DILAN, DOMINIC C.

ENG’G MGMT

BSCE-5

FN QUIZ

Questions:

1) Discuss each of Deming’ s key points and its importance to management.

a) Create constancy of purpose toward improvement of product and service, with the
aim to become competitive and to stay in business and to provide jobs.
For the company that wants to stay in business, the two general types of problems that
exist are the problems of today and the problems of tomorrow. It is easy to become
wrapped up with the problems of today, but the problems of the future demand, first
and foremost, constancy of purpose and dedication to keep the company alive.
Decisions need to be made to cultivate innovation, fund research and education, and
improve the product design and service, remembering that the customer is the most
important part of the production line.
b) Adopt the new philosophy. We are in a new economic age. Western management
must awaken to the challenge, must learn their responsibilities, and take on
leadership for change.
Government regulations and antitrust activities need to be changed to support the
well-being of people. Commonly accepted levels of mistakes and defects can no
longer be tolerated. People must receive effective training so that they understand
their job and also understand that they should not be afraid to ask for assistance when
it is needed. Supervision must be adequate and effective. Management must be rooted
in the company and must not job-hop between positions within a company.
c) Cease dependence on inspection to achieve quality. Eliminate the need for
inspection on a mass basis by building quality into the product in the first place.
Inspection is too late, ineffective, and costly. It is too late to react to the quality of a
product when the product leaves the door. Quality comes not from inspection but from
improving the production process. Corrective actions are not inspection, scrap,
downgrading, and rework the process.
d) End the practice of awarding business on the basis of price tag. Instead, minimize
total cost. Move toward a single supplier for any one item, on a long-term
relationship of loyalty and trust.
Price and quality go hand in hand. Trying to drive down the price of anything
purchased without regard to quality and service can drive good suppliers and good
service out of business. Single-source suppliers are desirable for many reasons. For
example, a single-source supplier can become innovative and develop an economy in
the production process that can only result from a long-term relationship with the
purchaser. Lot-to-lot variability within a one-supplier process is often enough to
disrupt the purchaser’s process. Only additional variation can be expected with two
suppliers. To qualify a supplier as a source for parts in a manufacturing process,
perhaps it is better first to discard manuals that may have been used as guidelines by
unqualified examiners to rate suppliers. Instead, suppliers could be asked to present
evidence of active involvement of management, encouraging the application of many
of the IEE concepts discussed in this volume. Special note should be given to the
methodology used for continual process improvement.
e) Improve constantly and forever the system of production and service, to improve
quality and productivity, and thus constantly decrease costs.
There is a need for constant improvement in test methods and for a better
understanding of how the customer uses and misuses a product. In the past, American
companies have often worried about meeting specifications, while the Japanese have
worried about uniformity, i.e., reducing variation about the nominal value. Continual
process improvement can take many forms. For example, never-ending improvement
in the manufacturing process means that work must be done continually with suppliers
to improve their processes. It is important to note that, like depending on inspection,
putting out fires is not a process improvement.
f) Institute training on the job.
Management needs training to learn about all aspects of the company from incoming
materials to customer needs, including the impact that process variation has on what
is done within the company. Management must understand the problems the worker
has in performing his or her tasks satisfactorily. A large obstacle exists in training and
leadership when there are flexible standards for acceptable work. The standard may
often be most dependent on whether a foreperson is having difficulty in meeting a
daily production quota. It should be noted that money and time spent would be
ineffective unless the inhibitors to good work are removed.
g) Institute leadership. The aim of supervision should be to help people and machines
and gadgets to do a better job.
Supervision by management is in need of overhaul, as well as supervision of
production workers.” Management should lead, not supervise. Leaders must know the
work that they supervise. They must be empowered and directed to communicate and
to act on conditions that need correction. They must learn to fix the process, not react
to every fault as if it were a special cause, which can lead to a higher defect rate.
h) Drive out fear, so that everyone may work effectively for the company.
No one can give his best performance unless he feels secure. Employees should not
be afraid to express their ideas or ask questions. Fear can take many forms, resulting
in impaired performance and padded figures. Industries should embrace new
knowledge because it can yield better job performance and should not be fearful of
this knowledge because it could disclose some of their failings.
i) Break down barriers between departments. People in research, design, sales, and
production must work as a team to foresee problems of production and use that
may be encountered with the product or service.
Teamwork is needed throughout the company. Everyone in design, sales,
