Synesthesia
Notes on stuff
MSP Blog - Category Archive
Old MSP Blog is Closing
I'm closing one of my old blogs, and will be re-directing content to a category on this blog.
PRINCE2 Practitioner
I’ve just heard that I have passed my PRINCE2 Practitioner qualification, thanks to the excellent help of Pearce Mayfield.
I’ve been familiar with the PRINCE2 method for a number of years, and have certainly applied the principles to local methods, but have resisted getting into it too formally because of the bureaucratic nightmare I have seen many organisations [...]
Delivering successful IT-enabled business change
Delivering successful IT-enabled business change (PDF), published by National Audit Office November 2006.
Summary
IT-enabled business change essential for reforming public services.
Many examples of failure, report examines 24 examples of success to draw out key factors, projects from £k20 to £M800+.
For the critical success factors identifies key questions to assess likelihood of success.
Critical Success Factors (and related [...]
BPUG Congress 2008
I spent half a day earlier this week at the Best Practice User Group Congress. BPUG is concerned with the application and use of OGC products such as Prince2, MSP and MoR. As you might expect therefore there was little mention of alternative methods such as Agile.
I didn’t have time to attend the conference sessions, so this is somewhat less than [...]
Programme Procurement Strategy – 3
I’ve clarified the process I have in mind, based on the previous two posts:
Programme Procurement Strategy – 2
In Programme Procurement Strategy – 1 I briefly reviewed the approach from the OGC Risk Allocation Model for Project Strategy and Procurement.
Thinking about how to apply that approach to my own programme, I quickly realised that the range of changes we are seeking to deliver (across technology services, business processes and management capabilities) does not easily sit [...]
Programme Procurement Strategy – 1
I need to put together an analysis of procurement options for the programme I am shaping, as first steps in devising a procurement strategy.
The main online reference I have found so far is the OGC’s Risk Allocation Model for Project Strategy and Procurement (pdf).
The first part of that document examines the suitability of different contract types [...]
Library Addition – Benefits Realisation Management
I’ve just got my hands on Benefit Realisation Management: A Practical Guide to Achieving Benefits Through Change by Gerald Bradley.
Technorati Tags: BenefitsManagement, Books, GeraldBradley
Quality Management Strategies – 5
Further reference to the [[MSP]] manual (p77, 2003 version) identifies three areas of programme activities where quality management is involved:
Quality management of the governance arrangements – this corresponds to the top level “Governance Reviews” in post 3 of this series.
Quality assurance and review of project outputs – this corresponds to the lower three levels in post 3 [...]
Quality Management Strategies – 4
At some point we will have to identify the who of Quality Management – who will carry out all of the activities.
Looking at the last post it occurred to me that a useful simplifying assumption would be to divide the processes into three levels:
Meta-Programme Activities
Quality activities which sit outside the programme
Programme Activities
Quality activities at the programme level
Project [...]
Quality Management Strategies – 3
In the last two posts of this series I have started down the line of understanding the value chain of a programme, and therefore what it is we need to quality assure.
This post steps back for a moment to think about the sort of process we need to design in our Quality Management Strategy – the how of [...]
Programme Value Chain
I found this diagram useful to explain how the various activities and plans within a programme combine to add value for the programme sponsoring group and stakeholders:
Technorati Tags: diagrams, MSP, Programme Management, Value
Quality Management Strategies – 2
Why do we need a Quality Management Strategy?
In an earlier post I wrote about my confusion when starting to think about how to create a quality management strategy for my programme.
Let’s go back to basics – why do we need a Quality Management Strategy?
Fundamentally it’s about ensuring (to an acceptable level of certainty) that the Programme will [...]
Quality Management Strategies – 1
I’ve been thinking about how to put together a Quality Management Strategy for the programme I am shaping. Question is, where to start…
The MSP Manual says:
[…] used to define and establish the activities for managing quality across the programme
which sounds tautologous to me.
In Chapter 9 on Quality Management, a bit more detail appears:
The Quality Management Strategy [...]
22 Questions
The UK Department for Education and Skills are major users of Programme and Project Management. To aid programme startup, they have an approach known as The 22 Questions.
As an aid to meeting facilitation, here are the 22 questions as a MindManager Mindmap.
Technorati Tags: Mindmaps, Programme Management
I passed!
I’ve just heard from Pearce Mayfield that I have passed the Managing Successful Programmes practitioner qualification -although the result isn’t on the APMG/OGC site yet.
Technorati Tags: MSP, Programme Management, qualifications
MoD approach to Benefits Realisation Management
Relocated from MSP blog at http://www.synesthesia.co.uk/msp/2006/10/17/mod-approach-to-benefits-realisation-management/
Update 1: As Nick Spargo points out in the comments these links are now dead. If anyone can point to the modern equivalent, that would be appreciated.
Update 2: Matthew Davis points to http://www.aof.mod.uk/, but the specific link he posts is now dead.
A series of documents from the UK Directorate for [...]
Agile Programme Management
Via Brad Appleton’s excellent post of links to Agile Programme Management resources, a paper on Combining Agile Methods with Stage-Gate Project Management.
Based on studies in three engineering companies, the conclusion is that are benefits from both the management and engineering perspective.
Good things:
Agile method add microplanning and day-to-day control to the stage-gate methods
Engineering teams felt more in control of [...]
It’s all made from paper and glue…
Having surfaced after summer holidays, a trade show visit and various bits of work, I’ve realised that the new October dates for the MSP course are only three weeks away – so time to get back into the pre-work!
With only a couple of loose pages of notes so far, it already looked like I was well [...]
The Stakeholder Power/Impact Matrix In Practice
I had a good example the other day of the potential of the Stakeholder Power/Impact Matrix.
I was discussing with a colleague the framing of another potential programme, and quite informally drew a rough matrix in front of him. I explained the meaning of the two axes and then with him discussed our first impressions of [...]
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