Overview
Many projects fail. Worse, as projects become more complex, and
as organizations grow and take on more projects, an increasing percentage
of projects fail. There are a bevy of damning statistics that show
how frequently projects fail, under perform, exceed budget, etc.
Now the good news - there is a well established, management paradigm
that significantly improves project delivery. Central to this
paradigm is the establishment of a Project Office, a small team or
department that serves executive management, project managers, and project
sponsors. A Project Office can either support all projects (an
Enterprise Project Office) or an important subset of projects (a Program
Office).
Ascendant Services has a solid track record of implementing and
operating a Project Office, with tangible improvements in the success and
selection of projects.
Key Benefits of Implementing a Project Office
Failed projects cost money.
Delayed and over budget projects cost money.
Projects which, upon completion, fail to deliver what was expected cost
money.
Non-strategic projects that crowd out the strategic ones cost money.
They cost a lot of money - right from your bottom line. They
represent lost opportunity - that's money from your top line.
That's why the return on investment (ROI) for a Project Office is so
high. A Project Office iteratively removes these costs from your
environment - and it does so by improving your success rate in capturing
opportunity. Here are some examples of how this happens:
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Project performance is
measured. Accurate, current status regarding projects is available
throughout your company. The old adage "If you measure it,
performance will improve" is true - just by tracking and publishing
project metrics, accountability is increased and performance will
improve. |
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Mature project management
methodologies are introduced into your organization, improving project
success. |
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All to often, companies find
themselves with too many projects, most of which are considered top
priority; A Project Office avoids this trap through communication to,
and facilitation of, executive management. |
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A Project Office can identify
resource bottlenecks before they occur, allowing your company an
opportunity to proactively respond. Most companies react to
resource bottlenecks as they occur, resulting in budget overruns and
delays. Be a step ahead of your competition. |
| Function |
Objective |
Value |
|
Strategic Planning |
Provides the executive management with
timely, insightful advice that can be used to make strategic decisions
through analysis and cross-functional coordination (e.g. Development
Mgmt., Project Mgmt., etc.). In particular, helps executives examine
the entire portfolio of projects and make coordinated, careful
decisions about funding and prioritizing individual projects. |
|
Enables executive
management to make strategic decisions. |
|
Assures project ROI will
be determined and considered. |
|
Provides a liaison
between project teams and executive management. |
|
Offers a current and
accurate view of the project queue, individual project status, and
resource issues. |
|
|
Project Initiation |
Facilitates and formalizes the selection
of projects while guiding project initiators through the business
requirements gathering process. |
|
Project initiators
receive a formal introduction to a quality project management
paradigm. |
|
Controlled introduction
of new projects. |
|
Quantity of active
projects can be kept at a manageable level. |
|
Proactive communication
on why a project is accepted, held for further consideration, or
denied. |
|
|
Project Support |
Supports project teams throughout the
project lifecycle by providing advisory services and real-time
measures of project progress. |
|
Project managers develop
thorough understanding of standard processes and methodology. |
|
Project methodology
consistently applied across projects. |
|
Lessons learned captured
and applied to future projects. |
|
Early detection and
correction of schedule deviations. |
|
|
Standards & Methodology |
Establishes project management processes
and standards, along with a continuous improvement methodology, that
maximizes the probability of project success. |
|
Communicated and commonly
shared methodology and standards. |
|
Central location for
developing & improving methodology and standards. |
|
Project management
methodology automated via enterprise project management software. |
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