Establishing a Successful Liaison

1. Establishing a Successful Liaison by Ricardo A. Yague AIAA – Civil Space 2013 Commercial Crew Panel

2. Liaison is a form of bridge, relying on a person telling another what’s being done, what’s intended to be done, and what cannot be done. Organization A Organization B A B AIAA – Civil Space 2013 Commercial Crew Panel

3. Selecting the person AIAA – Civil Space 2013 Commercial Crew Panel

4. What exactly do you expect from your representative ? • Determine the specific objectives first. • Otherwise efficacy cannot be guaranteed, and will likely be poor. • Common mistake : designating an experienced representative for general follow-up and reporting. • Objectives dictate expertise, personal profile and culture. • Last two factors often underestimated. AIAA – Civil Space 2013 Commercial Crew Panel

5. I think my company made the right choice to send me there, ‘cause I already worked in that company for a couple of years. Quality Control Results after one year : AIAA – Civil Space 2013 Commercial Crew Panel

6. I’ve worked and lived here since I graduated. Going abroad to improve the manufacturing process will be great for my company ! Results after one year : AIAA – Civil Space 2013 Commercial Crew Panel

7. Understanding the local culture must be a prerogative, otherwise... I don’t see why we should follow your suggestions, because we’ve doing things with our method for years, with good results. AIAA – Civil Space 2013 Commercial Crew Panel

8. So, what’s the preferable heritage of the representative ? • If the objective is to : • improve the process for product development, without affecting the roles of both organizations, and • optimize the involvement of resources of the represented organization, then contracting a representative with previous experience of work environment and local culture : • represents a win-win choice; • drastically reduces liaison costs. AIAA – Civil Space 2013 Commercial Crew Panel

9. Benefits AIAA – Civil Space 2013 Commercial Crew Panel

10. Meaningful by-products • For Node 3 development, the adopted liaison strategy permitted a remarkable synergy of NASA, DCMA, Boeing, ESA and TASI resources. AIAA – Civil Space 2013 Commercial Crew Panel

11. Meaningful by-products (cont’d) • Liaison helped to orchestrate the involved parties, irrespective of the liaison being only NASA’s, from the contractual standpoint. • Effectiveness formally acknowledged by all organizations. • The achieved synergy : • fostered new relations, paving the way for new collaborations; • brought improvements to NASA and TASI organizations (e.g. creation of TASI Functional Engineering). AIAA – Civil Space 2013 Commercial Crew Panel

12. Attitude & Strategy AIAA – Civil Space 2013 Commercial Crew Panel

13. How much does the attitude count ? • Nothing different from basic pre-requisites for a healthy teamwork environment. • Positive and constructive approach has no enemies : • Dampen effects of grumpy counterparts and enhances cooperation between different teams, thus promoting efficiency and product integrity. • One has to be fully convinced about the need for these two virtues, otherwise hypocrisy is visible and results are not achieved. AIAA – Civil Space 2013 Commercial Crew Panel

14. It’s great that you used this approach to solve this problem ! Actually I told her to do it a couple of times, but that’s OK. AIAA – Civil Space 2013 Commercial Crew Panel

15. What about the strategy ? • Lessons learned clearly show that a “territorial approach” doesn’t help problem resolution. • Unless issues involve contractual, export control or certification aspects, data and ideas must be shared by the involved organizations, with the necessary discipline to prevent dispersion or negative work. • The Node 3 experience features several cases in which problem resolution was expedited with this strategy. AIAA – Civil Space 2013 Commercial Crew Panel

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17. Flavio, let me prepare a measurement plan and see if we can take measurements to clarify your concerns. Ric, we got to make sure that hatch installation has no operational or safety risks. AIAA – Civil Space 2013 Commercial Crew Panel

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19. What about the strategy ? (cont’d) • Recognition of precious help from “locals” : • Must necessarily take place to promote motivation and availability of the same local resources to tackle future issues; • Must be trimmed to culture, meritocracy and organization constraints. AIAA – Civil Space 2013 Commercial Crew Panel

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21. Knowledge counts AIAA – Civil Space 2013 Commercial Crew Panel

22. Once the personal attitude is in place to promote proper relations, knowledge and proactiveness are the essential ingredients. AIAA – Civil Space 2013 Commercial Crew Panel

23. Conclusions • When establishing a liaison : • Determine first what the real objective is. • Ensure organization and culture constraints will be met. • The successful liaison person : (from Gods of Management, by Charles Handy) : • is familiar with the areas to be bridged, • is respected by both, • can get things done, • is skilled in interpersonal relationships, • has a high tolerance for stress. AIAA – Civil Space 2013 Commercial Crew Panel

24. Thank you ! AIAA – Civil Space 2013 Commercial Crew Panel