It came out looking alright, but some projects you just want to forget. I showed up to the job and was handed a bunch of laminate IKEA panels and a bunch of wood scraps for framing that needed to be cut to size. I asked for drawings and got this:
You’ve got to be kidding me. I asked what the delivery deadline was and my supervisor told me they open for service at 5pm (that day)🤣. I threw it together with what I was given, but the project dragged on for weeks amidst other assignments while the powers-that-be hemmed and hawed over bits of hardware and how access between staff and customers was going to work, none of which had been decided before the initial round of materials purchase.
I get that some situations demand that you play fast ‘n’ loose, but a couple hours spent on these details ahead of time, in-person, with everyone who has to use the final product present, before drawing up some plans and a BOM, saves days and weeks of delays later on, not to mention stress for staff that have to work around the construction zone in their workspace.
I like to think of installs as “showtime.” When a sports team shows up for a match, or a dance troupe shows up for the performance, they’ve reviewed, rehearsed, and prepared for different scenarios. One rule of thumb in Agile is that planning meetings should take up roughly 20% of your production time. This sounds high — until you’ve seen things go off the rails a few times.
