Program and Project Management

 

Program & Project Management

Program and project management success is all about delivering the required scope on time, on budget, and in accordance with clients’ expectations for quality.  This sounds simple and it really is, in concept, while making it happen is another matter. It requires discipline, process, and patience. I orient the HNC program and project management services around the distinct but overlapping phases of initiating, planning, executing, monitoring, and closeout.  Services include:

·       Outsourced program and project management services, effectively acting as PM or PgM on behalf of clients

·       Project management troubleshooting and corrective measures consulting

·       Deep-dive project inquiries to identify and solve execution and team functionality concerns

·       Project management mentoring and supportive oversight to help existing teams assure project success

Do you need help managing challenging projects or programs? Do you need an independent set of eyes to help assure successful execution? Would your team benefit from some focused support, coaching, or training? Feel free to let me know if you would like to discuss further.

STEP - Stakeholder Teaming & Execution Planning

One of the most important aspects of any complex project or program is kickoff.  Many different interests are at play such as a project owner, consulting engineer, legal representatives, regulatory authorities, technical experts, etc.  Often, complete trust does not exist across all stakeholders, so competitive positioning can inhibit alignment.  Effective leadership of such a diverse team to common agreement on goals, priorities, systems, communications, schedules, and the multitude of other important matters is often best accomplished by way of an independent facilitator.  An independent facilitator, with no “stake” in the project, but with the skills necessary to navigate stakeholder alignment can be an invaluable asset to achieving project success.  I have provided facilitation services on many challenging endeavors and developed the copyrighted HNC STEP (Stakeholder Teaming and Execution Planning) approach to achieving stakeholder alignment and action planning.  STEP builds on the Pareto Principle (or 80/20 Rule) in pursuit of clarity around the roughly 20% of issues that address 80% of the important consequences. The process is addressed in an intensive, fast-paced manner to keep stakeholders engaged.   The outcome of STEP is a stakeholder-agreed mission along with action plans for implementation priorities, including:

·       Stakeholder “key expectations”

·       Mission agreement

·       Critical activities and responsibilities definition using the RACI matrix (responsible, accountable, consulted, informed)

·       Stakeholder output on perceived Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT)

·       Critical success conditions (CSCs) required to achieve the mission

·       Priority “MUST DOs” (MDs) and “owners” to address the CSCs

·       Triple-W action planning (what, who, when) for the MDs

STEP results in a project success “blueprint,” invaluable for complex project kickoff and implementation.

Client feedback on STEP - See Stakeholder Facilitation under Strategy & Operations

Project Execution Troubleshooting

Any complex project or program has room for improvement and sometimes needs considerable troubleshooting.  In response, I developed the Project Management Review (PMR) approach to helping project managers and their teams optimize delivery.  The PMR is a process of enhancing project and program delivery using:

·       Interview executive leadership to understand concerns and expectations for the project

·       Understand scope, schedule, budget, client characteristics, and quality-of-work expectations

·       Conduct individual interviews of members of the project leadership team (PLT), and other key participants

·       Compile a prioritized listing of themes and findings into a set of observations and recommendations

·       Facilitate action planning with the PLT to prioritize and drive critical actions.

·       Conduct ongoing update PMRs as needed

I developed the PMR approach over decades of managing and directing projects both as a responsible project manager, and as an executive leader over large portfolios of projects.  The PMR approach supports PLT success through both advocacy and blunt feedback where needed. The individual interviews bring insights into project conditions that are difficult to identify in a group setting where sharing of important concerns may be muted.  The deliverable is a PMR report, recommended actions and tracking system for driving success. I then support implementation, monitoring and reporting if requested.

Project Management Training and Coaching

If you ask any executive leader what skill set is most important and most difficult to instill in employees, project management is likely to be at the top of the list. Even those with “the knack” of effectively dealing with people and managing many issues at one time deserve all the help they can get. Alternatively, many technical experts often have to manage projects out of necessity rather than choice, and may not enjoy or effectively focus on management principles. Regardless of talent or interest, people need to be taught the tools of the trade and then guided toward being reliable managers. By having managed and directed hundreds of projects over my years of experience and being attentive to many lessons along the way I know how to teach this subject. Good teaching produces good students and I strive to make project and program management training a fun and engaging endeavor with lasting and valuable results. Students learn methods of accomplishing management success: on time, on budget, and in accordance with clients’ expectations for quality.  I orient the training around the distinct but overlapping project phases of initiating, planning, executing, monitoring, and closeout. The HNC training portfolio includes modules for each of these phases as well as important subsets such as budget and schedule control. Feel free to request a presentation of The World’s Shortest Project Management Course. Follow-up group or one-on-one training and coaching can be oriented to client interests.