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IT suppliers - reduce your costs or your out!

Published
by
Ron
on July 30, 2010
in IT projects, Uncategorized, change and government projects
. 3 Comments

The above headline seems to be the message in an article in the latest edition of Computer Weekly.: “The article, called “How will suppliers be able to cut IT costs?” starts with the words: “The government has told IT suppliers it wants them to reduce the cost of contracts with government departments.” The paragraph ends with: “But it could be the government that has to change the most.”

Nineteen IT suppliers met the Cabinet Office Minister, Francis Maude to start the process of reducing the cost of contracts.

The article goes on to suggest that ‘red tape’ needs to be addressed and the government must overcome a lack of trust if suppliers are to meet targets without just cutting costs to the bone or stripping service levels.

“The government wants immediate reductions in costs and ongoing cuts” says the article.

Francis Maude said he was challenging major government suppliers to take costs out of contracts. “Some of this will come from margins, but we will invite ideas on how we can structure things differently to reduce complexity and cost.”

There will no doubt be more articles like this as time progresses and for sure, this will impact on many people - anyone involved in IT, project management or procurement plus of course shareholders.

If you are based in the US you also have some ‘issues.’ Shortly before completing this article I came across the headline: “White House to Review High Risk Projects”. This can be found here.

An extract of the Computer Weekly article can be found here.

Why so few project courses for such a key group?

Published
by
Ron
on July 18, 2010
in project managers, project sponsor, project sponsorship and sponsor
. 6 Comments

Last week I ran a workshop specifically for project sponsors. Every person in the room was a senior manager, they sponsored projects and yes, managed them as well. 

On my travels to the training venue, I sent a Tweet that read: 

Running project sponsor workshop today. Why are so few courses run for such a key group? Any suggestions? 

Not surprisingly, I had no takers. 

So, why so few development opportunities (courses and workshops) for this important group? 

In February this year, Arras People published a report called Arras People Project Management Report 2010.   In their report, they found that senior managers lack of support contributed to project failure. 

Scouring the internet as I frequently do and looking at back copies of magazines shows there are articles about  this topic - not enough - but sufficient to give you a feeling that the training and development of senior managers is an untapped area. 

In my 16 years as Director of Project Agency we have run  courses for sponsors (see http://bit.ly/dcOXjX ) but, very few compared to courses for project managers. This is not for the want of trying. Much energy and effort has been put into convincing and influencing senior managers of the need for this type of training. 

So, what can be done to try and develop such an important group? I clearly do not have all of the answers however here are a few suggestions: 

  1. Pressure from project managers - on a couple of occasions a few project managers have returned from a training course and debated the topic with senior managers with a workshop for them resulting 
  2. There are many competency frameworks in use and maybe there is a link to one for sponsors. Clearly the performance appraisal process will need to identify development needs based on the framework 
  3. Critical incidence - projects do go wrong! However, how many companies really examine what went right and what went wrong? If the Arras survey is to be believed then some of the errors will be down to a lack of senior managers’ engagement. This would need to be rectified by some training and development activity 
  4. Conferences - I speak at a variety of conferences and this is one way of attracting attention of senior managers to the need for training in this area 

I believe the project management industry has not made the progress that it should have done. So, what suggestions do you have for engaging and influencing and ultimately developing this group of staff?

 

 

It’s your job to protect project scope

Published
by
Ron
on June 28, 2010
in Uncategorized, project governance, project management workshops, project managment, project risks and project scope
. 2 Comments

Yes it is. Someone needs to do it, so why not you! Protect the project scope!

Well, there are some major assumptions that need testing in the above words:

  1. someone needs to do it; I am still coming across projects where the scope of the project is identified, agreed but not managed. So, whether you are a project sponsor, project board member, project manager or team member. Take responsibility and protect what has been agreed.
  2. protect the project scope; why bother? I have assumed of course that the scope of work has been agreed. If this is the case then the scope needs protecting. I see too many projects where scope creep seems endemic. (Scope creep, amending the scope of work to be done without an agreed process to check that the ‘new work’ is worth doing)

A lack of protection around the scope is a clear risk. It is also a governance one - who can make the decisions to change the project and how.

So, here is a simple process to help you manage scope creep or requests for change. It is by no means perfect and you will need to put your head above the parapet by suggesting completing of a change request form. Download a brief PowerPoint presentation here and some hard copy documents.

“Scope creep is a sick illness treatable only by saying no.” This quote came from a project manager who decided to challenge the ‘request’ from a senior manager to include something in the project. I suggested he should avoid saying NO but use the process. He did and focused on the process in the presentation and it worked!

Get the presentation here and some free templates!

Slash and burn as £2billion of projects cut!

Published
by
Ron
on June 18, 2010
in project management and project management strategy
. 0 Comments

Yesterday,  I ran a project management course and spoke about the need for companies to look at their overall portfolio of projects and challenge the list asking among other things:

  • does each project fit with the overall objectives?
  • what are the priorities within the overall list?
  • are there some nice to have rather than essentials?

We had an interesting debate and I suggested that cuts to the list would help focus on delivery of the overall company agenda.

A little later I looked on line at the BBC website and cutting was the key word: “Coalition government axes £2bn of projects” screamed the headlines.

The group looked on reading and you can find out more here.


How do you set project roles? Leeds Rhinos show the way

Published
by
Ron
on June 16, 2010
in project, project leadership, project management, project management strategy and project teams
. 0 Comments

Life is not all project management - or at least I try and make it that way.

Saturday saw me drive all of 15 miles across London (which took me 2 hours!) to see my favourite rugby league team the current champions Leeds Rhinos. They were playing Harlequins and had a much changed side with 8 players out (international calls and injuries).

It was a great day out with Leeds winning 42-22 - a wonderful result with so many regular 1st teamers out. The reserve players played really well.

At the press conference afterwards the Leeds Coach Brian McClennan was asked:

“How did you approach this game? Did you see it as a potential opportunity or a banana skin with all the reserves?”

McClennan reply is interesting. Look at some of the things he said:

“I turned it over to the players”

“I said, this is your baby, you work it out”

“The players took a lot of ownership on their roles; they took a lot of ownership on how they would play.”

So how does this link with project team roles? I have written many times about problems with roles in project management. Only last week on a project management training course I ran a project manager suggested he did not know who his sponsor was and this was having a negative impact on the project. Link this with a survey by Project Agency. We have asked project managers whether their roles, responsibilities, and levels of authority are clear in our projects. Almost 60% who have answered suggest this is not the case.

Here is a shining example of a situation where personnel changes demanded clear roles and a coach who though giving them their head, ensured that all bases were covered. Oh for the same in projects!

Well done the Rhinos -  the players, and the coach. A great victory and a great example.

See post match comments from Brian McClennan here

http://www.therhinos.co.uk/news/11164.php