manufacturing… can be doing superb work, and yet the company can be failing. Why?
Functional areas are sub-optimizing their own work and not working as a team for the
company. Many types of problems can occur when communication is poor. For
example, service personnel working with customers know a great deal about their
products, but there is often no routine procedure for disseminating this information.
j) Eliminate slogans, exhortations, and targets for the work force asking for zero
defects and new levels of productivity.
Such exhortations only create adversary relationships, as the bulk of the causes of low
quality and low productivity belongs to the system and thus lies beyond the power of
the work force. Exhortations, posters, targets, and slogans are directed at the wrong
people, causing general frustration and resentment. Posters and charts do not
consider the fact that most trouble comes from the basic process. Management needs
to learn that its main responsibility should be to improve the process and remove any
special causes for defects found by statistical methods. Goals need to be set by an
individual for the individual, but numerical goals set for other people without a road
map to reach the objective have an opposite effect.
k) a. Eliminate work standards (quotas) on the factory floor. Substitute leadership.
Never-ending improvement is incompatible with a quota. Work standards, incentive
pay, rates, and piecework are manifestations of management’s lack of understanding,
which leads to inappropriate supervision. Pride of workmanship needs to be
encouraged, while the quota system needs to be eliminated. Whenever work
standards are replaced with leadership, quality and productivity increase
substantially, and people are happier on their jobs.
b. Eliminate management by objective. Eliminate management by numbers, numerical
goals. Substitute leadership.
Goals such as “improve productivity by 4 percent next year” without a method are a
burlesque. The data tracking these targets are often questionable. Moreover, a natural
fluctuation in the right direction is often interpreted as success, while small fluctuation
in the opposite direction causes a scurry for explanations. If there is a stable process,
a goal is not necessary because the output level will be what the process produces. A
goal beyond the capability/performance of the process will not be achieved. A
manager must understand the work that is to be done in order to lead and manage the
sources for improvement. New managers often short-circuit this process and focus
instead on outcome; e.g., getting reports on quality, proportion defective, inventory,
sales, and people.
l) a. Remove barriers that rob the hourly worker(s) of their right to pride of
workmanship.
The responsibility of supervisors must be changed from sheer numbers to quality. In
many organizations, the hourly worker becomes a commodity. He may not even know
whether he will be working next week. Management can face declining sales and
increased costs of almost everything, but it is often helpless in facing the problems of
personnel. The establishment of employee involvement and of participation plans has
been a smoke screen. Management needs to listen and to correct process problems
that are robbing the worker of pride of workmanship.
b. Remove barriers that rob people in management and in engineering of their right to
pride of workmanship.
 This means, inter alia, abolishment of the annual or merit rating and of managing by
objective.” Merit rating rewards people who are doing well in the system; however, it
does not reward attempts to improve the system. The performance appraisal
erroneously focuses on the end product rather than on leadership to help people.
People who are measured by counting are deprived of pride of workmanship. The
indexes for these measurements can be ridiculous. For example, an individual is rated
on the number of meetings he or she attends; hence, in negotiating a contract, the
worker increases the number of meetings needed to reach a compromise. One can get
a good rating for firefighting because the results are visible and quantifiable, while
another person only satisfied minimum requirements because he or she did the job
right the first time; in other words, mess up your job, and correct it later to become a
hero. A common fallacy is the supposition that it is possible to rate people by putting
them in rank order from last year’s performance. There are too many combinations of
forces involved: the worker, co-workers, noise, and confusion. Apparent differences
in the ranking of personnel will arise almost entirely from these factors in the system.
A leader needs to be not a judge but a colleague and counselor who leads and learns
with his or her people on a day-to-day basis. In absence of numerical data, a leader
must make subjective judgments when discovering who, if any, of his or her people
are outside the system, either on the good or the bad side, or within the system.
m) Institute a vigorous program of education and self-improvement.
An organization needs good people who are improving with education. Management
should be encouraging everyone to get additional education and to engage in self-
improvement.
n) Put everybody in the company to work to accomplish the transformation. The
transformation is everybody’s job.
Management needs to take action to accomplish the transformation. To do this, first
consider that every job and activity is part of a process. A flow diagram breaks a
process into stages. Questions then need to be asked about what changes could be
made at each stage to improve the effectiveness of other upstream or downstream
stages. Everyone can be a part of the team effort to improve the input and output of the
stages. Everyone on a team has a chance to contribute ideas and plans. A team has an
aim and goal toward meeting the needs of the customer.

