Universities and colleges are constantly undertaking significant change activities. These activities will typically be managed using existing institutional project and change management processes. Often, however, there is a lack of consistency and rigour in the governance approach. This can lead to significant cost overruns and project failure when confronted with the challenges of a major change project. Major projects require a more rigorous approach to governance and project management to deliver success.
The Major Project Governance Assessment Toolkit has been developed to assist staff who are managing or participating in major change projects.
The toolkit provides:
a) guidance on assessing which projects should be classed as Major
b) the governance elements that must be managed for Major projects
c) an assessment tool for project governance to help ensure that the required governance actions are established and work effectively throughout the life of the project
d) a visualisation tool for project governance which gives a view of the project as it currently stands and the changes since the last review
e) case studies on the use of the toolkit at the University of Edinburgh
The toolkit has been designed to be complementary to existing project and change management processes. The toolkit fills an important gap by providing a repeatable assessment process that covers all aspects of project governance. The toolkit can be used as a reference point and checklist for any project.
This presentation was first given at UCISA15 conference in Edinburgh and may be a useful aid to adopting the toolkit in your institution.
1. Major Project Governance
Assessment Toolkit
Mark Ritchie, University of Edinburgh
Pauline Woods-Wilson, Lancaster University
Project and Change Management Group
2. Project and Change Management Group
• Established March 2013
• Committee from across UK HE
• Committee members new to
UCISA
• Focus on providing practical
resources for practitioners
• Collaborative and action
oriented group – more than just
the sum of the parts!
“Working together to promote and develop project and change
management best practice in HE and FE”
3. UCISA Project and Change Management
Group
• ~280 subscribers on mailing list
• ~100 followers on Twitter
• 2 resources published
• Major Projects Governance
Assessment Toolkit (July 2014)
• Effective Risk Management
(December 2014)
• First event PCMG15 (June 2015)
“Working together to promote and develop project and change
management best practice in HE and FE”
5. Why is it needed?
• Project governance often ineffective
• Unclear roles and responsibilities
• Lack of confidence in project status
• Focus on IT rather than business
requirements and benefits
• Weak change management
• Unclear where action required
Unforeseen risks and issues
Poor project outcomes
6. How was it developed?
Peer review
by Project
and Change
Management
Group (2013)
Role
definitions
and “business
as usual”
added by
Lancaster
University
(2014)
UCISA Best
Practice
Toolkit
Published
(2014)
• Student Record Implementation
Lessons Learned (2009)
• Shared Academic Timetabling
(2010-13)
• Adopted for all major IT projects
(2012)
• Research Management (2013-14)
• University Web Site CMS (2014)
• Library Management (2014-15)
7. What’s in the toolkit?
Governance
assessment
process
Scorecard
for
identifying
major
projects
Project
governance
elements
Role
descriptions
Visualisation
tool
Case studies
8. Major Projects
“A major project is a project that has a significant financial, operational, or
reputational impact on a university or college”
COST
Consider whole life costs
over 48 months
IMPACT
Consider extent and nature
of impact on students and
staff
COMPLEXITY
Consider number of external
stakeholders and changes to
business processes and IT systems
REPUTATION
Consider potential for reputational
damage if project goes wrong
The toolkit can be used as a checklist for any project and modified to meet
your institutional requirements
9. Project Governance Elements
Vision for
Change
Business Case
and Alignment
Team Building Communication
Implementation
Risk
Management
Project
Management
Governance
Structures
Measurement
Benefits
Realisation
Business As
Usual
Learning
Sponsorship &
Stakeholder
Buy in
Create vision
Engage people
Deliver
Embed
11. Project Roles
Project Sponsor
Owns the business case and is ultimately accountable for the success or
failure of the project
Senior User
Ensures that the services delivered by the project meet the needs of
user stakeholders
12. Project Roles
Senior
Supplier
Represents the team delivering the project and is accountable for the
quality, performance, technical integrity and timeliness of the supplier
deliverables
Project Board
Provides overall governance for the project. The key members of the Project
Board are the Project Executive, the Senior User and the Senior Supplier
13. Project Roles
User Group
Represents the diverse range of user stakeholders for the project. The
primary responsibility of the User Group is to ensure that the project
deliverables meet the needs of users. The Senior User typically chairs the
User Group and represents user interests on the Project Board
Project Manager
Has day to day responsibility for running the project and is accountable to
the Project Board. The Project Manager is responsible for ensuring that
project produces the required deliverables within the tolerances agreed
with the Project Board
14. Project Roles
Project
Assurance
An audit function used to ensue that the project is being run correctly and
that complete and accurate information reaches the Project Board.
16. Visualisation – Single Assessment
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Vision
Business Case
Sponsorship and
Stakeholder Buy-In
Team Building
Communication
Governance
Structures
Project Management
Risk Management &
Assurance
Implementation
Measurement
Business As Usual
Benefits & Ongoing
Improvement
Learning
17. Visualisation – Assessment Over Time
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Vision
Business Case
Sponsorship and
Stakeholder Buy-In
Team Building
Communication
Governance Structures
Project Management
Risk Management &
Assurance
Implementation
Measurement
Business As Usual
Benefits & Ongoing
Improvement
Learning
___ July 2013
___ Feb 2014
18. Act Following Assessment
Focus on the governance elements most needing attention
Publicise outcomes and increase project engagement
Recognise and reinforce existing good practice
Follow up suggestions for improvement
IMPROVE
PROJECT
OUTCOMES
19. Feedback So Far
We have had some success with the Major Projects Assessment
Toolkit. The gap for us was sizing across the project piece. We have
addressed this by amending the toolkit so that we can understand the
requirements for different sizes of project.
