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Spending to Jump-Start Morale Can Actually Lower It

Jun 17th, 2008
by Dan.
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If you are fortunate enough to be able to show how your work directly increases revenue to the company, you are a direct expense. Accountants and economists like direct expenses, because they’re scalable and show an immediate return on investment.

If you don’t have that fortune, then you’re an indirect expense. You might be a payroll clerk, an instructor, a janitor, a scheduler, an executive, et cetera. If you get into that situation where something you did saves the company a fistful of dollars or causes the company to gain work, it’s a real treat.

It is usually difficult to document the return on investment for indirect expenses. Managers know they need them, but they can’t predictably scale their indirect employees depending on how much revenue they want to pull in. They are a lagging economic indicator, reacting to demand from what is going on.

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The Alaska Trip Wanes

Jun 16th, 2008
by Dan.
1 comment

It’s been a good, productive trip in the Great Greening North. The warmer temperatures (we hit 65 yesterday) bring open windows and the scent of musk ox. Thus on certain days Prudhoe Bay may be the third most olfactorily repulsive Halliburton facility, a distant third behind Liberal, KS, and Brighton, CO.

A lot of good has been done. Everyone’s been taught enough to have an idea how to use this software going forward. Each area is different. It is more effective to make people think about what they are doing rather than just laying down a routine.

Yesterday I was told by one of the supervisors that I needed to be paid more money. I’ll take that. If they use our software properly, they’ll cut costs, and I’ll get more in the end-of-year bonus. A $50 Corporate Reward STAR Card would be nice, too. :)

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OSPE CPD: Lean and Green Construction

May 19th, 2008
by Dan.
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This entry is part 3 of 6 in the series OSPE Spring 2008

Cynthia Tsao, Ph.D. in the College of Engineering at UC, gave “Lean & Green Construction: A Primer on Lean Project Delivery and How It Supports Sustainability.” Handouts consisted of her PowerPoint slides, and the 3×3 contact sheets were hard to read at times. Tsao was well-versed in her topic and has been involved with several engineering and construction publications.

Tsao’s presentation reminded me of some of the Kaizen initiatives that Halliburton is going through, and some of the ideas Tsao presented can be used in any multiple-step operation, e.g. computer programming.

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OSPE CPD: Engineering Education in the 21st Century

May 17th, 2008
by Dan.
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This entry is part 2 of 6 in the series OSPE Spring 2008

The first class Friday morning was “Engineering Education in the 21st Century,” given by the Dean of Engineering at the University of Cincinnati, Carlo Montemagno, Ph.D.

Montemagno had no handouts but gave a good presentation and knew his material. Here are my notes, transcribed on the fly:

Cooperative learning, incorporating on the job experience, began at UC in 1906. Students bond more with their co-op employer than with their alma mater. Bachelor’s graduates usually have 1-½ years of job experience. Two-thirds of co-ops hire with their employers after graduation. In 2000 the ABET recommended universities create a Capstone Design Experience. It is intended to impress the same kind of experience as on-the-job training, but it’s not the same.

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The P-Chem Prof and the ChE Student

Mar 16th, 2008
by Dan.
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I remember a discussion in my Physical Chemistry II class at the then University of Missouri-Rolla (now MST). Dr. D. Vincent Roach had just finished a day and a half derivation of the ideal gas law from statistical mechanics — he went into a little more detail than Wikipedia. You may remember the final line of the derivation from high school chemistry class:

PV = nRT

One student, probably one of the most brilliant minds of our Chemical Engineering class (seriously, no sarcasm), tried to get the good doctor’s attention, first by raising his hand, then gently “ahem”-ing, and then surprising the class with a very rude snap of the fingers.

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Safety Meetings

Feb 25th, 2008
by Dan.
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No class today, but everyone was strongly encouraged to come the day before to make sure their computers will handle the software I’m teaching.

This morning the classroom was used for a safety meeting. Someone asked why they needed the projector, and sensing the joviality of the crew, I said, “so he can hook his laptop up and read the slides to you.” The leader admitted that was the case. :)

Safety meetings provide an instructional quandary: if the employees know how to be safe, the safety meeting is pretty boring. If the employees didn’t know how to be safe, they’d better be new hires! Unsafe people get themselves and others hurt as well as reflect poorly on the company.

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