2) Discuss the 8 PRINCIPLES OF QUALITY MANAGEMENT and what its purpose in

engineering management?
 Principle 1 – Customer focus
Organizations depend on their customers and therefore should understand
current and future customer needs, should meet customer requirements and strive to
exceed customer expectations.
Key Benefits:
a) Increased revenue and market share obtained through flexible and fast
responses to market opportunities
 b) Increased effectiveness in the use of the organization’s resources to
enhance customer satisfaction
c) Improved customer loyalty leading to repeat business.
Application of Principle leads to:

a) Researching and understanding customer needs and expectations

b) Ensuring that the objectives of the organization are linked to customer needs
and expectations
c) Communicating customer needs and expectations throughout the organization
d) Measuring customer satisfaction and acting on the results
e) Systematically managing customer relationships
f) Ensuring a balanced approach between satisfying customers and other
interested parties (such as owners, employees, suppliers, financiers,
local communities and society as a whole).

 Principle 2 – Leadership
Leaders establish unity of purpose and direction of the organization. They
should create and maintain the internal environment in which people can become
fully involved in achieving the organization’s objectives.
Key Benefits:

a) People will understand and be motivated towards the organization’s goals and
objectives
b) Activities are evaluated, aligned and implemented in a unified way
c) Mis-communication between levels of an organization will be minimized.

Application of Principle leads to:

a) . Considering the needs of all interested parties including customers, owners,

employees, suppliers, financiers, local communities and society as a whole
b) Establishing a clear vision of the organization’s future
c) Setting challenging goals and targets
d) Creating and sustaining shared values, fairness and ethical role models at all levels
of the organization
e) Establishing trust and eliminating fear
f) Providing people with the required resources, training and freedom to act with
responsibility and accountability
g) Inspiring, encouraging and recognizing people’s contributions

 Principle 3 – Involvement of people

People at all levels are the essence of an organization and their full
involvement enables their abilities to be used for the organization’s benefit.
 Key Benefits:

a) Motivated, committed and involved people within the organization

b) Innovation and creativity in furthering the organization’s objectives
c) People being accountable for their own performance
d) People eager to participate in and contribute to continual improvement.

Application of Principle leads to:

a) People understanding the importance of their contribution and role in the organization
b) People identifying constraints to their performance
c) People accepting ownership of problems and their responsibility for solving them
d) People evaluating their performance against their personal goals and objectives
e) People actively seeking opportunities to enhance their competence, knowledge and
experience
f) People freely sharing knowledge and experience
g) People openly discussing problems and issues.

 Principle 4 – Process approach

A desired result is achieved more efficiently when activities and related
resources are managed as a process.
Key Benefits:

a) Lower costs and shorter cycle times through effective use of resources
b) Improved, consistent and predictable results
c) Focused and prioritized improvement opportunities.

Application of Principle leads to:

a) Systematically defining the activities necessary to obtain a desired result

b) Establishing clear responsibility and accountability for managing key activities
c) Analyzing and measuring of the capability of key activities
d) Identifying the interfaces of key activities within and between the functions of the
organization
e) Focusing on the factors – such as resources methods, and materials – that will
improve key activities of the organization
f) Evaluating risks, consequences and impacts of activities on customers, suppliers and
other interested parties.

 Principle 5 – System approach to management

Identifying, understanding and managing interrelated processes as a system
contributes to the organization’s effectiveness and efficiency in achieving its
objectives.
 Key Benefits:

a) Integration and alignment of the processes that will best achieve the desired results
b) Ability to focus effort on the key processes
c) Providing confidence to interested parties as to the consistency, effectiveness and
efficiency of the organization.

Application of Principle leads to:

a) Structuring a system to achieve the organization’s objectives in the most effective and
efficient way
b) Understanding the inter-dependencies between the processes of the system
c) Structured approaches that harmonize and integrate processes
d) Providing a better understanding of the roles and responsibilities necessary for
achieving common objectives and thereby reducing cross-functional barriers
e) Understanding organizational capabilities and establishing resource constraints prior
to action
f) Targeting and defining how specific activities within a system should operate
g) Continually improving the system through measurement and evaluation.

