2 Project Management (9)

3 Consultants’ Toolkit

4 Stress Busters

4 Words Confused and Misused (8)

Inside

“You can’t look at the future as a continuation of the past, because the future is going to be different. And we really have to

unlearn the way we dealt with the past”.

Jun 2009 ● Volume 3, Issue 34 R

NCR Consultants Limited

Message from R.S Murali

- Charles Handy

5 Gloom sparks accountant demand

6 Events and Happenings in NCRCL®

7 Know Your Colleagues

8 Green Corner

8 Smart Corner

8 Humour Corner

8 Birthday Wishes

1. Growth’ seems to be a very important phenomenon. It means different for different

people.

2. Growth is the ability to create new things; it is the ability to look at old things in a

new way.

Are we growing?

‘Growth’ seems to be a very important phenomenon. It means different for different people. For a child – growth is physical;

for an elder, growth is a prospect in one’s career; for a matured person, growth is something inward happening within him.

For organizations, in general, growth is construed as the increase in turnover, increase in profits, increase in geographical

expansion, increase in clientele, etc.

What is the growth for a consultancy company like ours? Growth is the ability to create intellectual properties. This is the only

ability that attracts clients and all those points mentioned earlier. This is the engine with which the entire consultancy

organization survives. Otherwise what we do is just a contract labour.

Ask yourselves a few questions:

� Are you doing what you have been doing?

� Are you doing the same things differently every time you do?

� Are you learning anything every day in office?

� Are you finding anything difficult to do in office?

� Are you finding anything interesting in office that you go home late?

If your answer is No for all the questions except the first one, then you are not growing!

Growth is the ability to create new things; it is the ability to look at old things in a new way. We get clients who are

successfully running their businesses and we are asked to solve their problems. How can we solve their problem within a

short time? How can we get into their shoes at once and look at the matters in a different perspective? This requires a

deeper insight into ourselves.

In any given business situation there are three things that need to be considered: the issue, concept behind the issue and

the approach to solving the same.

� The issue, though easily said, connotes the reason why the client has approached us. When there is an issue, it

means that there is a problem and such a problem has been felt (not just perceived by the client). It is extremely

important for us to understand the content and context of the problem. The content refers to the facts and context

refers to the environment (technical, legal, financial, human, etc). The former is understood when we are able to

understand the business of the client. The understanding of the environment requires knowledge (by qualification or

acquisition); -contd on next page

Page 2

All human actions have one or more of these seven causes: chance, nature, compulsion, habit, reason, passion and

desire.

Project Management (9)

Project Time Management

Project Time Management includes the processes required to ensure the timely completion of the

project. It includes the following processes:

On some smaller projects, activity sequencing, activity duration estimating and schedule development

are so tightly linked that they are viewed as a single process.

(A) Activity Definition

Activity definition involves identifying and documenting the specific activities that need to be performed to produce the

deliverables laid down in the work breakdown structure (WBS). The outputs of this process are an activity list along with

supporting details. The activity list includes all activities to be performed and should be structured as an extension of the

WBS. The supporting detail is a documentation of all the assumptions and constraints. The activity definition will also

result in updates to the WBS in terms of missing deliverables or a better description of the deliverables already identified.

Such updates are often called ‘refinements’.

(B) Activity Sequencing

Activity sequencing involves the identifying and documenting of the interactivity dependencies. Proper activity

sequencing is essential to development of a realistic and achievable schedule. Activity sequencing can be done using

one of the following techniques:

1. Precedence Diagrammatic Method (PDM): In

this method a project network diagram is

constructed using nodes to represent activities

and connecting arrows to show the dependen-

cies. This method is also called ‘Activity on Node

(AON)’ and is used by most project management

software. It includes four types of dependencies:

Aristotle

Ashok Rao

Recap: Project Integration Management, Project Scope Management

-contd on next page

� The Concept is understood not just by having the knowledge of the issue or just by understanding the issue per

se. Understanding and solving the problem arise out of one’s ability to visualize the problem and analysing the

same out of creative reasoning. The understanding has to provide clarity on not only the details of the problem

but also on the possible ways to solve the same;

� The Approach relates to the ability to solve the problem and also implement the same. There are situations when

the Consultant understands the problems well but does not know how to proceed from there. The approach

relates to both methodology and also the process of implementation of the solution.

Now, having said all these, what is growth? Growth is the resultant of these abilities properly packaged in us. All the

points discussed above are related to our day to day work. Are you growing?

