2 The Challenge: Organization Level
Imagine an organization implementing two projects, project 1 and project 2. Both are critical and have different budgets, resources, and outcomes.
The problems include: lack of standards and process governance, inadequate communications and knowledge sharing, little re-use of deliverables, and improper use of vendor tools.
Now let's look at process, people, and deliverables as the three factors for success. Click on each below for common industry problems. Then think about an organization with dozens or hundreds of simultaneous critical projects!
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There are limited central best practices in use for risk reduction. These processes could include project management, quality assurance, Sarbanes-Oxley, etc. (The ovals in the diagram represent different processes).
Higher risks come from:
- Lack of common best practices or process methodologies for teams to follow
- Missing centralized standards, which limit the ability for process governance and global management reporting
- Inability to integrate different disciplines with each other, resulting in"silos" or independent options that can add complexity and confusion
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Project team members might be dispersed, under time pressure, and/or missing knowledge or skills.
Higher risks come from:
- Some people not sure what they are doing
- Lack of knowledge sharing by those who do know
- Difficulty with communication when the team members are scattered remotely
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Different vendor tools (such as project planning, resource management, or testing tools) are really good at what they do, but most are not designed to be linked an organization's process methodologies. Also, deliverables' re-usability is important for efficiencies and control; however, their lack of use can be costly.
Higher risks come from:
- Lack of vendor tool knowledge and best use (as they relate to best practices) and different teams using different tools, which can lead to confusion
- Working with non-standard file templates prevents re-use efficiencies
- Deliverable files may not be easily accessible due to complex directories or not centrally located for global access
