Project Management Excellence for SMEs: Part II

Project Management Excellence: Low Budget High Impact Strategies briefly discussed the importance of adopting a simple, tailorable, project management (PM) methodology and inexpensive, possibly cloud based, PM tools. Since then many people have asked for ideas on which methods and tools to evaluate and also guidance on how to perform the evaluation. So how should Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) select PM Methods and Tools, and which methods and tools should they consider?

Evaluating PM Methods and Tools

The same way you would select any other service or product. Start by doing some basic research so you understand what a PM method is and isn’t; what PM tools typically do; and which methods and tools are used by others in your industry. Then define your needs, what functionality do you require? What level of support and training do you need? How much can you afford to spend? Set up a spreadsheet with all of your requirements listed to keep track of your evaluations. Next select a number of different methods and tools to evaluate. Use the product web sites, vendor publications such as product fact sheets, etc. to evaluate your selections against your requirements. Narrow down your selections to a shortlist and arrange a trial or demonstration. Make sure you thoroughly check out licencing, terms & conditions, support and fees & charges before making your decision.

Selecting a Simple PM Method

A Project Management Methodology is a set of defined, repeatable, processes for managing projects from their inception to their conclusion. Typically it will include a PM lifecycle, processes, role definitions and templates. Project managers need a methodology that is simple to use, tailored to their organisations business processes, supports the core PM processes and doesn’t over-burden the PM with unnecessary tasks and documentation.

There are as many PM Methods available, some are free, some aren’t actually PM methods, some can be purchased online and some can only be obtained by engaging a Consultant to tailor and implement the methodology for you. Here are my thoughts on some of the more common methods:

• Free methods – buyer beware, some of the free material is good, some is not and some is just misleading.
• Inexpensive methods – personally, I like Method 123. Its high quality, covers all the essential requirements, is supported and has a range of licencing options to suit most small organisations and budgets. There are other similar methods available for purchase and download.
• Prince2 –It’s freely available, is a very comprehensive methodology and can be used for projects of any size. But, it’s a high formality management approach which will not suit all organisation cultures; it must be tailored to suit your needs, especially for small projects; training can be expensive; it doesn’t come with any templates. If you want to use Prince2 I would strongly recommend engaging a Prince2 Consultant and purchasing Project In a Box.
• Methods provided by PM Consultants – engaging a PM Consultant to tailor and implement a PM methodology for your organisation is a practical way of gaining the expertise required. You should still evaluate the methodology, training, support and costs against your requirements. Also look out for intellectual property issues.
• PMBok – this isn’t a methodology, it’s a framework for project management. Many methodologies have been developed based on PMBok.
• Agile, Scum, XP, Waterfall, RUP – these are all software development methodologies, not to be confused with PM methodologies.

In Part III of this article I’ll discuss selecting an inexpensive PM Tool Suite for SMEs. In the meantime I’d like to hear from you – what is your preferred PM Methodology? Why, what are its pro’s and cons? Have you tailored it and why?

Project Management Excellence: Low Budget High Impact Strategies

Last week I talked to a small business owner about his organisations’ challenges in delivering to clients on time and budget. Time and again his people would work heroically to meet their commitments, working many extra hours and using extra resources. Clients were delighted by his teams dedication. But, this came at a significant cost, with budget overruns, declining profitability and staff burnout. He knew better project management (PM) would improve the situation, but was overwhelmed by the complexity of most project management methods and tools, and given his cash-flow challenges couldn’t afford the high cost of formal PM training.


This is a common challenge for small and medium sized organisations (SMEs). They understand the benefits a better project management capability will produce, but are overwhelmed by the seeming complexity  and can’t justify the high expense. So how do SMEs gain the same advantages their larger competitors do, while remaining agile, and without incurring significant costs? They adopt these six strategies to develop a mature project management (PM) capability:

1. Make Project Management a Strategic Priority: Promote excellence in project management from the top down, ensure everyone in the organisation understands why it is important, their role in delivering projects and the benefits to both the organisation and the individual. Make improving your PM capability a strategic objective throughout the organisation. Develop a plan for improving project management.

