CONTACTS 
0201 - Corps of Engineers, SFD                                                                                                                                            O-00000632 0202
020101 - Mr. Thompson F. Keesling, Architect; Assistant Chief
020102 - Construction Operations Division
0202 - Corps of Engineers, SFD                                                                                                                                            O-00000632 0201
020201 - Mr. Max R. Blodgett, II, P.E., L.S.
020202 - Chief
0203 - U.S. Army Corps of Engineers                                                                                                                                       O-00000632 0403
020301 - San Francisco District                                                                                                                                           O-00000632 0403
020302 - Ms. Monteze Jaggers; Procurement Analyst                                                                                                                         O-00000632 0403
020304 - Contracting Division                                                                                                                                             O-00000632 0403

SUBJECTS
Corps of Engineers, SFD, Oakland Project
Weekly Progress Meeting, 961015
Meeting Notes, confirm understandings
Meeting Notes, Formal Events Omit Analysis
Meetings Unproductive, Need Time to Figure
Policy and Procedures
Comedy of Errors, Management by
Hand Written Notes Inadequate
Hand Written Notes, Improve

1811 -
1811 -    ..
1812 - Summary/Objective
1813 -
181301 - Follow up ref SDS 28 0000, ref SDS 27 0000.
181302 -
181303 - Made distribution of draft for notes of Progress Meeting yesterday,
181304 - and reviewed various issues and actions under consideration.
181305 -
181307 -  ..
1814 -
1815 -
1816 - Discussion
1817 -
181701 - Submitted ref DIP 9 0001 transmitting the draft of notes to Tom Benero
181702 - for review and edit.
181704 -  ..
181705 - Betty made copies for Herb, Offel, Leonard, Monti and Marcus. I took
181706 - the copy for Herb.  Betty made distribution for the others.  Marcus
181707 - and Offel were not in this morning, so I could not review the notes
181708 - with them.
181710 -  ..
181711 - Discussed with Tom ideas for Action Item review, CPM and notice to
181712 - Dutra to commence work in disputed areas, per discussion with Tom
181713 - Benero, ref SDS 26 line 342.
181715 -  ..
181716 - Tom could not recall the considerations about sending a letter to the
181717 - Contractor on Meeting Notes, per ref SDS 24 line 76.  He was on his
181718 - way to another meeting, so we did not take time to worry about it.
181719 -
181720 -     I called Monti later in the day and she will try find the draft
181721 -     and a convenient time for Tom Benero today to think about this
181722 -     matter.
181723 -
181724 -         [See completion of this at ref SDS 33 line 161.]
181725 -
181727 -      ..
181728 -     Handwritten Notes Hard to Read
181729 -     Communication Metrics Makes Meetings Productive
181730 -
181731 -     I asked Monti for her notes on the meeting yesterday to help
181732 -     prepare  the record.
181734 -      ..
181735 -     Monti said her notes are only scribbles, with a lot of arrows
181736 -     pointing to keywords and phrases in the margins, and things lined
181737 -     out; things are only partially written that she didn't fully hear
181738 -     or understand, or people were interrupted, changed their mind,
181739 -     didn't complete a sentence, and then started another sentence on
181740 -     an unrelated matter; so she is reluctant to submit them.
181742 -      ..
181743 -     I explained that handwritten notes have all of the defects of a
181744 -     tape recording, but anything people have is helpful to prepare a
181745 -     record in SDS that is useful for managing the work.
181747 -      ..
181748 -     Monti made a copy of what she had, and apologized again, saying
181749 -     that she intended to flesh things out after the meeting yesterday,
181750 -     but there was another meeting to attend, and there has not been
181751 -     enough time to prepare legible notes, reflecting Tom Keesling's
181752 -     point on 960920 about difficulty taking useful notes during
181753 -     meetings, and then not having enough time to parepare a legible
181754 -     record. ref SDS 1 GR94
181756 -      ..
181757 -     Monti asked how I can use her notes that even she can't read?
181758 -
181759 -         [On 961024 Monti made similar point. ref SDS 30 0498]
