Professional programme & project management: achieving successful outcomes for businesses

Having completed the commercial phase of the proposed project, carried out all the initiation tasks successfully and engaged the project team, everyone is anxious to start work and make some progress. However, despite all this enthusiasm and commitment, projects can still go off the rails if key tasks are not carried out to correctly engage the business, set expectations and lay down a framework for future phases.

Similarly, the entire journey through the project lifecycle needs careful scrutiny, forethought and planning. Prudent businesses engage the services of a professional project manager to help them to navigate their way along this journey, put appropriate governance structures in place, and regularly communicate progress to key stakeholders.

Even after a successful initiation of a project, many businesses need the services of professional programme and project managers to drive the achievement of their desired outcome.

Once roles and responsibilities for all parties have been agreed, key business people need to ensure that they can allocate the right amount of time to fulfil their tasks, and planners need to avoid busy times in the business calendar in order to facilitate this. Where this is not possible, business people should be backfilled with competent temporary staff.

Multi-year programmes and projects can be impacted by changes in the business which cannot always be foreseen, so plans need to have elapsed time contingency built in to enable projects to be flexible enough to deal with these unexpected events. A change control process should be invoked to analyse the impact of any changes, and all options should be evaluated before recommendations on the most optimal way forward are presented to the Business Sponsor for approval. At nil plus ultra, our project and programme managers use their experience to keep projects on track despite these changes, and help businesses to achieve the benefits envisaged in the business case.

As the project progresses, Change Management activities need to be carried out with key stakeholders to ensure business readiness for the new solution. These include:

• communicating the delivery dates of the new solution and progress against key milestones to all stakeholders,
• informing the user community about the proposed changes to existing processes and procedures,
• gaining user buy-in through close involvement with the shaping of the new solution,
• ensuring users allocate time for attendance at training events, and
• ensuring that users thoroughly test that the solution meets their business needs as they work through the new procedures.

After implementation, checks need to be made that users are not slipping back into old habits based on their legacy solution, as this will negate the achievement of efficiency gains.

Caroline Birkby, one of nil plus ultra’s most senior Programme Directors, said “Many organisations end up using modern solutions to carry out the same processing as they used to do on their legacy solution, hence benefits are not realised and processing on the new solution is just as labour intensive and error-prone as on the legacy system. This is only detected if someone is assigned to check that everyone has adopted the ‘To Be’ process flows and is using the new solution according to the new processes. No matter how well the project has been delivered, it is important to continue to track that the business benefits are being realised long after the project has ended”.

nil plus ultra’s programme managers are experienced and accredited Prince2 and PMI professionals.

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“+traction benefits are compelling: it applies effort intelligently, accelerates results and generates much higher return on effort”

Jude Meadows, a member of nil plus ultra’s Senior Leadership Team, adds “we have experienced managers who know how to drive this activity without any kind of handholding. They interact as closely with the sponsor or client as required – or they can just get on with it. The taskforce leaders use our experts in the sales, marketing, online and commercial teams, as required. The whole trick is knowing where to focus effort for maximum impact, soonest”

Robert, again: “this is where our +traction approach comes in. It’s just a time-proven method really, which has worked for us consistently, over many programmes. It’s all about being clear on what you need to do, and what you should ignore. This is highly efficient and cost-effective: with a clear focus on those key actions which will generate the required volumes and revenues. It’s also very simple, actually. The knack is keeping ruthlessly focused on achieving the goal. Easier said than done. So, we drive a relatively small number of impactful things, leveraging things we can use, ignoring things we can’t change. It’s a highly operational application of the 80/20 rule, here addressed to sales and marketing activity. For example, we apply an 80/20 rule to research and analytics. Most of the value comes from bringing experience, relevant contacts and know-how to the table, and applying judgement, quickly. It also saves time, effort and costs. We also scale opportunities early in the process, saving time by only developing avenues of real interest. This approach, when combined with the right people from nil plus ultra, effectively “on demand”, is impressive.”

Jude Meadows comments “it’s remarkable how quickly this works. We use a phased approach, which actually speeds things up, by ensuring we focus on the right things. The first phase takes no more than 2 or 3 weeks, usually just a few days, and it surveys the possibilities quickly, working out what needs to be done. By this time we know which initiatives are feasible and can make an impact. We therefore know what tasks we are going to do, properly planned, understanding what we can use, and how we will do the job. It forms the basis for the highly focused executional programme the taskforce delivers in the second phase. We then measure the results on a regular basis, expecting prompt payback.”

Robert also notes “+traction is a great model to help us keep taskforce operations aligned to impactful outcomes. It forms the basis for working out who does what, where and when too. But we remain flexible…but it’s always smart to keep relating back to the model: are we making a difference?…are we wasting time on things which won’t have impact?…is this the smartest way to get better results, sooner?”

