. This
doesn’t in anyway means that we are sacrificing on the work done, but in fact
work is segmented and individuals are given specific roles. In this light the
concept of S.M.A.R.T. goals is all the more valid as the division of work will
be useful to the organization if all the players have a crystal clear idea of
what their goals. They will focus all their energy on accomplishing that goal.
The next step in this could be standardizing the segregated activities by the
process of improving the step by learning after every iteration and
incorporating those lessons learnt in the next iteration.
Example: - A standard model that is followed by many projects in TCS’s
offshore development center is as follows:
Here the Administrator has the role of maintaining the system
(development server) for the various stakeholder like developers, testers,
users etc. His roles, responsibilities and areas of concern are all listed out
clearly and onus lies entirely on him. The developers of various
modules have a clear-cut task of working on their assigned module and cater to
the demands of the client that involve his/her module. The testers have a
specified role wherein they are required to thoroughly test the application
after each development cycle to maintain integrity of the application.
o
Skill
When moving from the traditional model to the current management style
there is “deskilling” labor. This “deskilling” is not in anyway compromising on
the expertise of the workers, but in a way restricting the sight of the workers
so that they can excel in their “domain”. This “domain” is a restricted space
as the worker has access to a limited business process and its related
information and work.
Example: - The current model followed in most big IT service companies
have implemented this concept. The developer is concerned only with the
technical aspect of the application i.e. the coding part of it, the technology to
be used and other such areas. The management however focuses on the functional
aspect of the application i.e. how the application needs to work, the client’s
need that can be satisfied with this application and other related aspects.
o
Innovation
The division of labor allows the individuals to focus on their specified
roles and responsibilities. This essentially helps one to break down the whole
activity into various sub activities and these sub activities into tasks and so
on. This provides an individual with a platform for innovation as his task now
is simplified and narrow-scoped. The chances of these individuals coming up
with innovation is increased many folds as compared to the traditional model.
Example:- The current model followed in most big IT service companies
allows the developers to focus on technological innovations and the management
with functional innovations. Furthermore the roles provided in development i.e.
Administrator, traditional developer, tester provide even greater focus for
innovation. Since individuals are assigned a slice of the work pie they can
devote ever more time and effort for the process improvement in the form of
innovations.
o
Productivity
With the introduction of the concept of division of labor the work can be
completed more easily. The effort needed from individual players is effectively
reduced and the output increased, which leads to higher productivity.
Example:- The current model followed in most IT service companies is as
follows:
With
individuals dedicated to a particular role in the various steps mentioned, the application
development cycle time has reduced from 1 year earlier to merely 3-4 months
now. The same steps are followed even now ,but the improved productivity leads to shorter development cycles.
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