Exhibit 1

Start

A

Finish

D

A

D

A

D

� Activity definition;

� Activity sequencing;

� Activity duration estimating;

� Schedule development; and

� Schedule control.

Page 3

A slip of the foot you may soon recover, but a slip of the tongue you may never get over.

a) Finish to Start – The ‘from’ activity must finish before the ‘to’ activity can start;

b) Finish to Finish – The ‘from’ activity must finish before the ‘to’ activity can finish;

c) Start to Start – The ‘from’ activity must start before the ‘to’ activity can start; and

d) Start to Finish – The ‘from’ activity must start before the ‘to’ activity can finish.

Exhibit 1 shows a simple network diagram using the PDM.

2. Activity Diagrammatic Method (ADM): In this

method a project network diagram is constructed using

arrows to represent activities and connecting them at

nodes to show the dependencies. This method is also

called ‘Activity on Arrow (AOA)’. It uses only finish to

start dependencies. Exhibit 2 shows a simple network

diagram using the ADM.

3. Conditional Diagrammatic Methods: Includes techniques such as GERT (Graphical Evaluation and Review

Technique) and System Dynamics. These techniques allow for non-sequential activities like loops (eg: repeating

activities) or conditional branches.

Activity sequencing results in a project network diagram which is a schematic representation of the project activities and

the logical relationships among them. It also results in activity list updates such as subdivision or redefining of activities.

(C) Activity Duration Estimating

Activity duration estimating involves assessing the number of work periods likely to be needed o complete each identified

activity. This process is affected by the availability and capability of resources in addition to the activity list and

sequencing as primary inputs. As outputs, this process should result in quantitative assessments of the likely number of

work periods that will be required to complete each activity. The assumption made must be clearly documented.

(D) Schedule Development

Schedule development involves determining the start and finish dates for project activities. This is an iterated process

running simultaneously with activity definition, sequencing and duration estimating. This process should result in a

project schedule having planned start and expected finish dates for each activity. Supporting details in the form of

documentation of all identified assumption and constraints is another output of this process. A schedule management

plan defining how changes to the schedule will be managed should also be prepared.

(E) Schedule Control

Schedule control is concerned with (a) influencing the factor s which create schedule changes to ensure that schedule

changes are beneficial, (b) determining that schedule changes have occurred, and (c) managing the actual change. In

terms of outputs this process will result in schedule updates, corrective action to ensure minimum variation from the

planned schedule and documentation of lessons learned.

Benjamin Franklin

Start

Finish

A

D

B

E

C

F

Exhibit 2

Some Important Websites

Project Management:

www.pmboulevard.com

www.reformingprojectmanagement.com

www.projectsatwork.com

www.allpm.com

www.pmi.org

www.4pm.com

Entrepreneurship:

www.entrepreneur.com

www.zeromillion.com

www.inc.com/magazine/20051101/index.html

Business Ethics:

www.bizethics.org

www.ehticsandbusiness.org

www.netimpact.org

www.managementlogs.com/business_ethics.html

Consultants’ Toolkit

Page 4

Everything has its beauty but not everyone sees it.

Stress Busters

In recent months, there has been a lot of talk on the current recession with tips and recommendations by financial experts and economists. A number of articles are published daily on techniques of managing this stressful period, each with a slightly different viewpoint. The general jargon is ”Conserve cash. Reduce expenses. Continue doing your job the best you can. Stay the course."

This seems to be a reasonable strategy but the numerous articles and viewpoints seem to create stress simply because of the doubts that assail us on whether the strategies adopted are right or wrong. The hope lingers that maybe the next article we read may give us some deeper insights into the methods to

be adopted.

These insights make us feel better and in control of a situation giving us something to do. This is a stress reaction which helps manage this stressful period because we read, we think, we discuss and we form opinions which would make us feel comfortable.

How do we respond to this stressful life? What is our stress reaction?

A person may dig into a chocolate cake as he prepares a proposal for an important client. Another person may go in for some physical activity like a game of tennis, gardening etc before embarking on a challenging activity.

A Stress Reaction can be a useful tool to maintain focus and preserve the ability to move through times of uncertainty. A sense or a feeling of control is invaluable when there is a lack of real control.

Positive and healthy stress reactions would be ideal if it would enable us to eat normal portions of healthy food every few hours, exercise daily, sleep eight hours a night, meditate morning and evening, and connect deeply and authentically with our friends, colleagues and loved ones. This would be wishful thinking as some stress reactions are destructive. They increase stress rather than reduce it.

