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Many technology initiatives designed to bring about change within organizations do not work properly when you compare the performance obtained with the performance expected.

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In most cases, this failure occurs because, despite new project management systems having been implemented, it has not been possible to truly change the operational fabric of the company.

 

The premise mistakenly assumes "our team will use new methods, new technologies, processes and work systems, as they are designed or told to use them."

The reality is very different, the fact that the corporate structures decide to adopt a new methodology of work does not mean that they are implemented automatically in the practical terrain of each day. In order for the application to be carried out correctly, there must be a teaching process and control systems that guarantee this.

Without this, the result is that despite acting according to the new methodologies, in the background they are still acting according to the old systems, using the new methodologies as a patch to save appearances. In this way, duplications are generated that not only do not increase productivity, but can even reduce it.

In addition, in these situations where the users of the new tool are not used to defining exactly the linkage between talent and technology, it is usual to allow for the practice known as IT shadowing. When an employee or team faces a challenge in their work for which there is no technological solution, they will seek solutions in the market and will try to adopt them spontaneously. In large organizations, this leads to a clear erosion in workflows and a lack of visibility over the corporate technology portfolio.

Therefore, when evaluating the results obtained by the company after the application of the new working methodologies, it is possible that the results originally expected will not be obtained. However, it is not necessarily because the new technologies or working methods are not efficient, but that they have not been properly implemented. Often this implies a lack of attention to the specific needs of employees; to their ways of using technology; and a lack of interest in identifying the causes of friction.

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Organizational change management: the missing piece of the puzzle

Organizational change management is the missing piece that allows for change management to be properly implemented in a company. It is responsible for managing the changes in the structure of a company, both at the role distribution level and in the most cultural and personal aspect, to successfully implement a new working methodology.

Expressed in another way, organizational change management takes care of the more personal and human facet of change, which is usually implemented in a practical way through internal projects.

With all of this, it aims to focus on what has been proven to be the main cause of failure in the implementation of new methodologies. These are not technological problems or software failures, but the human factor: motivation, expectations, alignment between the needs of the organization and needs of daily performance, training, and so on.

However, at present most of the companies that intend to implement change in their work routines continue to focus their attention on other aspects and assuming some myths such as those set out below.

Myth 1: The more technology, the better

Undoubtedly, technology has revolutionized our lives, as well as the world of business. However, more technological sophistication does not necessarily imply greater productivity or efficiency at work.

Properly implemented, new technologies can make an infinite number of resources available to workers that allow them to be more productive, both in person and remotely. It also improves communication and coordination of working groups.

However, if they are not implemented properly it can lead to a decrease in productivity. Constantly checking e-mail and other communication systems, both business and private (such as social networks), make you lose concentration, interrupt tasks and artificially lengthen working times.

On the other hand, technological changes require a period of adaptation and learning in which productivity will inevitably be less, temporarily, as workers learn to use the new tools at their disposal. The more sophisticated the new technology is to be implemented, the greater the learning curve and therefore the adaptation period will last longer and more resources are needed for teaching.

Therefore, the aim is not to seek technological development at all costs, but to do so at a pace and in a way that is acceptable to the workers and maximizes their productivity.

Myth 2: Change management is based only on good communication and practice

Of course, good communication is essential for the successful implementation of change. In general, good communication is essential for the smooth functioning of any facet of the company.

In the same way, acquiring training, practice, rehearsing ... are essential aspects that help to improve in the execution of any job or task.

However, change management is somewhat more complex and requires the interaction of other strategic and tactical factors if you want to achieve the desired success.

For example, it is convenient to transform employees into internal customers and consider what the factors are that will lead them to buy the technology that is offered to them. From there, you can perform classic market research techniques, such as surveys, focus groups, or usability studies.

It is essential that all these techniques be applied early in the process, so that the information collected serves to structure a profile with functional requirements about what type of technological support is needed. If the focus group is based on an already established tool, it can be used to determine why there are adoption problems - but a very high opportunity cost would be generated that could have been avoided by using the same feedback to choose the type of tool Optimal for users.

Myth 3: Change management specialists will be able to make the change themselves

Change management specialists are crucial in achieving this. After all, they have a broad understanding of the techniques and systems that allow change management to be carried out efficiently. However, in order for a company to successfully implement new working methodologies, it is necessary that there be a willingness to change on the part of all levels of the company itself.