2. Focus on your People: PM excellence is achieved by excellent Project Managers. Make sure you have the right people, with the ability and attitude to be great project managers. The best PMs will combine solid planning skills and attention to detail, with the ability to be flexible and have excellent people skills. If you’re hiring, don’t focus too heavily on certifications, focus instead on experience, skills and attitude.

3. Become a Learning Organisation: Be smarter about training, instead of sending people to expensive offsite classroom training adopt Learning 2.0 strategies such as webinars, knowledge sharing, just in time learning, coaching and mentoring. Develop a knowledge management system to capture reusable information and documents. For more formal needs obtain onsite training that is specifically tailored for your organisation, your people and your methods. Not only are the costs significantly lower the learning outcomes for your people will be significantly higher and immediately usable in your organisation.

4. Adopt a Simple Methodology: Most project management methodologies are well suited to large complex projects, and large organisations, but they do not work well for less complex projects in smaller, more agile organisations. Select a methodology that emphasises flexibility and can be tailored to suit your specific needs. Take the time to tailor the methodology and regularly review how well it is working.

5. Don’t buy Expensive Tools: Unless you’re involved in a major construction projects, building rockets for NASA or managing large complex software developments your tool needs are fairly simple. You need to plan who does what and when, create, modify and share documents, collaborate, track and report progress and manage project financials. There are many, inexpensive, cloud based PM tool suites available, chose one that meets your needs, is tailorable, will scale up as you grow and fits your budget.

6. Celebrate Success, Learn from Mistakes: There’s no silver bullet when it comes to developing project management excellence. It takes time, dedication, persistence and encouragement. Capture lessons learnt from all projects, what works, what doesn’t work. Use problem projects as an opportunity for coaching and learning, not blame. Ensure Project Managers receive mentoring from experienced PMs. Above all else, celebrate your organisations successes.

Project Management excellence is the key to successful long term success, without it your organisation will lurch from one challenged client engagement to another, never quite reaching its’ full potential. The good news is, small and medium organisations can develop strong PM capabilities without incurring the significant expense of complex PM methodologies, tools and classroom training. And in doing so SMEs can out-compete their larger competitors by remaining agile while still delivering outstanding project results.

Ensuring Projects Deliver Business Value

I recently spoke on this topic at the Australian Institute of Project Managers Conference in Queensland in a presentation that highlighted the importance of OCM to projects’ success and the need for Program and Project Managers to understand and apply OCM best practices in their projects.

As individuals we need to adapt to change constantly throughout our lives, from a new barista at our favourite coffee shop, a new tunnel, or a new government, indeed the ability to adapt to change highly regarded trait, demonstrating emotional intelligence. And in today’s fast paced, rapidly changing world so too must organisations develop the capability to successfully change if they are to survive and grow profitably. BUT,

It’s clear from the many studies on this topic that organisations are still struggling to successfully change, in 2008 IBM conducted a study involving 2500 CEOs from organisations worldwide. IBM reported that almost 60% of change management projects fail to achieve their business objectives.

The impact of failed projects is immense, from lost revenue, increased costs, lowered morale and reputational damage. Organisations that fail to change will ultimately fail in the market.

The same IBM study found that organisations that have adopted best practices in Organisational Change Management were up to 10x more successful in implementing change. The top organisations (change masters) had an 80% success rate while the bottom organisations (change novices) 8% success rate. why?

Organisation change is hard because organisations don’t change, people change, and without a compelling reason to change individuals are more likely to resist change than embrace it. Organisation Change Management (OCM), is fundamentally about people. it involves learning new behaviours, influencing people to change their mindset, and encouraging people to give up entrenched ways of working

All successful Project Managers have good people skills and the various PM methods do emphasise the need to manage people change, but they lack real guidance on the methods used to influence and motivate people to change. So, while we’ve become very good at managing the ‘hard’ side of change, using mature PM methodologies and highly skilled project managers, many technically successful projects still do not succeed in delivering the planned business value

We need to become better at managing the people side of change to ensure successful projects deliver of their promised business benefits.

