Fire FightingMike Ward, Director of Outperform, presented two different views of how change is managed in organisations at the recent Austerity Debate in London.  There’s an approach with good governance, and there’s an approach where the team members just wing it, and hope for the best.  Let’s look at the characteristics of each of these.

 

 

Good governance

 

 

 

 





     
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  • There is an optimal, effective process




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  • Governance and process improves predictions, so decisions get smarter




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  • Processes are repeatable




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  • It’s easy to compare projects and their performance against each other




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  • Decision making is aided by good data and processes




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  • The dependencies between projects are clear




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Winging it

 

 

 

 





     
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  • Change is expected and considered normal




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  • There are no or poor processes




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  • Pet projects – those favoured by directors or other senior executives – are always at the top of the list




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  • Projects are a leap of faith with unknown benefits




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  • Decisions are made in silos




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  • Projects are subject to surprises when things go wrong.




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Good governance, he said, adds the cost of fire prevention, but it removes the cost of fire fighting.



Governance and oversight require different things from different members of the project community.



As an executive, you should know how the team is doing on the projects.  Otherwise, how do you know if the organisation is meeting its strategic objectives?



As a portfolio manager, you should know how the projects contribute to that strategy.  Which means you have to know what the strategy is.



As a line manager or project stakeholder, you should be aware of the resource situation and plan to make sure there are enough people and resources to deliver the projects.



As a project manager, you should have project plans in a tool like Seavus ProjectPlanner or similar and this should help you establish the earliest and latest delivery times for your projects.  In turn, this feeds the resource planning and drives the timescales for meeting the strategic objectives.



As a business change manager, you should understand the impact of delay in case it happens, so you can plan accordingly and adjust the business case in light of delayed benefits.