Management - ITM Platform | Projects Programs Portfolio

Traditional change management systems are based on a transition from an old model to a new one.

These change systems could be seen as a journey, in which one begins at the origin and directs the steps towards a destination, considering that success has been achieved when the objectives established in a given time have been achieved.

However, is this model the right one?

In this present, ever changing world, setting a fixed destination is probably not the best idea. What would probably be more appropriate for the current market, the socio-economic context and our clients, will not be the same in a few months.

Given this, the established destination for our journey, the objective of change, will no longer be our preference once we achieve it.

Therefore, it will be necessary to establish another destination and to chart a new course, initiating a new cycle that is on course to repeat itself.

This concept of change is probably due to its traditional relationship with project management. After all, this has been based precisely on that: in establishing a project to achieve, to chart a course, to define work methodologies and to fulfil them.

However, in today's world, this isn’t enough. A change management system must be able to anticipate the environment, change course to a new destination and adapt to the needs of the company.

Therefore, another way of understanding change management is as a system that, instead of directing change in one direction, seeks to establish structures or systems that allow a paradigm shift in the company. The objective of the change is to make structures more flexible, to improve adaptation mechanisms and, in short, to facilitate the establishment of all future changes without altering the workflows and productivity already instilled, to be able to adapt to market needs.

In this new paradigm, the classic concept of work methodology disappears, since it does not exist as a stable concept, but a dynamic and changing methodology instead.

Essentially moving from a system of sequential change to a system of permanent mobilization.

Ingredients for a mobilized system

Mobilization systems, despite being characterized as having no fixed methodologies, consist of a series of structures necessary to ensure that an efficient change is produced permanently.

The following are components that must be found in any business structure to constitute a mobilization system:

An ecosystem prepared for change. These environments must have some sort of performance algorithms that allow the adoption certain attitudes when in an environment with previously established order. When the market presents a certain change, the reaction must be one that adapts to the necessities imposed by the new market circumstances. In the same way, action protocols can be drawn up that allow modification of attitudes according to the circumstances.
Informal systems within the company. Although the company must have clearly established and formal channels of communication and hierarchy, there must also be other informal, agile systems within the company. This way, communication and change will be more dynamic and agile, and will allow a quick reaction to a change in the circumstances of the company.
Establishing a culture based on change. Change must be understood as a way of working, a way of conducting within the company. "Today more than yesterday but less than tomorrow" and a principle of constant improvement, must be printed on the company's DNA.

Conclusion

Change has come to stay. And it affects not only the working methodologies of companies, but also the change system itself.

The "Change in change", on a constant basis, ensures real-time adaptation to market circumstances and customer needs.

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This article is part of the series on the 10 areas of knowledge. Visit the two articles already published on Project integration:

The 10 areas of knowledge. 1: Project integration management

Integration with the ITM Platform Project Menu

The 10 areas of knowledge. 2: Project scope management

Time management is not divination

Try ITM Platform and start managing the time of all your projects.

The PMBOK guide includes project time management as the third area of knowledge.

The time variable has a fundamental value in project management in order to meet deadlines and manage resources correctly. Programming is the axis from which we try to manage time with the objective of executing the action plan. To do this, the duration of the activities must be estimated according to the resources available to them. Exceeding the established limits will always incur an additional cost.

A very frequent mistake when managing projects is to think that it is enough to make an excellent plan to achieve good time management. This error is usually corrected with experience, once you understand that to get the estimates right and to know the time required by each task in detail it's only the beginning of the work.

In general, delays of some kind are inevitable, so the most important thing is not to be able to eradicate them by means of precise estimates.

No, the fundamental thing in time management is to go beyond planning, not to think that a realistic estimate is the final success: if it comes out, it will be by chance and by the lack of concurrence of the adverse circumstances envisaged in the risk plan. It is much more important to perform constant follow-ups, listen to the team, measure deviations and keep clients and project sponsors informed about the project progress.

Translator metaphor

Imagine a simple, linear project consisting of a single task and a single resource. For example, the translation of a book. A translator confronts each book with a different project with a unique result. Each book is unique. But all the projects look very similar.

When evaluating the time it will take to complete each translation, the translator performs a simple calculation: translate a test page, after which multiply the elapsed time by the number of pages and by a factor of 1.5. This factor allows the translator to conduct the review and documentation phases, without which the project would not have the required quality.

So the calculation has allowed the translator to deliver on time.

