A designer’s dilemma: “Quality, timeline”； Who should I choose? ”
Thread Content
I’ve been at the company for N years and have worked on numerous projects of various sizes. In my spare time back in 2009, I wrote down some of my thoughts and reflections on work. Here is a dialogue scenario: Project manager: “The drawings must be ready by the 15th of this month.” Designer: But we still don’t have the necessary information from the upstream team. Project manager: It still has to be done; the client requires that the back wall not collapse. Designer: But without those conditions, whatever we design will be invalid. Project manager: If it’s invalid, then deal with it on-site. I believe everyone is familiar with this conversation; one careless remark determined our choice: “Progress.” Should we really choose progress? What about the quality? What many don’t realize is that product quality is the lifeblood of a company; Sanlu is a vivid example of this. I once heard a leader say, “We can’t undertake a project at the cost of losing a market segment.” I believe we should place importance on design quality; when there is a conflict between quality and timeline, we should give priority to quality. It’s better to let the client deduct money from our design fees rather than sacrificing quality by rushing the process. I believe that striving for progress while ensuring quality is the way for a company to develop. Take a look at some of the larger design institutes in the country – see how they operate. They set deadlines that are very reasonable, with just one goal: to ensure quality. If the client thinks our deadline is unreasonable, they can choose not to work with us. Think about what progress can be made when quality is difficult to guarantee. Aside: Progress can only be discussed when quality is guaranteed. But I want to ask: \"As a designer, do you really know the progress of the project you are working on?\" ”Do you know when the device you designed will arrive at the site? Do you know which equipment foundations need to be constructed first? Do you know when the large cranes will arrive, how many days they will stay, and which equipment they will be used to lift? Do you know the date on which the device you designed will be installed? Do you know which cable section needs to be laid in advance? Do you know the delivery date for the key instruments? Many people might find these questions confusing and wonder, do we really need to know this? I want to say that you might not need to know this, but when things are busy, it’s very important for us. By knowing this, you can figure out which tasks at hand need to be completed first and which can wait. My writing skills aren’t good; please forgive me… This post was last edited by hutom123 on 2009-3-13 09:41.]
I see that your managers have communicated with their counterparts. The client is also very demanding; they often work overtime all night to get things done, only for those items to be used for just 2 months. The results of such rushed efforts not only lack quality assurance but also exhaust many people. Last edited by bingyu252 on 2009-3-12 13:02.]
I can really understand the poster’s feelings; I think this is a quality that every responsible technician must possess. To be honest, in the face of interests and quality, many people tend to give in to those interests. From the boss’s perspective, it is only with customers that there are products to work on, and only with products does quality become possible. Therefore, they prioritize customers first. Of course, quality can still be ensured as well. As your manager said, \"Deal with it on-site\" – keep the customers satisfied first, and then focus on quality. This is also about addressing what the customers need most urgently
““The back wall won’t fall,” which here means “the back door is shut tight,” that is, reversing the schedule. This is something that often comes up during the design process. It is in such times that the capabilities of the project manager and the team spirit of the project team are truly demonstrated. How to identify the key points in order to coordinate all aspects, motivate designers, and even encourage them to work overtime to complete tasks. As the forum owner mentioned, reserving issues for resolution on-site is probably the last resort; sacrificing quality to keep things on schedule is indeed a helpless measure.
I am also involved in project management, and I usually give priority to the schedule； Quality is sometimes just an agreement; it can be negotiated! Personal opinion
Stick to your principles, no matter what challenges arise; it’s still up to you to make the decision
Principles are not that easy to uphold; in most cases, speed is what matters, and it’s impossible to ignore interests – if you don’t do it, someone else will
If you can’t do these things, I say you’re not a competent project manager at all. In 2008, I worked on a project worth 30 million yuan; it was a project carried out by our own company. From the start of construction to the completion of the product, it took exactly 100 days. It’s simply impossible to complete such a project if one cannot achieve what you’ve mentioned. Of course, this is within our company, where we have the advantages of favorable timing, location, and teamwork. When working on a project, you don’t have to do everything by yourself; you don’t possess that much capability. But you must make use of the strength of your team – once there is a sense of unity, your work will become much easier. :lol Last edited by bingyu252 on 2009-3-13 09:43 ]
As a designer, it’s right to obey the project manager. The project manager is incompetent; don’t work with him next time. “The saying \"Product quality is the lifeblood of a company\" is true, but first it’s important to understand that projects and products are two different things.
Experienced designers can create a design that is 80-90% complete, even with incomplete information provided. In fact, everyone has their own difficulties, and we should still understand one another. In design, it’s still important to maintain high quality; otherwise, reworking things will take even more time.
It is best to improve quality while ensuring progress. Sometimes, the deadline is a fixed target that cannot be changed, so it is understandable to try every means possible to meet that deadline. However, if quality cannot be ensured, meeting the deadline is meaningless; poor quality can lead to significant losses in terms of manpower and resources for subsequent tasks
There are too many projects where design, construction, and rectification take place simultaneously. As for quality and schedule, it depends on which aspect the managers prioritize; our construction team, which is responsible for production, focuses on the schedule, while those in charge of technology emphasize quality – which makes things quite difficult
When we have time, we argue with each other; it’s only when there’s no time left that everyone remembers to get to work. Isn’t that the case with the project you’re working on? I’m already quite *used to it; only by paying close attention in daily life can I protect myself properly
I am the owner of the project, and we also take quality and schedule into consideration. A project has just been completed, and the project manager focused on keeping the schedule on track at the expense of quality; as a result, there are now numerous quality issues, most of which affect production. A lot of money has been spent on making corrections, all in an effort to address the shortcomings in quality control from back then. In my opinion, quality is more important than schedule
It seems that carrying out domestic projects in the country is indeed a big problem. Why do we **often violate certain objective laws when carrying out construction projects? Some project owners’ leaders are eager for glory and constantly set unrealistic deadlines, and the results of such efforts are, as one can imagine, poor. There are also some design drawings, with a ton of changes! There’s nothing to do about it; it’s due to the national conditions.
