When the CEO/SRO/Sponsor When the CEO/SRO/Sponsor When the CEO/SRO/Sponsor When the CEO/SRO/Sponsor asks “are we on track?” asks “are we on track?” asks “are we on track?” asks “are we on track?”

…did you think they meant “Time/Cost/Quality?”

Project Challenge 2016 - Project Planning & Controls Zone

Eddie Borup – ibp Solutions Ltd

Overview

At some point in the career of a PM they realise that focusing on Time/Cost/Quality doesn’t always produce what the business/customer actually needed.

With the focus on “Benefit Realisation” or delivering “Value for Money” or in the Development Sector “Delivering Results” or “Maximising Impact”, projects need effective planning, and controls that work more than ever –especially if they want to survive in this new world.

This session will provide practical techniques that will make a difference tomorrow. Fast and furious, we only have 40 minutes to make a difference.

Agenda

• 5 Random principles that help…• Maturity

• 4 types of change/projects

• Merlin

• JoHari

• Wobbly Bike

• Turning principle into a working set of tools• Stakeholder Mapping

• Results Based Planning

• Cross cutting themes and sustainability

• Controls

• Examples• Nepal – Development Programmes

• Product Launch

• Isolation Unit

• More stuff we don’t have time for• Soft Skills

• Aliens

• Secrets from the customer…

Introduction

Roles that have helped along the way…

• Telecommunications

• Started as an Apprentice

• Head of Project & Programme Management – 106 Programme and

Project Managers

• Interim Head of Delivery – approx. 500 staff reporting to the CEO

during merger of 5 cable companies into Mercury to become CWC.

• UK Military – Infantry Officer

• Owner/Director of the first Accredited Consulting Organisation

• Establish 1998, ISO9001:2000 with BSI– acquired in January 2006

• Director and chair of the Best Practice User Group

• Part of the authoring team of current best practice

• Head of Programme South Sudan

• Accountable for 30m delivery programme humanitarian aid during

the civil war

• Supporting

• UNDP, UNOPS, UNV, ITU, UNFPA, DPKO

• Plan International, ODI, Raoul Wallingburg Institute, Asian

Development Bank

• Central Government , Local Authority, Police, Fire services, Military

• Telecommunications (Ericsson, Vodafone, BT, C&W, Siemens)

• Other sectors - Airline, Publishers, Financial, Distribution, Retail,

Travel , Manufacturing

• Locations

• UK, France, Germany, Greece, Belgium, Holland, Denmark, Sweden,

Turkey, Switzerland, Italy

• China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Nepal, Thailand, Sri Lanka,

Singapore, Maldives, Laos, Afghanistan

• South Africa, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan, Mozambique,

Libya, Tunisia

• USA, Canada, Peru, Trinidad & Tobago

• Yemen, Oman, Palestine, UAE

Linking Strategy to Delivery...Linking Strategy to Delivery...Linking Strategy to Delivery...Linking Strategy to Delivery...

Concept

Project

PortfolioReview

Concept

Review

Review

Identifying a

Programme

Defining a

Programme

Managing the Tranches

(Delivering the capability

and Realising the Benefits)

Closing a

Programme

Starting up a

Project

Initiating a

Project

Controlling a Stage

Managing Stage Boundaries

Managing Product Delivery

Closing a

Project

Stage

Work

Package

Stage

Work

Package

Stage

Work

Package

Defining Objectives,

Measures

and Strategy

Identifying the

Vision,

Values and Goals

Programme

Linking Strategy to Delivery...Linking Strategy to Delivery...Linking Strategy to Delivery...Linking Strategy to Delivery...

Project

“Portfolio of Projects”

Portfolio of Projects

Cross OrganisationProgramme

Large “core

”Proje

ct

“Programme”

Programme

Project Project

VirtualProg/ Proj

Programme Programme

ProjectProject Project

ProjectProject Project ProjectProject Project

ProjectProject Project

Results Framework – Targets/Aspirations/Pledges/Policy/Strategy

Achievements of Outcomes, Outputs and Results Indicators being Monitored

5 Random Principles...

What is your organisation’s capacity/capability to deliver its results using programme/project management?

What is your on capability/capacity to deliver the project/ programmes allocated to you?