 Principle 6 – Continual improvement

Continual improvement of the organization’s overall performance should be a
permanent objective of the organization.
Key Benefits:

a) Performance advantage through improved organizational capabilities

b) Alignment of improvement activities at all levels to an organization’s strategic intent
c) Flexibility to react quickly to opportunities.

Application of Principle leads to:

a) Employing a consistent organization-wide approach to continual improvement of the

organization’s performance
b) Providing people with training in the methods and tools of continual improvement
c) Making continual improvement of products, processes and systems an objective for
every individual in the organization
d) Establishing goals to guide, and measures to track, continual improvement
e) Recognizing and acknowledging improvements.

 Principle 7 – Factual approach to decision making

Effective decisions are based on the analysis of data and information
Key Benefits:

a) Informed decisions
b) An increased ability to demonstrate the effectiveness of past decisions through
reference to factual records
c) Increased ability to review, challenge and change opinions and decisions.

Application of Principle leads to:

a) Ensuring that data and information are sufficiently accurate and reliable
b) Making data accessible to those who need it
c) Analyzing data and information using valid methods
d) Making decisions and taking action based on factual analysis, balanced with
experience and intuition.

 Principle 8 – Mutually beneficial supplier relationships

An organization and its suppliers are interdependent and a mutually
beneficial relationship enhances the ability of both to create value
Key Benefits:

a) Increased ability to create value for both parties

b) Flexibility and speed of joint responses to changing market or customer needs and
expectations
c) Optimization of costs and resources.

3) Discuss how quality management system could help engineering, in the field of
construction and project management.

The Quality Management System (QMS) in construction industry refers to

quality planning, quality assurance, quality control. The main goal of construction
industry is to ensure that construction projects are successfully completed within
the constraints of best quality, stated period and at minimum possible cost. The
research based on QMS recommended that construction companies should create
a flexible and conducive organizational atmosphere which encourages the
development of quality management system in all aspects of their work.
Quality management system (QMS) is defined as “all activities of the overall
management function that determine the quality policy, objectives and
responsibilities, and implement them by means such as quality planning, quality
control, quality assurance and quality improvement within the quality system” (MS
ISO 8402, 1994). QMS have many applications in the construction industry and
implemented either at the company level or at the project level. The quality in the
construction industry is linked with client’s satisfaction and the implementation of a
quality management system is a key tool in consistently and reliably managing the
goal of client satisfaction. Quality management system (QMS) could be implemented
either at the organization level or at the project level itself. For the implementation of
quality management in construction projects, the concepts of quality planning
 (identification of quality standards), quality assurance(evaluation of overall project
performance) and quality control (monitoring of specific project results) in the
quality management processes were defined by Project Management Institute (2000).

4) Cite examples on what motivation techniques could be applicable to engineering

management?
 Create a Positive Work Environment
Motivate employees by offering an upbeat, positive work environment.
Encourage teamwork and idea-sharing, and make sure staffers have the tools and
knowledge to perform well. Be available when employees need you to be a sounding
board or a dispute mediator. Eliminate conflict as it arises, and give employees
freedom to work independently when appropriate.
 Set Goals that are Reasonable and Achievable
Help employees become self-motivated by helping establish professional
goals and objectives. Not only does this give employees something to strive for, but
your business benefits when goals are tied to corporate contributions. Make sure
goals are reasonable and achievable so employees don’t get discouraged. Offer
encouragement when workers hit notable milestones.
 Increase Motivation by Providing Incentives
Increase motivation by providing incentives to work toward. You can create
individual incentives for each employee or team incentives to motivate employees as
a group. Financial incentives can include cash prizes, gift cards or restaurant gift
certificates. Nonfinancial incentives can include extra vacation days, compressed
work weeks or choice office space or parking spots.
 Recognize Achievements and Accomplishments
Celebrate employee achievements through employee-of-the-month or star
performer awards. Make a big deal out of accomplishments by celebrating at staff
meetings. Print certificates or engrave plaques, issue a press release or post a notice
on your company website. Recognize team accomplishments as well as individual
efforts.
 Share Profits to Improve Performance
Motivate employees with the incentive of a profit-sharing program. In this
way, employees increase earnings while helping the business income rise. This
approach simultaneously promotes collective goal-setting and teamwork. It also
gives employees a sense of pride in ownership and can improve performance and
reduce turnover as well as raise morale.
 Solicit Employee Input
Regularly survey employee satisfaction. You can conduct anonymous polls or
hire an independent party to conduct a formal focus group. This will help you catch
potential morale breakers before they get out of hand. Soliciting employee input also
shows staffers that you care about the opinions of workers and want to continually
improve working conditions.
  Provide Professional Enrichment
Encourage employees to pursue additional education or participate in
industry organizations. Provide tuition reimbursement or send employees to skills
workshops and seminars. If an employee is motivated to an upward career path, offer
mentoring and job shadowing opportunities. Promote from within whenever possible
and create opportunities to help employees develop from a professional standpoint.