Some of the common negative stress reactions include micromanaging teams, withdrawal and competitiveness. This creates more stress and intensifies the stress reaction.

How to overcome such destructive reactions?

� Pause

� Self Inquiry - “How am I handling this stress?”

� Try to recognize the stress tendency

� Check whether this reaction helps or hurts. If it helps, simply move ahead with it and build it into the process.

� If it hurts, take a deep breath and step back to view it objectively. Getting frustrated about getting frustrated will

not help.

� Consciously being aware of the stress reaction is half the battle won.

� With awareness comes mitigation.

The behavior need not be stopped completely. Some of the Stress Reaction may be helpful even if too much is hurtful. It's useful in turbulent times to manage more closely, withdraw to reflect, and compete a little harder than usual. It helps maintain focus and be on track.

So the keywords to remember are “PAUSE & NOTICE!”

(Source: Summary of an article in Harvard Business Review)

Confucius

Rekha Murali

Words Confused and Misused (8)

Glorious – Delightful

Glorious is colloquial in the sense of delightful or pleasant, as “We had a glorious time”. The true meaning is illustrious,

noble, or praiseworthy, that is, deserving of glory, as “the glorious poems of Milton,” the glorious deeds of a hero.”

Good Will – Goodwill

The forms good will, good-will, and goodwill are being used with little consistency. In the general sense of favor or

benevolence, good will seems to be preferred. In the special sense of commercial advantage goodwill seems now to be

preferred.

Page 5

Life is a foreign language; all men mispronounce it.

Christopher Morley

Generally – Usually

“He generally comes home on Sundays.” In this sentence and numerous similar ones the adverb generally is misused

for usually. “It is generally hot and dry in August.” This is ambiguous. If the writer means universally or nearly so,

generally is acceptable. If he means usually, he should say so.

Guarantee – Guaranty

In the verb sense, guarantee is preferable to guaranty, as “We guarantee these goods.” In the non sense guarantee is

now usual in all sense, but guaranty may be used in the sense of a basis of security, or an undertaking to answer for the

payment of a debt or the performance of an obligation by another person who was liable in the first instance.

Guess - Believe

Guess is colloquial in the sense of believe, think, suppose, expect, intend, or mean, as “I guess he will soon come”; “I

guess it will be hot tomorrow.” It is especially bad when there is no question or uncertainty, as “I guess I am tired.”

Guess should be used only when the evidence is very slight or ambiguous.

Gloom sparks accountant demand (Source: The Business Times)

ACCOUNTANTS in Singapore are fast becoming the beneficiaries of a business environment fraught with uncertainty

and fear. According to a survey completed in January by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and

the BPRI group, 79 percent of local respondents expect the demand for qualified accountants to rise, compared to the

global average of 63 percent.

This demand applies particularly to accountants well-versed in mitigating uncertainty. About 30 percent of respondents

here see an increased need for enterprise risk management as a financial skill.

Globally, enterprise risk management also emerged as the skill with the most demand with 23 percent of participants

voting for it.

In this economic climate, compliance issues appear to have taken a back seat, with 11 percent and 9 percent of local

survey participants expecting decreased demand for financial accounts preparation and basic accounting, respectively.

“Where basic skills are not outsourced, senior business people take it as a given that those accounting activities will form

part of the qualified accountant’s technical toolkit,” said the ACCA.

This increased need for complex skills comes against bleak global backdrop of tightening credit and increasing caution.

Some 87 percent of business polled worldwide in the same survey believe that firms will be wary of providing credit.

Firms also do not expect any solace from the funds markets, as 76 percent of respondents expect it to be harder to raise

funding because of economic downturn.

Accountants in Singapore will have their job cut out for them.

“The results of our research clearly show that the current global economic downturn is expected to have a significant

impact on business for the foreseeable future, and will create challenges and paradoxically, opportunities for the

accounting profession.

“Accountants in Singapore can add considerable value to business by helping to access finance, identifying drivers of

value and profitability and driving down costs,” said Penelope Phoon, the ACCA Singapore country head.

The survey polled 750 chief financial officers, partners and senior accountants in eight countries.

-Joyce Hooi

-to be contd.

NCRCL® welcomes our

new Administrative

Officer at Chennai

Page 6

Life is a long lesson in humility.

James M. Barrie

Events and Happenings in NCRCL®

Rekha Murali attended a workshop on “Profitability through Innovation and Creativity” organized by MMA

and conducted by Dr Rekha Shetty.