Company managers can not rely on soliciting the services of a change management specialist and then disengaging themselves. In order for the change to be implemented efficiently, it is necessary to involve all the company's personnel, starting with the managers and addressing all the workers.

Myth 4: The tool is intuitive, so you learn on your own

Even the simplest program has many levels of complexity. Think of a text editor, with all the advanced options for setting paragraph styles and titles, indexing or even creating macros. To truly empower the user, it is necessary to go beyond the most immediate functionality, teach what solutions exist in the software and provide documentation to be able to navigate those solutions independently.

That is why many companies, including ITM Platform, are obliged to hire an advisory and initial training service to ensure that the new tool will not be shunned during implementation.

Although they have a higher initial cost, implementation training services vastly increase the ROI of corporate software. Of course, measuring the ROI of these actions is, in itself, very costly. However, specialized agencies such as the American Association for Learning Development have shown in repeated studies that investing in talent training is one of the most successful business results.

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modern simple graphic of men transforming into professional businessman

In the daily on-goings of any organization, one usually lives too close to the day-to-day operations to deal with great processes of change. When these are explicitly stated, they are usually translated into methodological aspects of change management, such as communication plans, risk mitigation or stakeholder analysis.

Change management is an area of ​​highly formalized management. When there are high degrees of formalization, it is easy to get lost in standardized procedures and lose sight of the purpose of change.

Learn how to cope with change from real success experiences

In addition, it is a comfortable approach, which we are accustomed to and that supposedly achieves good results.

However, it is less frequent to carry out a more in-depth analysis that looks at the situation in perspective and asks questions such as what is the company doing, what is it giving to customers or what do they expect from our work, from the dissonances that are identified, to reorient the work of the organization.

In short, we usually define our daily activity and that of our company based on what we do, but we do not consider what the company's own existence has in its business niche, in the market, and in the world as a whole, and what we hope to contribute to society.

What would happen if, instead of understanding change as a matter of processes, we start with results?

What if, from now on instead of focusing on how the company works, we focus on why and what we do our work for?

Perhaps in this instance the change management would cease to be paralyzed by personal processes of resistance to find its energy precisely in individual change.

After all, a company is the sum of all its workers. To produce change in global management, it is easier to begin with the discipline of each employee's work, to review their motivations and their reference criteria and productivity.

Once individual change is achieved, the next step is to achieve global change, which will have greater results than those achieved as the sum of the individual change due to the emergence of new synergy benefits.

In this way, the change begins by focusing on the reorientation of each individual. Subsequently, we move on to a second phase in which the mechanisms that articulate individual changes are optimized to maximize the benefits of group work.

On the other hand, the adoption by the group of certain attitudes and work systems implies the need to adapt all parts of it, both those already in the company and those that may come in the future.

The cycle gives positive feedback, managing to maintain the effects of the change both as meaning or purpose of the work and in terms of application of concrete methodologies.

Summarized in a sentence, change management seeks to mobilize all workers individually to achieve the success of each of them, and from that, achieve global results, which in turn translate into individual changes.

Does this mean that traditional systems of customer analysis, impact, communication planning, risk management and other factors are useless?

On the contrary: all these aspects are fundamental to implement individual and company objectives, to optimize methodologies and application systems.

All improvements aimed at optimizing work processes explain how to achieve the objectives, but they will only make sense if they are framed in a context of the global and the individual aspects that can harmonize the work of the parties from the recognition of the differences in the roles of each team member.

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technology, used for electric circuits. suitable for use on web apps, mobile apps and print media.Making organizational changes in any process, work methodology or project management system is, in itself, a very difficult project to manage. When it comes to internal management, the cost of a failed project is very high, so the margin of error is small. To make matters worse, the response of the people involved in the process makes it difficult to predict and difficult to design change plans that are followed closely.

In fact, it is common for any change, that is outside the organizations’ comfort zone, to cause diverse attitudes among workers and managers, making it difficult to contribute to change in a coordinated and organized way.

 

Some of these attitudes could be summarized in the following sentences:

  • "Our employees are prepared for change in the organization, there is nothing to worry about."

  • "Our company is different. Team members will be able to follow directions while exercising their autonomy. So it is not necessary to intervene in the management of change. They, know how to act better than anyone else."