However, one day he agreed to coordinate the translation of a botanical volume composed of different authors in different languages. Although he will have to translate most of the content, other translators will take care of different articles.

The translator applies his method to estimate the approximate time that the translation of the articles will take, asking each collaborator to do the same. Due to the first estimate not taking this into account, the success of delivering the project on time would be pure chance. In contrast, our translator provides biweekly deliveries to check the project progress. When identifying delays, talk to the employee to know what has been done and take action accordingly, such as incorporating a terminology expert into the project; or the extension of delivery time.

This simple example shows how important planning is to be able to act when a delay arrives.

Steps to manage the time of your project

1. Define activities

The first step is to define the tasks, the milestones and the stipulation of all the activities that are necessary to complete the project.

At this point you can accumulate all the tasks in a Gantt diagram, which allows you to simply and quickly sketch the entire plan. It is more important to focus on defining the time required for each task, without setting specific dates.

2. Sequence of activities

When the tasks have already been defined, they must be organized. The dates are still not important at this point, we should now focus on ordering the activities giving them meaning and apply logic. Sub-tasks can be created when deemed necessary to improve time management.

Once activities are in order, add dependencies between tasks, specifying whether they are start-start, start-end, or end-end dependencies. For example, if the project consists of building a villa, before starting to project, it will be necessary to select the land on which it will be built, since it has many easements with constructive characteristics. If the terrain selection is delayed, the entire project will automatically be delayed.

3. Predict the resources available for each activity

In this step, we must evaluate the demand for human resources and compare it with the existing supply for it. Once developed, you will get a perspective on whether the estimated resources are sufficient for development in the time set for each task. The scarcity of certain skills (or their higher price) can cause delays in the plan.

After allocating resources to the various activities, it is advisable to review the dependencies of each task and associated resources. Once all the information has been broken down, it will be possible to check if there are overlapping activities and therefore require additional resources.

4. Develop and monitor the program

It is important to review the Gantt chart with all participating teams to ensure that you have full compliance before you start. At this meeting, it is important to:

Move any doubts you may have after planning
Collect suggestions and comments from team members who can help with time management, such as the existence of technical difficulties or experience with similar projects.
Ensure that all participants or team members understand their role in the project and commit to carrying out the assigned activities or tasks.

As we said, the phase of control of the calendar is more complicated than that of planning, since it involves the effort to impose contingencies and the natural entropy of the project. Therefore, time management implies an almost obsessive dedication to supervision and verification in which it is essential to have methodologies, processes and technological systems that support such activity control.

Performing correct planning of the time following the indicated steps will result in company objectives being achieved, create confidence, improve competitiveness and profitability. If it is considered that sufficient resources are not available to carry out a specific task or activity, and there is no way to obtain more resources, there is a margin of reaction that will allow to modify the task based on the resources available in the organization.

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The Pentagon is not only the symbol of the most powerful military power in the world, but the supreme governing body of the American military: the public organization that has contributed the most to the consolidation of project management as a discipline. The technological development experienced by the arms industry and the expansion of logistics operations supported the development of numerous methodologies and an abundant class of engineers.

For example, the Work Structure Decomposition (DEBS) method was designed by the Department of Defense and was first deployed to the United States Navy in 1957 within a ballistic program. In addition, one of the most common careers for military members and retired veterans is precisely to direct projects. Military matters assume the highest demands on timely delivery and quality of results.

On the other hand, the fact that the Pentagon has access to huge budgets for other states carries a very important risk of wastage.

You cannot live in glory: in complex environments with multiple projects and where it is practically impossible to always have an overview of all the work, it is very easy to produce problems of inefficiency. This explains why project monitoring is a fundamental mission in the management of any portfolio.

X-ray of the Pentagon

In January of 2015, an internal report of the Department of Defense revealed a chilling fact: in the next 5 years a total of 125 trillion dollars could be saved, which would be enough to appropriate adjustments in the administrative and bureaucratic departments.

Approximately a quarter of the Pentagon's budget is spent on administration, management and maintenance costs, and cannot be used for the mission of the agency.

So, what are all these resources destined for? In large part, the maintenance of a complex structure of management processes in which a total of one million people are employed, a number forty times greater than the employees of the pentagon itself and practically identical to the ones that are in operations Military. The six major administrative processes are Human Resources, Health Management, Financial Management, Logistics, Procurement and Suppliers, and Real Estate Management.

