Getting It Done

Finally, the model adds an important time element to project work: Managers can use the model to judge where they are in a project's life span. Each role has not only specific duties but also a specific duration, and sometimes that time line can be the source of anxiety as a project progresses. In the case of Toronto project manager Angela Page, for example, Drobny determined that she had no exit strategy -- no one to take on her duties after the product was launched. "She knew that she had met her deadlines," Drobny says, "but what was bothering her was that she also knew that there was no one to step in and take over her duties after she left. Projects don't last forever, and if you don't have an exit plan, you don't really have a project."

Intel: Implementation Keeps on Rolling

In a crowded conference room at Intel Corp.'s Hillsboro, Oregon facility, Sandra Morris, 45, is overseeing a weekly ritual called "Go-No Go." As VP of finance-and-enterprise services and director of e-business at Intel, Morris is responsible for wiring the chip maker to hundreds of customers and for automating $15 billion dollars in sales each year. It is, perhaps, Intel's most important project ever, and today, Morris is checking its status by asking managers from each group -- from IT and sales to quality assurance and customer support -- whether they will have their part done by deadline. "We're a go," says one manager. "Go," says the next. The word is repeated as Morris goes around the table. Then it happens: The manager for the tech group says, "No go." There's a brief silence, but Morris smiles and nods. "Okay," she says. "What do you need to make it a go?"

Management by checklist may sound like yet another symptom of Intel's famous obsession with control. But for Morris, and for others whose job it is to get things done, such a seemingly rigid protocol is actually the key to making this big, layered company move with the fluidity of a startup. When it comes to execution, says Morris, effectiveness is less about getting people motivated and projects started than it is about keeping the process moving in the right direction -- no matter what unanticipated obstacles may arise.

Intel calls this "rolling implementation," a productivity juggling act that requires the company to practice constant managerial vigilance and flawless communication, and to have the capacity to adjust short- and long-term goals quickly if necessary. Indeed, when Morris and her team began, they had no idea what much of the final product would be like. "We knew that some large portion would be very, very right," says Morris, "and we also knew that some portion would be wrong and would have to be fixed. And we had to be able to live with that."

The results are impressive. In January 1998, Morris was given six months to Web-enable a secure, customizable ordering system that, by year's end, would handle $1 billion in annual sales. Morris's team not only made the July 1 deadline, but it also met the $1 billion goal -- within 15 days of launch. By the end of 1999, Morris and her team had automated one-half of Intel's $30 billion in annual sales.

So how do you roll out rolling implementation so that it doesn't get away from you? Follow these basic rules that Morris and her team have come up with.

Constant supervision. To succeed, Intel's e-commerce strategy required the company to coordinate dozens of internal groups across various geographic zones. To make that happen, Intel created a "program office" -- a central headquarters that is run by a senior manager and "staffed" by managers from all involved internal groups and regional offices. For the e-commerce rollout, the program office had 15 managers, covering everything from sales and marketing to IT, and a total staff of nearly 300.

The program office not only planned the project and determined each participant's role; it also ensured that the groups were communicating with one another. As a result, Morris says, "what the people in the trenches were doing lined up with the executive vision." As the project moved forward, the program office gauged progress, sized up all developments and obstacles, and determined whether changes needed to be made and what those changes were.

Constant awareness. For Morris, the more team members know about the project, the more they can focus on essentials, ignore noise, and do whatever it takes to maintain momentum. "These are huge, complex products," says Morris, "and everyone has to understand what's going on to keep them moving forward."