  • "Things are fine as they are. The changes you want to introduce mean an additional workload that adds to what we already have, so the change cannot be positive."

  • "Workers do not have to be involved in change. We have not even been involved in the choice of new software tools."

All these statements can be refuted with the right arguments. Next, we are going to analyze valid arguments to answer them.

Complementary training programs

Undoubtedly, all the workers in your company are qualified for the work that they perform, so they can take care of it. However, the introduction of new working methodologies requires additional preparation and a strategic vision. So it is desirable to have complementary training programs provided by the company both before the introduction of the changes and during their implementation. These training programs achieve a two objectives at once. On the one hand, they will help the change develop properly, without undertaking useless additional work, since the appropriate orientation will allow for all the efforts and dedicated time to be oriented to achieve an efficient change according to the established plans. On the other hand, providing this training during the change will increase the motivation of the workers.

It is important to learn from real cases in other organizations

The problems that arise in your company have probably been experienced in other contexts, especially if there are similarities in market niche, economic sector, technological development, and so on. Although each company is unique, there are common situations and frequent problems, especially towards certain challenges characteristic of business development. For example, internationalization has very different resistance to change from the introduction of performance evaluation, the opening of a new line of business or the acquisition of another company. In any case, there is no alternative to the analysis of comparable cases. With change management there is no room for experimentation. The successes or failures of other organizations will help avoid mistakes and in turn gain precious time.

Conformity is the main enemy of progress

To be able to improve it is necessary to be open to change. Undoubtedly, at the beginning all changes are an additional effort, but this is necessary to increase efficiency and productivity, essential requirements to remain competitive.

Workers are the main engine of the company...

...Those in charge of taking the company forward. If they don’t feel involved or motivated with the work they do and with the company, it is a serious problem that is above the difficulties to implement a system or project management solution. Regardless of the organizational model, workers must be motivated. Of course, an adequate motivation also contributes to the success in the implementation of any work system.

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So what can we do when there is resistance to change management both by managers and employees? Here are some tips:

It directs the change towards a clear improvement

It identifies the main obstacles to growth and proposes a process of change that achieves more mature and robust management, with clear benefits.

Adjust the exchange rate to your corporate strategy and culture

Before any change, it is best to evaluate exactly its magnitude and where the efforts should be directed. There is nothing worse than making "changes in change", on the fly, because it generates a sense of distrust, of not knowing exactly what is being done, and produces demotivation of employees. If they have tried to change something, this change must appear to be definitive, it must seem that it has been done right at first. Improvising will convey a lack of leadership.

Explain what change really means

Probably, in the initial moments there is a certain resistance. It is normal and is simply based on a certain fear of any change that may occur. Explaining exactly the magnitude of the changes will help to reassure employees or managers and will predispose them to accept them to the best degree.

Demonstrates the advantages of new project management systems using data

If they understand that the change is necessary and that the return will be greater once they have been applied, they will be more willing to perform the initial overexertion.

Using these tips, managing change in your company will be much simpler. What are you waiting for to give a return to your project management?

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Coordination, quantification metrics and business intelligence are three of the main keys for guiding the work of a project management office. Although not all organizations have come this far ...

blank table for science research results. purple clipboard with paper. report, paperwork. flat color style vector icon. element for web design, business, mobile app.The PMO and the company: X-ray of the situation

In 2011, Forrester and the Project Management Institute conducted a survey that canvassed 693 PMO leaders.

These experts were asked which is the main task of a PMO. More than 70% of the respondents agreed that the three main functions of a PMO are project management, general management and development of methodologies.

On the other hand, they were asked how they feel the results of a project should be quantified to be considered satisfactory. In this case, some of the results may seem a little surprising. Let us see their answers:

  • 51% of respondents said to measure the degree of achievement of the objectives planned at project outset.
  • 49% said they quantify based on customer satisfaction.
  • 47% measured deadlines met and fulfillment of budget plans.
  • 21% considered that a project has been properly carried out if the use of resources is optimal.
  • 24% of the respondents confessed not to quantify in any way the result of their project management.

That is to say: just five years ago, a quarter of the sample, representing PMO directors in the United States, were not using any quantitative metrics to evaluate the results of their project management office.