(1) P3M3 – Portfolio, Programme and Project Management Maturity Model

Level 1 Initial

Level 2 Repeatable

Level 3 Defined

Level 4 Managed

Level 5 Optimised

Measuring capability in

organizations and individuals in

their ability to deliver

UK Governments P3M3 standard

Maturity (its impact) Maturity (its impact) Maturity (its impact) Maturity (its impact)

Do we know what the real project is?

• Is the work part of a bigger project/programme?

• Were we asked to delivery the work as a project/programme?

So what does “Maturity” look like?

• Cut and Paste

• A way of thinking

How mature is....

• The individual?

• The team?

• Management?

• Your customers?

• Your suppliers?

What if...

• the customer/supplier/team are at different levels of maturity?

Do not know how to do it

Know what it is

Know how to do it

Paint by numbersMovie

QuestFog

Do not know what it is

(2) Types of Projects

Eddie Obeng – four types of change

What you do not know

What I knowPrivatePublic

DiscoveryBlind

What I do not know

What you know

(3) Planning – change your perspective

(4) Merlin – Working Backwards

• Imagine being able to see into the future and predict down to the exact detail what is going to happen next – how would you use this gift? Would you solve world peace, perhaps select the numbers for next week’s lottery or would you choose to become a Project Manager?

• In the early 90’s, Charles E. Smith wrote a paper entitled “The Merlin Factor”. He realised that the trouble with planning is that you cannot predict the future, and went on to suggest that if only we could be in the future, and look backwards then our path would be clear for all to see…

Merlin Theory – Smith - Harvard Business School

When asked by Arthur how he could predict the future Merlin responded; - “Some people

think it is because I am a magician, it is not, I was simply born backwards and therefore

my yesterday is your tomorrow – I have seen this all before.”

Helps to know what you are looking for – before you get there...

(5) Wobbly Bike Explained

1 = No evidenceUnconscious Incompetence

Wobbly Bike Explained

Wobbly Bike Explained

1 = No evidence

2 = Room for DevelopmentConscious Incompetence

Unconscious Incompetence

Wobbly Bike Explained

Eddie Borup

Wobbly Bike Explained

1 = No evidence

2 = Room for Development

3 = Standard OKConscious Competence

Conscious Incompetence

Unconscious Incompetence

Wobbly Bike Explained

Wobbly Bike Explained

1 = No evidence

2 = Room for Development

3 = Standard OK

4 = Good Standard

Conscious Competence

Conscious Incompetence

Unconscious Incompetence

Unconscious competence

Wobbly Bike Explained

Wobbly Bike Explained

1 = No evidence

2 = Room for Development

3 = Standard OK

4 = Good Standard

5 = Excellent

Conscious Competence

Conscious Incompetence

Unconscious Incompetence

Unconscious competence

Deliberate Conscious Competence

Wobbly Bike Explained

Lets see where we are….

Driving a Car?

Giving a Team Brief?

Planning?

Paint by Number vs. Fog…..

Controls?

Where should you be?

What evidence do you need to know you are in control?

How does this apply to you....

• Do you plan in activities going in sequence and always land on the right end date and/or often “cut and paste” from your last project?

• Do you have stakeholders to help plan or is it “your plan”?

• What type of projects/change are you involved in (Movie/Fog etc)

• How mature are you? (Level 1 or 2 etc) Your Team? You?

• How aligned is your organisations portfolio?

• How competent are you?

• Planning

• Controls

• And all the other competencies we may need to be effective

So how do we turn these into tools....

• Brown Paper

• Flip Charts

• Post-it-Notes (graph paper for Engineers and R&D)

• Blue/white tack, sticky tape

• A room that is big enough

• A gaggle of stakeholders..

And a sense of humor….planning should be a creative and enable an environment for innovation when solving problems….

Stakeholder mapping Stakeholder mapping Stakeholder mapping Stakeholder mapping

Visibly Supporting

Strong Influence

No Influence

Not support

Identify, MAP then decide what to do....

Worried about someone walking in....

Stakeholder Mapping....

• Done initially to know who to invite to the planning workshop

• Done during the workshop

• Done during any future planning

• Done if there is a major change

• Activities• Output• Outcome• Result Result

Outcome

Output

Activity

Activity

Outcome

OutputActivity

Activity

Output

Activity

Activity

OutputActivity

Activity

Results Based Planning

How do we identify Results (Benefits)....

