Is Your Project Management in the Correct Order?

• In August 2021, ByteDance's education and game sectors conducted large-scale layoffs.
• In August 2021, Tencent Wesee personnel were optimized, and the proportion of layoffs was as high as 70%.
• In December 2021, iQIYI laid-off employees on a large scale, with a proportion of 20% - 40%.
• In November 2021, Snack Video was reported on Maimai that it would lay off 30% of its staff.
• In December 2021, Mogujie laid off about 30% of its staff.
• In January 2022, Pinduoduo was reported for "dramatic" layoffs.
• In March 2022, the layoffs of giant Internet companies went on trending topic again.

In addition to those listed above, ByteDance, Youzan, and other companies have reported layoffs, too. Since 2021, the Internet layoffs are becoming more and more intense recently. In addition to the streamlined business modules, saved year-end bonus, and other reasons, we may also make inferences that another important reason behind it may also be that these big factories have entered the traditional thinking of project management—to pursue the order of achieving greater, faster, better and more economical results.

When it comes to the goal of project management, the first thing that comes to mind always is “how to complete a thing in a large quantity, fast speed, good quality and low cost way.” large quantity is for project scope management, fast speed is for project time management, good quality is for project quality management, and low cost is for project cost management. However, if you follow this order to do project management, it is likely to fall into the trap of project management.

The order of large quantity, fast speed, good quality and low cost is commonplace, but is it always right?

During the period of rapid development of the Internet, every enterprise wants to grasp the tuyere, seize the pulse of the times and achieve “large quantity” achievements. However, the development at this time often only focuses on “large quantity” and “fast speed,” never paying attention to what is delivered and what impact it will bring to society and ignoring the most fundamental factor of the product value. However, after 20 years of development in our country's Internet industry, it can be said that the dividend period has passed, and the incremental market has turned to the stock market. Under this situation, even a few large manufacturers are unlikely to have an incremental business that can grow rapidly. When the pig that was blown up by the wind finally landed, the problems that were covered by a desire for large quantity and fast speed surfaced. The order of of large quantity, fast speed, good quality and low cost of project management is no longer applicable.

In today's stock market, from the perspective of priority, “good quality” should undoubtedly be in the first place; Then focus on delivery and delivering high-quality products with “fast speed”; On this basis, we have the management consciousness of “saving” manpower and “saving” time; On the premise of completing the first three items, “large quantity” will only be a natural objective result, not a goal that needs to be pursued deliberately.

When comes to giant Internet companies, this is the result of the previous blindly pursuing “large quantity” : They launch products quickly by hiring more people, working overtime, and adding money way. “good quality” is accomplished through a lot of publicity and packaging. After the flowers are decorated with brocade and the oil is cooked in a fire, they remember the pursuit of "low cost," so they start to shrink on a large scale. However, in the end, The consequences of pursuing “large quantity, fast speed, good quality and low cost” have to be borne by each independent individual.

After saying the wrong thinking, let's take a look at the correct order of project management.

From the Order of Large Quantity, Fast Speed, Good Quality and Low Cost to the Order of Good Quality, Fast Speed, Low Cost and Large Quantity.

1. Good Quality: “Good Quality” is for the Goal of Doing Things.

The “good quality” here does not only refer to the inherent attributes of the product, such as excellent quality and no bug, but also includes the value to users and society. For example, many products attract attention to achieve the purpose of selling traffic. Their functions are very good, and the UI is very beautiful. However, most of the "value" generated is just trapping more and more people in the information flow to have fun. Therefore, the “good quality” of project management must be something done well, value first, and produce value delivery. The “good quality” without value is just futile.

Valuable "good quality" will stand the test of time. Apple Inc has changed the mobile phone market all over the world with its efforts, eliminating physical keyboard, multi-touch, sliding touch, voice operation, and pressure-sensitive feedback interface... So many features have been retained by smartphones to this day, and the Internet has also entered the era of mobile Internet.

2. Fast Speed: “Fast Speed” is the Way of Doing Things.

To emphasize fast speed is to focus on delivering a good and valuable thing. In the VUCA era, facing the complex and changeable market situation, project management needs rapid response, rapid iteration and rapid release. Such agility and flexibility is also an embodiment of “fast speed”.

But in the final analysis, the premise of “fast speed” and other items should be based on the goal of “good quality.” To a certain extent, we should restrain the impulse to pursue time, and not just blindly seek “fast speed.”

