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On-time delivery is the El Dorado of project management. No one wants to be late for a key deadline. As the deadline approaches, and you’re running late, the project manager and the project teamwork work like crazy to stay on time.

Everyone works late and comes in at weekends. This generates stress, overload, even burnout. There’s a better way to deliver on time. It’s called time-boxing. What is a time-box? A time-box has a fixed end date, which is fixed, but the work to be done is variable. If you are running late, you have a clear, pre-approved way of doing less. If you have less to do, you can probably get back on schedule. Before the time-box starts, you need to list the work to be done, and then get agreement on how to prioritize it. Here’s an example, for a simple project to tidy up and repaint a garage.

Without a time-box, you might list the needs in any order, perhaps in order of work:

1. Sort content of boxes
2. Recycle junk
3. Install new lighting
4. Buy new tools
5. Paint floor
6. Paint walls & ceiling
7. Paint woodwork

Without a time-box, if you run short of time, you may have to rush the last painting tasks. If you want to do a good job, you’ll be painting until midnight, and completely stressed out… By using a time-box, you can keep calm and avoid panic. You will focus on the essentials, and make sure that those essentials are delivered on time.

The trick is, before you start work, you should get the time-box agreed. You need to prioritise the list of needs.

 

Prioritised list

-- Must have --

• Paint walls & ceiling
• Paint woodwork
• Recycle junk

 

-- Should have --

• Paint floor
• Install new lighting

 

-- Could have --

• Sort content of boxes
• Buy new tools

 

If we are a bit late, we will drop one or more items from the “could have” list. If we are seriously behind schedule, all the “could have” items and one or more “should have” items won’t get done. We will plan our work accordingly, with the “must-have” items early in the schedule and the “could have” items later.

The first time you use time-boxing, you might hit the problem that people can’t or won’t prioritize their needs. Your boss might say that everything is a top priority. Nothing is negotiable. That’s normally not true, especially if on-time delivery is important. You may need to “educate” your boss. You may need to help people think through the real priorities.

If you are using a method like PRINCE2, you can add time-boxing to your work. In PRINCE2 terms, a stage or a work-package could be a time-box. You commit to deliver on time (zero tolerance on time), but you have a lot of flexibility on what you delivery, using your prioritised list of needs (so you have high tolerance on scope).

Another choice for methods is to move to an Agile method such as Agile ATERN(with AgilePM certification), which is built around time-boxes and prioritised lists. This method uses the acronym MuSCoW for Must Have, Should Have, Could Have, Won’t Have to help you remember to prioritize.

So if you are always rushing to hit your deadlines, you have a better way forward. You have a way to avoid last-minute stress and panic. If need to deliver on time, then it’s time to start using time-boxes.

Article republished from Milestones by Jeff Ball

 

Jeff Ball

Jeff has 25 years of Project and Programme management experience. He has delivered end-to-end IT projects in challenging multi-cultural environments; As Programme and PMO Manager, Jeff has set up P3O structures at NEC Computers and Fortis Bank; and managed Programme offices for major enterprise transformation programmes at NEC Computers and BNP Investment Partners. He is a multilingual trainer for PRINCE2, MSP, P3O, MoP and AGILE Project Management, able to perform courses in English, and French.

When in 2001 Claudia set up her training, consulting and assessment company for project, program and project portfolio management she had a vision of making an impact on improving project success. She had seen too many projects fail, organisation wasting money and resources, and the aspired benefits not being achieved.

Who is Claudia and why did she do it? Read her responses to our interview below.

 

What's your current job title? What do you actually do?

I currently have 3 jobs. I am the Owner and CEO of Profeo Ltd. – the consulting company I founded in 2001 which specialises in supporting organisations in the implementation of project, programme and portfolio management standards and the set-up of PMO.

As a consulting company, my employees and I worked with many organisations establishing best practices in project, program and portfolio management.

QRP International and the training sector of Profeo merged in 2017 and I am now also a Managing Partner at QRP International acting as the Business Development Manager for QRP’s training portfolio in Switzerland.

In 2010 the Business School of Lausanne (BSL) asked me if I wanted to take over the Project Management training for the MBA and EMBA students. I ended up becoming an associate professor at the Business School of Lausanne where I teach the subjects I have been involved with since the beginning of the 90ies to the master students of International Business.

Being an associate professor at BSL forces me to stay up to date with all the newest trends in those fields in order to assure that what my students learn remains relevant and reflects the current practices. I need to keep informed on the new trends in organisational management and other issues organisations are facing in this millennium.

