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Authors: George Shaffner
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seemed to vanish into thin air, but the rumor around Alki is that the four stevedores worked together to make the tourists a superb spaghetti Bolognese, and a good time was had by all in the Mayfly’s final hour.
Whether it’s restaurants or 777s or anything else, it’s an interdependent world. Teams rule. There is no such thing as a sole proprietor—everyone relies on many suppliers. Even hermits depend on others to provide electricity, clothing, utensils, bedding, pens and paper, kitchen conveniences, packaged foodstuffs, and access to the Internet. Therefore, how well you get along will always depend upon how well you work with others, even if you choose to take a chance and work alone.
* Approximation is imprecise by definition. Often, however, there is more than one path to the same estimation.
Before the acquisition of McDonnell-Douglas, The Boeing Company had about 100,000 employees who produced about thirty commercial planes per month. If 60,000 of them were devoted to the construction of new airplanes and the rest were employed in the maintenance of existing aircraft or in other Boeing businesses, then it would have taken about 2,000 man months (60,000 employees ÷ 30 aircraft per month) to manufacture a new commercial airplane. That is about 167 man years per plane. However, the Boeing 777 is a larger, more complicated airplane than the 737, which makes up the bulk of Boeing production. By multiplying the 167 man-year average by 1.5 to reflect the greater complexity of the 777, we reach the same 250 man-year result.
We can also approach the problem from an economic view. Suppose, for instance, that we estimate the selling price of each 777 to be about $150,000,000. By rule of thumb, we also assume that about 50 percent of the price is the cost to manufacture, which would be around $75,000,000. Approximately 60 percent of the cost to build is likely to be parts, and the other 40 percent is likely to be labor. So the cost of labor to build a 777 is around $30,000,000. If Boeing’s fully loaded labor cost is around $60 per hour, then the total number of hours required to build a Boeing 777 is 500,000. Dividing 500,000 by 250 man days per year and 8 hours per man day (2,000) yields the number of man years estimated to build a 777, which, once again, is 250.
CHAPTER
15
Why There Are Meetings
“All errors of consequence require collaboration.”
— JULIAN DATE
T o make teamwork work, there is a recurring need to coordinate: to determine near-term objectives, to checkpoint progress, to brainstorm difficult solutions, to change course, to make sure everyone has the same news. In many such instances, one-to-one communications don’t always work. That is why meetings were invented. Many corporate veterans, however, believe that meetings are really a time-consuming management device that is used for the perpetuation of employee discord. For the sake of good morale, such beliefs should be examined from time to time, which is exactly what Cecilia Sharpe agreed to do just a short while ago.
At the time, Cecilia was managing an audit team of six accountants who were closing the annual books for two large customers. Between the pressure of their work atmultiple customer sites and the usual office tasks, none of them felt they had the time to attend the hourlong progress meetings that took place every Friday. Cecilia, who has always been an excellent listener, agreed to eliminate the weekly meeting on an experimental basis in return for a commitment from each auditor to maintain direct communication with each and every other member of the team.
The very next Friday, Cecilia had to propose a revised work schedule to her auditing crew. Since they had fallen behind with one customer, the team had to decide whether to work ten hours per weekday until they caught up or to work Saturdays instead. Given the personal impact of the decision, Cecilia felt that each individual had to have the opportunity to
Whether it’s restaurants or 777s or anything else, it’s an interdependent world. Teams rule. There is no such thing as a sole proprietor—everyone relies on many suppliers. Even hermits depend on others to provide electricity, clothing, utensils, bedding, pens and paper, kitchen conveniences, packaged foodstuffs, and access to the Internet. Therefore, how well you get along will always depend upon how well you work with others, even if you choose to take a chance and work alone.
* Approximation is imprecise by definition. Often, however, there is more than one path to the same estimation.
Before the acquisition of McDonnell-Douglas, The Boeing Company had about 100,000 employees who produced about thirty commercial planes per month. If 60,000 of them were devoted to the construction of new airplanes and the rest were employed in the maintenance of existing aircraft or in other Boeing businesses, then it would have taken about 2,000 man months (60,000 employees ÷ 30 aircraft per month) to manufacture a new commercial airplane. That is about 167 man years per plane. However, the Boeing 777 is a larger, more complicated airplane than the 737, which makes up the bulk of Boeing production. By multiplying the 167 man-year average by 1.5 to reflect the greater complexity of the 777, we reach the same 250 man-year result.
We can also approach the problem from an economic view. Suppose, for instance, that we estimate the selling price of each 777 to be about $150,000,000. By rule of thumb, we also assume that about 50 percent of the price is the cost to manufacture, which would be around $75,000,000. Approximately 60 percent of the cost to build is likely to be parts, and the other 40 percent is likely to be labor. So the cost of labor to build a 777 is around $30,000,000. If Boeing’s fully loaded labor cost is around $60 per hour, then the total number of hours required to build a Boeing 777 is 500,000. Dividing 500,000 by 250 man days per year and 8 hours per man day (2,000) yields the number of man years estimated to build a 777, which, once again, is 250.
CHAPTER
15
Why There Are Meetings
“All errors of consequence require collaboration.”
— JULIAN DATE
T o make teamwork work, there is a recurring need to coordinate: to determine near-term objectives, to checkpoint progress, to brainstorm difficult solutions, to change course, to make sure everyone has the same news. In many such instances, one-to-one communications don’t always work. That is why meetings were invented. Many corporate veterans, however, believe that meetings are really a time-consuming management device that is used for the perpetuation of employee discord. For the sake of good morale, such beliefs should be examined from time to time, which is exactly what Cecilia Sharpe agreed to do just a short while ago.
At the time, Cecilia was managing an audit team of six accountants who were closing the annual books for two large customers. Between the pressure of their work atmultiple customer sites and the usual office tasks, none of them felt they had the time to attend the hourlong progress meetings that took place every Friday. Cecilia, who has always been an excellent listener, agreed to eliminate the weekly meeting on an experimental basis in return for a commitment from each auditor to maintain direct communication with each and every other member of the team.
The very next Friday, Cecilia had to propose a revised work schedule to her auditing crew. Since they had fallen behind with one customer, the team had to decide whether to work ten hours per weekday until they caught up or to work Saturdays instead. Given the personal impact of the decision, Cecilia felt that each individual had to have the opportunity to
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