5) How may be an individual motivated through its job?

Motivation is the reason that drives all of our actions. An individual expects
that if they behave a certain way or perform certain tasks, they will achieve their
desired outcome. In the workplace, this outcome, as long as it’s positive, is the driver
that can impact if and how the tasks given to employees are performed. The key to
reaching the highest possible results lies in being able to identify the factors that
drive each individual in a workforce.
 Salary
Receiving regular payment, especially in reference to permanent
employees, is considered a basic need that is expected to be satisfied by an
employer. However, salary on its own is a short term satisfied. In the longer term
salary isn’t a factor that increases performance and a promise of getting a pay
rise frequently has only a temporary impact.
However, if the salary is lower than an employee would expect, it could cause
dissatisfaction and disengagement. While earning an ‘equitable’ salary might not
motivate employees to perform better, it will reduce the risk of them feeling resentful
or frustrated by the job.
 Non-monetary incentives
Non-financial rewards are a way of satisfying employees’ ego and self-actualization
needs. These are often used to:
a) Acknowledge extraordinary performance.
b) Recognize achievement.
c) Increase morale.
d) Create a positive work environment.
e) Motivate high performance.
 Relationship with colleagues
As employees spend one-third of their day at work, relationships and
interactions they have with their colleagues can significantly impact their mood and
outlook. Negative experiences or attitudes will eventually lead to isolation and
loneliness, making it more difficult to find satisfaction from work, which in turn will
decrease motivation.
Employee’s social needs linked to their desire to be accepted and to belong
to a community can be used to build strong and loyal teams that will achieve higher
results by cooperating on the basis of common understanding.
  Relationship with leadership
Each employee has a hierarchy of needs that should be addressed and the
responsibility of understanding those needs lays with their line manager. The basis
for effective communication between the two parties is two-sided trust. Relationships
built on this foundation will help employees to honestly and openly talk about their
needs, thoughts and feelings, which in turn will give the line managers clear
direction on how to support and motivate their team members.
 Company’s culture
According to survey conducted by the Harvard Business Review, the reasons
behind why employees work determines how well they perform. Employees are
conscious of their company’s culture and learn and align their professional goals with
the organization’s goals, which becomes their answer to the question: “why we do
what we do”. The extent to which employees align with the goals set by their
employer is directly impacted by the strength and clarity of their employer’s mission
statement and values.
Any lack of belief or understanding of the employer’s goals is one of the major
causes of low job satisfaction, negative attitude and lower commitment. On the other
hand, employees who are aligned with the culture are generally more happy in their
roles, achieve better result and fulfillment.
 Learning and development opportunities
Self-actualization is a natural by product of high performance. Most
employees naturally want to do a good job to feel they are achieving their full
potential. Learning & Development (L&D) is a way of educating and guiding your
employees on the areas and aspects that will help them develop and progress.
 Personal life
According to a research by Bensinger, DuPont & Associates, 47% of
employees state that problems in their personal lives affect their work performance.
Personal challenges can cause issues with concentration, poor attention, lack of
engagement and even absenteeism.
As employees spend ⅓ of their days at work, there’s a lot that an employer
and/or a manager can do to support members of their team who are going through a
tough time. Being patient and understanding towards them is the first step.
6) How important is communication as a function of engineering management?
Effective communication relies on verbal and non-verbal body language that
transmits a message while relying on cues for feedback. Here are five reasons that
justify the importance of communication in project management:

 Relaying information.
As a project manager, you need to ensure that the team members and the
stakeholders are informed of what you expect of them – their roles and
responsibilities and other time constraints that prevent them from accomplishing the
task on time. As the project manager, it is also your task to keep them informed of
project details and progress.

