The source of failure for 90% of projects is their failure to establish a good set of requirements, with project teams only to eager to make a start and the business will bekeen to get the job done.
Far to little attention is paid to this topic and the complexity of the changes.
Why not have a look at our short and informal video on why this is a problem and the key things you should be thinking about.
If we can help further which our short training course on the subject just get in touch with us.
MSP Survival Guide for Senior Responsible Owners has been written specifically for you (the SRO), full of helpful advice to make your hectic life easier
There are many reasons why programmes fail, but failure to grasp the scale of the change being delivered and weak leadership of the programme teams are often contributing factors.
As you are unlikely to have time to read the MSP guide or to go on courses, we have covered the main things that you will need to know in a format that can be easily referenced.
In this series of extracts we are publishing a summary of the key points from each of the chapter of the MSP Survival Guide for SROs. If you would like to buy a copy, please follow this link and quote the discount code of SG15 for a 10% discount.
Here is our advice for SROs on the Programme organisation, if you would like more specific advice or help why not contact us about support and training for SRO’s.
“Organisations need to practice qualitative corporate governance rather than quantitative governance thereby ensuring it is properly run.” “You cannot legislate good behaviour.” – Mervyn King, Bank of England Your programme will need an organisational structure, many programmes fail because they get this wrong from the outset. There are two sides to a programme: A) the bit that creates capability, which is where much of the money is spent on projects, and B) the bit that delivers the transformation, where the benefits come from changing the way the environment operates. It is all too common to find programmes unbalanced and dominated by project thinking to build capability, you need to ensure that the programme is business focused or the benefits will never appear. For the full extract, read on MSP Survival Guide for SROs tasters – Programme Organisation
If you are considering buying a training course and you are thinking that there are bargains out there with cheaper training companies, then we would advise you to read this article. The big training companies and Axelos have been systematically undermining the training market for the last 8 years and this investigation exposes part of the story. If you are buying training, please consider the following other factors when selecting your provider:
Quality of the trainer – ask for the cv and are they a industry professional or a “talking head” who will read the slides to you
Quality of the materials – what is exactly included in the price, for example, manuals,
Exam track record – this is important but very high success rates may be misleading
Is the course right for you – if there is an examination on the end of it the course may only focus on the exam coaching rather than teaching the topic
The quality of the company – are they a pop up training company offering cheap courses or have they a track record in the industry and can bring a deeper understanding of the topic
The value of the content of some of the best practice guides can often be lost in the detail of the manual and the focus on passing an exam. Therefore, we have pulled out some of the areas that we think will be of the most value to people so that they can act as a quick reference guide.
Clipper Around The World Race, Hawaii start, April 5th 2008
Is your programme exhibiting any of these characteristics
Project issues dominate the programme board
Unidentified risks start to materialise a bit too quickly
Benefits are rarely discussed
The BCM lacks authority or purpose
Many uncontrolled or unclear dependencies between projects and other initiatives start to manifest themselves
Decision making is ad-hoc, reactionary or just slow
Stakeholder resistance begins to increase and programme loses support
Programmes either lack momentum or feel like a roller coaster
If that is the case, your programme probably does not have a blueprint, and is probably out of control.
In this article, we liken a programme a yacht and explain how it is not what you see on the surface that is providing the control, it is what happens below the waterline that is important.
If your programme is exhibiting any of these characteristics then this article is for you.
Fresh Look – A series of articles and videos taking a look at common topics to come up with some new ideas and insight into problems that seem to repeat themselves across many organisations.
In a world of information overload it is very easy to lose sight of what matters. If you would like more information why not consider doing our Project Management Fundamentals course that introduces the concepts of planning or read our book.
These posts revisit some core concepts and what better place to start than with planning.
One of the great mysteries of our profession is planning. For most of our clients, project and programme management is all about having a plan, yet most of our professional qualifications don’t actually involve a lot of planning. In fact some of these, for example, PRINCE2®, go out of their way to avoid it.
We therefore shouldn’t really be surprised that so many projects run late or go wrong. A sequencing to events is needed to bring a good plan together and in this article we have set out a sequence for you to consider – Planning – back to basics
Now, if you are really interested in finding out more about planning and how you can improve your performance, check out our book.
This sounds simple enough, and it would be, if all stakeholders were in agreement, but the reality is they rarely are and the all want the world but want someone else to pay for it, so having a transparent and structured approach is very helpful.
At the same time as checking the requirements it is important to establish priorities. Not all requirements will have equal priority and a structured approach to decision-making will be needed. Stakeholders will have their own views on what is important to them, and not all can be completely satisfied.
Here is an article from our archives that we thought would be an interesting read into the lessons of one of the most complex programmes delivered, yet failed to hit the headlines, which was probably a good thing, as it is only bad news that hits the headlines!!
Late 2016, we were commissioned to write a Lessons Learned report on the Network Rail Thameslink programme to enable other organisations to learn from their experiences.
When we commenced work, it became clear that there had been extensive documentation of lessons throughout the lifecycle, but the problem was people weren’t listening.
The challenge therefore was to find a way to communicate the lessons that this amazing programme had faced and how they overcame them and the lessons that others can learn from this experience in a format that could be consumed.
The scale of the assignment has led us to invoke a number of new techniques beyond this case study that enable key individuals to share their passion, pains and gains through the use of videos and workshops to ensure their story would not be lost.
Rather than a formal report, we have created a case study together with supporting videos to communicate the message. This Thameslink case study provides an insight into workings off a major infrastructure programme, and how they in effect developed an approach that has become the second generation of programme management within Network Rail.
The value of the content of some of the best practice guides can often be lost in the detail of the manual and the focus on passing an exam. Therefore, we have pulled out some of the areas that we think will be of the most value to people so that they can act as a quick reference guide.
If you are considering buying a training course and you are thinking that there are bargains out there with cheaper training companies, then we would advise you to read this 