181760 -
181761 -         [On 970110 Monti worried USACE needs meeting notes; Chief asks
181762 -         people to write up what they remember, but nobody has time to
181763 -         prepare the record, and nobody remembers anything anyway.
181764 -         ref SDS 34 WW5K
181766 -          ..
181767 -         [On 971202 discussed this point with HQUSACE. ref SDS 37 1243
181769 -          ..
181770 -         [On 980803 Max Blodgett said managers have difficulty keeping
181771 -         track of understandings at meetings. ref SDS 38 4192
181773 -          ..
181774 -         [On 980819 sales executive prepares notes that are hard to
181775 -         read, but is intelligent to recall meaning. ref SDS 39 4738
181777 -          ..
181778 -         [On 981106 discussed role of Comm Manager. ref SDS 40 7524
181780 -      ..
181781 -     I explained that often contemperaneous notes are hard to follow
181782 -     because they are fragmentary and prepared under stress, when
181783 -     attention divided between crafting language, trying to understand
181784 -     discursive conversation, when people are interrupting and asking
181785 -     questions, and then writing is paused when the writer is speaking,
181786 -     again, as Tom mentioned on 960920. ref SDS 1 4261  But when this
181787 -     type of work product is reviewed with similar notes prepared by
181788 -     others, and compared with the full record carefully prepared for
181789 -     prior related events, everyone's notes provide mental clues and
181790 -     pointers to help fill out the record.  Monti's notes are,
181791 -     therefore, very helpful, even though by themselves they are
181792 -     "unreadable" even to the person who prepared them.
181793 -
181794 -         [See follow up on making meetings productive by preparing
181795 -         meaningful communications out of events that otherwise lack
181796 -         comprehension, ref SDS 30 5650.]
181798 -          ..
181799 -         [Accuracy of the record was discussed on 970624, ref SDS 36
181800 -         1415]
181802 -  ..
181803 - Tom Benero will try to have edits on the meeting notes by tomorrow.
181805 -  ..
181806 - Tom will consider the ideas on a CPM and directing the Contractor to
181807 - work in the areas under the RFPs for disputed work, e.g., IC2, IC
181808 - 3,4,5. per ref DIP 9 line 41, confirming our discussion yesterday, ref
181809 - SDS 25 line 342.
181811 -  ..
181812 - We did not discuss the RFP for debris removal, which is supposed to be
181813 - issued today or tomorrow.
181815 -  ..
181816 - Tom mentioned discussions with LTC Thompson about the visibility of
181817 - the Oakland Harbor Improvement project.  It is a major undertaking
181818 - that reflects on the reputation of the District.
181819 - ..
181820 - Tom feels it is critical to follow good management practices in
181821 - helping the Contractor adhere to project requirements.  He mentioned
181822 - recent reviews of District roles and functions toward that end. LTC
181823 - Thompson evidently indicated to Tom the advantage of greater
181824 - involvement by Marc McGovern and others in Max's group to assist the
181825 - Contracting Officer, Tom Benero, in carrying out the District's
181826 - mission to manage the project.
181827 -
181828 -     [Discussed advantage of following good management practices, with
181829 -     Tom Keesling below on article in PM Network. ref SDS 0 1168]
181831 -  ..
181832 - Tom provided the 961008 letter to Dutra on weather delays.
181833 -
181834 -
181836 -  ..
1819 -
1820 -
1821 - 0805 Discussion with Herb
1822 -   ..
182201 - Delivered the draft of the notes to Herb, including a copy of
182202 - the letter to Tom Benero, ref DIP 9 line 26.
182204 -  ..
182205 - Herb will have comments on the notes available tomorrow morning.
182207 -  ..
182208 - When I came back about 20 minutes later, Herb said he appreciates the
182209 - ideas in the letter to Tom, ref DIP 9 line 41, which we discussed
182210 - yesterday driving back from the Progress Meeting, ref SDS 26 line 339,
182211 - about requiring the Contractor to demonstrate in a CPM network its
182212 - plan for completing the work, and further to direct the Contractor to
182213 - commence work in areas covered by RFPs for changing from Soft to Hard
182214 - material.
182215 -
182217 -  ..
1823 -
1824 -
1825 - 0842 Discussion with Tom Keesling, Max
1826 -
182601 - Submitted a copy of the letter to Tom Benero transmitting the meeting
182602 - notes, to Tom Keesling, and reviewed key issues.
182604 -  ..
182605 - We transferred my records to Tom's computer.
182606 -
182607 -
182608 -
1827 -

