ANNUAL PLAN March 2014 February 2015

Transcription

1 UCISA-Project and Change Management Group ANNUAL PLAN March 2014 February Introduction The UCISA Project and Change Management Group (PCMG) is a community of skilled and experienced Project and Change Management professionals working together to develop and promote best practice in all aspects of project and change management in higher and further education. Our aim is to support better management and execution of projects and change initiatives so that greater value is obtained for our community. We have a strong sector focus which is informed and maintained by our member s presence at the heart of project and change management activities in institutions of all sizes across the UK and beyond. We are supported by and fully integrated within the UCISA community. This means that we are in a uniquely strong position to: act as a voice on project and change management within the UCISA community translate project and change management good practice in ways which can be applied successfully within the sector identify and share solutions to project and change management problems - many of which are common across our membership provide support and assistance on project and change management challenges without requiring extensive contextual briefings share learning and resources with colleagues, using the UCISA network and social media, without the commercial considerations common in other business models promote, support and develop project and business change management as professional disciplines and enablers within higher and further education use our individual and collective experience in HE and other sectors to foster continuous improvement and help develop the next generation of successful project and change management specialists We can leverage these differentiators to really stand out and make a difference to our members giving them access to people, experience, knowledge and resources they can't easily get elsewhere. The PCMG was established as a new UCISA Group in March For its first year the group has been operating in a trial capacity and does not yet enjoy full status within UCISA. This is plan is written in the expectation that the group will complete the transition to full status in March

2 2. Group Activities for To achieve its aims the Group will in : promote and participate in open and effective communications with the UCISA project and change management community via the UCISA web site, JISC PCMG mailing list and social media convene regular planning and update meetings of the group committee with minutes and other papers published and shared via the UCISA web site develop an informal support and mentoring network for sharing and collaboration between project and business change management practitioners working in UCISA member institutions organise at least two events on relevant topics, e.g. seminars, workshops and training days, with event resources including presentations and summary reports, published on the UCISA web site identify, develop and share resources and case studies which illustrate and translate project and change management good practice in ways which can be applied successfully within the higher and further education sector work with other UCISA groups and relevant external bodies to add value to the community establish effective liaison with suppliers of relevant services and technology solutions to the sector advise the UCISA Executive on common views, approaches and policies for project management, business change management and related disciplines publish an annual plan and an annual report for inclusion in the relevant UCISA publications 3. Committee Membership Committee membership is drawn from volunteers from the UCISA community whose primary function fits with the Group s overall purpose. Typically, members are those responsible for managing or delivering project and business change activities in their organisation. Our current committee members are: Name Institution Group Role Mark Ritchie University of Edinburgh Chair Nicola Haywood Alexander University of Manchester Deputy Chair Barry Bookham Loughborough University Secretary Lynne Berrie University of Lincoln Philippa Days University of Oxford Simon Geller University of Sheffield Communications and Social Michelle Griffiths University of Wolverhampton Communications and Social Karl Grocock University of Bedfordshire Communications and Social Simon Hogg Oxford Brookes University Sally Jorjani Edinburgh Napier University Pauline Woods-Wilson University of Lancaster The Group has reviewed its terms of reference and considered its membership, to ensure that it continues to represent and support its wider membership. The group has agreed that a maximum of 15 members could sit on the PCMG committee and that new members may be sought to sustain and develop the group during