In the image below you can see an example of the intricate bureaucratic web in which all these back-office workers are involved in one way or another. The title of the image is: Integrated Department of Defense system for the acquisition, development of technology and Supply logistics.

That said, the image shows the complex process by which it is decided to contract (or not) a particular service, to develop (or not) an investigation, to manufacture (or not) a weapon or other device, to move it (or not) to the front and keep (or not) weapons, vehicles or any other type of technology.

The inefficiency of this process is proverbial, as in the case of the development of the Bradley vehicle in the 80s, whose total development cost 15 billion dollars.

The solution: efficient management

Other documentation for internal use indicates some of the measures that can be taken to improve the management of these projects, making it much more efficient in the administration of all financial resources. By way of illustration, in 5 years, according to their calculations, 4,325 more soldiers could be hired.

Among the most interesting solutions for other organizations are the following:

Establishment of transversal teams for each process that can create common rules and methodologies for all
Prioritization of contracts
Review of contracts to exclude and discount all items that do not correspond to real requirements
Training of cross-cutting teams to improve productivity
Development of internal initiatives in priority processes and activities

Interestingly, pentagon solutions go through the creation of a portfolio of internal optimization and operational innovation projects that would be overseen and supported by program managers.

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For change to be carried out under optimal conditions, it must influence a series of attitude changes in the workforce to ensure that it is carried out successfully, both individually and collectively.

However, it may be complex to produce changes in business organisations and its working methodologies, both in large and small corporations.

Some studies indicate that approximately 70% of attempted company change or transformation end in failure. This is not surprising, because human beings, by nature, are conformist and tend to be resistant to change.

According to a 2016 study by consulting firm McKinsey, there are four building blocks that determine the influence on employee behaviour.

All the models focus in the mindset of the worker and assume that the worker will accept the change if he observes or finds positive attitudes around his or her working environment. Therefore, the exposition of each of the attitudes will begin by articulating a phrase that summarises the worker's feeling towards them. Below, we will analyze why each of the attitudes work.

Role Modelling

"I observe that my colleagues, leaders, and in general the whole team behave differently."

This theory works because people tend to imitate the attitudes of a group and to integrate within it, both consciously and unconsciously.

If the whole team behaves in a certain way, the tendency is that all workers try to adopt the same attitudes to blend in.

All new members will be conscious of the active working model and, therefore, will adopt it immediately.

Knowledge, understanding and conviction

"I understand what is being asked of me and it makes sense to me"

In a company, or in any other organization, there are critical voices, and they must always exist. They are necessary for both individual and collective growth.

However, both criticisms as well as the adoption of collective standards, especially among highly qualified teams, should not be destructive but constructive. In this way, the company can present a certain flexibility to adapt to the specific needs and methodologies of each of its employees.

At the same time, as they are rules that are not completely imposed, but are collectively established, understood and accepted by all workers, compliance is guaranteed.

The worker should not understand the new methodologies of work as an imposition but as a necessity that makes his work more productive and efficient.

Development of talents and abilities

"I have the skills, the talent and the opportunity to adopt the new working methodologies."

In order to adopt new working methodologies, firstly, it is necessary to learn to use them from a theoretical point of view and then proceed to a practical tutored period. To do this, the company must conceive the adoption of new work methodologies and new project management systems as an investment for the future. After all, the work, products or services developed by the company are channelled through projects, so working on their optimization means facilitating the success of the company as a whole.

In addition to the worker feeling that what is good for the company is good for him, he must also feel accompanied and guided during the process of change. Therefore, it is necessary to teach already established workers to adopt to the new working methodologies.

Reinforcement of adopted attitudes

"I note that structures, processes, and systems support the change that is required of me."

The dissonance between the demands of behavioural change and the infrastructure of technology and methodologies can definitely inhibit not only motivation for change, but the employee's own commitment to the organization and leadership. On the other hand, if the employee is able to see that the required change is not only a necessary consequence of the organization's processes, but that its new behaviour is prolonged and supported by those same processes, leadership will be perceived as responsible, considerate and capable to take into account all the details.

If workers observe, feel, and understand that change leads to a more successful business and that this is beneficial to them, they will be happy to continue adopting new work systems. Therefore, the greater productivity achieved through change must be transferred to their daily work and demonstrated through data and also through improvements in their daily lives.