SUBJECTS
Piling encountered, Schnitzer

1903 -
190401 -  ..
190402 - Reviewed Ideas for Finalizing RFP on Debris Removal
190403 -
190404 - We considered Tom's review of the RFP on debris removal could be
190405 - helpful to Tom Benero, in light of the record at the progress meeting
190406 - yesterday, ref SDS 27 6305.
190407 -
190408 - I explained reviewing the edits Tom developed in our meeting yesterday
190409 - ref SDS 25 7730, which were then reviewed with Tom Benero to prepare
190410 - for the meeting with Dutra, ref SDS 26 7305, and that Tom Benero
190411 - retained the document Tom Keesling and I used in our earlier meeting
190412 - on which Tom entered his edits and added a new item #4.  Tom Benero
190413 - kept that document, so item #4 was not included in the notes of the
190414 - meeting, since I did not have it when the notes were later prepared.
190416 -  ..
190417 - I called Tom Keesling about 1445 in the afternoon, and he said he
190418 - talked to Tom Benero this afternoon to coordinte on the language for
190419 - the RFP.  We discussed coordinating the input from Dutra promised for
190420 - today, per the meeting yesterday, ref SDS 27 4004, with the discussion
190421 - at the meeting yesterday of Tom Keesling's ideas and those developed
190422 - from the meeting with Dutra on 961007. Tom Benero will submit the
190423 - proposed language to Tom Keesling to ensure consideration of the ideas
190424 - developed yesterday. ref SDS 25 7730
190426 -  ..
190427 - We considered that Dutra may have submitted to Tom their additional
190428 - input at the christening ceremony for the Antone at 1100 today.
190430 -  ..
190431 - Tom plans to coordinate with Tom Benero on the final form of the RFP,
190432 - so it can go out tomorrow.
190433 -
190434 -
190435 -
1905 -

SUBJECTS
Amend RFP, Consolidate
Amend RFPs 9 - 11, 960312 letter
0020   Combine RFPs 9-11 and 960312 letter

2205 -
220601 -  ..
220602 - Amend/Clarify Soft - Hard Polygon Change RFPs
220603 -
220604 - We considered discussion with Dutra at the meeting yesterday, and the
220605 - benefit of issuing an amended RFP or simply a new one, to consolidate
220606 - the issues under RFPs 9 - 11 and the letter of 960312.  Our talks
220607 - following the meeting indicate the need to avoid confusion about what
220608 - the Contractor should do, ref SDS 25 line 208.
220610 -  ..
220611 - Dutra would have a simple instruction to submit a unit price per CY,
220612 - under the reasoning in the notes at ref SDS 27 line 697, and
220613 - considerations at ref SDS 4 line 183, discussions with Tom Benero at
220614 - ref SDS 5 line 94.
220616 -  ..
220617 - Tom indicated this could help COE address issues discussed yesterday.
220618 -
220619 -    [See follow up on this initiative, ref SDS 30 line 123.]
220620 -
220621 -
2207 -

SUBJECTS
Action Item Reviews
PM, Fundamentals & Overview
Learning, Continual, Controlled Visibility
Action Items, Schedule, To Do
Past is Prologue, Project Reviews
Action Item Reviews
Lessons Learned, Common Business

3709 -
371001 -  ..
371002 - Action Item Reviews
371003 -
371004 - Tom advised we will do the Action Item review tomorrow at the Claim
371005 - Team meeting, per letter to Tom Benero, ref DIP 9 0001, and
371006 - discussions yesterday. ref SDS 25 KX3M
371007 -
371008 -
371009 -
371011 -  ..
371012 - Lessons Learned
371013 - PM Network Article - Program Reviews
371014 -
371015 - Tom said he liked the article submitted yesterday that reflects CESPN
371016 - objectives for Communication Metrics. ref OF 9 2738.  SDS technology
371017 - supports doing "project reviews" daily, and uses the results to guide
371018 - the work by rolling over analysis into Controllable Action Items.
371019 -
371020 -     [On 961023 discussed article with Tom White. ref SDS 29 3135]
371022 -      ..
371023 -     [On 961024 Tom Keesling submitted copies of this article to the
371024 -     Oakland Project team. ref SDS 31 9007]
371026 -      ..
371027 -     [On 970525 article on importance of gathering history of work
371028 -     experience, ref SDS 35 4700.]
371030 -  ..
371031 - This reflects our idea to apply sound management practice
371032 - consistently.  Rather than cut corners due to the pace of meetings,
371033 - calls and documents, we capture the record and use it to guide
371034 - decisions.
371036 -  ..
371037 - On 961001 Tom Benero proposed that experience using SDS on the Oakland
371038 - Harbor project can be used to formulate methods and processes for the
371039 - up coming Richmond Project, ref SDS 7 7490
371041 -  ..
371042 - The analysis in the article on slippage of production, ref OF 9 3748,
371043 - reflects Tom Benero's explanation to the Contractor at the Progress
371044 - Meeting yesterday about the need to improve production beyond original
371045 - goals, in order to recoup lost time, ref SDS 27 3844.
371047 -  ..
371048 - This article cites the SDS methodology of integrating past, present
371049 - and future elements of management. ref OF 9 2282
371050 -
371051 -
371052 -
371053 -
3711 -

