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Best-in-class program management PMO
Over 60% of technology transformation projects reportedly fail to meet budgets or timelines, and that can lead to frustrations, and possibly cost a few jobs. Key here is execution excellence. No matter how innovative an idea, or how good a product or its supplier, timely and effective delivery of technology projects are highly dependent on how well the Program Management Office (PMO) goes about its job
Author V Ramkumar, Partner at Cedar Management Consulting International
Early realisation of benefits; Institutionalised framework; Engaged organisation. Unfortunately, there are no magic pills, nor is this an area that banks can afford to ignore. After all, there are projects that are always ongoing, and each one of them has a cost and a benefit embedded. So what are the five key tenets of a successful program management framework?
G 1. Governance structure
Setting the tone for executive sponsorship, and establishing the stakes of all key players, is the name of the game. After all, what is important to my boss is important to me. And if the criticality of the program is not demonstrated via the visible participation of key stakeholders, the execution team is more likely to be consumed by Business-as-Usual (BAU). The result? The new initiative becomes an orphaned child.
Establishing the Executive/Steering committee with the sponsorship of the CEO, and a working group model that engages key stakeholders at an operational level, are imperatives for success. Having the right people in place, assigning the right roles and defining the KPIs around it, are all integral parts of the governance structure. Having the charter built around the structure, with pre-defined reporting templates, the RACI (Responsible – Accountable – Consulted – Informed) matrix and the escalation structure upfront in the program, is critical.
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ood program management delivers:
2. Detailed planning
To quote Benjamin Franklin, when you fail to plan, you plan to fail. The plan needs to operate at two distinct levels:
A low-level plan drawn on a project management application such as an MS project that helps articulate in detail all the activities, tasks and steps, the inter- dependencies, the timelines and the resources. A typical core banking program, for instance, carries about 3,000+ line items.
A high-level plan that defines the top 20-25 activities of the program on a single sheet of paper, both the major and minor milestones and the timelines at a strategic level. This is an extremely important document that gives the management team a bird’s eye view, without having to seek a needle in a haystack.
A word of caution here. Defining the plan in itself is only a job half done. Having it socialised, and “owned” by all stakeholders, is an integral part of the process.
3. Measurement rigour
What gets measured, gets managed. An area where good program managers succeed – and that makes all the difference – is in rigour of measurement. Measuring progress against timelines, quality, budget and impact are all equally important and critical for timely action and
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