Project Management methodology, covering: Benefits Realisation, Stakeholder Management and Project Metrics

1. ProjectSuccessMethodology (PSM)
Roy Dunster
+27 83 661 6522
Roydunster@mweb.co.za

2. Would you spend 1 – 2% of the cost of a project to ensure
that it is successful?
• In your experience:
– How many large projects finish on time?
– What is the cost impact if they don’t (eg of just 1 extra week x 20
people)?
– What is the damage to relationships?
– What is the damage to reputations?
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3. Successful project delivery comprises more than just “on-
time and on-budget”
Traditionally:
Political / Social /
But project Economic /
delivery is Project Team's ability Technological
to deliver factors
affected by,
New info that
amongst other becomes available
things,… as the Project Scope changes
progresses
In reality, a more
accurate definition Difference between Different
would be: Client wants and expectations of
actual needs Client / Consultants
Projects go through changes and the challenge is to keep the Client and Consulting Team
working together throughout its evolution.
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4. Especially on large complex projects with teams from different
companies, project teams focus on “what they need to do”
• Their focus is very operational
– This is completely understandable in terms of:
• Trying to keep a project team comprising different cultures and skills on track
• Working within tight deadlines
• Trying to ensure good delivery
• The ProjectSuccessMethodology (PSM) provides support to help
the Client and the Project Team work together
– The focus is on “why they need to do it” – i.e. less operational / more
strategic
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5. The PSM’s specific focus areas are Benefits Realisation,
Success Management and Project Metrics
Ensure that there is a common understanding
Benefits Realisation:
Benefits Case
between the Client and the Consulting Team of
what the project must deliver
Success Management: Facilitate an objective means for both parties to give
What the parties (Client feedback about the state of the project and we
and consultants) need to
do to execute the Benefits provide recommendations about how to deal with
Case concerns
Project Metrics: Project Metrics establish a quantitative method for
Driven by required
deliverables assessing the real progress of the Project
Benefits Realisation and Success Management are seldom done in a consistent, repeatable
way. Also, our experience is that, while some form of Project Metrics usually exists, it is often
based on subjective measurement tools.
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6. Experience shows that our focus areas are outside the
scope of many Project Management Offices
•Tracking tools to ensure that the whole
•Tracking tools to ensure that the whole
Common understanding of project’s deliverables are focused on
project’s deliverables are focused on
•What the end result “looks” like achieving the agreed benefits
Benefits Realisation: What the end result “looks” like
•The benefits it will provide
The benefits it will provide
achieving the agreed benefits
•Post mortem to ensure they have been
•
Benefits Case •The possible constraints to
The possible constraints to delivered
delivered
achieving the desired benefits •Incorporation into individual KPIs (if
•
required)
required)
Success Management: Establish:
•A commonly understood
Tracking tools to monitor:
Tracking tools
•The parties’ happiness with progress
•The parties’ happiness with
A commonly understood
What the parties (Client “language” •Confidence in the project’s success
•
and consultants) need to •Communication channels
Communication channels •Whether each side is helping to
•
•Methods for managing risk
Methods for managing risk guarantee success (e.g. on-time
guarantee success (e.g. on-time
do to execute the Benefits •An early warning system for
An early warning system for delivery / signing off documents within
delivery
Case deterioration in relationships the required timeframes)
the required timeframes)
Project Metrics: •Validate that the project has
Validate that the project has Tracking tools to confirm that Actual
Tracking tools
Driven by required progressed as far as the project project progress is in line with Planned
project progress is in line with Planned
team believes it has progress
progress
deliverables
...
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7. The methodology is Scorecard based
This means we:
• Set Baselines / Targets and track Actuals for all measures to identify
trends
• Graph data outputs for easy interpretation
• Ensure we have leading indicators to enable us to predict success
and / or problems
• Use traditional Balanced Scorecard dimensions (Financial, Internal
Processes, People and Customers / Business Partners) for both
Benefits Realisation and Success Management
Our approach enables us to track the things which are central to the success of the project.
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8. Defining the offering
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9. Benefits Realisation: Ideally, this would go through 4 main phases.
However, in the real world, the Benefits Case is likely to be developed
at the beginning of the project (rather than in a pre-project phase)
Review against original business case
Pre-project / Immediate post Once project is
project start-up Duration of project project bedded down
Activate all
Project BSC
Benefits Case measures
to track
Decision Scorecard and track Incorporate
progress
Benefits Case to go updated for measures in
towards
ahead post Refine targets individual KPI’s
achieving
implementation / baselines as
benefits
necessary
Create basic BSC to Track measures and celebrate
note that benefits will not achievements / take corrective
only be Financial action if needed
An important part of our Benefits Realisation approach is the identification of Quick Wins that
can be achieved during the project, and to celebrate them when they are reached.
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10. Success Management: In effect, this combines stakeholder
tracking with high level risk management
Some of the greatest risks to the project come from people not doing what they say they will, and
from key stakeholders losing confidence that they will be satisfied with the final delivery
Stakeholders
Senior Client
Identify what we
need from each Measure and track
Client (Project
Team) stakeholder group their attitudes and
in order to make behaviour, taking
Consulting Co. the project into account the
Management successful (e.g. Project Life Cycle
their confidence, and the Cycle of
Consulting co-operation, Change
project team involvement, etc)
Vendors
The project is only likely to be successful with the input, buy-in and confidence of the
stakeholders. It’s important to measure these, rather than simply assume that our stakeholder
management efforts are successful.
