Political collaboration

Posted on February 24, 2015March 4, 2015 by PAshton

What is it? When the power structures of an organisation act so as to facilitate, promote, and endorse change the impact is unstoppable. When key stakeholders form an alliance with a common vision of the future projects succeed, technical issues dissolve and benefits materialise with surprising ease.

What it is not? It’s not salesmanship, nor is it jollying people along by sending out occasional emails, or convening project board meetings to discuss project progress. Political collaboration is not Machiavellian manoeuvring for position or being diplomatic, it is partnering for mutual gain.

What’s different afterwards? Commitment to the delivery of value from the project, commitment to providing resources, and the political will to make the changes a reality. Practices are embedded with key opinion-leaders supporting the shift in values and culture that underpin every sustained change.

Readiness assessment

Posted on February 24, 2015March 4, 2015 by PAshton

What is it? Readiness assessment provides a diagnostic model and tools for evaluating how well prepared and aligned the organisation, and the involved personnel, are to adopt the planned change to achieve the organisation strategy.

What it is not? Assessing readiness is not a technique for managing change – it is a diagnostic tool that is used throughout the duration of a change initiative to guide decision-makers on the best next step.

What’s different afterwards? Planned or directed change is widely regarded as difficult. Appropriate use of readiness tools provides insight into the probable success of a change initiative, and what adjustments would improve the likelihood of a successful outcome.

Health checks

Posted on December 25, 2014March 2, 2015 by PAshton

What is it? Health checks are critical when there is uncertainty about a project outcome (i.e. Will it complete within its constraints? or Will the objective be met? or Are the risks and issues under proper control?).

What it is not? They are not themselves project recovery plans: health checks do not in themselves make a project safe. However, they establish the conditions to be met to make the project safe.

What’s different afterwards? A clear route map with associated management actions and a set of metrics to take control of a project and re-align it to planned outputs, outcomes and objective.

Innovation Deployment

Posted on February 25, 2014March 13, 2015 by PAshton

What is it? Organisational innovation and deployment is the mechanism by which organisational improvements (both incremental and disruptive) are selected and deployed enabling the organisation to meet its quality and performance ambitions, enhancing the value-added to their stakeholders and clients.

What it is not? Innovation deployment is not a process to develop new ideas or applications.

What’s different afterwards? An established and standardised process to monetise good ideas, thus having a way to get commercial value from novel adaptations and innovative applications.

Knowledge management programme

Posted on February 25, 2014August 25, 2015 by PAshton

What is it? Knowledge management is an approach that capitalises on the knowledge and business experience embedded in the workforce, management, business processes and systems.

What it is not? Knowledge management is not is a ‘better / cleverer filing system’ – IT is always involved but is never the solution.

What’s different afterwards? An open environment that enables and motivates individuals to access, share and build on each other’s expertise and experience.

PMO

Posted on February 25, 2014March 13, 2015 by PAshton

What is it? A PMO is a structure and a function that allows an organisation to channel political and financial capacity into its programme and project management community in a manner similar to how it deals with its operational units.

What it is not? PMOs are not project administration groups, personal assistants taking minutes and booking meeting rooms.

What’s different afterwards? Depending on the needs and interest of the different stakeholder groups in the organisation the PMO offers control of the projects, guidance in the conduct of projects, and decision-support in the selection and management of the project portfolio.

Assurance

Posted on February 25, 2010March 2, 2015 by PAshton

What is it? Assurance is the deployment of a set of policies, processes, systems and tools aimed at safeguarding organisations’ investments. It includes both predetermined assurance regimes (stage gates and check points etc.) and ad hoc interventions such as health-checks and surgeries.

What it is not? Assurance is not a retrospective inspection of the causes of failure or an audit of processes and tools applied. After the event it is too late to assess or alter the initiative’s achievement of success; hence assurance has no retrospective aspects.

What’s different afterwards? Senior management and the sponsor community have a high degree of confidence that the portfolio of investments in change are at a supportable level of cost and risk for the reward they represent. The less viable initiatives are placed under closer scrutiny or closed before ‘sunk costs’ have become unendurable. Corporate husbandry of resource (both financial and human) has improved.

Benefits realisation

Posted on February 25, 2010March 2, 2015 by PAshton

What is it? Recovering value from investments made in projects and programmes arises from realising benefits: a process that though simple in concept proves to be difficult and complex in practice. By using an evidence-based, active, forward-looking and benefits-led approach, spending on projects is transformed into investing in change.

What it is not? It’s not a process for justifying a preferred option, and it is not a silver bullet expensively purchased in terms of additional bureaucracy.

What’s different afterwards? Benefits management is an integral part of the organisation’s governance of projects and programmes, linking strategic planning with performance management.

Structuring projects

Posted on February 25, 2010March 2, 2015 by PAshton

What is it? Structuring a project is a way to engage business and technical people in constructive discussions of a project’s terms of reference, based on challenge and clarity around the key factors that drive subsequent management actions and project behaviours.

What it is not? A technical ‘tick box’ exercise to document high-level requirements.

What’s different afterwards? Stakeholders and project teams have a concise and clear reference document that sets out the basis for decision-making and actions throughout the duration of the project.

Sustaining and management of change

Posted on February 25, 2010October 8, 2015 by PAshton

What is it? Sustaining change is a collection of techniques that are customised in a disciplined way to organise and orchestrate the energy that comes from individuals changing and adapting to new situations and using that as a way of channelling and energising the organisational changes that are necessary to make the new ways the business-as-usual ways.

What it is not? Sustaining change is not brought about by a standard procedure. It is about winning hearts as well as minds.

What’s different afterwards? Planned change becomes the norm. Resistance is recognised as part of the change process that supplies the energy required to transition to the new state – and realising benefits is seen as the purpose of change initiatives.