 Receiving information.
In order to relay information, it is a must that project managers regularly
access the information for a given project. At any time, there may be stakeholders
who need information about the project such as the objectives, plan, risks, customer
needs, and time constraints. Adherence to a system of regular and focused
communication can prevent misunderstandings and delays that can cause failure in
any project.

 Change in situation.
All projects are fluid and the project manager needs to prepare for the
challenges that he will face from the start until the project completion or end. To
ensure effective communication throughout the whole project and team, a
communication plan needs to be developed at start – planning stage. The
communication plan will contain the type of communication required during specific
meetings, who needs to be communicated with, the frequency of communication
needed, and the needs to be communicated.

 Discussing problems.
In terms of project problems, the fish bone diagram is essential in solving the
causes for every problem. The importance of communication in project management
cannot be debated upon. However, communication comes in various forms. Aside
from a fish bone diagram, one can also discuss other topics through info graphics,
linear/bar graphs, pie chart, comics, etc. There have been various forms of
communicating one’s message and the more that we need to develop effective
communication skills.

 Bridging the language gap.

The language gap in project management lies in the distance that hinders
understanding business benefits. The challenges of using language to deliver
information that is often unclear and filled with project management jargon raises the
importance of project communication.

Communication may mean being able to talk, speak and be listened to. It can
also be called interaction. However, in project management, there is also a need for
the team to understand the long-term goal of the business so that they know how they
have contributed to it and learn how they can make an impact.
 Project success depends on effective communication and this is the
importance of communication in any project. Improving communication maximizes
success and minimizes risk. In addition, if a project manager can develop effective
communication with its stakeholder, this may mean more projects for him and the
team communication skills.

7) Discuss the different types of barriers to communication and how it affects

communication.
Cite examples.

 Physical Barriers
Physical barriers in the workplace include:

Marked out territories, empires and fiefdoms into which strangers are not
allowed.
Closed office doors, barrier screens, and separate areas for people of different
status.
Large working areas or working in one unit that is physically separate from others

Research shows that one of the most important factors in building cohesive teams
is proximity.

As long as people still have a personal space that they can call their own, being
close to others aids communication because it helps people get to know one
another.

 Perceptual Barriers
It can be hard to work out how to improve your communication skills. The
problem with communicating with others is that we all see the world differently. If
we didn't, we would have no need to communicate: something like extrasensory
perception would take its place. The following anecdote is a reminder of how our
thoughts, assumptions and perceptions shape our own realities.

A traveller was walking down a road when he met a man from the next town.

"Excuse me," he said. "I am hoping to stay in the next town tonight. Can you tell me
what the townspeople are like?"

"Well," said the townsman, "how did you find the people in the last town you
visited?"
 "Oh, they were an irascible bunch. Kept to themselves. Took me for a fool. Over-
charged me for what I got. Gave me very poor service."

"Well, then," said the townsman, "you'll find them pretty much the same here."

 Emotional Barriers
One of the chief barriers to open and free communications is emotional. The
emotional barrier is comprised mainly of fear, mistrust and suspicion. The roots of
our emotional mistrust of others lie in our childhood and infancy when we were
taught to be careful about what we said to others.

"Mind your P's and Q's."

"Don't speak until you're spoken to."

"Children should be seen and not heard."

As a result, many people hold back from communicating their thoughts and
feelings to others.

They feel vulnerable.

While some caution may be wise, excessive fear of what others might think stunts
our development as effective communicators and our ability to form meaningful
relationships.

 Cultural Barriers
When we join a group and wish to remain in it, sooner or later we will need to
adopt the behavior patterns of the group. These are the behaviors that the group
accept as signs of belonging. The group rewards such behavior through acts of
recognition, approval and inclusion. In groups that are happy to accept you, and
where you are happy to conform, there is a mutuality of interest and a high level
of win-win contact. Where there are barriers to your membership of a group,
game-playing replaces good communication.

