Tracking Initiative Benefits

Projects are executed in order to achieve some sort of value or benefit to an organization. In single-installment projects, the tracking of benefits takes place after a project is completely implemented.  With other more complex (phased) programs, the organization should see incremental step benefits achieved throughout the total life of a program.

The challenge for all projects leaders is that when benefits are not tracked, they tend to melt into everyday operating costs.  In some cases, goodness can disappear and this makes it difficult for organizations to determine whether or not a project has been a success.

It’s critical for project leaders to reflect benefits realization.  Fail to achieve this project step and you don’t have the credibility to reflect true ROI. This will make it difficult to get future buy-in.

So, you know you need to track benefits realized but it’s a struggle for a variety of reasons.  I have seen many companies struggle with tracking benefits and so you certainly are not alone in this.

Try using the following steps when measuring/tracking project benefits:

1. Ensure that you have complete alignment on exactly what the actual benefits will be.  Don’t wait for these changes to materialize later on; if you want to measure something, you need to understand what it is.   You will also need to ensure that you account for concurrent projects within the organization and what their impact might be on your result.  Avoid having two projects competing for the same benefit. 
2. Understand what data will need to be collected in order to measure the benefit.  What information are you going to need to receive in order to properly measure impact?  Spend some time on this step to make sure you really get it. 
3. Establish a collection process and structured report format to communicate result.  This means alignment with the sponsor/business on not only what the format should look like but also consensus on what the baseline is for the benefit itself.  This might require a lot of work to mine/analyze past data, but this task is completely necessary if you are going to accurately assess result.
4. Assign measurement accountability.  Who is on point to measure? Someone must be tasked with collecting and assessing the information.  Be transparent in that this measurement may have to go on for some time; make sure that when you nominate someone to perform this function that they have the capacity and skill-set to do it correctly.

Based on my experience,  its common for companies to fall victim to point #3 and then attempt to over-compensate with #4.  But the single biggest oversight I have seen, especially in larger matrix organizations, is the failure to acknowledge the impact of competing projects on benefit.  Rushing through benefit definition and ignoring the need for alignment can be disastrous and benefit failure. This, of course leads to frustration and will undermine the potential credibility of future projects.

A Couple Of Last Points

Just because a benefit is intangible doesn’t mean it is of ‘no value’ and it certainly doesn’t mean it can’t be tracked. On the other of the coin, there might be benefits that simply cannot be tracked.

In both cases, be clear to everyone up front that there is no monetary value associated to the benefit.  If a benefit cannot be tracked, then call that out too and avoid burning effort. Be transparent above all else, but stress the value the project brings in whatever language is appropriate.

John Woodward has 15 years of experience making Supply Chains work better and smarter. And he can help you too. 

Feel free to contact him to discuss your current or future needs

john.woodward@sympatico.ca

http://ca.linkedin.com/in/johntwoodward

The Project Checklist Every PM Needs (And Every Sponsor Should Be Looking For)

Imagine Baking A Cake...A Really Really Super Career-Impacting Wedding Cake...
At this point, I have received eight requests from followers to articulate a sound checklist that every Project Manager should employ to ensure that complete project alignment.  This type of checklist is invaluable if you are:

• A sponsor who wants to ensure all Ts are crossed
• A newly appointed PM to an existing project
• A new PM who is looking to ensure that they havent left anything off the docket

I strongly encourage you to put these list into you standard practice.

Ask yourself the following questions:

