THE WELCH COMPANY
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S U M M A R Y


DIARY: October 11, 1997 11:06 AM Saturday; Rod Welch

Develop cost savings from Comm Metrics for USACE HQ on span of control.

1...Summary/Objective
2...Span of Attention and Span of Control
.......Additional Savings from Wider Span of Control, Flatter Org


..............
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CONTACTS 

SUBJECTS
COE Evaluation Communication Metrics
Summary Analysis, Span of Control (Management)
Organization Flat Empowers Folks
Attention Span Limited Causes Mistakes
Congestion SDS Cost Effective Rather than
Downsizing Increases Span of Control

1608 -    ..
1609 - Summary/Objective
1610 -
161001 - Follow up ref SDS 8 2001, ref SDS 7 5467.
161002 -
161003 - Analysed correlation between span of management, also called span of
161004 - control, and span of attention which is the cognitive limitation that
161005 - is expanded by SDS under Communication Metrics.
161006 -
161007 -     [Notified Jim Jones at USACE HQ on 971015, ref SDS 10 4593.]
161008 -
161009 -
161010 -
161011 -  ..
1611 -
1612 -
1613 - Progress
1614 -
161401 - Span of Attention and Span of Control
161402 -
161403 - Today I developed edits that change the phrase "span of command" in
161404 - the report draft, ref OF 1 line 63 and ref OF 1 line 570, which Tom
161405 - used in his report to HQUSACE, ref DRP 3 line 62, to span of control
161406 - (management), since this is the term Tom Keesling identified, and it
161407 - is expressly used in the book on management, ref OF 2 line 63, ref OF
161408 - 2 line 577, per the record at ref SDS 6 line 226.
161409 -
161410 -
161411 -        ..
161412 -       Additional Savings from Wider Span of Control, Flatter Org
161413 -
161414 -       Communication Metrics increases cost savings by expanding
161415 -       management span of control due to increased span of attention,
161416 -       per analysis on 970829. ref SDS 6 4181 and ref SDS 6 6321
161417 -
161418 -            [See follow up planning on 971216. ref SDS 11 4558]
161419 -
161420 -       This may permit reducing the number of management levels and the
161421 -       number of managers, which was part of the change that the
161422 -       District Engineer for the San Francisco Corps of Engineers
161423 -       wanted to accomplish in a new Operations Plan, ref DRP 2 line
161424 -       408, calling for a "flatter" organization, ref DRP 2 line 424,
161425 -       reviewed at ref SDS 5 2723.
161426 -
161427 -            [On 990204 CESPN Op Plan uses flatter management that
161428 -            increases span of control. ref SDS 14 6448]
161429 -
161430 -            [On 990224 Max did not recall reviewing IBM's business
161431 -            intelligence initiative. ref SDS 14 4719]
161432 -
161433 -       Morris planned on 950705 to use technology to reduce the number
161434 -       of managers and levels of managers, ref SDS 1 7409; later on
161435 -       951228, ref SDS 3 7309.
161436 -
161437 -       "Reengineering" to reduce management levels is called out in
161438 -       articles and books, ref SDS 2 2248.
161439 -
161440 -          [On 971015 downsizing causes limited span of attention that
161441 -          causes mistakes. ref SDS 10 1111]
161442 -
161443 -          [On 990126 snafu due to limited span of attention. ref SDS 12
161444 -          3402]
161445 -
161446 -          [On 990127 mistakes cause stress. ref SDS 13 7399]
161447 -
161448 - Changed attachment 1 the last para in section 3e by explaining
161449 - increased savings on projects can be realized by applying
161450 - Communication Metrics to all phases of a project.  This is based on
161451 - the common value of communication of all management work, ref OF 2
161452 - line 245.
161453 -
161454 - I divided the estimate of savings in attachment section 4 into two
161455 - components:
161456 -
161457 -      Cost Avoidance ref OF 2 line 266.
161458 -
161459 -      Cost Reduction
161460 -
161461 -   These headings are used throughout the estimate.
161462 -
161463 -
161464 - Revised opening para on Rework in attachment 1 section 4, by
161465 - introducing the concept of priority and span of attention, ref OF 2
161466 - line 546, to alert the reader that span of attention will be important
161467 - to the solution of rework.
161468 -
161469 - Introduced in the second para of Rework the idea that budgets and
161470 - earnings are directly impacted by rework, ref OF 2 line 555.
161471 - ..
161472 - Changed span of command to span of control at ref OF 2 line 577.
161473 -
161474 - Improved explanation of span of attention and correlation with span of
161475 - control that impacts complexity of communication, ref OF 2 line 579.
161476 -
161477 - Improved explanation of "Feel Good" management ref OF 2 line 591.
161478 -
161479 -
161480 -
161481 -
1615 -
1616 -