Try doing a “Root - Cause – Analysis” of the problem

1) What is the “Problem” this project is trying to solve?

2) What are the causes of this problem?

3) What are the effects (normally negative) of this problem and its causes?

Then try doing a “Results Map”

1) What does the future look like when the problem has been solved?

2) What strategies/actions did we take to get rid of the causes

3) What are the results/benefits/outcomes now the effects are gone

p.s. Make the problem/vision and results/benefits/outcomes “SMART”

Problem Tree

Prepare a “Problem Tree”

Describe the problem

(this is the Tree Trunk)

Branches (effects)

Above the Trunk

Roots (causes)

below the Trunk

effecteffecteffect

effect

Cause Cause

Cause

Cause

Solution Tree

Prepare a “Solution Tree”

Vision Statement

OutcomeResultResult

Result

Approach Approach

Approach

Approach

Results or

Outcomes

achieved above

the Trunk

Approaches that

fix the causes

below the Trunk

Merlin – working backwards first…

Planning – Working Backwards

• Our brains are more powerful then we realise, we can create a vision of

the future and describe it and then work backwards to find out what we

needed to have done to arrive there.

• Advantages - Better estimating and a more logical flow of deliverables i.e.

Results – Outcomes – Outputs - Activities

• Disadvantages - Nearly always end up in the past, giving us only four

options:

• Don’t do the project

• Move the end date

• De-scope so we can deliver in the timeframe

• Take Risk, where we can control it

Planning with Post-it-notes

Planning - Horizon

• By combining “working backwards” to create the project plan we then

use “forward planning” to develop the next stage in more detail.

• What is a stage? It is as long as you can maintain control.

• By planning forward, which we are good at for short term planning, we

can determine how long a “stage plan” is. It is when we start taking risk

or guessing too much or hoping that something will happen.

• A stage plan should be 100% guaranteed to work (within tolerance)

• For deliverables etc that are more than 18months away consider

planning for “quarters only”.

Planning – working backwards

Planning – Is the project fit for purpose?

• Changing the View – using the JoHari Window..

• This is the first of many inputs where we get a chance to learn how to keep viewing the project from different views. Some are through the eyes of experts and some are “planning” related.

• Planning View – “Quality”. Only think about quality i.e. How will you guarantee that all the critical deliverables are fit for purpose the first time? How will you ensure that the project delivers its outputs to a high standard? That we get the best possible results?

Planning – Cross cutting views

• Quality

• Finance

• Capacity development

• Gender mainstreaming/Social inclusion

• Environment/Social/Economic

• Health and Safety

• Human Rights

• Resource

• Sustainability

• Security

• Legal

• Any others “Views”? Now plan “Forward” for the first stage

Planning – Cross cutting views

• If we had enough time we would now cover the following…

• Risk

• Re-do Stakeholder MAP

• Prepare communications plan

Planning – Controls

One last look at your Plans…

How will you ensure it is controlled? Monitored? On Track?

How will you evaluate the results/impact/benefits?

Have a look at your plans and divide them into stages: When do you think it would be a good idea to have a management review?

Then as a team ask yourself how you will control/monitor the following:

• Risk• Quality• Finance• Resource• Communication• Gender Mainstreaming • Management of the project• Outputs/Outcomes/Results• And any other key “views” that need to be controlled/monitored

Examples

• Nepal – Development Programmes

• Product Launch

• Isolation Unit

More stuff we don’t have time for

Remember why you are doing the project (RESULT)

Remember who the Customer is (Beneficiary)

Innovate – challenge everything - take risk

Be strategic

Simplify

Add Value or stop

Evidence based decisions

Even more stuff we don’t have time for

Soft Skills (keep exploring)

Myers Briggs

Belbin

Transactional Analysis

PM’s are Aliens (its OK)

Try plain language!

Secrets from the customers (listen!)

Communications

Controls

Perceived competence of the PM

p.s. It means the PM doesn’t have to be competent – as long as the client thinks they are!

Any Questions?

Albert Einstein, (amongst others) has been credited with the following...

“Madness is an expectation that if you keep

doing the same thing in the same way

something will change.”

For further information please contact

eddie.borup@ibpsolutions.org

or +44 777 190 2468