1. Has the scope of the project been completely defined?
2. Do you know the project requirements?
3. Is there a solid project plan?
4. Do you have the resources and suitable team members required?
5. Do you have a way to track, manage and mitigate progress?
6. Do you have a format that offers a suitable progress report? Do you have alignment on update frequency?
7. Has the format for the progress review meetings been set and aligned?
8. Do you have the means and resources to manage internal/external dependencies?
9. Do you have an iron-clad contingency plan?
10. Do you need help from your sponsor?
11. Are all team members working well together?
12. Do you have a way to manage quick wins?
13. Do you feel comfortable about how to rollout deliverables and finish the project? Will you know when the project is 'done'
14. Are you comfortable that you have the resources in place to optimize what you learn throughout the life of the project?
15. Do you have a way to manage assumptions and issues (document, track, measure and evaluate)?
16. Do you have a credible change control process documented and in place?
17. Do you have a process in place to manage the expectations of  all shareholders?
18. Is there an appropriate level of administrative support in place to aid the project?
19. Do you have the right project performance indicators in places? Are they SMART?
20. Do you understand the more advanced PM tools being used? Do you have duplicate resources in place to support should a main resource depart?
21. Do you have a strategy in place to manage multiple project priorities? Has there been a strategy put in place to manage multiple priorities?
22. Do you have a plan in place that will allow you to manage and communicate benefits realization as they emerge?  Can this data be compared to the business case?

If you are a Project Manager currently leading an initiative and you answered "NO" to any of the questions shown above, put all other tasks aside and delve into addressing the gap quickly.  You will be glad that you did! And if you need any help with addressing these key issues, I am available to support you.
If you answered "YES" to everything on this list, then you certainly don't need me! Consider yourself on a firm footing for success!

Improving Employee Engagement: Survey Monkey Doesn't Cut It

Can You Make Everybody Happy All The Time?
Have you ever tried to address staff level engagement? If so, you'll know that it's difficult because each staff member is motivated/demotivated by different work-related toggles. So what do you do? Many managers have attempted to use web-based surveys to delve into root cause issues. But my bet is that method isn’t for you. There are a few things you should know before you implement fact-finding process. In this post, I’ll talk to what I did in the past and what you need to know to make sure you steer your process in the right direction and will enable you to successfully drive staff engagement.



Tell Me Why You Arent...Or Else!
First of all, I have to admit that when it comes to soliciting employee feedback, I am not a fan of blind surveys.  Staff response is low and surveys are notorious for skewing results; only your most vocal employees will take the time to share commentary and when they do, chances are the input is not representative of the whole. 

Interesting sidebar-I actually had a manager not too long ago that told his management team to force staff to complete surveys under threat of discipline/termination.  I cant think of a more effective way to skew survey results than with such threats.  And how can you really take the results seriously with such a starting point!

Another fact that is lost in many initiatives is that managers and directors are staff too.  They must be engaged in the corporate process to drive corporate success.  Why do so many initiatives gravitate immediately to lower level staff and completely ignore upper level management is a complete mystery to me!

What Has Worked For Me In The Past

What you need is effective two-way communication between staff and the fact-finding process. Simply churning out a survey doesn’t measure up because surveys are only a meaningful one-way communication tool.  The anonymity afforded to the respondent makes the survey data easy to discount.

I have led engagement initiatives several times in the past and so let me tell you about what I did at a client successfully a few years ago. Remember that each situation is different, but I encourage you to read into the common themes as a blueprint.

I invited all staff to partake in a review of employee engagement.  I posted sign-up sheets throughout all facilities and asked for true cross-functional participation. Once I had tallied the participant list (and ensured I had critical mass to proceed), I ran a series of work sessions to short-list core issues. I then brought the team together in an open workshop and drove deeper level discussion/debate around the most prevalent issues.  I incorporated senior management in the initial workshops (so that I could incorporate their views) but I excused them from the open workshop as it would have skewed the discussions.

As the open workshop executed, it became obvious to me what staff members were engaged enough to help manage corrective change.  During final presentations (with senior management), these individuals were given enough limited informal authority to delve into the issues deeper and propose later date recommendations. What was most powerful was when I walked the total audience through a comparison between the lower level staff and upper management dis-engagers.  I have done this process on three separate occasions and the key themes are always 9r% similar. Obviously the perspective is a little different, but root challenge remains essentially the same.

Over the proceeding weeks, staff level work teams (sponsored by senior management) made minor process changes to larger workstreams.  These changes really were not dramatic, but what was impactful was the way the process made participants feel: acknowledged, involved and empowered.  

If you want an engaged workforce, you need foster these base ingredients.

