Where to Start When You Don’t Know Where to Start
Hmmm… Where to Start…?
M. Scott Laemmle• M. is for Michael
• Pronounced: Lem-lee
• Meaning: Little Lamb
Preliminaries
• Director of Network Program Management at Sprint
• Consulting Industry Executive
• Co-Founder of a Dot-Com
• Project Manager for Fed Gov’t
• BS – Penn State
• MBA – George Mason
Three Inter-related Disciplines
Where to Start
Goal Setting
Assessments
SuccessMeasurement
What are you trying to accomplish?
What is the environment and how do you fit in?
How will you measure progress and your success?
Personal Assessment
Not talking about:
Personal Assessment
•Myers Briggs
•DISC
What do you bring?
Personal Assessment
•Identify the levers you can pull to enact change
Personal Assets
Personal Assessment
•Role
•Title
•Budget
•Resources
•“Charter”
•Judgement
•Knowledge of “How to get things done”
•Time
•Skills
•Attitude
•Energy
•Reputation
•Relationships
Your Balance Sheet
Personal Assessment
Assets Liabilities
Personal Equity
Environmental Assessment
Capability Maturity Model
Environmental Assessment
•Originally developed to describe software development process maturity
•Now applied to describe maturity of many processes
•5 Levels•Chaotic
•Repeatable
•Defined
•Managed
•Optimizing
Capability Maturity Model ExampleItem 1. Chaotic 2. Repeatable 3. Defined 4. Managed 5. Optimized
Overall Network
Change Process
The steps to implement Network
changes, the teams involved, and the
tools to report/track change are all
unclear.
The steps to implement change and
necessary teams are generally defined,
but criteria for success, and reporting
status remain unclear.
Steps to implement change are
specific, and criteria for success, as well
as reporting status, are defined.
Teams involved are clearly defined,
with specific roles and expectations.
Steps to implement change, criteria for
success, and reporting status are
detailed.
All aspects required for change are
clearly defined, and there is a system
in place to make necessary changes to
the overall process.
Process Gates It is unclear what the process gates are.
Process gates are generally defined,
but unclear how to check for
completion.
Process gates and completion criteria
are specifically defined.
There is a system/tool in place to
effectively check completion criteria
for process gates.
Process gates and completion criteria
are clearly defined, and a system is in
place to confirm progress and make
necessary adjustments.
Project Steps (or
Stages or Phases)
It is unclear what steps are involved in
each project.
Project steps have been somewhat
defined, but it is unclear how to check
for completion.
Project steps and completion criteria
have been specifically defined, and a
list of steps can be formed.
There is a system/tool in place to
effectively check completion criteria
for project steps.
Project steps and completion criteria
are clearly defined, and a system is in
place to confirm progress and make
necessary adjustments.
Schedules/PORDue dates are unknown, and necessary
tasks are vague.
General date ranges and task items are
known.Tasks are more detailed and specific.
Due dates and tasks are clearly
defined.
Due dates and tasks are clearly
defined, and there is a clear method to
update/change dates as needed.
Status ReportingIt is unclear how to report status, and
criteria for status is undefined.
General guidelines are set for status of
action items.
Status criteria is specific and consistent
across all groups.
Protocol for reporting status is defined,
and a system/tool is in place to present
collective status.
Criteria and reporting protocol are
clearly defined, and there is a clear
method to update/change both.
Issue ReportingThere is no clear way to report issues,
and no ownership over handling issues.
Individuals or teams are take steps to
fix issues themselves, without a
specific protocol.
There is a specific process for
individuals/teams to report issues, and
a group designated to escalate issues
to the correct place.
Protocol for reporting issues is defined,
and a system/tool is in place to present
current issues and how they are being
solved.
A collective account of all current and
past issues is available and there is a
system in place to provide feedback or
changes.
Tool AvailabilityThere are no tools available to aid the
network change process.
There are a few tools available to aid
the process, but they are inconsistent
and not widely distributed.
The tools being used have been
refined to maintain consistency across
groups.
There is a system in place to ensure use
of tools are consistent, and they can be
accessed by all necessary teams.
Consistent tools are readily available
and there is a efficient way for users to
provide feedback and make changes.
Governance
Oversight
There is no clear structure for oversight
of the network change process, or
there are teams completely duplicate
work causing inconsistencies.
There is a general structure for
oversight of work completion, but no
specific guidelines have been outlines.
The individuals responsible for
oversight of the work are clearly
defined.
The individuals or teams responsible
for oversight are defined, and this
information is
presentenced/distributed to all
involved parties.
Individuals/teams responsible for
oversight are defined, this structure
information is readily available, and
there is a system in place to provide
feedback/make changes.
Progress Report Card
Goal Setting
SMART Goals
Goal Setting
•Specific
•Measurable
•Achievable
•Realistic
•Time Bound
MY Goals
Goal Setting
•Mine
•Yours
MY Goals
Goal Setting
•Mine
•Yours
•What are you trying to accomplish?
•What are others trying to accomplish?
MY Goals
Goal Setting
•Mine
•Yours Me
EmployerClient
Score Keeping
Success Measurement
• Allows you to assess and communicate progress toward the goal
Behavior Driving• Creates the mechanism for aligning people around the goal
“Get Well” Program
Success Measurement: Example 1
• Quick Hit
• Ambiguous Situation
• Nationwide Market Impact
Major Network Upgrade
Success Measurement: Example 2
• Two Year Program
• Emphasized Consistency
• Worked to address the “North-South” problem
21
Major Program Milestone Measure
• High-Level Gantt Roll-up View
• Detailed Project Plan
• Summary Milestone Dashboard
• Milestone Change Log
• Status Update Emails
Success Measurement
Three Inter-related Disciplines
How to End “Where to Start”
Goal Setting
Assessments
SuccessMeasurement
What are you trying to accomplish?
What is the environment and how do you fit in?
How will you measure progress and your success?
Thank you!