It’s not what you do, it’s the way that you do it…

Jane DealHead of Information & Knowledge SystemsRNIB6th March 2012

Content

• About RNIB• The anatomy of projects• What is project failure?• Causes of failure• How can we maximise success?• Conclusion• Questions

About RNIB

• Leading UK charity offering information, support & advice to >2m people with sight loss

• 3 strategic priorities, 11 goals, 8 programmes

• ~2,000 staff & ~4,000 volunteers• Associations• Many things to many people:

• Membership, campaigning, advocacy, education & social care, helpline, library, talking books, innovation, transcription, products & publications, consultancy…

The anatomy of projects

• Projects have multiple elements that need to be effectively managed

• Relevant to all projects, vital for IT change

• According to Gartner, 75% of all IT projects ‘fail’

What is project failure?

• Failure to deliver • on time

• within budget

• to quality

• Comparatively few achieve all three• Some will fail on at least one

criterion• Many will fail on all three• …and at a cost

Time

Quality

Cost

Causes of failure

• Multiple interlinked factors• Some of the most common areas:

• Senior Management ownership

• Stakeholder engagement

• User involvement

• Communication

• Project management skills & approach

• Timescales/expectations

•

Causes of failure

• Requirements definition/prioritisation

• Change control

• Testing

• Risk management

• Supplier Management

• Accountability for benefits realisation

How can we maximise success?

• The way that projects are established and managed is critical to improving the chances of success.

• 2 main themes: • people

• process

People

Successful change is heavily dependent on people who need:

• Engagement

• Involvement

• Ownership

• Communication

People - Emotional Response to Change

Response curve:

People – issues

• Lack of buy in – ‘What’s in it for me?’

• Lack of understanding and ownership of benefits and their delivery

• What do I actually need?• Local issues vs big picture• Conflicting priorities / limited

capacity• Politics

People – Roles & Responsibilities

• Who is sponsoring the project and accountable for its success?

• Who is needed to deliver the project and will they be made available when needed?

• Who is accountable for delivering the benefits?

• Who will track the benefits and how?

• Who will manage the project?…

People – Project Manager

• Specific skill set• Right person for the job:

• Dedicated to the project

• Knowledge of business is not enough

• Permanent vs contract. • Support for project managers:

• Experienced or new to the role?

• Match the project to their experience

• Provide PM and other training (risk, planning, etc.)

Process

• Proven approach• Common, consistent methodology

• Scalable

• Interchangeable

• Recruitment

• Lessons learned/best practice

Process

• Prioritisation• Agreed roadmap for the organisation

• Optimum deployment of finite resources

• Dependencies

• Impact on change recipients

• Expect the unexpected!

Process

• Requirements• Clear

• Clean

• Consistent

• Complete

• Credible

• Prioritised (MoSCoW)

• Can you test them?

• Scope creep!

Process

• Planning• What will we deliver?

• How will we implement it?- ‘Big bang’ vs phased

- Pilot?

• Who needs to be involved – are they available?

• By when do we need to deliver it? - Realistic & short

- Who will be affected and when

- Take time to plan: implement in haste, repent at leisure

Process

• Manage risk• What might drive the plan off course?

- Representative selection!

- Likelihood and impact

• Counter measures

• What will you do with the risk?- Eliminate/reduce

- Share/transfer

- Accept

• Suppliers!

Process

• Testing• Developer testing

• User acceptance testing

• Most effective if:- Requirements can be tested

- Tests are well-designed and planned

- Users are adequately trained

- Sufficient time allowed for testing

Process

• Realise the benefits!• What are they?

• Can you measure them?

• How will you measure them?

• Who will measure them?

• Ownership and accountability!

This is what the project is for… isn’t it?

Conclusion

• Know what you want• Be realistic• Prioritise• Plan & test• Commit (the right) resources• Manage the risks• Track the benefits• RAG

Above all…

• Engage• Involve • Communicate

Questions?