RS Murali was interviewed in a live programme on Doordarshan Podhigai as part of ANSA’s

promotion of ACCA . Mr. Murali answered all the queries of

viewers from different parts of the country on various options for a

career in accounting.

NCRCL® spreads its wings to the far eastern states of India with Mr Murali and Mr. C S Suresh

beginning work on Shija Hospitals and Research Institute Private

Limited, Imphal, Manipur.

NCRCL® team on a project which commenced at Kolkata for Soil and Enviro Industries Private

Limited on setting up accounts, costing and MIS systems

N C Vimalakar

Wedding Bells

Shalini married Hiren Parekh on

15th May 2009

Best wishes from all of us at

NCRCL®

NCRCL® participates in the ‘Dance of

Democracy’ – Services of NCRCL®’s BBMP

project team were utilized for election work in

Bangalore for about a week. Readers may

recollect that the team had participated in the

election process earlier also during the

Karnataka assembly elections. Compliments

to the BBMP team for making us proud!!!

Mohanty on an assignment for

Emirates Cement Bangladesh Ltd.

involving analysis of receivables.

Ashok was in Dehradun as a

Municipal Finance Expert in the

Project Management Consultants

team for the Government of

Uttarakhand.

A preliminary study for

implementation of modern

accounting system as been kicked

off by NCRCL® for the university of

Agriculture sciences, Bangalore.

NCRCL® bids adieu to

S Guhaprasath who left

us to pursue his dreams.

Page 7

Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.

Know Your Colleagues

Mahatma Gandhi

Designation Head Admin

Date of Birth 25/11/1947

Email: subbarao2511@yahoo.co.in

Phone: +91 9945365406

Qualification: B.Com

Name: Subba Rao M.R

No Questions Your Answers

1. The meaning of your name. Auspicious

2. Nick name. Subba

3. Your dream job. Job to remove illiteracy in my country

4. Your first impression of NCRCL® . A place to add value

5. What personal/emotional characteristic of yours do you want to change?

Giving sympathetic hearing & helping in times of need

6. Money or job satisfaction? Job satisfaction

7. Your stress buster. Listening to music

8. Do you have a small circle of close friends, rather than a large number of friends?

Yes

9. What do you most like about a person? Sincerity

10. What do you most hate in a person? Arrogance

11. Team work Vs Individual work – your com-ments.

Team work

12. Do you make efforts to get others to laugh and smile?

Yes

13. Your heart rules your head or your head rules your heart?

The heart wins always

14. Special talent. Fit in to any situation

15. Hobbies. Reading magazines, listening to music, playing cricket

Page 8

NCR Consultants Limited

Bangalore Office:

#310, 3rd Floor, Rear Entrance, Swiss Complex,

33, Race Course Road, Bangalore 560 001

Ph: +91 80 65737503, +91 80 40914593

Fax: +91 80 22342238

email: bangalore@ncrcl.com

Website: www.ncrcl.com

Dignity consists not in possessing honors, but in the consciousness that we deserve them.

Happy Birthday to you!Happy Birthday to you!Happy Birthday to you!Happy Birthday to you!

Birthday Wishes

Smart Corner

Answer To last month’s Smart Corner question: Answer To last month’s Smart Corner question: Answer To last month’s Smart Corner question: Answer To last month’s Smart Corner question:

This popular project tracking tool was first used in 1903 for military campaigns and is named after the last name of the person who intro-duced it. Name the tool and the person.

Answer:: Answer:: Answer:: Answer:: Tool – Ganttt chart

Person – Henry Gantt

The right answer was given by Subba Rao

!!! Congratulations !!!!!! Congratulations !!!!!! Congratulations !!!!!! Congratulations !!!

What is a map in which areas of countries are resized according to the data they represent known as?

Send in your answers to the editor at bangalore@ncrcl.com

Regd Office:

2nd Floor, New No. 4, Old No. 23, C P Ramasamy Road, Alwarpet, Chennai 600 018

Ph: +91 44 2466 0955

Fax: +91 44 4218 5593

email: chennai@ncrcl.com

Aristotle

Babajan-01 June

Yallappa Hydagi-01 June Roopashree.T-04 June

Yalloji Rao-08 June Shekar C.M-11 June

How often do you find yourself honking when the traffic light turns

green? Have patience and follow the vehicle ahead of you out of the

junction. Help make your city a quieter place.

Green Corner

Humour Corner