Here’s an overview of the essence of the approach:

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“There’s a world of difference between professional project management and co-opting a line or functional manager into a co-ordination role, and calling that a Programme Management Office”

With the current business climate, nil plus ultra clients are focussing on ways to improve efficiency, either through cost reduction projects, revenue improvement initiatives or more significant operational restructuring. Typically, this pushes people in the business beyond their comfort zone; sometimes they are unsure if they have the competency or capacity to drive the necessary changes. Sometimes, motivation is simply not there: for example, it’s hard to motivate people, if the sponsoring management’s imperative is potentially unpopular, such as when downsizing.

Alan Hooper, Senior Programme Director

Alan Hooper, one of nil plus ultra’s most senior Programme Directors, highlights some common challenges: “We often find that a business’ leadership team have a fair idea of what they want – even need – to do. The strategy is reasonably clear, even if it may need translation into an operational change plan. The challenge is then all about implementation. One of the most critical factors becomes the use of “fit for purpose” project management skills. Even if there is sufficient capability to execute elements of the programme, its overall programme management is often a neglected point of potential failure.”

Alan believes that effective programme management combines pragmatism with a deep understanding of project efficiency: “knowing where the risks lie, how to manage a critical path effectively and practically in the real world are important considerations. But an effective Programme Manager commands respect, and can influence, motivate, cajole people – do what it takes, really – so that the programmes’s goal is achieved. What we see too often, is that an internal manager, maybe even a good one, is co-opted to lead the programme. All the outward-facing paraphernalia is established, such as calling an office, suitably set aside, the “Programme Office”. What’s missing is the experience and know how to really run these kinds of projects. How many times have we seen either a project fail, or run into difficulty, requiring remedial help to get it back on track? Much better is to get it right at the start. Although, if things haven’t been set up correctly from the start, and things go awry, all is not lost. We are often brought in to rescue a failing programme; it’s better to call in help than keep in denial about it.”

Alan elaborates: “businesses under pressure are looking at more complexity, more challenges – such as rightsizing, closures, reskilling initiatives… even new product or service launches to help boost failing revenues – and realise they need to avoid dangerous escalation of risk and programme cost. Many organisations don’t have real project management skill in-house.”

The smart ones don’t fudge it, and stretch people too far – they enlist professionals. This can massively reduce the cost and risk of the programme.” – Alan Hooper

There is also another response to meet the challenge. Alan again: “often, we can help to skill up the business’ own people, especially if they already have some project experience. Training and upskilling is a real option for many of our sponsors.”

Mike Utting, Co-Chair Supply Chain & Commercial Group

Mike Utting, nil plus ultra’s Co-Chair Supply Chain and Commercial Group is our Head of Training. Mike comments: “we’re seeing an uplift in demand for this right now. Organisations see the need, more than ever perhaps, for skilled project and programme managers (PMs). More and more are combining our training courses – designed and delivered by experienced PMs who have a flair for training – with supplementary engagement of our own PMs. They engage us on a “pay per use – or hire by the yard” basis. This is flexible and highly cost-effective. This enables the business to grab hold of the running programmes, taking a tight grip on cost and risk. The parallel training also enables them to start to build their own capacity, which they re-use again and again. This combination has become so popular recently, with many businesses executing change programmes, that we’ve developed ways to integrate training courses with the provision of PMs on an “as needed” basis. One of the innovations we’ve set up is the “PM Expert Consultation Line”. This is an approach where people who we’ve trained up, can call or meet with one of our expert PMs to get “in the field” coaching or consultation on a problem or challenge they face. This is proving really popular.”

nil plus ultra’s programme managers are experienced and accredited Prince2 and PMI professionals.

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Business processes are being continuously re-engineered to establish and maintain the strength of positive differentiation.

These pressures of organisational change and the management of customer relationships have led to the situation where the paramount factor for business success is the quality of people.

Our training capability is deployed to improve the quality of people, so they can be more effective for the business. Our practitioners are called in at varying stages, whether for broad staff training programmes, or targeted training for specific manager performance development. Such programmes are also deployed to groom managers, especially to succeed our turnaround and interim managers.

Example Courses

Our courses feature rich, relevant content, which is well delivered by experienced managers-come-trainers. They are highly practical in style, and consistently score high feedback ratings. Some courses are pitched for senior management participation. Others are designed for “shop floor” level staff. Here are some examples:

Business Skills Courses

• Break Through to Success
• Consultancy Skills
• Creative Business Thinking
• Facilitation Skills
• Finance for Non-Financial Managers
• Getting Results in Meetings
• Presentation Skills, Foundation
• Presentation Skills, Advanced
• Successful Negotiation

Management Courses

• Evaluating the Impact of Training
• Project Management – Beyond Planning
• Project Management Overview
• Project Planning and Control
• Management Leadership Courses

Change Management

• Conflict Management
• Coaching and Mentoring
• Developing High Performance Teams
• First Line Management
• Getting Results Through Leadership
• Management Re-Style
• Managing People’s Performance
• Strategic Planning
• Successful Business Leaders
• Team Builder
• Personal Development Courses

Assertive Communication Skills

• Business Essentials
• Enhancing your Image and Personal Impact
• Power of Persuasion and Influence, Part 1
• Power of Persuasion and Influence, Part 2
• Pressure Management
• Time Management

We address sales and marketing strategy, proposition creation, the effectiveness of sales and marketing operations (reach, conversion, penetration, loyalty and so on) as well as its efficiency (cost, complexity, reliability).

