Scaling Project Management Processes for Small Projects: A Case Study

Presented by: Bill McDonald

Manager, Focused Business Solutions

Co-written by: Casey Worthington, P.M.P.

GE Capital IT Solutions Canada

Enbridge Consumers Gas

Enbridge Consumers Gas (ECG) is Canada’s largest natural gas distribution utility, serving 1.4 million residential, commercial, industrial, and transportation service customers

Employs over 3500 Canadians

Enbridge Consumers Gas

The ECG Computing Environment

3500 NT 4.0 workstations

160 servers operating on Netware 4.x, NT 4.0, and HP Unix

Centrally controlled LAN/WAN client server architecture

300 I.S. staff positions (full time and contractors)

Business Opportunity

Growth in demand for smaller, highly specific applications required to meet immediate business needs

Demand principally for Inter/Intranet, MS Access, and Visual Basic applications

Opportunity for I.S. to achieve “quick wins” in the client community

Focused Business Solutions Focused Business Solutions (FBS) was

formed in April ‘98 to address this growing niche

Consolidated two existing groups:– End-user oriented development– Internet / Intranet development

Established under the I.S. PMO, specializing in “quick turnaround” application development projects across ECG

FBS is also responsible for on-going support of the applications it has developed

“Typical” FBS Project Portfolio

One analyst, one to three month duration

One analyst, multiple projects

Projects independent from each other

Development tools include:– MS Access, Visual Basic– Hahtsite (I-Net)– Web Page tools

High degree of client involvement

Project Management Challenge

How much PM is enough to increase the probability that:– the scope is clearly established– the product is delivered on time, on budget– the quality of product (and benefits) is achieved– the staff resources are optimized– FBS gets repeat business and referrals

But not so much as to cause:– longer overall delivery cycle– added cost without added value– customer alienation

FBS Project Management Principles

Reduce PM process to core fundamentals, and add to process only as warranted and necessary

Core Project Management

Execution&Control

Close-OutInitiation &Definition

Planning

ProjectCharter

Schedule

WBS Status

Updates

ChangeMgt.

IssuesLog

ClientSign-off

Post ProjectReview

ProductSpecif’ns

Ongoing Communications

FBS Project Management Principles

Reduce PM process to core fundamentals, and add to process only as warranted and necessary

Adapt the existing methodology of the ECG PMO which is geared for larger projects

Adapt Methodology

Project Charter– Same structure, simplified– THE CRITICAL COMPONENT– Change Control starts after the Project Charter is

signed

Adapt Methodology

Planning– Repeatable processes (“canned templates”)– Deliverable based schedule– Gantt chart

• resource assignments

• start and end dates

• dependencies

• milestones

Product Specifications– application screens, reports, functions– interfaces to other applications– geographic diversity of users

Adapt Methodology

Execution and Control– Close customer communications

(e-mail, telephone, face to face)– Regularly scheduled team meetings– Meeting minutes with task, owner, and timeline– Simplified change control form & process– Issues log

Adapt Methodology

Close-out– Project sign-off form– Post Implementation Review

Adapt Methodology

Sign-off Milestones– Project Charter– Change Control– Schedule– Close-out

Project Management provides control of projects and the FBS business

FBS Project Management Principles

Reduce PM process to core fundamentals, and add to process only as warranted and necessary

Adapt the existing methodology of the ECG PMO which is geared for larger

Project Management is not just for Project Managers– The PM function split between Functional Manager

and Analysts

PM - Traditional Approach

ProjectManager

Organizational Environment

AnalystAnalystAnalyst

PM - FBS Approach

FBSManager

Organizational Environment

AnalystAnalystAnalyst

PM

Fu

ncti

on

Roles and Responsibilities

FBS Manager FBS Analyst

PM - Gatekeeping- Resourcing- Charter- Communication- Quality Control- Escalation- Sign-off

- Charter- Planning- Execution- Communication- Sign-off

Traditional - FunctionalManagement ofteam

- Delivery of FBSproduct

FBS Project Management Principles

Reduce PM process to core fundamentals, and add to process only as warranted and necessary

Adapt the existing methodology of the ECG PMO which is geared for larger

Project Management is not just for Project Managers

Involve the whole team

Involve the Whole Team

PM training for all FBS

Use team meetings to:– review PM deliverables– discuss lessons learned (good and bad)

Include “soft skills”

Make it personal– incorporate PM skills into objectives and

performance measurement

FBS Project Management Principles

Reduce PM process to core fundamentals, and add to process only as warranted and necessary

Adapt the existing methodology of the ECG PMO which is geared for larger

Project Management is not just for Project Managers

Involve the whole team

Gatekeeping is essential

FBS Gatekeeping

Responsibility of FBS Manager

Involves:– Understanding of Business Drivers– Accepting only “good business”– Saying “no” to some projects

“FBS” Before Project Management Some solid contributions within client

community in:– workgroup specific applications– I-Net web pages

However, problems included:– “never ending projects” due varying client

expectations– mixed results in delivered solutions across I.S.

(cost and quality)– skepticism in ability to address more complex

applications

First Year Results

Since last April– 18 new applications and major enhancements

• 10 delivered within original target date

• 4 delivered within Change Control date

– all applications met original or revised

specifications

Client feedback on results highly positive

PM role and function seen as critical success

Established viability (and growth) of FBS

Success Factors Commit to PM principles

Empowerment and accountability of Analysts

Gatekeeping and Gantt charts allow for supply / demand balancing

Support from I.S. PMO, FBS, customers

Sharing of lessons learned (post implementation reviews - continuous improvement)

Defined and recognized dual roles (functional manager / project manager; project manager / analyst)

Areas for Improvement

Stronger discipline in initial scope definition and management throughout the project

Demonstrating and selling virtues of PM to customer base

Analyst culture and PM process not an easy fit

Management of support workload

What’s Next?

Higher attention to gatekeeping

Improved compliance in following processes

Focus on measurements

Continuous improvement of PM process in “quick turnaround” applications

Carry on

Conclusion - FBS Secrets

Honour PM principles and be creative in their application

Adapt PM processes and scale to the project

Split the PM function across manager and analysts

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS