process improvement for operations vs projects - what's the difference?

Process Improvement for Operations vs Projects - What's the Difference?

NYBPP Meetup (11/29)Highlights and Q&A

Agenda

I. Processes for Operations vs Projects – Operations– Projects– Operations vs Projects– Separating for Success– Business Analyst vs Project Manager– Summary

II. Q&A– Does the separation of project management and business analysis change

depending on the size of the organization or project?– Will some functions or departments always be project or operation processes?– Does Agile project management make it more appropriate for a project manager

to become involved with the operations processes?– Is it acceptable for a resource to play the PM/BA role simultaneously?

Process Improvement for Operations vs Projects - What's the Difference?

Meetup HighlightsIdentifying different kinds of processes for

success

Operations

Operations are permanent initiatives and set processes that produce repetitive results, with resources assigned to do the same set of tasks and produce a standard output.

Typically, a company’s core process or revenue stream will be an operation if they are directly serving consumers (B2C).

Projects● A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create

a unique product, service or result.

• Temporary means having a definite beginning and end.

● The end is reached when the project’s objectives have been achieved, or if the project is terminated for any reason.

● Each project creates a unique product, service or result.

• NOTE that there may be some repetitive elements present in each project, but the output must be unique – like similar housing projects in the same area with the same design may be similar, but each will have unique challenges, different contractors, issues, etc. that will make them each unique.

.

Operations vs Projects

Operation Project

Routine process Process ends with project

Stable team that repeats the process indefinitely

Temporary team that lasts for one process cycle

Repeated work New, original work

Annual planning applied to continuous process cycles

Time, cost, and scope constraints per process

Budget fixed with no time boundaries Difficult to estimate time and budget

Operations vs Projects

● Operations are processes that can be optimized until they need to be changed, in which case a project process is initiated. After a project is finished, the project outputs integrate to become stable operations again.

● Project processes will always be associated with an operation process.

● Operations optimization is an exercise in removing cost, while project processes attempt to create change at the lowest cost possible.

Separating for Success

•Projects drive change

•Operations drive optimization

•Know what you’re trying to do and take care not to do both at the same time!

•The functions must be kept separate as there are different motivations and conflicting interests involved

Business Analyst vs Project Manager

•Project Managers (PMs) optimize project processes that are meant to drive organizational change by completing the project process at a low cost

•PMs are accountable for the project process only, namely, making sure the process completes itself within the agreed upon constraints. – They should NOT engage with the operation the

project addresses

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Business Analyst vs Project Manager

•Business Analysts (BAs) optimize operating processes and drive project change by interpreting current operating processes into information as required by the project

• BAs are accountable for the operating process only, namely, they need to know enough to help facilitate data transfer to the project such that it can meet project objectives. – They should NOT engage with considering or

managing the project process

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Summary

•We can classify the type of process it is by determining whether we are trying to change a process (project) or optimize an existing process (operation)

•Understanding what kind of process it is will help us figure who should be involved: project managers, business analysts, or both and to what capacity

•A process should go through several iterations of optimization and then change through its life cycle, which is essentially the operations analysis and project cycle

•Understanding the different roles, motivations, and dimensions going on in a complex project will help us communicate and manage for success

Q&A

Answering questions from the Meetup

Does the separation of project management and business analysis change, depending on the size of the organization or project?

No!

● The functions may be handled by a different combination of people and tools (e.g. one person wearing multiple hats such as the proverbial PM/BA); however, the functional separation and motivation between these two functions must always be held in order to ensure high quality outcomes

● It is equally important to keep these principles well organized for any size project or firm.

Will some functions or departments always be project or operation processes?

Yes...ish● Ultimately, every firm has an operations component,

even project organizations• These usually take the form of accounting,

shared/office services, or data entry.

● While there are no infallible rules as to which functions will always be operations per se, there are no projects that exist without an associated operation. Because of this, you can always look for operations processes within a company, and some will always be the same no matter the context.

Does Agile project management make it more appropriate for a project manager to become involved with the operations processes?

No!

● If anything, it is even more important in an agile organization that the project manager focus only on the success of the project process and not get distracted or waste time trying to understand the operation.

● The extra autonomy and faster action cycles associated with Agile require a lot of attention being paid to the project process and whether it is meeting its success criteria as a whole.

Is it acceptable for a resource to play the PM/BA role simultaneously?

Yes! But it can be complicated● Even though some of the functional relationships and motivations are

opposed (such as meeting a schedule (PM) vs ensuring high quality (BA)), both can be handled by the same person IF they have a good grasp on the different relationships and what each should be doing during the project.

● This is like playing chess against yourself. It can be done, but you have to want each side you represent to win and assume that stance when you switch from side to side.

● Also, you have to be careful about which role you represent when you communicate to both clients and stakeholders, since you would straddle the middle of every stakeholder layer on the project

THANK YOU FOR COMING!

•Thank you so much for coming to our meetup – we hope to see you again in future sessions and please don’t hesitate to post additional questions on the group discussion board.

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