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11. Project Metrics: These provide a quantitative, visual way of tracking
progress. The essence is to compare Target vs Actual deliverables
Back to Control Panel View Next Steps Back to Sheet
Example
Baseline Target Deliverables,
before it was agreed that that the SDP1
Revised Target Deliverables
stream or entire project needed to
be extended. Reasons could Architecture
include poorly defined scope, or
Client requests to include more Actual Baseline 1 Baseline 2 31/03 Target
work16
14
12
10
8
#
6
4
2
Actual Completed Deliverables
0
2- 9- 16- 23- 30- 6- 13- 20- 27- 5- 12- 19- 26- 2- 9- 16- 23- 30- 7- 14- 21- 28- 4- 11-
Jan Jan Jan Jan Jan Feb Feb Feb Feb Mar Mar Mar Mar Apr Apr Apr Apr Apr May May May May Jun Jun
If there is a gap between Target and Actual deliverables, the team needs to understand why and
what impact this will have on dependent streams and the project as a whole.
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12. The status of all three parts of the offering will be summarised on
dashboards, like this one for Project Metrics
Project Metrics Dashboard Example
View Next
Goal: To successfully complete the project on time
Steps
Date: 25-Jul-2008
Stream Deliverable Progress Stream Deliverable Progress
Code Measure A Status Code Measure A Status
SDP1 Architecture Andrew 3 SDP11 System Testing Kathryn 2
SDP2 Business Analysis Bob 3 SDP12 User Acceptance Testing Liz 3
SDP3 Change Management Cara 2 SDP13 # Activities on Critical Path completed Mark 3 green = target and above
SDP4 Data Migation Dean 2 … … … 1 red = less than 80% of target
SDP5 Development Stream 1 Evelyn 1 … … … 1 orange = between 80% and 99% of target
SDP6 Development Stream 2 Francis 3 … … … 1
SDP7 Project Management Office / Overall Performance Gary 2 … … … 1
SDP8 Reporting Helge 3 … … … 1
SDP9 System transition Ian 3 … … … 1
SDP10 System Design John 3 … … … 1
The example is for tracking
one large Programme. If the
Leading Indicators - Stream Leading Indicators - Development
Client is involved in several
Code Measure A Status Code Measure A Status smaller projects, these could
SH1 Maximum time for deliverable sign-off Walter 1 LI1 # Critical Change Requests still open Neil 3 be grouped and then tracked
… … … 1 LI2 Maximum time to resolve a critical defect Peter 2
… … … 1 LI3 Maximum time to resolve a high impact defect Rob 3
like the streams on this slide
… … … 1 LI4 # reopened defects Sam 3 – i.e. one dashboard will give
… … … 1 LI5 # known errors with Release Trevor 3
… … … 1 … … … 1
an overview of all the
… … … 1 … … … 1 projects
… … … 1 … … … 1
… … … 1 … … … 1
… … … 1 … … … 1
It’s important to understand that the goal of using the tool is not necessarily to make every measure
“Green”. Rather it’s to understand why things are the way they are and only then take the required
corrective action.
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13. Our approach
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14. We see projects split into PreProject, Scoping and Delivery
phases
PreProject Scoping Delivery
PreProject Scoping Delivery
Project Project End of Project
Control CP2 CPn
initiation kick-off scoping wrap up
Point
(CP) 1
Benefits Case
Dashboard and set Targets
Dashboard and set Targets
Baseline each Scorecard /
Baseline each Scorecard
•Pre-defined tools
•Pre-defined
Project Vision Audit Audit Audit Audit
used for Scorecard /
used for Scorecard
Dashboard data
Dashboard data Draft BR Scorecard
gathering
gathering
•Quantitative
•Quantitative •Control Point (CP) Audits provide a method of
approach gives the
approach gives the Draft Metric Dashboard quantitatively monitoring the delivery phase
potential to
potential to •Reports and recommendations follow each Audit
benchmark progress
benchmark progress Draft Success Dashboard •Action can be taken as soon as a problem is detected
with other, similar
with other,
projects
projects
Deliverables in the PreProject / Scoping phases help ensure that the project is set up for
success while the Audits identify good / bad areas and provide recommendations on how to deal
with them.
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15. Our deliverables in each phase are defined…
Phase Benefits Realisation Success Management Project Metrics
Pre-project Initial work on Benefits Case
Complete Benefits Case in the context
Definition of Success / Failure
of the Balanced Scorecard framework
Identify actions to be taken during
“Deliverables” and Early Warning
Articulated Project Vision Statement Project to mitigate risk (e.g.
Indicators defined and identified
Communication Plan, etc)
Build Success Management
Build Benefits Realisation Dashboard Build Project Metrics Dashboard
Scoping Dashboard
Agree on benefits that can be realised
Agree on data gathering tools (e.g. Agree on process to gather Project
during the Project (Quick Wins) and
questionnaires and how to complete Metric data (i.e. Project Plan / Stream
those to be achieved after the end of
them) Lead interviews)
the Project
Baseline and set Targets for Dashboard
Gather Actuals data and update Dashboard / Scorecard. Compare with Baselines and Targets
Control
Points
Report and Recommendations
Benefits Realisation Report
Success Management Report and Project Metric Report and
Project Wrap Recommendations, specifically on how
Recommendations for next Project or Recommendations for next Project or
Up to incorporate Benefits Realisation
Phase Phase
Measures into individual (Client) KPIs