If you take the time to stand back and look at what’s happening in business you may be surprised by the shift to projectisation.
If you take the time to stand back and take a look at what’s happening in business you may be surprised to see that business as usual is less about staff undertaking consistent, repeatable functions (or commodity functions) and more about continuous change (improvement) through projects.
Business has become projectised and as more and more of the commodity functions are outsourced, it is the staff with business IP knowledge that are generally retained and charged with driving the business forward. This is what helps businesses maintain professional advantage.
Innovation and implementation in a projectised business
The IP pool is continually flexed to innovate and implement new ideas (through projects) to meet the business’ changing objectives and strategies. The implications for this are far reaching:
- Firstly, project management is no longer the domain of IT but has a foothold across the business.
- Secondly, the rapidly increasing adoption of agile principles into the business for project delivery.
- Thirdly, an unintended consequence of business project management maturity is pitting the Business against IT as far as delivery approach i.e. where agile and waterfall / iterative collide
So how do we manage the implications of this shift from BAU to Projects as the business-operating model? Here are some essentials:
- Capability Assessment – once this shift is acknowledged then next step is for management to ensure their talent pool is equipped with the project management skills necessary to deliver. Management by feel will not be sustainable.
- Portfolio Management – the EPMO needs to oversee all project spend not just IT projects. Applying PPM principles across the enterprise will help steer the business to take on the right projects at the right time. If not, the business runs the risk of running too many projects with high cost and low delivery outcomes.
- Delivery approach – the enterprise needs to understand which delivery approach is fit-for-purpose for which project type and create delivery frameworks that allow for multiple delivery approaches to co-exist. Careful attention needs to be given to touch points between projects that deliver using different approaches e.g. business (using agile) and IT (using waterfall for infrastructure to support the business project).
The double-edged sword of autonomy
One of the unintended consequences of projectisation is that autonomy is a double-edged sword.
Whilst you get better and more efficient decision making at the coalface, you also create a need for new mechanisms to marshal project-based activity in a beneficial way, including architecture/design consistency and quality and project management consistency.
Some mechanisms need to be bespoke because they are unique, but others, such as your architecture, your scheduling, risks and issues management and governance need to follow policy across all projects, or you risk getting out of control.
This is where assurance becomes invaluable. Implementing a fit-for-purpose, risk-based assurance framework will mitigate some of the risks inherent in project development by keeping everyone on the same page as to the scope and expected outcomes for each project.
There is increasing recognition that assurance, undertaken by an independent party, is essential to project success.
Aside from the impartiality of an external project perspective, assurance provides a structured framework for ensuring that projects are routinely reviewed to stay on track, in scope and on budget.
So how do you ensure best bang for your assurance buck?
Health checks and post-implementation reviews
Two of the most common assurance mechanisms are health checks and post-implementation reviews (PIRs).
Health checks help project teams to identify and correct problems before its too late, and are undertaken throughout the life of a project. Post Implementation Reviews (PIRs) are a great way to capture project learnings gained during execution, which can subsequently be made available for other project teams.
Knowing where projects get off track
Recent Department of Defence analysis of more than 800 projects concluded that projects that were off-track and more than 15% into the execution invariably would not get back on-track.
The graphic below illustrates why. Note the position of typical health checks and where the PIR occurs – it’s easy to see how a project can progress past the 15% mark before issues are addressed.
Projects are typically front-loaded with activity and can get off-track very quickly. A Set up for Success Review held very early in the project development cycle will remediate any early problems. The earlier the intervention, the less effort is required to change direction and lower the cost of the remediation.
Additionally, there is usually far less emotional energy invested by the project team, making it more likely they will be open and supportive of any required changes.
Setting up for success
Quay Consulting’s Setup for Success Review approach combines both the P3M3 best practice key enablers for success together with the PMBOK 9 knowledge areas. It delivers a comprehensive report that identifies the current state of critical success factors (CSFs) and makes recommendations where remediation is required.
An Executive Dashboard is presented in the format below with Red, Amber and Green traffic lighting representing the extent to which each component is configured for success.
Health checks and PIRs have their place and are rightfully valued by business. But Setup for Success Reviews are even more valuable because they occur well before the 15% mark that can derail a project.
Prevent rather than cure
An ounce of prevention is far better – and typically less costly – than a corrective cure. A Setup for Success Review, conducted early in the project lifecycle is the most powerful action you can take to ensure project success.
The relative return on investment (ROI) of different types of assurance activity illustrates why early intervention is important.
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