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
Good program management delivers: 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?
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 predefined reporting templates, the RACI (Responsible – Accountable – Consulted – Informed) matrix and the escalation structure upfront in the program, is critical.
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
Measurement is not necessarily a “postfacto”
report on an activity delayed.
Effective program management is all
about reporting lead measures that can
help alert a potential delay in timely
fashion. A natural corollary to this is the
identification and reporting of risk – and
categorising it based on the criticality
and the impact, gravitating the attention
of the management team to the right
issue at the right time
A framework such as the Balanced
Scorecard can ensure the measures
are holistic in their coverage, and also
driven around 15-20 program objectives
that best explain the target outcome.
That being said, the key to success here
is not just having the right measures or
framework, but the rigour and discipline
in ensuring they are monitored and
reported in a timely manner. 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 COURSE CORRECTION
WHERE REQUIRED. 4. Change management
Operation successful, but patient dead.
That’s the story of programs that meet
timeline and budget goals, but fail to
carry people along. A disengaged user is
like a termite in a wardrobe. The solution?
A proactive, effective and disciplined
approach by the PMO function to change
management. Of course, having the
users well oriented and trained on the
new platform and the new embedded
processes is key. But you must also
drive home the top 10 benefits that the
change is bringing to the bank, to its
customers, and each person in his/her
own area. Shying away from highlighting
the downsides of the status quo and the
risks of creaking technology will not help.
And sometimes it’s about reinforcing
the message, so it permeates across the
bank. 5. Value realisation It is quite easy to miss the wood for the
trees, when the PMO gets entangled
in tracking a dozen parallel activities,
dealing with 20 different stakeholders
and hundreds of project resources on a
day to day basis. There are two parallel approaches to
dealing with the challenge of value
realisation: Have a series of major and minor
milestones embedded in the program,
and drive a culture of celebrating those
achieved. This is not just to create a
positive environment at the project office, but also an effective means to let
the larger organisation know that the
program is progressing well. TENETS OF PROGRAM MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK
A practice of broadcasting the larger value that the bank is likely to realise through the program can be quite helpful. It keeps the focus on the larger goal, and also reduces the risk of distraction.
The tenets for program management also help set the priorities. I remember speaking to a bank many years ago, where there was a “department” for core banking transformation projects. It was almost an announcement that the transformation program was going to run forever, and unsurprisingly it did! Dragging the programs beyond their stated timelines can be somewhat like a pill that’s well past its expiry date. Consumption may not only be ineffective in addressing the pain, it may sometimes be fatal too. Repeated reminders of the primary purpose of the program, and reiterating the value it is set to deliver, is a good habit to have.
For a further conversation on this subject of Cedar View or how we may be able to help please email V. Ramkumar, Senior Partner, Cedar at V.Ramkumar@cedar-consulting.com