This looks really interesting, I have asked our internal auditors to do a
review of projects and programmes to pick up on exactly some of these
issues!
We hope that the governance assessment and visualisation tool will help
people understand where we are and aren’t making progress with our
projects’ health. It seemed very clear to us, and we are always looking at
ways to present concepts visually.
20. Any Questions?
UCISA Project and Change
Management Group
https://twitter.com/UCISA_PCMG
https://www.linkedin.com/groups/UCISAPCMG
-7427251/about
Join our mailing list to have your say and find out more!
Major Project Governance
Assessment Toolkit
Notes de l'éditeur
Mark Ritchie (University of Edinburgh)
Deputy Director and Head of Project Services
Chair of UCISA Project and Change Management Group
Lead author of Major Project Governance Assessment Toolkit
Pauline Woods-Wilson (University of Lancaster)
Head of Project Management and Planning
Founder member of UCISA Project and Change Management Group
Co-author of Major Project Governance Assessment Toolkit
UCISA Project and Change Management Group was modelled initially on the EDUCAUSE Project Management Constituent Group
Our place on the UCISA Executive give the group more potential to influence to project and change management in UK HE and FE
We monitor stakeholder engagement at every committee meeting
We’re pleased that the Major Project Governance Assessment Toolkit was our first resources as it includes so many themes which will run through our work going forward
If there are any other resources you’d value please let us know.
Our simple aim is to make project and change delivery in HE and FE more successful.
Toolkit is complementary to existing project and change management processes.
Toolkit is suitable for any business change or IT project being delivered using any methodology.
We believe the toolkit is practical to implement and strategic in value.
Audience Question
How many of you were aware of the toolkit prior to this conference?
How many of you have used the toolkit in any aspect of your current work?
How many plan to use the toolkit, or any aspect of it, in the future?
Create Vision
Vision for Change A vision of what the project want to achieve any why. Using language readily understandable to the business and in the largely unencumbered by descriptions of how it will be done, how much it will cost or how long it will take.
Business Case / Alignment The hard facts describing how the vision is to be delivered i.e. the approach, costs, benefits, timescales and risks.
Engage People
Sponsorship and Stakeholder Buy-InOwnership for the project and its deliverables. User leadership and engagement.
Team Building The team delivering the project, their shared commitment and delivery capability.
Communication Engaging and informing the wider community of project stakeholders.
Deliver
Governance Structures The people and processes used to provide effective governance for the project.
Project Management and Planning Project management and its context. The clarity and appropriateness of the project plan. Effectiveness of project and resource management processes.
Risk Management and Assurance The effectiveness of progress monitoring, financial controls, risk/issues management and project assurance.
ImplementationBusiness and technical acceptance criteria. The quality and completeness of the implementation plan including agreed contingency arrangements.
Embed
Business As Usual (Service Delivery)University of Lancaster introduced the new Business as Usual (BAU) / Service Delivery governance element to the set developed by University of Edinburgh. Lancaster have adopted the ITIL guidance on designing the Service elements early on in the project i.e. by agreeing and documenting the ITIL Service Design Package during the design phase before the solution is implemented. Not all of this can be completed at the start of the project, and will run through the project until it is handed over the Service support team running. Key elements include:
Fully defined and costed business as usual service.
Agreed plan for transition to the live service
Business continuity, backup and recovery arrangements
Supplier and contract management
Benefits Realisation and Ongoing Improvement
Credible assessment of benefits to be delivered by the project. Benefits regularly reviewed and updated as project progresses including identification of activities to support benefits realisation. Responsibilities, processes and timing for post project benefit realisation reviews.
Measurement Baseline measures of situation before project started and plans for reporting improvements against the baseline. Other performance measures for the solution being delivered by the project.
Learning Lessons learned from previous similar projects. Processes for learning during the project. Post project reviews for identifying learning to improve the services delivered and/or future projects.
Toolkit provides guidance for establish appropriate project roles and responsibilities.
Roles def9ined in the toolkit re based on PRINCE2 - Project Executive / Senior User / Senior Supplier / Project Board / User Group / Project Manager
Lancaster University, early on in the institution's maturity on running projects, detailed Project Roles, with accompanying checklists, in a booklet for use when starting up a project or when introducing a new member of the project team to their role. A summary of the Lancaster University role information has been incorporated in the toolkit.
If you fail to establish appropriate roles and responsibilities your project is unlikely to succeed.
Audience Question
Which roles are least understood or done least well at your institution?
Governance Assessment as an Engagement Tool
The assessment process itself increases:
Awareness of the project information required by different stakeholders
Project engagement and awareness of all staff completing the assessment
Awareness of stakeholder viewpoints within the project team and Project Board
The above chart was produced by the assessment of real project undertaken by the University of Edinburgh
The above chart was produced by the assessment of real project undertaken by the University of Edinburgh
Audience Question
How many of you plan to have a closer look?
How may of you are considering using it at your institution?