Increased Engagement Is A Focus On Trust, Involvement And Empowerment

Staff engagement is a challenging endeavor. Try to take it to the base common denominators discussed above, and you will be well on your way to improving the status quo.

John Woodward has 15 years of experience making Supply Chains work better and smarter. And he can help you too. 

Feel free to contact him to discuss your current or future needs

john.woodward@sympatico.ca

http://ca.linkedin.com/in/johntwoodward

The Checklist: A Simple Approach To Effective Time Management

It seems like every work environment struggles with prioritizing workload.  Humans are not born effective time managers and today’s modern office has countless technological distractions that can and will steal your precious time away if you're not careful.

It may sound simple, but creating a checklist is probably one of the most important steps towards effective time management.  You would be shocked by how few people actually list their tasks. A common reason I have heard is, "It wastes time that I could be using to do my job in the first place!"


But in reality, by documenting and prioritizing your ‘chores’, you are effectively freeing up time that can be allocated to tasks of greatest importance.  


If your work team is not checklist inclined, this blog entry will empower you to bring some sanity into their workweek.

Here are some vital steps to follow:

1.    Pick your platform.  I tend not too get very picky about this one.  It largely depends on the format and the level of complexity within the organization.  A note pad might work. Excel/Microsoft Work are also very common platforms. I have seen people even use 'Task Stickers' in the current versions of MS Office (although this format isn’t ideal in my opinion as its not as transferable).  


            But the point here is to choose a format that will work for the individual.

2.    Write down your tasks.  You need to write down everything that you do and preferably indicate whether the tasks are one-offs or are daily/weekly in frequency.  How you manage these tasks will be dependent on frequency and importance.

I am a big proponent of asking my teams to share their weekly tasks as a group.  In my past, I have asked all of my direct reports to create an active list of tasks that must be completed.  When initiating this process, I ask team members to bring their list to meetings.  Giving each member a couple of minutes to discuss what is on the plate allows all team members to ensure that the proper work was being done efficiently and equitably throughout the group.  Again, simple stuff but you would be shocked to know how little this is happening in today's work environment.

As I mentioned above, importance and time investment are the most vital dependencies when determining management of tasks.  When I have staff who struggle to complete tasks, I usually coach the individual to use the following graphic to assess their workload:

A template such as this can raise some provocative questions around why tasks are even being done, why they haven’t been automated and what tasks need to drop down in order to effectively deliver role value.

3.    Stay disciplined. Its vital that once this process is implemented, that you and your team stick to it.  Constantly monitor what is on the list and what is incomplete. Consider the commitment of a task as a promise of delivery.  If too many high important tasks are sitting for too long, its either because they are not important OR the resource is struggling.  Either way, it allows you as manager to escalate issues proactively and minimize impact.  This method of task prioritization is a perfect tool to drive personal productivity and accountability throughout your team.  It most certainly is worth the time.

The Beginning: Why A Blog? Why Now?

Why Create A Blog?

I have toyed with the idea of creating a business-related blog for some time now.  At first, the idea seems to be pretty labour intensive.  The pressure of producing a (literate) end product may take what could be an act of love and turn it into a laborious task.  But I think at this point in my career, I have a lot of work-related experience to give back to my peers.  Perhaps some fledgling millennial will find career-enhancing wisdom in my commentary.

I am not looking to bore anybody with this blog.  In fact, I am going to create the type of end-product that I myself would be willing to read: it has to be a fast informative read that offers almost instant applicability in today’s Supply Chain environment. This publication will also allow potential clients to assess my professional business maturity/intelligence and potential fit.

Inspiration

My content is going to come from you, the reader. I have asked my broader network and working community to provide me with Supply Chain related issues that negatively impact the productivity of their functional team or company.  This blog will serve to broadcast my response to these issues.  I might also offer anecdotal evidence of how I have attempted to deal with similar issues in the past. My response has always generated something beneficial: either my tactic provided the desired result OR it didn’t and I learned from the experience.  Either way, the topic offers you the reader the chance to empathize and learn.