In my courses, I do not just lecture but make my students execute programs and projects and in 2019 I made them launch a program and execute three initial projects for the hospital sector, amongst which there was a project to execute a survey and identify the Project Management Maturity in the hospitals of Switzerland.

 

Why the hospital sector?

We won a tender with the Insel Spital in Berne in 2006 and I was fascinated by the challenges the hospitals are facing and therefore decided that I needed and wanted to learn more about that sector.

My first client was instrumental in “teaching” me and I have attended workshops, conferences and lectures further extending my knowledge about this sector ever since.

By and by, we developed an expertise in the sector and gained more customers where we performed assessments, delivered consulting and trained employees in different departments.

I think it is one of the most challenged industries and I believe one which can profit from professional portfolio AND project management the most, BUT a cultural change will be required.

 

What makes projects in the hospital environment exceptional?

I cannot easily sum this up. It is definitely one of the most challenging industry: rapid changes of trends, exploding costs, new technologies, big data, more “customers”, changing “customer” behaviour, outdated legacy systems, not enough staff; I could go on.

To counter these challenges, a sheer enormous number of projects need to be executed. Many projects are completely novel; the technologies are new, the outcome will change established work practices etc. Hence, many projects are highly complex and risky,

Profeo Ltd., 04.01.2020, Project_PM Healthcare Summit_Interview Questions_E_V001.docx 2/2 AND expertise is difficult to come by. Too much needs to be done in a short time, and like all industries – or even more so the hospital sector – resources are short.

 

How can Project Management best practice standards improve performance in hospitals?

The staff have enough challenges figuring out how to implement completely novel technologies and approaches. One thing that could – however – be simplified is how to manage the projects. So, if they had a standard and tools in place this would mean that there would be one worry less.

 

What's your advice on how to deal with these challenges?

Project Management cannot be looked at in isolation. Without a clear strategy supported by a structured, supported and agile Portfolio Management, the best and most comprehensive Project Management Standard will not achieve its objective of preparing the hospitals for the challenges to come.

Also, as I said before, many of the projects to be implemented will require an organisational change. Therefore the topic of Change Management needs more attention and proven practices need to be executed (maybe through MSP) in order to ensure changes are lasting and stakeholder resistance can be overcome.

Hospitals should analyse their greatest weaknesses and improve step by step. The survey my students executed and its results will hopefully help them to establish a road map.

  Since 1984, Claudia Kary has managed and supervised various projects of varying complexity for companies in various industries around the world. In 2001, she founded the globally active company Profeo Ltd, based in Zurich. They set up the mechanisms within an organization and ensure that the entire organization has the necessary capability to align projects with the corporate strategy. Claudia Kary on Linkedin

QRP International Switzerland launched its site at the beginning of 2019 and it has already collected thousands of views. A big thank you for your loyalty throughout this past year.

Would you like to know the 10 topics most visualized in 2019 on our 'News' Section? Here are the top posts of this year. The opportunity for you, we hope, is to (re)discover some of them:

 

1. Scrum Master vs Project Manager
2. Challenges and Opportunities in PMO. Interview with Tom Van Medegael
3. What is a Project Manager?
4. ITIL 4 Foundation Exam
5. The Project Manager role in PRINCE2
6. Challenges and opportunities in IT Program Management. Interview with Younes Idrissi Kaitouni
7. Challenges and Opportunities in Agile Change Management. Interview with Melanie Franklin
8. Challenges and Opportunities in Project Management. Interview with Dong R. Jeong
9. What is Service Manager? The role and responsibilities
10. What is a Scrum Master: the role and responsibilities

 

The new year is already approaching and we will continue to offer you more and more relevant articles to best meet your expectations.

If you have any questions that you would like us to answer, topics that are of particular interest to you, or if you would like to collaborate with us in writing blog posts, please contact us at switzerland@qrpinternational.com.

We would like to take this opportunity to inform you that each new post is announced on our QRP International Belgium Linkedin page. You can also subscribe to our monthly newsletter if you prefer.

 

We wish you all a very Happy New Year 2020!

For the majority of enterprises, managing change is the hardest challenge ever and in a fast-paced ever-changing environment, the challenge is getting bigger and bigger.

Organizations are dealing with change in different ways: some of them own a well-defined strategy to proactively deal with change whereas, some others haven’t a strategic vision and they respond to the continual change (competition, development, innovation) in a reactive manner.

