Since all four of them were working on Information Technology projects, Project Management was one of their pet subjects. All except Kingo had passed the PMP certification exam and it was an oft-discussed subject. Kaushik, as always led the discussion to Bridge. If we treat each contract as a project with a certain amount resource, a time line of 7 minutes, points making/going down as costs, it is nothing but project management.”
Padma loved this topic. “Yes, it has all aspects of Project Management – Resources, Schedule, Cost which are the key elements to optimize in Project Management. In bridge, you optimize your line of play to ensure you make your contract. Overtricks are like completing project ahead of schedule or giving some additional functionality without extra cost.
Kingo was not enjoying the discussion as it was not his cup of tea. ” You may compare making a contract as project management but what about defenders. They are trying to make your project fail. What would they represent in Project Management” exploded Kingo? Prabha jumped in and said they are our competitors who always want the project to fail.
Prabha continued, “The key concept in Project Management is the critical path. If any activity on the critical path is not completed on time, then the project will not complete on time. How does one see that in Bridge?” Padma who was thoroughly enjoying this discussion said, “It must be seen like a mandatory finesse or distribution required to make the contract. If that situation does not exist, the contact would fail. I would consider that as a simulation of the critical path.”
Kaushik, who had been silent so far, decided to air his views. “All the points made so far are relevant, but I think the key point has been missed out. It is dynamic planning. In Project Management, you keep replanning based on issues faced to see if you can complete the project with acceptable level of Quality within the specified time frame. Similarly, as you get more information about the lay of the cards, you need to plan and re-plan continuously based on the new data. This is the strongest similarity to Project Management.
Everyone agreed that each deal in bridge is an exercise on Project Management and good support for our projects.
Tailpiece:
Goofy had no problems on managing projects. Each day was alike a project for him and whenever he faced any issues, he just barked, and the issue was resolved
