Quote:
Originally Posted by island911
John, your Q seems to presuppose that the perfect management tool would be some sort of moving status bar, such as when downloading a media file. IMO any manager worth a damn is involved enough to ask the right questions (efficiently). --one reason engineers make good managers of engineers.
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You're right, of course, but most of us don't have the luxury of managing projects for people who are "worth a damn." The guy who gives technical direction on one of my projects is still proud of the fact that he takes his laundry home on weekends for his mother to do. This guy is a poster child for the "project completion as a media file download" status chart. I once presented a schedule to him as an MS Project file, complete with resource allocations, critical chain labeling, buffers for risk, the whole works. He said it was terrible. So I removed most of the detail, put it on a single PowerPoint slide, and put an applicable graphic in the background. Same data, different presentation. He loved it, and used it to "manage" the project schedule from then on out.
I use a variety of means to update my chain of command, though mostly they prefer in-person delivery. If I send an e-mail with a slide or spreadsheet, they ask me to come explain it, so I end up just making the hike across the street and talking through status anyway.
Dan