The scope of a program is the coordination of all the activities involved in a change initiative accordingly to the company strategy. A successful program enhances change through managing, controlling and coordinating the enactment of a series of projects which share the same objectives in terms of results and benefits.

Change is obtained mainly through projects but Programme Management and Project Management are well distinguished. Actually,  a program can include projects enacted in different business areas, it can be a standalone program or it can be part of a portfolio so, thinking about a program as a huge project is misleading.

 

Here two fundamental characteristics of a program:

• it has to fulfil one or more strategic objectives,
• its focus is on Changement when Changement realizes, the program is to be considered closed.

 

The difference between a project and a program is not in the length: the key concept is that a project is focused on delivering a specific output while a programme may deliver ongoing outcomes and business benefits.

 

So, what is Program Management?

In Axelos’ words Programme Management “exists to coordinate, direct and oversee implementation of a set of interrelated projects". Both in Project and Programme Management the planning of the workload and tasks is essential but in Programme Management planning is tied up with the business strategy more than being dependant to specific results (deliverables) as happens in Project Management.

Moreover, Programme Management implicates also departments of the organization linked to Changement in order to enable Changement correctly inside the business areas involved. When change ends, the involved business areas will find themselves in a situation with a changed business as usual which is expected to generate benefits in contrast to previous BAU.

 

Programme Management: why is it important?

The majority of modern and structured organizations use project management methodologies but project management alone isn’t always sufficient. Program Management is necessary to do deal with complex and broaden requests for change in fact when facing great changes, risk and complexity increase.

An organization can manage several projects at a time. In the eventuality of a complex change, there could be several projects for a long period of time and it gets harder and harder to manage them by utilizing just Project Management tools.

Moreover, projects usually have a short length and the project team starts working on a new project once the final output is delivered. As a consequence, project teams did not always look after the benefits realization or that the output is delivered correctly to operation teams. The inner nature of the project is focussing on the results and not on medium-long term benefits.

 

The pivotal importance of programme management is on the maintenance of visibility and control on several projects.

Thanks to Programme Management together with project management, the organization can count on a set of skills capable of ensuring a concrete return on investment of their change initiatives.

The role of the Programme Management and, of course, of the Programme Manager is pivotal for the modern organization which have to be well aware of the risks and impact that big projects can have on their business.

 

Organizational change has always been Serge's main topic of interest.

• How do people perform as teams in their daily work?
• How can management sustain excellence and performance in the long term?
• How can change be implemented efficiently and without disrupting current performance?

Business process management and project management are the two key disciplines enabling organizational change.

When in the early 2000s, project management started to gain more attention, Serge helped establish this discipline in large multinational corporations and foster professional exchange by co-founding and volunteering in local project management associations like the PMI Switzerland Chapter and eco-HERMES.

Five years ago, Serge started his consulting and training company "processCentric GmbH" with a clear focus on business process management, which is the area where he sees a lot of potential for organizations in the coming years.

Project management has not lost any of its importance to him, but it has changed from being his area of focus to simply being one of the key means for implementing business process change. Besides offering training in business, rules and case management (sometimes grouped under the term "business analysis"), he shares his knowledge and experience of project management in training courses and university lectures.

Who is Serge and how did he get to where he now stands? Read his responses to our interview below.

 

What's your current job title? What do you actually do?

I am working as a consultant (and CEO) for processCentric GmbH, a consulting company specialized in business process, rules and case management, which I founded 5 years ago. As part of my job, I also offer training related to my consulting both as an instructor in continuous development courses and as a lecturer at the University of Fribourg and the Berne University of Applied Sciences.

 

How did you end up as a project management trainer and consultant for the hospital sector?

I don’t think that I "ended up" in anything; with every client, I learn new things and continue to develop my skills. I love working with people who want to improve in they are doing in their job, which is what business process management is about. Very often, a key enabler for implementing change is project management.

This is why, even though my main interest is in business process management, project management has always got a large share of my attention. The hospital sector is particularly interesting in this respect because here, both daily work and project outcomes demand zero defects which in parallel, technical progress and pressure on costs are continually increasing.  

What makes projects in the hospital environment exceptional?

The hospital environment is very interdisciplinary. As I mentioned in the previous question, errors or defects cannot be accepted in many areas of work. At the same time, staff size is limited, technological progress is breath-taking and politics continue to squeeze on the cost side.

