True Story: How an Internally-Run Program Can Get Out of Control
Background
The Company: Medium-sized, full line-of-business health plan operating in multiple states
The Systems: Multiple, quasi-home-grown, core administration systems running in multiple data centers
The Project: Consolidate all core administration systems onto one, new, vendor-supplied and supported system
The Execution Approach: Hire consultants to perform much of the work, but plan and manage the project with internal expertise
Major Issues
Company executives were only partially engaged and unwilling to fight for the project team until it was too late – some executives were against the project
The company Project Executive lacked experience with very large projects, and the type of system being implemented on this project
The Project Management Office was not prepared to control such a large project
The project management team was more focused on administration than on on-time, on-budget, accurate results
A critical piece of software functionality had an unusually high level of defects
Results
Project team size ramped up to twice the number of people actually needed due to inadequate PMO controls and process-focused project management techniques
Project delayed for months while vendor de-bugged their software
Upon completing a third of the project scope, two thirds of the project budget was consumed
Project was re-planned, most of the consultants were terminated to save costs, and the project completed over a year late
To Help Clients Avoid this Type of Outcome, I Offer the Following Services
Project and program planning and organization– I assist executive management with:
Determining a realistic, measurable project/program schedule and budget, the risks associated with them and management’s buy-in to those risks . . . or not
Creating a project/program organization structure that can succeed. This includes assessing what skills exist, what skills are needed, what the reporting relationships should be, and how the organization structure should change with different phases of the project
Assuring that a steady, measurable, results-driven implementation methodology is employed
Establishing solid, reliable project management and control processes and tools – processes and tools that get results instead of just documenting how the project is spinning out of control
Project and program oversight – I assist executive management with:
Monitoring actual project progress in the context of the schedule and budget – this involves looking at measurable results rather than processes whenever possible
Course corrections – no project goes as planned. Software doesn’t work, people don’t deliver as planned, people quit, new technology doesn’t perform as planned, and more. I help with figuring out how to adjust, compensate, and get back on track
