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Programme Management - Category Archive

UML Profile for Benefits Realisation Management – 2

This is a follow on from UML Profile for Benefits Realisation Management – 1. In  that post I described the basic UML profile I have created for modelling project benefits in line with Bradley and Ward & Daniels Having started to apply the profile successfully, I wanted to extend it to model measures, These were [...]

UML Profile for Benefits Realisation Management – 1

I wrote yesterday about using a general purpose UML modelling tool to create project Benefit Maps. In that post I described using Enterprise Architect’s ability to create custom UML profiles to create the beginnings of a custom modelling language for project benefits management. In this article I walk through the basics of that UML profile. [...]

Modelling Benefits in UML

Benefits Realisation Management is one of those classic programme / project disciplines that “everyone” agrees is a great idea, which in my experience is more overlooked than observed. The main sources in the literature I’m aware of are books by Bradley and Ward & Daniels. I’ve also had the privilege of learning directly from Gerald [...]

Lean Programme Shaping – Models

How can visual models improve the flow of work during programme shaping? This is the sixth post in a series about applying the lessons of lean (especially lean software development) to the shaping phase of programme managem

Lean Programme Shaping – Amplifying Learning

This is the fifth post in a series of thought experiments on applying Lean/Agile principles to the early shaping stages of a programme.

Lean Programme Shaping – Exploring Waste

This is the fourth post in a series of thought experiments on applying Lean/Agile principles to the early shaping stages of a programme.

Lean Programme Shaping – More on Flow

This is the third post in a series of thought experiments on applying Lean/Agile principles to the early shaping stages of a programme.

Lean Programme Shaping – Finding the Value Stream

This is the second post in a series of thought experiments on applying Lean/Agile principles to the early shaping stages of a programme.

Agile Programme Shaping – First Thoughts

This is the first of a number of exploratory posts to express and refine my thinking on the subject. I want to pull together a selection of experiences with programme shaping by looking at them through the filter of lean/agile theory

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. [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

MSP – Quality Management Strategies

On my other blog I’ve been posting my process as I worked through the creation of a Quality Management Strategy. Post 1 Post 2 Post 3 Post 4 Post 5 One key learning point was that the management of benefits, whilst considered by MSP as a separate activity, is absolutely fundamental to ensuring the programme [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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:

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 [...]

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 [...]

MSP07 Launched

The new version of MSP has been launched, amongst the authors are my ex-colleague Rod Sowden, and Patrick Mayfield, who I haven’t met, but whose training company seem to do good work! Now to get on a refresh course…

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.

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.

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 [...]

Managing Successful Programmes Course

I spent last week on the Managing Successful Programmes course. The trainers were good, the group size was good (9 of us), and the other delegates were an interesting and friendly bunch from a range of industries. Between us we covered print, broadcast and online media, telecomms, manufacturing, software, and a couple of flavours of [...]

Another blog

One of the reasons I’ve been quiet in this blog has been that I have started another blog specifically focused on Managing Successful Programmes. When I set that blog up, I was planning on attending a training course in June on Managing Successful Programmes (MSP), leading (hopefully) to the practitioner certificatation. MSP is the UK [...]

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 [...]

Category Details - Programme Management

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