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Need for Improved
Project Management
The CIO of a Fortune 500 wholesale club
chain was concerned that a plan to evolve
the IS organization into a more
customer-focused entity was having an
unintended, negative effect on project and
change execution.
He observed vast inconsistencies in the way
different team members planned and carried
out projects and system changes. He
questioned the adequacy of the
organization’s existing project lifecycle
and change management standards, which in
many cases, were no longer being adhered to
by team members. He enlisted Sophelle to
assess the viability of the IS
organization’s current project lifecycle,
project management capabilities, and change
management procedures.
Sophelle's Assessment
Interviews with senior IS Management
revealed that the existing project lifecycle
was not being followed consistently, and
that project managers were taking individual
approaches to every project, resulting in
various, inconsistent and often poor project
tracking, communication, and documentation
methods throughout the organization.
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Challenge
– A loosely defined project
lifecycle and poor project
management hindered project success.
Solution
- Complete project lifecycle
re-engineering and training in
project management best practices.
Result
- Clearly understood procedural and
deliverable expectations for every
project. |
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In
general, the organizational culture fostered
an often imprudent focus on simply ‘getting
things done’, without fully considering all
impacted parties or systems, and without
regard for general best practices.
Ultimately, Sophelle collaborated with IS
management to establish the following goals:
- Institute repeatable processes and achieve
predictable outcomes
- Establish capability based on the
organization, not the individual
- Optimized performance
- Increase visibility into project and
change management processes
- Realize more efficient use of resources
- Achieve higher quality deliverables
Solution
To achieve the established goals,
Sophelle managed a complete re-engineering
of the organization’s project lifecycle and
change management procedures. With input
from IS team members, and the strong backing
of IS management, Sophelle clearly
documented the lifecycle and change
management processes.
To facilitate the execution of projects and
changes, Sophelle developed straightforward
project management tools and templates,
leveraging in-house technology whenever
possible. Throughout the re-engineering
process, Sophelle consultants conducted
training sessions, guiding IS team members
through the transition to a new, better
project lifecycle.
Tools
- Created a comprehensive set of lifecycle
templates for use in all projects including:
Meeting Minutes, Meeting Agendas,
Requirements Specification, Technical
Design, System and User Test Plans, Project
Milestone Checklists, Project Plan.
- Established centralized repositories and
retention methods for all project and change
related documentation, as well as lifecycle
reference materials.
Technology- Oversaw the development and introduction
of a custom change management database used
to track business plan projects, as well
production system changes.
Training
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Conducted regular training sessions with
the entire IS organization on newly
developed, tools, and technologies.
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Comprehensive lifecycle and change
management documentation, as well as more
focused, quick-reference ‘cheat sheets’ made
available to all IS team members.
Result
The combination of new tools, training,
and the enthusiastic sponsorship of the IS
management team served to greatly ease the
transition to the new lifecycle and change
management procedures. The result has been
regarded as a major accomplishment by IS
management. All IS team members, as well
as management, have a much clearer
understanding of the procedural and
deliverable expectations required for
every project and change. This increased
understanding and visibility into the
process has facilitated adoption of the
new lifecycle, reducing potential risks to
production systems, and improving the
output quality of both projects and changes. |
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