drowning not waving

What kind of lifebelt do you throw a drowning project?

DROWNING NOT WAVING

Seamus O’SullivanProgramme Manager

www.acando.co.ukTel: +44 (0) 1928 796 800

ACANDOAcando 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).

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 encouraging active management

• Often focus is on the easy to measure

• 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

REASONS FOR PROJECT FAILURE

WHAT DO WE DO?

SO MANY OPTIONS…

LOTS OF STUFF TO MEASURE!

AND WHEN THINGS GO WRONG?

MORE PROCESSES!

• Exception Reports• Sunrise/ sunset

meetings• Additional metrics• Daily reporting• Project audits

• Too many processes• Can’t see the wood for the

trees• Keeping the boxes ticked• Risk averse culture

DROWNING NOT WAVING

POOR PROJECT TEAMS STRUGGLEREGARDLESS OF

PROCESSGOOD PROJECT TEAMS SUCCEED

IN SPITE OF PROCESS

TRUE OR FALSE?

WHERE DO WE REALLY WANT TO GET TO?

• 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

WHAT IS MORE IMPORTANT TO YOUR CEO?

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

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

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

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.

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.

INTERCEDE QUICKLY AND DECISIVELY

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

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

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