Get with the Programme

Projects and programmes are how we deliver an organisation's strategy. Benefits are the measure of delivered improvements.

But benefits are only achieved when many projects combine. Perhaps a portfolio of projects including reorganisation, IT/MIS implementation, training and various other change projects can deliver a value to a line manager. Finally, the improvements can only be realised when the business operations make use of the new capability and deliver real benefits.

WASTED INVESTMENTS

In 2002 the Gartner Group reported that only 25% of IT programmes in major US IT organisations delivered a benefit. Does that mean that 75% of their investment in improvement was completely wasted?

In another case, a major mortgage company invested an amount of money on a new system equal to £1,000 per customer – imagine the benefits of giving every customer just £1,000 off their mortgages.

The tortuous path from strategy through projects to benefits needs to be managed, and that is where programme management plays its key role.

PROGRAMME MANAGEMENT

Programme management (PgM) is focused on delivering beneficial change. It identifies the best possible portfolio of projects that an organisation can undertake; a portfolio that maximises the potential for improvement and yet lies within the organisation's ability to deliver the change.

PgM creates an environment in which projects can be managed, but delegates the projects to the project managers. It takes their outputs and delivers new capabilities to the business. It also monitors and encourages the business to make best use of its new capabilities but, in the end, it is the business that must deliver those benefits.

MEASURING IMPROVEMENT

PgM puts the focus firmly on improvement measured through benefits. Programme managers often have to dig deep, to keep asking questions, to get to the end benefits. The best benefits always come through the business's dealings with the outside world. One of the key issues is the changing nature of that 'outside world'.

Benefits, for example, include reduced wastage - but by how much? – reduced running costs - but will you really reduce staff numbers? – and better customer relations - but how will you measure this?

Try the 'project test'. Tell a friend or relative who has no connection with your industry about your next project. Outline your project to them and ask them to imagine paying for it. Then try to explain why you are doing it and remove the frown from their face. Here are some simple steps on the road to programme management maturity.

START A PROJECT REGISTER

If you don't have a project register, set one up now. If you do have one, bring it up to date. Make sure it is available to everyone who is interested. It should, as a minimum for every project, list:

• The project name
• The project manager
• Timescale
• Outline of its purpose
• Current status
• Your level of confidence in the data presented

Many people have a problem defining a project, but a simple definition is this: projects are listed on the project register.

SET UP A PROGRAMME BOARD

The programme board is responsible for approving, rejecting and combining projects as well as looking out for opportunities for synergy and overlap.

I am a firm believer in discovery projects where an independent group spends a little money putting each idea for change under a microscope to create a project initiation document (PID). A PID details the investment, benefits and risks of the proposed project in a consistent and fair manner.

Financial benefits of the projects are accepted by the relevant business users. Non-financial benefits are agreed with owners of the KPIs. Investment and risks are agreed with the project manager and project sponsor. The final PID is presented to the programme board for approval. The investment in discovery projects is small and yet the potential for savings is huge.

STOP ALL UNAPPROVED PROJECTS

The managing director of a big-marketing company recently make this announcement: "From this day forward, please do no work on anything other than projects on the project register and your line manager."

Through this simple announcement all sorts of maverick projects taking place 'under the counter' ran into the buffers. Resources were freed to work on taking the company forward towards its strategic goals. The organisation started fewer projects but completed many more.

DEFINING SUCCESS

Programmes and project are very different. The UK's 2012 Olympics provides a good analogy.

A project manager lines up to run the 110m hurdles. She has a start and a finish line and a lane to run within. There will be barriers on the way, but she knows what she has to do.

The programme manager has to make the 2012 Olympic Games a success. That implies defining what success means and bringing together a vast array of projects to deliver that success. Success might be financial, political, environmental or a combination of the three. It is certain that the measures of success will change over the next six years, but that's what programme management is all about.