Customer-centric Project Management August 23, 2013
Agenda Introductions The Journey to Customer-centric Project Management Who is Your Customer? Defining a Value-Driven Focus Engaging Your Customers Methods for Measuring Customer Satisfaction The Customer-Centric Project Manager & Organization Conclusion Q&A 2
The Presenters John Herlihy Sr. Principal/ Project Management Practice Lead Amy Easterling Sr. Project Manager, Project Management Practice 3
Measuring Project Success There can be tension between the traditional Scope / Schedule / Cost measures and your customers perception of the project s success vs. Schedule Which is more important, and why? 4
The Project is a Journey Phases Disciplines Inception Elaboration Construction Transition Requirements Architecture Analysis/Design Test Process & Training Deployment Post-Deployment Gather Requirements Where do you engage your stakeholders? Post Implementation Review 5
The Journey to Customer Centricity Command and Control Team members are given discrete work packages; limited interaction with stakeholders Collaborative Project Management Facilitative problem solving involves input from all team members; regular feedback from stakeholders Customer-centric Project Management Adds a focus on how things are done as well as what is done; work with stakeholders/customers to define and redefine success measures and project deliverables 6
Who is Your Customer? As a project manager, who is your customer? Project Sponsor Stakeholders Organizational Partners (Procurement, Finance, Marketing, Operational Support, etc.) Project Team Customers are internal colleagues or third-party providers who take service from another department. (Harrin & Peplow) 7
Stakeholder to Customer Stakeholders Require deliverables at the end of the project Customers Also require a service from the project management team Customer-centricity changes stakeholders into customers. 8
Two Sides of the Same Coin Business Change Ensures that the product is effectively used and embedded in the organization Project Management Delivers a specific product 9
Deliverable Focus + Value-Driven Focus I delivered what your asked for. I delivered something that will be beneficial to your organization. 10
Benefits of Engaged Customers Builds trust and credibility to improve working relationships Reduces conflict Builds understanding of issues Sets the stage for a good relationship with operational team 11
How to Engage Customers Establish executive sponsorship Ensure that the entire project team understands the project purpose and benefits Maintain a dialogue capture value criteria upfront and throughout the project Understand that expectations may change this is easier if customers are involved early and often 12
What About Unreasonable Requests? Change Control is still important engage the customer in the change control process Offer options Prioritize requests 13
The Customer-Centric Project Journey Phases Disciplines Inception Elaboration Construction Transition Requirements Architecture Analysis/Design Gather Requirements Prototype Demo High Level Design Review Detailed Design Review Test Test Planning Test Script Review Process & Training Deployment Post-Deployment Process & Training Development User Testing Implementation Planning Post Implementation Review 14
Measuring Customer-Centricity Agree on value-drivers Define a common measurement system (1-10 scale) Establish goals Define feedback frequency Establish feedback mechanism (survey, interview) Identify feedback collector (Project Manager, 3 rd party) Collate feedback (by portfolio, by project manager) 15
Methods to Measure Customer Satisfaction Exceed Method (Phil Peplow, Spire Healthcare) Net Promoter Score (Satmetrix Systems, Inc., Bain & Company and Fred Reichheld) Others Regardless of measurement system, customer feedback must be acted upon. 16
Customer-centric Project Management Skills Good listening skills Ability to articulate issues in non-judgmental way The ability to facilitate discussion through probing questions Confidence Belief in the concept of customer-centric project management Understanding of the rationale behind customer centricity Ability to translate complex concepts into language the customer can understand without appearing condescending 17
The Customer-Centric Project Manager As a Project Manager, how can you introduce the concept of customer centricity in your project and organization? Ensure that your team understands the WHY of the project at kickoff and throughout Continually focus on stakeholder/customer analysis Involve your customer(s) in the project Determine a methodology to measure satisfaction Get buy-in from your organization 18
The Customer-Centric Organization How does an organization need to change in order to embrace customer centricity? Executive sponsorship Clearly defined and consistent metrics and a way to capture them Focus on projects that add value to the organization Culture that is willing to change course when necessary 19
Conclusion Customer Centricity is a mindset Customers are the most important thing about a project Projects must deliver value Projects are a journey and the definition of value can change along the way 20
For More Information John Herlihy John.Herlihy@daugherty.com Amy Easterling Amy.Easterling@daugherty.com Reference material in appendix 21
Additional References Customer-Centric Project Management, Elizabeth Harrin and Phil Peplow The Ultimate Question: Driving Good Profits and True Growth, Fred Reichheld 22