For example, blindly working overtime to alleviate the anxiety of being afraid of falling behind the market will not only worsen the health of programmers but also encroach on employees' daily “charging” time, and employees even lose the ability to receive and think independently about new things. More and more “advanced robots” are born, and innovation is bound to become rare. If things continue this way, it will only fall into a vicious circle.

3. Low Cost: “Low Cost” is to Have a Certain Business Consciousness.

4. Large Quantity: “Large Quantity” is the Objective Result of Doing Well in the Above Three Items.

When doing the way of good quality, fast speed, and low cost well, the value of products will be more and more, and users, customers, market share, and profits will naturally increase with the increase of product value points. “large quantity” is by no means the goal of project management. Blindly seeking large quantity is a manifestation of greed. The project only needs to complete the specified contents, and the team can do the iteration work according to the needs without "gold-plating." If the goal is "large quantity," the project will never be completed.

The order of good quality , fast speed, low cost and large quantity has its internal logic. If you abandon the basics at the beginning, blindly pursue “large quantity” and "fast speed," and ignore the most essential quality and value, the result may be unsatisfactory. For example, many companies uphold the principle of "customer first." In fact, they refuse to give up the "money first" principle, this kind of rush to the money from the beginning is often counterproductive.

How to do the Way of Good Quality, Fast Speed, Low Cost and Large Quantity.

1. Good Quality

• Monitor the Project Progress in Real-Time, and Integrate the Project Plan and Implementation.
  We should grasp the project progress from macro to micro. From the company's values to strategic objectives, it gradually falls to product planning and specific practice and makes rational use of software engineering practice and project management tools.
  Through ZenTao, you can carry out multi-level management of program, project, product and execution; At the same time, various statistical reports can help the executives and project managers understand the project dynamics in real-time and make timely adjustments to the problems and risks.
• While Paying Attention to Short-Term Quality, Do Not Ignore Long-Term Quality.
  The short-term quality is easy to see and achieve, such as test left shift, unit test, test report, and whether there are bugs online, but the long-term quality is easy to be ignored. Long-term quality does not affect the initial experience online, but after two or three years it will gradually expose the architectural shortcomings or technical defects, such as system scalability and flexibility. Long-term quality issues will have a huge impact on the sustainability of the software and need to be avoided at the very beginning of the project.

2. Fast Speed

• With the Help of Agile Practice.
  Agile development came into being in response to the rapid change in market demand and the accelerated pace of delivery. It can be said that it perfectly meets the flexibility required by project management in the VUCA era.
  Some specific methods of agile and appropriate project management tools can be used to improve efficiency and focus on value.
  For example, the daily stand meeting of Scrum and Kanban visualization is used to synchronize the rate of progress to reduce the long cycle caused by opaque information. The code collective ownership and code naming standard of extreme programming can avoid duplication, enhance teamwork, and achieve the goal of high reuse and efficiency.
• Introducing Automation.
  The emergence of automation is to reduce the manpower required for the activities of the programmable system and mechanical operation. The purpose is to simplify the heavy, repetitive, and complex work and make it more effective and efficient. In this way, resources, time, and costs can be saved, and the liberated manpower can focus on the “good quality” part of the work with more value and quality.
  Automated testing converts the steps that manual testing needs to follow into repeatable scripts, making it easier to complete large-scale, engineered testing.

3. Low Cost

• Strictly Follow the "Fast Speed" Engineering Practice.
  “Low cost” means saving time, resources, and manpower in project management. It can be seen that “low cost” is inseparable from the above “fast speed.” Following engineering practices such as agile and automation and achieving the goal of focusing on value and improving efficiency, resources such as cost and time will naturally be saved.
• You Should Have a Certain Business Consciousness.
  The main force of project management in software R & D is often the R &D team. The R &D team may be far away from the market, cost and income, and it is easy to ignore the cost, operation, and other related aspects.Amoeba management can establish the connection between each team and the market, and through independent accounting and split award transactions, each member can give full play to their potential enthusiasm and realize the "full participation" business model. Each member regards himself as the operator of the team and will consciously improve efficiency and reduce costs.

Large quantity are the objective result of good quality, fast speed, and low cost. Good quality, fast speed, and low cost are all done. The quality is guaranteed, the efficiency is improved, and the value of the product will be more and more superimposed; When costs are saved, and profits rise, more and more users and profits will accumulate.

It's time for your project management to change from the extensive barbaric growth of large quantity, fast speed, good quality, and low cost to the order of good quality, fast speed, low cost, and large quantity of high-quality and sustainable development!