In today’s complex, rapidly changing world simply managing successful programs and projects is no longer enough. The PM profession is at the heart of organisation change and needs to ensure every project is linked to business objectives and delivers the promised benefits. It’s clear that technical PM methods on their own aren’t sufficient to guarantee success and there is a significant body of research that illustrates the vital role of OCM in ensuring business value is realised.

Together OCM and PM are the keys to delivering real, sustainable business value for organisations.


This article is part of a series exploring the essential capabilities all CIOs and IT Organisations need to drive transformation and deliver enduring business value.Joan Dobbie is the Founder and Principal Consultant at Beyond Strategy Consulting. Her company offers a wide range of IT Strategy and Transformation services to IT Organisations of all sizes.

Succeeding in a turbulent, uncertain world

Six key capabilities every CIO should develop

“Change is the New Normal” - it’s a cliché, but it also reflects the reality for CIOs today. Globalisation, cloud computing, the GFC, skills shortages, compliance, social networking; climate change, green IT, “everything as a service” – it’s a turbulent, endlessly changing and increasingly complex world, and CIOs are at the heart of it. No longer is IT the provider of support services, a cost centre, a follower rather than a leader. Today IT is the driver of innovation, strategic change and value generation.

To meet the demands of the new normal, CIOs and IT Organisations need to develop new capabilities, that enable IT to become successful drivers of strategic change across the organisation.

Value Management: Delivering the expected business value from a program requires far more than the successful delivery of the program. Early stakeholder buy-in to the planned benefits, how they will be measured and how they will be realised is required. Program and project benefits need to be clearly linked to planned business benefits and tracked through the completion of the program. Finally, since benefit realisation usually extends well past the end of the program, ongoing tracking and reporting of benefits is required. Above all else IT must develop the necessary business skills to clearly articulate the value IT delivers.

Portfolio Management: If Program and Project management are about doing things right, then Portfolio Management is about doing the right things. Portfolio Management ensures that programs and projects are aligned to the strategic objectives and have clearly defined benefits.

Organisation Change Management: Upwards of 70% of change management projects fail to achieve stated business objectives due to “internal politics” and “people” issues according to Bearing Point. It is no longer acceptable to deliver successful technology projects, instead business change projects, using organisation change management best practices, should incorporate the required technology change.

Learning & Development: Research shows that high performing organisations, globally, take a strategic approach to talent management and build a learning culture. Establishing a strategic Learning and Development program, that is aligned with the organisations vision, strategies and goals, will ensure the right people with the right skills are available at the right time. Managing Learning & Development strategically is proven to deliver increased value to the business more efficiently.

Collaboration & Knowledge Management: Information overload and rapid constant change make it difficult for today’s knowledge workers to find the information they need. Knowledge Management and Collaboration strategies provide users with the tools they need to work collaboratively across the organisation, and to find the information they need, when they need it.

Strategic Business Planning: IT Strategic Plans generally address the technology changes required to meet the business objectives. Some, will also address the organisation change management required to deploy the new technology to the business. Very rarely does the IT Strategic Plan address the significant change the IT Organisation must also undergo.

To be successful drivers of strategic change, CIOs should assess their organisation’s capability in these six key areas and build a Strategic Business Plan for the IT Organisation that incorporates development of these key capabilities.


This article is part of a series exploring the essential capabilities all CIOs and IT Organisations need to drive transformation and deliver enduring business value.
Joan Dobbie is the Founder and Principal Consultant at Beyond Strategy Consulting. Her company offers a wide range of IT Strategy and Transformation services to IT Organisations of all sizes.