Project and Programme Management

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1. Start with a short brief – Gain authority from the budget holder to start work (email is fine)
2. Create a Business Case(s) – The what and why, but only needed if a ‘Return on Investment’ is required
3. Write the Project Initiation Document(s) – The how and by who, containing enough information to fully define each project
4. Develop the plan – Created with specialist software, such as Microsoft Project, but only circulated in formats that recipients can read such as PDF (you’ll be amazed who claims they didn’t see their action because they couldn’t open the attachment).
5. Maintain risk, issue and action Logs – Used to keep track of everything that occurs along the way
6. Produce regular highlight reports – Important for keeping key stakeholders and sponsors informed of progress
7. Always complete the Project and Programme – When you do, compare what was delivered against the original goals and objectives set
8. Formally close the Project and Programme – Capturing important lessons learned, because there is little point in making the same mistakes twice

Project and Programme management methodologies, such as Prince 2 and Managing Successful Programmes (MSP) are definitely an effective way of controlling projects & programmes, they are proven after all. The challenge is the extent they rely on an ability to accurately estimate the resources and timescales required in the first place and for Business Improvement activities in particular that is not always easy. Maintaining the right balance is key.

These are our project and programme lessons learned: –

1. The internal cost of managing a project or programme should equate to no more than 20% of the total project value.
2. Not sure on how to plan a project and programme, then identify ten key milestones, each delivered by ten tasks.
3. Find out how stakeholders want to be kept informed and include a ‘communication’ task as each milestone is delivered.
4. Create ‘pull’ from the business by agreeing budgetary savings ahead of the project or programme starting.
5. Change projects and programme are a great place to learn new skills and so be clear on how everyone directly involved is going to be developed and how they will use those new skills after the project or programme closes.
6. Assign your best people to work on these types of projects and programme and back-fill posts if needed. Understanding how to bring about lasting change is an immense skill to have in any organisation, reducing the need to bring in external consultants in the future.
7. Technology on its own is unlikely to improve anything, getting people on board is the key.
8. Listen and respond positively to all feedback, if someone has taken the trouble to comment it may provide an ideal opportunity to get them on board.
9. Never be afraid to stop and start again. Yes there will be red faces, but if you start to discover major flaws in the original thinking, what’s worse – stopping or carrying on?
10. Meet regularly as a project or programme team even if not much has changed, it is amazing how varied different team members understanding of the most basic aspects will be.

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