Reasons to incorporate a PMO into your company

Optimize resources

Where there is no centralized coordination over project managers, it is difficult to adequately leverage resources in terms of staffing, logistics and distribution, procurement and vendor relationships, and so on. On the contrary adding PMO supervision can ensure that all parties have the necessary information on the mobilized resources.

Minimize investment

In short, PMOs seek to avoid mismatches and inefficiencies, reducing the amount of time and financial resources that need to be deployed to achieve the same result.

Continuous assessment

Without a culture of continuous evaluation, it is difficult to defend the value of a PMO. That’s why the lack of outcome-related metrics identified by the Forrester and PMI report is surprising. To be able to obtain better results in the future, the first step is to know and quantify your baseline position. Subsequently, a thorough and quantitative analysis of the processes must be performed from a critical point of view, which allows the detection of weak points and proposes decisions to act upon them. In this sense, for many organizations where the culture of agile management has been instilled, continuous evaluation by the PMO is closely related to the innovation processes.

Business Intelligence

The quantification of data is not enough. Relevant data should be selected and presented in a simple way that allows proper interpretation, comparison between different projects and guided decision making. This section is especially important in multinational companies, in which it is essential to standardize communication channels to facilitate understanding between them.

Responsibilities of the PMO

A whole series of activities stemming from the evaluation culture can be developed to ensure that the organization's strategies are supported by realistic data on business development.

  • Quantification of change. Once measures are taken to improve project management and to achieve better results, these should be quantified and also entered into structured reports.
  • Making predictions. The quantification of the current state of the company and its progression in time will allow to make predictions.
  • Establishment of frameworks that allow standardization in the execution of projects and their direction. Currently known as agile methodologies in project management.
  • Ensure proper compliance with regulations. The establishment of working protocols and methodologies ensures compliance with current regulations. To give a practical and simple example, establishing a working protocol for food transport will guarantee the quality of the product that reaches the market or the restaurant.
  • Financial Transparency. Control of the processes and the cost of each one of them will allow greater financial transparency with tax regulators, managers and clients, avoiding irregularities in any process or level of company administration and improving the confidence of all interested parties.

 

Juan Delgado
Blogger - ITM Platform

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clock, tools, computer, phone, letter, graphs, diagramsWhen implementing a project portfolio management (PPM) model in an organisation, acquiring a project management software is not enough; usually the organization needs to adapt to the new way of working.

In this article we present some keys elements of success that we have learnt from our experience in implementing ITM Platform in more than 300 organizations: These advices are going to facilitate the adoption process as well as promote a truly project based management policy

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Company design

1. Centralization:

One of the first aspects to keep in mind when adopting a project-oriented management style, is to decide what to merge and what to centralize.

Those are some of the most frequent aspects:

  • Terminology: To accurately communicate internally in a company (or externally with suppliers or clients), you must be able to convey precise feedbacks such as the state of the projects. Vague or ambiguous descriptions like “going well” do not help, because they don’t indicate the real state of a project and do not provide information that the sender or the receiver can truly understand.
  • Monitoring criteria: projects should be frequently monitored and quantitively measured. It is important to have everyone’s agreement on which criteria to use when measuring the project’s development.
  • Resources management: Depending on the nature of the project, centralizing the management of resources can be necessary. This decision will affect the organizational structure, the project manager’s work and the way day-to-day work is planned and executed.

These elements are the key to information and quantification. It is advisable for every department of the company to use a common reporting system to be able to rely on the necessary information to make decisions.

Other elements that should be consolidated are the processes (when a project is approved, when a project changes status, who must take those decisions…), standard costs or document formats to be used.

To sum up, you first have to think about what to centralize and afterward decide on how to do it.

2. Agile, predictive or both methodologies

Another critical decision that needs to be taken before starting a project is to decide which management methodology to apply. Each methodology has its advantages and disadvantages and, depending on the nature of the project, you should select the most appropriate.

Agile, predicitve (Gantt)... or both?

  • Agile methodologies: The agile methodology is very good to manage uncertainties. It is ideal for those projects in which the results are not certain, or when you have an idea about the objective, but you do not clearly know how to reach it. It is frequently the case for IT projects, Start-ups and projects with high levels of uncertainty.
  • Predictive methodologies: Predictive methodologies are good to manage projects with low levels of uncertainty, for example projects in which processes are well known as well as the expected results. An example could be a project to produce a component that was already produced in the past. In this case, given that the processes are known, the objective is to maximize the productivity.