“Very hands on…excellent practitioners. We’ve used them both to extend our own sales force, but also to train, incentivise and re-engineer own own operation”

We are flexible in our approach and how we engage

Root causes of underperformance may already be known. They may need to be verified – or even discovered. The business may need a fresh insight or someone who can “own” the challenge and fix the operation. Situations can vary significantly, so we engage in the right way for the business’s circumstances. Typically, we might engage in one or more of the following ways:

• An Operational Review
• Specific Performance Improvement Projects (s)
• Interim and Turnaround Management

These modes of engagement apply to a range of marketing and sales topics. For more information on examples of some popular topics, click on any of the links below:

“They bring deep business and functional leadership skill, programme management and operational capacity. They also combine supply chain expertise with marketing and sales know-how, to address cost and structural issues, whilst appreciating that cost doesn’t trump value. They understand its not just about the business saving money…but making money.”

Our solutions comprise the Design, Install, Support and Maintenance of IT solutions for companies of most sizes including SME and smaller corporate enterprises.

Our telecoms solutions encompass design, implementation, support and additional services for all telephony requirements.

Overview

Our pedigree traces back to 1982 and currently has a service base of 500+ customers served from 4 UK locations, with a single point of contact (Service Desk) and its own skilled engineering resources.

An estimated annual £3bn+ of UK business depends upon products and services supplied by us. We have a proven capability of global projects and relationship management having systems deployed in over 40 countries.

We supply:

• Telephone/Communications systems principally from Avaya, Aastra/Ericson and Panasonic (over 50,000 communication end points installed to date)
• Land lines and call routing (25 million telephone minutes routed per annum)
• IT equipment principally from IBM, Lenovo, CISCO and HP
• Networking equipment from HP, CISCO, AVAYA
• Bespoke software solutions (10,000 users of information technology systems developed by the Company)
• Systems integration / unified communications

Typical services

Communications

• Lines, Calls, Services
• Call plans, handsets, solutions, services
• Broadband, Leased lines, MPLS

Infrastructure

• IT system support and maintenance
• Telephone system support and maintenance
• Asset Management

Managed Internet Security

• Managed Internet Security Service
• Security policies & procedures
• Access control / Identity management

Service

• Service Desk, single point of contact
• Service Provisioning
• Virtual IT manager

Products

• Telephony
• Information Technology
• Networks

Marketing and Media

• Website Design
• Strategic and Creative Campaigns
• Graphic Design

Software Development

• Lotus Notes House
• Design and Development
• Maintenance

Business Continuity

• Online backup and restore
• Business Continuity Planning
• Data Recovery

Web Services

• Domain management
• ISP services
• Hosting

Graham Jackson, a founder member of our senior team, is one of a dozen European Fellows of the prestigious International Association For Commercial And Contract Management (IACCM). Whether you are buying or selling we can provide a range of services; from interim senior management who can be applied to large one-off programmes, through to an in-depth review of your organisation. We will also, if required, implement any associated action plan.

We can restructure in a way that provides a step change in cost savings (or reduction in your risk profile) without significant business disruption and within a timeframe that fits business goals. This is a key challenge for senior management and a challenge some businesses struggle to meet.
See how with a single or tailored package of programmes of work you can make significant and positive impact to your bottom line.

We have successfully supplied these services to both public and private organisations.

Please follow the links below for further examples of the work we do:
 

 
 
Here are some links addressing specific, frequently-encountered topics:
 

nil plus ultra provides a specialist Human Resources, Employment Law and Health & Safety service based on our clients terms that is on a retainer basis that can be ceased at any time. From full support for the smaller business, to assistance for the existing staff of larger companies, we can tailor a service specifically for our clients needs and on a on-to-one basis.

“They work as an extension of our own team, with friendly and professional experts allocated to you from day one, who get to know you and your business needs”

Moreover, our services are offered on YOUR terms. We will not tie you into long-term contracts that cannot be broken. Our work for you is on a pay-as-you-go basis, meaning you are free to cancel our fees at any point should you wish, although given the quality and depth of service provided, you will be another one of our satisfied customers. Most of our new business is by way of referral – which, we believe, speaks volumes.

• Dedicated HR, employment law and health & safety specialists on a one-to-one basis
• No long term fixed contracts or early termination/penalty clauses
• THE most cost effective option on your terms.

Our HR team specialises in:

•  Due Diligence
•  Change management
•  Company restructures
•  Employment Law
•  Human Resources
•  Health & Safety
•  Operations and project management
•  Training development and induction
•  Recruitment and retention
•  Attendance and attrition management
•  Internal senior manager development

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