 Language Barriers
Our language may present barriers to others who are not familiar with our
expressions, buzz-words and jargon. When we couch our communication in such
language, it excludes others. Understanding this is key to developing good
public speaking skills and report writing skills. In a global marketplace, the
greatest compliment we can pay another person is to talk to them in their own
language.
 One of the more chilling memories of the Cold War was the threat by the Soviet
leader Nikita Khrushchev saying to the Americans at the United Nations:

"We will bury you!"

This was taken to mean a threat of nuclear annihilation.

However, a more accurate reading of Khruschev's words would have been:

"We will overtake you!"

By this he meant economic superiority. It was not just the language used that was
the problem. The fear and suspicion that the West had of the Soviet Union led to
the more alarmist and sinister interpretation.

 Gender Barriers
There are distinct differences between the speech patterns of men and women. A
woman speaks between 22,000 and 25,000 words a day whereas a man speaks
between 7,000 and 10,000. In childhood, girls speak earlier than boys and at the
age of three, have a vocabulary twice that of boys. The reason for this lies in the
wiring of a man's and woman's brains. When a man speaks, he uses the left side of
his brain but not a specific area of it. When a woman speaks, she uses both left
and right sides, in two specific locations. This means that men speak in a linear,
logical and compartmentalized way, demonstrating left-brain thinking. Women
speak more freely, mixing logic and emotion, using f both sides of the brain. This
also explains why women talk for much longer than men each day.

8) What techniques may be used to overcome barriers in communication?

 Have Clarity In Your Thoughts: You should be very clear about your
objective and what you want to convey. Arrange your thoughts in a proper
order and then communicate accordingly. Systematic communication and
clarity in thought get adequately received and appreciated. Aimless talks
can be misleading so you should always try to show that there is an aim or
motive behind your talk.
 Understand the needs of your audience: You should be emotional and
sensitive towards the needs of your receiver. Understand his behavior,
nature, culture, and religion, however, it does not mean you cannot express
your feelings or thought, but it simply means that you are showing respect to
his religious beliefs or thoughts and then stating your point of view. Most
importantly the message should also be structured as per his level or ability.
If you are conveying the message to a layman then avoid using technical
 words and if you are addressing corporate elite, the language should have
professional sophistication and maturity.
 Seek the Advice of others before Communicating: If you are going for a
high prolific meeting, seek the advice from your seniors and colleagues on
the level and kind of talk that should be given. The main advantage of this
practice is simple, you can get many ideas which can build
your motivation and knowledge and you can then use the same to meet your
purpose.
 Take adequate care of your Tone, Language and way you are speaking:
Messages should be framed in a simple and polite tone which attracts the
listeners. Care should be taken to keep the sentences short and simple.
Technical words should be used only where they are required the most. The
most important of all the interest of the receiver should be kept in mind and
the things that conveyed should attract the users else you might find your
audience or listening yawning while you are speaking.
 Have a Feedback from the receiver: Avoid asking listener, “Have you
understood,” ask them instead their views about what you have said and the
aspects they had grasped from your message. This is a most polite and best
way to have your listener involve in a conversation. This would help you to
have a better understanding of their aptitude and the interest he or she is
showing towards the subject.
 Retain Consistency about the Message: The message conveyed should
conjure with the organizational goals and policies. Whenever you are
replacing any old message instead of the new one, you should clearly
mention about it and clear all the doubts.
 Keep a Routine check on the communication system: You should analyze
the weaknesses in the communication system. All the efforts should be made
to know whether you should focus on the formal or informal way to
communicate. The situation needs to be analyzed to decide on the
appropriate way of communication and whether audience loves to talk
informally or in a formal way.
 Make use of the body language: During the process of communication
make sure you make the most appropriate use of your body language,
Avoid showing too much of emotions as the receiver might misapprehend
the message. Try to always keep a smiling face while talking and make eye
to eye contact with the listener but make sure not to keep your eyes gazed at
the person for more than five seconds and avoid too much of fluttering of
eyes which indicate you are not confident. Sit in an upright position and feel
relaxed.
 Avoid overloading too much of information: People would get bored if
they are bombarded with the unnecessary and too much of information. So
try to deliver the parts which are useful and informative and of value to the
 listener in a most simple and straight forward way. There should not be any
confusion left in the mind of the listener.
 Reduce the level of noise as far as possible: Always make sure to speak
and interact with someone where there is no noise and least disturbance.
Find the source of noise, remove it and then start conversing.
 Communication chain should be short: You should avoid using the
mediocre or send the message through the third person unless it is very
urgent. Try to directly communicate with the person concerned. The risk of
distortion of the facts gets more if message is passed through the third party
and just imagine if there are more people in between the sender and
receiver the chances of filtering of the messages is doubled.
 Keep your Anger in Control: Do not be aggressive or show your anger if
you do not agree with any point of view or anything that is going against
your ideology. State your thoughts politely with facts if you have and reflect
positivity in your talk and nature.