This question is very simple: if the boss says that progress is important, then progress comes first; if the boss says that quality is important, then quality comes first. You’re just an employee – is it really necessary to figure out which one is more important? (Maybe I’m being too direct, but it’s absolutely realistic) Unless you’re the owner of the company or part of its decision-making team, it’s a bit unnecessary for you to worry about these things at this stage. :) For example, in my previous project, the management’s priority was speed – since the market conditions were good, it was better to complete the work earlier so as to make money sooner. For this project, safety comes first, as there is plenty of time and budget available (the economy is weak and the market is not favorable, so there’s no rush to start production). There were accidents at other construction sites recently, and the higher authorities place a great deal of emphasis on safety. Of course, the prerequisite is that you must correctly understand what the higher-ups mean (including identifying traps), so as not to misunderstand and end up as a scapegoat. Those with a background in technology seem to have this problem: in order to solve issues perfectly, they consider everything, and some problems go far beyond what a technician is capable of handling. To be honest, even as a project manager, one can’t decide everything; after all, the manager has more information at their disposal and needs to weigh various factors ； Secondly, he still has a boss, and he must either follow his boss’s opinions or at least not go against them. Today you’re here saying that the project manager should do this or that; in fact, you could try to consider things from his perspective, which would help you understand better. For any project, there is one key factor that is given priority: quality, schedule, safety, cost, or even cash flow. However, giving it priority does not mean that the other factors are unimportant and can be ignored; rather, it provides a basis for making decisions when conflicts arise between these factors. This post was last edited by zjken on 2009-4-17 13:08.]
It must be the quality! Without quality, there can be no progress!
I work for the construction side; sometimes, with the start date approaching, the client really presses the designers to produce the drawings as soon as possible. And if the people at the design firm don’t have the backbone to stand their ground, they can only prioritize speed over quality. As a result, we encounter many problems during the drawing review, receive an increasing number of design changes or technical correspondence documents during construction, and have to keep revising the handover documents over and over again at the time of completion. Actually, this can’t be blamed on the design or the owners; society is in such a state these days that no one can do anything about it. But even if the quality of the design is poor, the project will still be completed, and cases of shoddy construction are rare. After all, we have ways to solve this issue; there seems to be an irreconcilable conflict between progress and quality, but it is still possible to achieve harmony between the two. Regarding the issue outlined in red by the original poster at the end, I think it poses too much difficulty for designers. Construction companies are more concerned with progress than designers; when the client has strong capabilities and sufficient funds, things go smoothly – equipment arrives on time, payments are made promptly, and everything is handled without problems. Moreover, with some project owners, issues such as the delayed arrival of equipment, delays in the completion of civil engineering foundations, and the lack of essential utilities like water, electricity, and gas can all affect the progress. The original poster had better do as the supervisor asks. If there are issues with the quality, the construction technicians will discuss it with you; at worst, a design change can be made. I’ve seen many change orders over the years, but diligent and responsible design engineers like the original poster are rare... Salute to you!
First, the necessary conditions from the upstream side have not been provided to you; you can’t just sit around waiting. The requirement is to produce results, that is, to complete the work, and it’s up to you to figure out how to do that. Second, conditions are provided and created by people; even in the absence of conditions, one must create them. Third, I’m not very familiar with the requirement of the client regarding the ‘back wall not collapsing’. However, the construction industry is in a rather chaotic state at the moment, with many unresolved issues; it’s possible that many existing companies build factories without any blueprints at all, and in many cases the blueprints are created after the building has already been constructed. It’s up to you to communicate and find out what the client’s actual situation is and what goals they have in mind. (Here, there are two types of design I need to mention. One type involves drawing according to the owner’s requirements and in compliance with regulations; this is simply the work of a draftsman – you draw whatever is asked of you.) ； One approach is complete independent design, where you assume all the conditions and organize everything on your own. ) Fourth, to support your manager’s work, identify what is needed and what conditions are required; don’t just sit around waiting. Only turn to your supervisor if you really can’t find it. The project manager thinks it can be completed by the 15th; if that’s the case, then you should be able to finish it. Stop talking nonsense and get to work right away. After all, it’s not asking you to build the Three Gorges Project in half a month. Fifth, quality is important, but the prerequisite for all work is the economy; without this premise, there’s no point talking about anything important, because without economic conditions, nothing else can exist. So it’s necessary to complete the task as required; just don’t fall too far short. If you set the requirements too detailed in pursuit of quality, it will also **delay the completion of your drawings, resulting in a wait of a year or longer. It’s very likely that the owner has new ideas now and no longer needs this thing; then what’s the point of doing this work? There are many possible situations; reason is reason, and work is work. This post was last edited by tuxuer on 2009-4-17 12:43]
I used to work in construction; when errors were found in the blueprints, I would discuss them with the designers, issue a project coordination document, then turn to the logistics department for approval from the supervisor, and finally contact the procurement department to order the necessary materials. . . It seemed extremely complicated back then; now that I work in design, although I’m just starting out, I feel that I should do my best to give my best effort
There is a wise veteran’s advice that I would like to recommend to all designers to consider carefully. He said that if you delay the project by a month, the client will scold you for that entire month; but if there are problems with the quality, the client will scold you for the rest of your life!