Project life cycle implementation can be an extensive and difficult process. Last Friday at our Project Management Office Group Meeting, John Danzl, Senior IT Project Manager at LTCG facilitated a boisterous discussion on Project Lifecycle Models; Implementation Strategy, Tactics, and Considerations. A huge thank you to LTCG for hosting us!
If you are thinking about a PLC implementation, what is the first thing you should do? A few things the group came up with were; solicit ideas from other people, achieve buy-in, document current state to future state, and show benefit to others/individuals. While these are all very important, John stated that the most important thing to do first is to ask why.
Why is understanding the why is fundamental? The end objective of any process improvement initiative is to further the organization’s goals via addressing the why’s. Some of these may be to make work more efficiently and effectively, improve predictability of project outcomes, or meet regulatory requirements. The outcome of any process improvement initiative relies on the fit of the process to the end objectives, the quality of the process, and the quality of implementation. People won’t rally around change if the why isn’t known and compelling.
Some of the why’s we came up with as a group includes:
- Increase velocity
- Measure velocity
- Speed to market
- Adjust root cause
- Solving hot topic
- Business involvement
Once the why is established you need to focus on readiness, setting the stage for success, and selecting which roll out approach is best. Not only do you need to make sure your process, tools, and technology are ready, but you also need to make sure your people are ready. After discussing the importance of why and being prepared we broke out into small groups to discuss implementation tactics that will contribute to being successful.
Below is a list of what the group shared:
- Communication Plan
- High-Level Plan – Expectations
- Tools Inventoried/Assessed
- Leadership Buy-In/Alignment
- Commitment from top leadership
- Timeline/schedule
- Budget approval
- Vendor bids
- Build vs. Buy/Buy vs. Rent
- Identify Stakeholders
- Identify Team Members
- Plan for scale
- Cost-benefit
- Identify risks
- Solicit Ideas
- Resource Allocation
- Determine methodology
All and all, project lifecycle implementation is no easy task, as we are all aware. However, there are a few things you can do to make the implementation process smoother. Finding the why behind what you are trying to accomplish will only increase buy-in from others within your organization. Then, make sure the group you are working with is prepared with the correct people, tools and technology. Clear communication is a must for the entirety of the project.
Thank you for joining us on Friday, we hope you were able to leave the meeting with a few key takeaways! If you are interested in learning more, please review the slide deck that was presented, here. To apply for Think IT, click here.