714-932-2284 • 866-443-1058
Project Management Consulting |
 |
Project Management Training & Planning |
|
Are many of your critical projects over schedule and budget? Too often, teams lack the skills and tools to effectively plan and execute projects that often necessary to develop and introduce a new product, implement a new system (such as ERP) or discover cost savings opportunities. Is the organization focusing on the right projects to the drive the business forward and address the competitive landscape? Are you managing the risks? Will the employees embrace the changes the project creates?
Our goal is to reduce the cost of launching and managing projects while increasing the confidence of project’s leaders. Effective project management is key to remaining competitive. Our Project Optimize System™ uses proprietary analysis tools to develop a project portfolio plan, which we can implement with you. Our approach combines the disciplines of project management, change management and team and leadership development. Our clients are typically executives and senior managers responsible for guiding programs and projects, including IT, Operations and Supply Chain Management.
Project Analysis and Planning
Project Plan: How complete are project plans—well documented, detailed, and specific? What is the degree of confidence management has that plans will be completed on time and on budget? Do you understand the level of effort and resources necessary for each project? Should business process improvement be part of the project plans?
Risk analysis and mitigation: What are the key risks of doing—and not doing—the projects? Will current operations or products/services be affected by the successful—or unsuccessful—implementation of projects? What preventive and countermeasures have been planned to reduce project risks? What is the cost and risk of an early completion of projects? How would turnover of the project team leader or team members affect projects?
Project leadership: What is your approach to prioritizing projects and allocating resources? How often is the project portfolio reviewed? Are project monitoring and reporting tools robust enough to detect and address issues early enough to make a difference? Is the decision-making process speedy and effective? We use our Project Value Analysis technology to calculate cost, assess risks and determine the value of projects to the business plan and strategy.
Team readiness: Do the project teams have the skills to plan and execute projects? Are teams leveraging their strengths to optimize project performance? Do the teams understand how to balance time (calendar & sequence), resources (people & budget) and deliverables (outcomes & quality)? Are team members embracing the accountability necessary for successful completion of the project?
Change management: Are change plans embedded in overall project plans? Is the culture and workforce ready for the “new way” once the project is completed? Are systems and processes affected by a project ready for the change? How have customers and suppliers been engaged in the planning and implementation of projects?
Implementation
Case for change: What is the most effective way to communicate the need for more discipline in planning and executing projects? How do you overcome the tendency of people to “work it out as we go”? Making the case for change in an articulate fashion decreases the resistance.
Roll out: How will the new planning process be introduced to the organization? What other systems need to be changed? How will leaders be held accountable for results? How will competing projects be prioritized?
Training: What is the best way to provide the tools and processes for managing projects? What is the optimal way to deliver the information—classroom? Intranet? How will management support the new behaviors?
Follow-up: How will the new behaviors be recognized and reinforced? How will new projects be prioritized and the project portfolio balanced? How will management make high-quality, speedy decisions about projects? How can project management become a core competency that drives a sustainable competitive advantage?
Case Study
A large multinational food products company found the product development cycle increasing and as a result, growth and profitability were diminishing. Careful analysis revealed that research & development and manufacturing were not working well together to create new products and had a difficult time executing. The solution was to develop a standard project management plan and template and train teams on how to effectively work together to plan and implement projects. As a result of the consulting and training, the product development cycle time was reduced by 50% and profitability increased dramatically. Teams learned how to plan a project, how to assess risk and how to work together to reduce the schedule and create winning new products. A key ingredient was that research and manufacturing leaders learned how to achieve agreements and tradeoff early on in the planning process in order to speed the execution of projects.
————————————————————————————————————————–
Call Debbie Holzkamp at 714-932-2284 or email at dholzkamp@hdspremierconsulting.com
to review your needs, this program and timing that works for you.