When it comes to project management, this makes it important to pay particular attention to risk and quality management, which for me are the key disciplines in project management anyway.  

How can Project Management best practice standards improve performance in hospitals?

It's all about focus! When I analyse business processes, one of the most detrimental factors to performance is a distraction. Hospital staff have very important duties which they must focus on in order to assure the functioning of the organization as a whole for the good of patients' health.

They must be able to rely on infrastructure and processes put in place by projects. We must not bother them with projects running into difficulties. Professionally managed projects should run like a well-oiled machine so that nobody directly involved in them will not even take notice.  

What's your advice on how to deal with these challenges?

Be aware that project management is a discipline on its own and requires attention. It is not something that can be done well by anybody, without proper training and with the lowest possible priority besides having dozens of other responsibilities.

Allocate appropriate resources to project management to improve bottom-line performance. Hospitals are continuously changing systems and the means for assuring smooth implementation of change is project management. This makes it a key discipline for you!   Serge completed his studies of mathematics (dipl. math.) and computer science (dipl. Inf.), with a doctorate in computer science (Dr. sc. Inf.). In parallel to his professional activities, he continued his education in business management (MBA in Business Administration), project management (MSc in Project Management, PMI PMP), process management (OMG OCEB Business Advanced, IASSC Lean Six Sigma Black Belt) and service management (ITIL v4 Foundation). He founded processCentric GmbH in 2015.

Business Analyst (BA) is someone who helps organizations improving processes, services, products through data analysis, documents and assess the business model or its integration with technology (help to bridge the gap between IT and the business). The Business Analyst is accountable for understanding business change needs, assessing their impact on the business, analysing and documenting requirements and supporting the communication and delivery of requirements with relevant stakeholders.

 

The role of the Business Analyst

The Business Analysts main responsibility is to help businesses to implement technology solutions in a cost-effective way. The professional should determine the requirements of a project or program and communicate them clearly to stakeholders.

This person is the professional responsible for facilitating technical solutions to business problems. In addition, a Business Analyst defines, analyzes and documents requirements by studying the overall business and information needs of an organization.

 

The Responsibilities of the Business Analyst

The responsibilities of a business analyst can vary from business to business. Some responsibilities may be limited to IT-related projects only, while other organisations may involve the business analysts in areas such as sales, finance, marketing or operations.

Anyway, the business analyst needs to maintain a holistic view of the business systems with a focus on 4 key areas:

• Organisation
• People
• Process
• Technology

 

The business analyst’s common responsibilities are:

• Creating a detailed business analysis, outlining problems, opportunities and solutions for a business.
• Analyse the structure of a business, how it uses technology and what its goals are.
• Formulate ways for businesses to improve.
• Strategic analysis.
• Process and value stream mapping.
• Skills and competency mapping.
• Help design, document and maintain system processes.
• Oversee the implementation of new technology and systems.
• Communicate key insights and findings to the product team.
• Defining business requirements and reporting them back to stakeholders.

 

The Competencies of the Business Analyst

The competencies according to the BABOK® guide are identifiable in six main skill sets:

1. Analytical Thinking & Problem-Solving.
2. Behavioural Characteristics.
3. Business Knowledge.
4. Communication Skills.
5. Interaction Skills.
6. Software Applications.

 

The Analytical Thinking & Problem Solving competencies are the core skills for a business analyst and include

• Creative Thinking,
• Decision Making,
• Problem Solving,
• Critical Thinking.

 

Behavioural Characteristics skills are fundamental to get Trust since the BA will access to information, systems and other high-value assets and will be involved in critical projects. These skills include

• Interpersonal and consultative skills
• Time management and organisational skills

  The Business Knowledge gives BAs an added advantage and includes

• Business Principles & Practices
• Industry Knowledge
• Organizational Knowledge

 

The BA must ensure to Communicate key insights and findings in a clear manner and this is the reason why the Communication Skills are key competences like

• Oral and written communication skills
• Visual Communication
• Active listening

 

The Business Analysts facilitate interactions between stakeholders in order to help them resolve disagreements regarding the priority and nature of requirements, to help stakeholders articulate their needs. These interaction-skills includes:

• Facilitation & Negotiation
• Leadership and management skills
• Teamwork

 

A business analyst is expected to have knowledge in applications that help his/her daily business activity, and s/he needs to be able to use many types of software from the most popular to the most specialised like document management systems, content management systems, which are sometimes built specifically for organisation s/he is working for.