Both methodologies share some common points: tight monitoring, quantifications and measurements.

To fully take advantage of each methodology you should employ project managers that have expertise in both methodologies and who know how to adapt to one or the other depending on circumstances.

If you decide to use both methodologies, these will need to coexist in the same portfolio. Check out this webinar on how to make the 2 methodologies coexist

3. Responsibilities of a project manager

It is fundamental to clarify the responsibilities of the project manager before the start of a project.  That will empower him to properly do his work, focus on the most important tasks and properly report the results of his work.

Here are some of the most common decisions a project manager has to take:

  • Monitor the project progress
  • Canalize and encourage communication
  • Assign resources
  • Manage risks
  • Control Purchases and Revenues of the project

4. The Project Management Office (PMO)

Another relevant aspect is to decide whether a project management office is necessary or not. There are companies with high amounts of projects that do not rely on a project management office, while there are cases of less project intensive companies that actually need one.

 Is a project management office (PMO) necessary?

This difference is motivated by the specific conditions of each business and by other factors. The most relevant are:

  • The level of maturity of the organization as well as their specific situation. Some companies are in a stable period with little variations in the business while others are in a phase of transition with high level of uncertainty and variability.
  • The complexity of the organization.
  • The nature of the business. For example, there are sectors where projects management offices are common because of the intrinsic nature of the business model.
  • The existence of interdependencies between projects. When such dependencies exist, the project management office is particularly important as it allows to coordinate the projects to take advantage of the interdependencies.
  • The degree of maturity of the project’s directors. Experienced project managers sometimes can cover the full scope of the project portfolio, thus becoming a one-man project management office. Unfortunately, this is not common, and it will be often necessary to create a dedicated team to constitute the project management office.
  • Strategic alignment. A project management office is particularly important when projects are not properly aligned with the overall strategy of the company.

To sum up, a project management office provides a strategic focus and allows the organization to reach levels of coordination that would not be possible otherwise.

5. Methodologies and structures in PPM

Another aspect that should be considered is the methodological framework. The guidelines provided by PMI or Prince2, for example, are very helpful. However, our advice is to adopt these guidelines with common sense and without applying them too rigidly. It is advisable to adopt only the aspects that best match with the organization and its needs.

Some key aspects that should be considered:

  • Process standardization: processes should to be standardized, be as simple as possible and be close to reality.
  • Inspiration from existing models: There are international associations that facilitate models of standardized project management. You can take inspiration from them, keeping in mind that it is best to adopt the best of each one.

We have explained how to design the organization to make the change possible, but we are still missing a very important part: How to do the transition? ¿Which method should be chosen to be successful?

Change management

To make a successful transition, the organization should fulfil several requirements and follow a series of steps.

1. Definition of the driving force

The initiative of a transition towards project-based management should come from the company’s top management. Directors should promote the use of project management systems and be the ones to lead the change.

It is important also to have the support of the management of the departments most affected by the change.

2. Implementation of change management

The transition can be done using 2 approaches, that we call the “pincer approach “.

On one hand we have a top down approach, where the use of new systems and methodologies is presented as a duty or obligation.

top-down apprach ("pincer" effect, part 1)

When adopting this approach, control models and reporting systems are key. They permit to verify that the new project management model is being applied correctly while, at the same time, monitoring the added value for the company.

For example, you can decide to use only the data previously registered in the system during follow up meetings.

On the other hand, you can adopt a bottom-up approach, with training and active listening. Employees know the reality of work circumstances and how to translate those into the new way of working.

bottom-up approach ("pincer" effect, part 2)

Furthermore, team members should be persuaded that the change to their way of working adds value to the entire company, from which they are going to beneficiate in the medium and long-term.

Enthusiast employees motivated to adopt the new methods may greatly influence others. This can be an even more effective implementation strategy than having managers or directors forcing the adoption.

To guarantee the final success, it is necessary to start with relatively easy projects where the results should be quantified and compared with the ones pre-adoption. Make sure to successfully achieve the first steps and you will favour success in the next ones.

 

To sum up, it is advisable to progressively evolve, with clear and feasible objectives, reaching perfection step by step.

 

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 Isidora Roskic-ITM Platform

 

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