Process implementation...

Would you like to be able to deliver successful projects more often and more consistently? you may deliver something good and useful in the end but how often do you have to spend more money or take longer to deliver?

We target the most common symptoms of poor delivery;

  • The different roles in the project are not clearly defined, especially the role of senior management in sponsoring the project.
  • Different teams in the organisation manage projects in their own way, with little sharing of lessons learned or consistency of approach.
  • Some projects are heroically successful, due to the skills, competence and determination of some project teams, but this performance is not common for all projects.
  • Project teams re-invent the wheel every time, using different tools, templates and processes.
  • The organisation has drifted from any vision of a world in which every project succeeds.

Following a structured project management delivery method can help avoid these problems arising. We want to limit any nasty surprises. A structured approach to project management has been well-proven over time to help deliver projects more successfully.

Our process optimisation approach will lead to;

More effective decision making – Having clarity on the roles and expected behaviours of the different players in a project enables effective decision taking. Confusion over who is accountable for what decisions is one of the main causes of delay in projects.

Financial efficiency - Having a clear road map for a project supported by a common set of processes that are used over and over again for all projects speeds up the project initiation phase and ensures teams and stakeholders know what is expected of them so projects can be delivered more quickly and so save money.

Effective scope management – Process and structure helps avoid scope management issues , which is a common cause of cost and time over-runs.

Greater alignment of expectations - Unfortunately it's all too common that the final project deliverable doesn't meet the needs of the end user. We use agile methods that help ensure expectations are aligned but not to the detriment of time, cost or quality.

Improved risk management – An effective risk management processes can ensure many risks can be anticipated and prepared for. The communication processes also means no one is surprised if a risk does occur.

Costs are controlled – a more clearly defined project with good time and cost estimates and tracking of actual costs all help to keep costs under control.

Under-performing projects are more quickly identified – project management methods reveal those projects that have over-run on time or budget, or those that are no longer on track to deliver the expected benefits, so that action can be implemented .

Increased team motivation – projects that are better controlled with fewer unexpected surprises are more enjoyable to work on. A motivated team will work more effectively.

 

PROJECT DATA ANALYTICS
We use Microsoft's Power BI data analytics tools to consider the rich data that exists within your projects, programmes and portfolios.  Developing a Power BI dashboard will provide an interactive view of just how projects are actually being delivered, which may be very different to the common organisational view.

But this is just the first step. There is an opportunity to further interrogate subtle themes in the underpinning data and use it to explore the relationship between planned project performance and extent of variance. This will provide insights into cause, lead indicators and areas of potential concern. There may also be an opportunity to extract trends and begin to identify potential issues before they materialise.  Remember this is being harvested from existing data there is very little extra resources required to create such valuable lessons learned.    

Did you know?

Many organisations have found that the main benefits of following a project management method have been the "soft" or less tangible benefits such as a shared understanding of the stages in a project lifecycle, with clearly defined responsibilities and specific roles assigned to specific individuals; especially the roles of senior managers and sponsors in governance and decision taking.

Optimising process for results

Process development workshop