9) How can you minimize the probability of the negative risks as well as enhancing the
opportunities?

 Escalate
This risk response strategy is used when there is an opportunity, and you are
unable to realize it as you lack the authority to take the necessary steps required to
realize this opportunity.
Therefore, you will approach your top management or PMO and ask them to
look into it. Once they review the request and accept the responsibility to manage
the risk, it is no longer your responsibility to manage it, though you will record this
risk in your risk register for further monitoring.
In the escalate risk response strategy, you entrust top management to manage
the risk, and now your job is limited to monitoring it.
For example, let us say you see an opportunity where if you buy a consumable in
bulk, you will get a 20% discount. However, you require much less and buying
consumables in a larger quantity will not benefit you as most of it will be wasted.
So, you ask your PMO to consult with other project managers to see if anyone
requires the same consumable. If yes, you can combine the requirements and place
the order in bulk and realize the opportunity.
The escalate risk response strategy is a newly introduced risk response
strategy in the 6th edition of the PMBOK Guide.
 Enhance
In the enhance risk response strategy, you try to increase the chance of a risk
happening so you can realize the benefits of this risk. In this case, you try to realize
the opportunity. You can say that the enhance risk response strategy is the opposite
of the mitigation risk response strategy.
For example, let us say your project will be completed in three months. You find out
that the government is about to float a similar type of project in two months.
Therefore, you can bid for a new project if you can complete your project in two
months.
This is an opportunity for you.
Therefore, you try to compress the schedule with fast-tracking so that the project can
be completed ahead of time and you can have a chance to bid for the new project.
In the above example, you are using the enhance risk response strategy
because here; you are trying to realize the opportunity.
 Exploit
In the exploit risk response strategy, you ensure that the opportunity is
realized. Here, you do not try to realize the opportunity; you make sure that the
opportunity is realized.
For example, let us consider that your project will be completed in three
months. You learn that the government is about to float a similar type of project in two
months. Therefore, you can bid for the new project if you can complete your project
in two months.
You have an opportunity here if you complete the project ahead of time, you
will get a chance to bid for your next project.
Now you have to ensure that you realize this opportunity. You take every
possible measure to ensure that the project is completed ahead of time so you can
bid for the new project. You bring new resources, compress the schedule, do
overtime, etc.
Exploit is the opposite of the avoid risk response strategy.
This strategy can be used with both types of risks, positive or negative.

 Accept
This risk response strategy is common for both type of risks; i.e., positive
risks and negative risks.
In the accept risk response strategy, you take no action to realize the
opportunity. You leave the opportunity as is, and if it happens on its own, you will
benefit from it. This risk response strategy is used when the cost of the response is
high, and there is less of a chance of it occurring or the benefit does not outweigh the
effort involved.
For example, suppose there is a chance you may get some skilled workers
from another project at a lower rate if you convince them to join you. However, you
do not pursue this matter and instead, let them decide whether they are interested in
your project or not.
 Share
You use the share risk response strategy when you are not capable of
realizing the opportunity on your own. So, you team up with another company and
work together to realize the opportunity.
 For example, suppose that due to the lack of a specific technical capability,
you are not able to bid for a project, and your company wants to get this project.
Therefore, you team up with another company that is capable of doing this task and
jointly bid for the project.
Here, you are using the share risk response strategy because the profit will be
shared between both parties. A teaming agreement is an example of the share risk
response strategy.
Here is where this blog post ends, however, let us revisit key points once
again:
You will use the escalate strategy so top management can handle it if you are
not capable of realizing the opportunity.
If the opportunity is not very important or you are not very interested in it, you
will go for either to enhance or accept risk response strategy.
You will go for the exploit risk response strategy if the strategy is too
important to miss.
If you want to realize the opportunity and you are not able to do so on your
own, you will go for the share risk response strategy.