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ITM Platform is specifically designed to support multi-project organizations: our client base ranges from small consultants to large corporations, such as Grupo Lala, the first manufacturer of dairy products in Mexico, or Spire Healthcare, the second largest private healthcare provider in the United Kingdom.

Why do they choose us? They say that among all the tools that allow both planning and executing projects and managing portfolios, it is not easy to find solutions that are useful for both project managers and PMO directors at the same time in the same environment.

So when someone asks us if we can help them get their Project Management Office up and running, the answer comes as natural as the smile you give an old friend. In this article we discuss the main reasons why ITM Platform is a great ally to support the activities of a PMO.

1. Capture your organization

Any organization can reflect the structure of their teams in a very short time. Whether it's a functional organizational structure based on departments, a purely project-based structure, or a matrix-type intermediate structure, the first step for your organization to start managing your ITM Platform projects is to map which department, project or area of competence belongs to each member.

In fact, flexibility is achieved by combining two criteria:

Organizational units, comparable to traditional departments
Working groups, which allow cross-grouping. For example, you can create project teams that have a certain permanence character. These groups can also be used to bring experts together by competencies so that project and PMO managers can easily assign them to specialized tasks and groups.

Once you have reflected the departments and functional units, you can continue defining the details that will allow ITM Platform to control the costs and progress of your projects in real time:

Hourly rates: How much do your team members charge per hour? How much do external consultants charge? What is the overhead of a workgroup compared to a technician? By specifying the fees for each type of expert, ITM Platform allows you to reflect the actual costs of your projects with the desired level of detail.

2. Capture your processes

ITM Platform allows you to capture any methodology you are using in your organization for project management. Although the software is intended to capture the components, processes and groups recommended in standards such as PMBOK or Prince2, especially when it comes to project integration management, it is not necessary to strictly follow these manuals to properly manage the projects. The focus of the tool is to provide a flexible technological service that allows the capture of all relevant information and capture the process flows that exist in each organization.

3. Connect to your teams

ITM Platform empowers all project teams, from the highest level director to the young talented new arrivals.

Management: Those who are interested in seeing key metrics such as the degree of progress of the projects by each program, the level of risk exposure of the projects, or the composition of costs per manpower according to the provider can use the customizable scorecards and reports.
PMO portfolio managers, program managers and PMO directors

The people that connect the company's strategy to day-to-day project management are those that most directly benefit from the ITM Platform. Let us see some different aspects:

Shared resources

In situations with cross-cutting projects shared by experts and analysts from different functional areas or departments, it is common practice for one of the PMO director's main attributions to be to avoid conflicts when using shared resources: professionals in high demand due to them being very qualified and are irreplaceable in their specialty. Conflicts for shared resources are the cause of delay in 42% of large cross-sectional projects.To avoid such conflicts, ITM Platform allows you to immediately identify over-allocation of all resources in the organization.

Scenario projections

The ITM Platform methodological tools for defining business objectives and linking them to project execution scenarios are one of the aspects most valued by those who manage project programs.

Portfolio Evaluation

Aggregated project data allows you to carry out a continuous evaluation of your portfolio with the required periodicity. From the moment that your entire project team is using the same tool to plan and execute projects to carry out portfolio tracking, you can say goodbye to tedious periodic portfolio evaluations that stretch over months. It will be sufficient to extract data from ITM Platform to discuss with your team.

Project Managers

The possibility of combining predictive projects with agile methodologies allows different relationships to coexist between customers the development of products and results within a single unified portfolio based on shared financial management and resources.To top it off, project managers benefit from a user experience optimized for the integration of projects from menus that are always visible and easy to navigate.

Analysts and team members

Team members with no planning and control responsibilities should only enter the progress data of their tasks on the ITM Platform. For this, they have different auxiliary interfaces that save time and increase their productivity:

Mobile App on Android and MacOS. Report the time worked on a task. It is a fundamental support tool for those who are out and about or working remotely.
The ITM Platform teambot. The integration of ITM Platform with Slack is designed to aid personal productivity, as it allows each team member to track the tasks in which they are involved and report progress with simple commands such as “/itmplatform list tasks”
In addition, software development teams working with JIRA for issue management can connect these with their ITM Platform projects to manage their portfolio from their preferred environment.

4. Align project management and portfolio planning

Project management software can be divided into three broad sections: task managers and teams; project planners; and portfolio managers. Few tools can find the balance between these three areas. This is where ITM Platform stands out precisely because our obsession is to optimize the return of the projects from the first minute, with little to no barriers of entry.