SUBJECTS
Schedule for Construction, 52.236-15
Order of Work

4004 -
400501 -  ..
400502 - CPM Schedule; Directive to Work in Disputed Payment Areas
400503 -
400504 - Tom indicated there is consideration being given to having the
400505 - Contractor submit a CPM and notifying the Contrctor to proceed with
400506 - work in the disputed work areas, per ref DIP 9 line 41, per analysis
400507 - at ref SDS 26 line 341.
400509 -  ..
400510 - Per my letter inquiring about the schedule spec, ref DIP 7 line 29,
400511 - issued at ref SDS 21 line 51, Tom has checked and does not find any
400512 - specific schedule spec, except for a general clause.
400514 -  ..
400515 - He will try to get the Schedule clauses for me in a computer file, and
400516 - he will try to get the Navy Sewer Line spec for me on a computer file.
400518 -  ..
400519 - Max joined us and Tom asked him about the schedule spec.  Max
400520 - explained that COE normally requires a network diagram, such as
400521 - Primavera or MS Project.  He recalled that a COE manager decided that
400522 - this was not needed on this project.  Max mentioned that the
400523 - Contractor's schedule submittal is a Primavera Bar Chart, so he
400524 - suspects it merely reflects an actual network.
400526 -  ..
400527 - We considered sending a letter to the Contractor for any backup to the
400528 - barchart, including a CPM network, if the Contractor is maintaining
400529 - that aspect of the Primavara program.  If the Contractor objects, then
400530 - COE can modify the contract to require submission of this planning and
400531 - control information.
400532 -
400533 -
400534 -
4006 -

SUBJECTS
Increase Budget
Evaluation
Planning
Citations, Links
Documents, Admin Support
Port of Richmond

4608 -
460901 -  ..
460902 - Welch Work Under Review
460903 -
460904 - Max advised that he submitted the notes for the 961015 meeting, see
460905 - ref SDS 18 line 100, to LTC Thompson, the District Commander.
460906 -
460907 - Tom indicated he discussed with Max yesterday how to interpret the
460908 - citations in SDS records, and Max offered some ideas for this aspect
460909 - of the SDS program.
460911 -  ..
460912 - When I talked to Herb this morning to submit the meeting notes for his
460913 - comments, he indicated approval of the Welch work effort to "document"
460914 - understandings, as explained to Dutra yesterday in the Progress
460915 - Meeting, ref SDS 27 line 169.  Herb recalled this morning a meeting
460916 - yesterday afternoon where Max submitted Welch work product to Colonel
460917 - Thompson.
460918 -
460919 -
460921 -  ..
460922 - Administrative Support
460923 -
460924 - Considered with Tom Keesling the cost advantage of getting support for
460925 - creating computer files of COE information, rather than having this
460926 - work performed entirely by Welch, e.g., ref SDS 20 line 223.
460927 -
460928 - Tom indicated this can be taken up in the period ahead about
460929 - modifying the Welch Contract.
460930 -
460931 -
460933 -  ..
460934 - Richmond Contract Deferred
460935 -
460936 - Tom advised that the Richmond project seems to have been deferred
460937 - until next April, following up our discussion at, ref SDS 8 line 106.
460938 - There were understandings it was to have been approved for bid last
460939 - month, then this month, then next month, now the latest is next April.
460940 -
460941 -     [See later discussion to include Welch budget in Richmond
460942 -     contract, ref SDS 32 line 70.]
460943 -
460944 -
4610 -

SUBJECTS
Environmental Protection
Polygon IC 2

4804 -
480501 -  ..
480502 - Letter to EPA on Material from IC2 to Ocean
480503 -
480504 - Tom mentioned that the letter to the EPA under discussion with the
480505 - Port of Oakland had not been issued as understood previously at ref
480506 - SDS 22 line 205.
480507 -
480508 - Tom advised the letter was edited today to meet COE project management
480509 - concerns on precedents, per ref SDS 11 line 139, and issued to the EPA
480510 - at ref DIT 1 line 21.
480511 -
480512 -
4806 -