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DROWNING NOT WAVING

DROWNING NOT WAVING. What kind of lifebelt do you throw a drowning project?. Seamus O’Sullivan Programme Manager www.acando.co.uk Tel: +44 (0) 1928 796 800. ACANDO.

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DROWNING NOT WAVING

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  1. DROWNING NOT WAVING What kind of lifebelt do you throw a drowning project?

  2. Seamus O’Sullivan Programme Manager www.acando.co.uk Tel: +44 (0) 1928 796 800

  3. ACANDO Acando is a company of programme managers, project managers and business analysts focused on raising the bar for project success. We engage differently to create the conditions for success so that projects achieve both benefit and the best possible delivery. Our customers tell us that our consultants achieve this better than 99% of the time (and our engagement model guarantees this).

  4. WHY DO PEOPLE HATE PROCESSES? • Lack of clear purpose – what problem is this process here to fix? • Who actually uses the output of the process, if anyone? • Might follow the process but often hinder the project • Can encourage fear of risk rather than encouragingactive management • Often focus is on the easy to measure

  5. REASONS FOR PROJECT FAILURE • Mismatch between strategic priorities for the business and individual projects. • No pre-agreed measures of project success. • Poor project management skills. • Poor change control. • Evaluation focused on price or timescale rather than long-term value for money and business benefits. • Lack of engagement and leadership by senior management

  6. WHAT DO WE DO?

  7. SO MANY OPTIONS…

  8. LOTS OF STUFF TO MEASURE!

  9. AND WHEN THINGS GO WRONG? MORE PROCESSES! • Exception Reports • Sunrise/ sunset meetings • Additional metrics • Daily reporting • Project audits

  10. DROWNING NOT WAVING • Too many processes • Can’t see the wood for the trees • Keeping the boxes ticked • Risk averse culture

  11. POOR PROJECT TEAMS STRUGGLEREGARDLESS OF PROCESS TRUE OR FALSE? GOOD PROJECT TEAMS SUCCEEDIN SPITE OF PROCESS

  12. WHERE DO WE REALLY WANT TO GET TO? WHAT IS MORE IMPORTANT TO YOUR CEO? • The project followed each of the72 procedural steps and completedall the required templates • The project delivered the new functionality that enabled us to generate additional revenues of £2M this year

  13. WHERE DO WE REALLY WANT TO GET TO? • We want to improve the success rate for projects • We want projects to deliver more of their business benefits • We want projects that align to our business strategy

  14. WHAT PROCESSES DO WE WANT? • Legislate for success not failure • Look to capture warning signs early and clearly • If issues are found then intercede quickly and decisively

  15. LEGISLATE FOR SUCCESS • Clear process and guidelines - focus on the what, not the how, and make them relevant • Leadership – aligned and effective • Organisation – lean and focused on strategy • Culture - supportive engagement • Change Management – anticipate, learn and adapt • People – confident , motivated and capable

  16. CAPTURE FAILURE EARLY AND CLEARLY • Identify the key, meaningful triggers and have refined processes that capture these. • Don’t lose these key processes in a morass of less effective ones • Make sure the outputs of the processes are actively used by someone who is knowledgeable, pragmatic and respected.

  17. INTERCEDE QUICKLY AND DECISIVELY Assess; • Have the team got it under control? • If not, can you help them get it under control? • If that seems unlikely, then change. • If you do change, give that a chance to succeed.

  18. If people see processes that are actively used, reviewed and acted on, they will follow them, and are much more likely to respect them.

  19. CONCLUSIONS • Good processes good. Bad processes bad. • Choose your processes with care and do not blanket adopt anything without critically assessing it • The purpose of processes should be to guide teams, and to flag issues early, not drown teams in bureaucracy • Each process should have a clear purpose and it’s output actively used by the right person • Processes do not replace strong leadership and a lean supportive culture • Capture warning signs early and act on them • Intercede quickly and decisively, and with the right person

  20. THANK YOU AND ANY QUESTIONS? www.acando.co.uk

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