Project Management Methodology

Transcription

1 20 January 2015 Performance and Resources Board 5 To consider Project Management Methodology Issue 1 The implementation of an organisation-wide project management methodology. Recommendations 2 The Board is asked to: a Agree the proposal to define and implement a standard project management methodology. b Note that as part of this consideration will be given to the procurement of a software solution if it will add sufficient value to the approach.

2 Project Management Methodology Issue 3 The implementation of an organisation-wide project management methodology. Business case 4 We deliver a significant number of projects each year that include major organisational changes, continuous improvements, facilities and information systems projects. 5 There is currently no standard approach across the organisation to managing these projects although there is a range of good practice that exists within teams. 6 A standard approach based on best practice has the potential to immediately improve: a The efficiency and effectiveness of our project activity by ensuring best practice is routinely and consistently used, avoiding the duplication and waste stemming from reinvention or adoption of approaches with known limitations. b The consistency of management information, particularly measuring and reporting progress. c Assurance that risk and issue handling within projects is consistent with our corporate Risk Management Framework. 7 Longer-term, a standard approach would enable more effective whole-of-organisation appraisal and prioritisation of projects. The ability to more effectively evaluate the return, risk and cost of our projects at the initiation stage could help prioritise our resources in the right areas and support our efficiency agenda. This would also enable us to more readily identify projects that warrant greater control and scrutiny (for financial or non-financial reasons) versus low risk projects that could be expeditiously implemented with a lighter-touch control. 8 The implementation of a standard approach and the consequent training of staff with major project management roles would also enable us to continually improve our approach over time, building skills and capacity and reflecting learning and experience back into the methodology. Ultimately a common methodology would enable a greater flexibility in deployment of project management resources across the organisation. 2

3 Approach 9 Despite the benefits identified, the proposal is not without its risks. A disproportionate degree of control applied across all projects, or a specificity of approach that fails to recognise the differences between types of projects, could be counter-productive. 10 We envisage that the final methodology would incorporate a set of common core steps and templates for use in all projects, focussed on the areas where a centralised approach has clear benefits including risk and issue management, monitoring and reporting, and key decision points/gateways. Within these overarching core elements, we anticipate that there would be a range of specific steps and templates that would be relevant to particular types of projects. The QMS Working Group agreed at its meeting on 8 December 2014 to develop and implement a standard approach to continuous improvement projects, which would be one type of project under this broader corporate methodology. The project team will consider what other types of projects may also benefit from this type of more detailed methodology within the corporate approach. 11 The methodology will need to define the thresholds for the degree of scrutiny and review a project would be subject to, which in-turn would influence the scale of the methodology applied. For instance, a project with significant external stakeholder interest may be subject to regular review and required to use a broader range of stakeholder analysis tools during the planning stage than a more internally focussed, small scale project that may be left largely to run under the oversight of the sponsor. 12 Part of implementing the methodology will be to introduce a centralised Project Management Office (PMO). The PMO will maintain the methodology and deliver the assurance processes to test that it is being adhered to and continually improved. The PMO will be created as part of the Office of the Chief Operating Officer. 13 To consider project thresholds and scrutinise project delivery we will form a Scrutiny and Review Group. This will routinely bring together key senior staff from across the organisation to review progress in the change programme. The secretariat for this review group will be provided by the PMO. 14 To develop the methodology we are proposing to draw together a cross-organisation project team that will use extensive consultation to understand current, and identify better, practice approaches. An organisation-wide project methodology will be presented to the Board in June for approval. The Assistant Director, Office of the Chief Operating Officer, will be the sponsor of the work. 15 A visual presentation of the key elements of the methodology is at Annex A. 3

4 Software solutions 16 There are a number of off the shelf software solutions broadly titled Project and Portfolio Management (PPM) software. The solutions generally deliver some key benefits: a They provide much more readily available flow of information on project delivery than traditional methods of coordinating and consolidating status reports. b They can help to enable the implementation of a methodology, by incorporating templates and checklists for gateway reviews, and enforce governance by referring data and/or decisions to relevant roles in projects. 17 In September 2014 we considered our requirements, along with some of the solutions available, and developed a set of system requirements that we believe would lend value to implementing the methodology. 18 We propose going out to tender to test if any providers can fully meet those requirements and complement our work to implement the methodology. For clarity, we propose implementing the methodology regardless of procuring a system, but think it worthwhile to consider if a software solution would lend significant value to what we are trying to achieve. 19 A broad timeline for the work is at Annex B. 4

5 Supporting information How this issue relates to the corporate strategy and business plan 20 This work will support the achievement of strategic aim five in the Corporate Strategy: to work better together to improve our overall effectiveness, our responsiveness and the delivery of our regulatory functions. It will also enable the successful delivery of projects that we deliver in support of all our strategic aims set out in the Corporate Strategy. If you have any questions about this paper please contact: Robert Scanlon, Head of Corporate Business Planning,

6 5 Project Management Methodology Key elements of the methodology Annex A A1

7 5 Project Management Methodology Annex A Scrutiny & Review Group Project proposal Project proposal Periodic Routine Project proposal Project Management Office Identify type of project & degree of control Methodology Methodology Methodology Methodology Project type 1 Light control Project type 2 Light control Project type 3 Light control Project type 4 Light control Project type 1 Heavy control Project type 2 Heavy control Project type 3 Heavy control Project type 4 Heavy control

8 5 Project Management Methodology Indicative timeline for development and implementation Annex B B1

9 Timelines 20/01 PRB 14/04 PRB 18/06 PRB Updates & key decisions Desk research / team Workshops Define the methodology Methodology documented Training Implement Tender Evaluate Implement system (option) Systems solution to support methodology Jan Feb March Apr May June July