3 4. Key Areas of Focus for For the the group will focus its activities on the following key areas: Developing and end enhancing our communication and engagement with the UCISA project and change management community Planning and organising our first events currently envisaged as two 1 day seminars on relevant topics of interest to the community Building relationships within UCISA and relevant external bodies Developing and sharing case studies and resources which illustrate and translate project and change management good practice in ways which can be applied successfully within the higher and further education sector 4.1 Communication and Community Engagement The Group, particularly through the efforts of our Communications and Social sub-group, will continue to develop and promote a range of communication resources which will engage and support the community. These will include: our presence on the UCISA groups pages at mailing list UCISA-PCMG (which currently has over 200 members) Twitter feed (@ucisa_pcmg) and Facebook page at Google site for sharing work in progress resources at participation on the new UCISA blog at a group on LinkedIn UCISA-PCMG We will use these platforms to provide an effective platform for the discussion, sharing and dissemination of ideas, information and resources. We will aim to integrate our communication channels by automatically, and occasionally manually, cross-posting information where appropriate to maximise our reach within our target community. We will encourage the community to contribute through these channels by advertising what s there and how to use it. Crucially we will also promote and encourage beneficial dialogue through our own contributions. We will also respond positively to approaches for help and guidance via face to face contact and other traditional communication methods. We will use these platforms to survey the opinions of our membership on current challenges and opportunities and use their feedback to direct specific group activities towards those areas which will deliver most value. We will measure and report on activity through these channels at our committee meetings and in our reports to the UCISA Executive. 3

4 4.2 Events PCMG aims to hold at least two events per year. There are no events planned for 2014/15 so far although we ve advanced some ideas within the group on new and emerging methods for project delivery such as agile software development. Other areas of interest for a future event may include sharing information and experience on projects with significant procurement components. We will measure and report on events related activity at our committee meetings and in our reports to the UCISA Executive. 4.3 Building Relationships Within UCISA As project and change management crosses over so many disciplines we are very keen to explore how PCMG can work effectively with other UCISA groups to make a real difference to the sector. We will contact the Chair of each UCISA group for a discussion on how our groups might work together in the future. This might include areas of common interest or specific things the group are considering where a project or change management perspective could bring some added value. In the first instance we will be offering to participate in a future group committee meeting to introduce the PCMG and explore any areas of mutual interest. Depending on the outcome of these initial discussions we hope to work more collaboratively with the other UCISA groups by participating in each other events, hosting joint events, extending discussions on topics of shared interest to our wider membership and jointly developing resources and case studies. To support this initiative we will identify two volunteers from the PCMG committee to align themselves with each UCISA group. External Groups A number of external groups have also been were identified as worthwhile targets for our focus. These include but are not limited to: Association for Project Management (APM) Association of University Administrators (AUA) British Computer Society Project Management Specialist Group British University Finance Director s Group (BUFDG) DSDM Consortium and Agile Research Network EDUCAUSE Project Management Constituent Group Inter University Project Management Group (IUPMG) IT Service Management Foundation JISC Infonet We have made some early progress building personal links with the IUPMG and we held our meeting in June 2013 in Sheffield immediately following the IUPMG meeting. We also have a number of committee members who are also members the IUPMG and have contributed positively to a number of discussions on the IUPMG LinkedIn discussion forum. We have also made some progress on relationships with JISC Infonet and are currently working them on a Project Management Maturity survey to be potentially supported by the PCMG next month. These early signs are encouraging and broadly indicative of the possible direction of travel during The committee members are continuing their thinking on how best to leverage these links to bring value to the community. 4

5 4.4 Developing Case Studies and Good Practice Resources The group will publish a number of case studies and shared resources during 2014/15. Broadly our aim through this work is to identify, develop and share resources and case studies which illustrate and translate project and change management good practice in ways which can be applied successfully within the higher and further education sector. These resources will leverage the experience and knowledge of our committee members, the wider membership and appropriate external resources, will be tailored for use in our sector and have been proven to deliver benefit with HE or FE. Our initial target list, based on survey of committee members, includes: Project and change management maturity Expectations, resources and support for project sponsors, projects boards and user groups Governance of major projects Effective risk management Establishing a physical or virtual PMO Portfolio management including project prioritisation and selection As far as possible we will develop these resources and case studies using voluntary commitment from our existing membership. However in order to progress these and ensure a consistent and high quality we may seek additional specialist support. We do not anticipate that the sums involved will be large and cases for funding will be submitted on an individual basis. Mark Ritchie UCISA Project and Change Management Group Chair 28 th January