Project Management

Context

As resources become increasingly scarce, organisations look for silver bullets to improve their work management practices.  One of the best tools for organisational transformation is project management.  It is fairly simple in concept, but is often ineffective for a whole range of reasons.

Project work is very different from operational work.  Operational work tends to have a greater urgency – it tends to keep the organisation afloat – but in the longer term, project work delivers progress, improvement and change.  Every project is unique – the only repetition is the way in which individual processes are implemented.

A project can be defined in three dimensions:

  • It has well defined deliverables, outputs or products that are designed to achieve particular results, outcomes or impacts.
  • It has a well defined timeframe or schedule by which the project should be completed
  • It has a well defined budget that necessarily limits the numbers of people and the types of materials that available to complete the project.

Managing Project Stakeholder ExpectionsBut all that means nothing if the stakeholders have different expectations about each of these three dimensions.  So, project management is also about identifying the expectations of each stakeholder and making sure that the expectations of all stakeholders are mutually compatible.

 

Experience

Hub staff have long-standing experience successfully managing a number of significant projects including:

  • Managing ActewAGL’s second E-Business project; the Project Team won the ActewAGL 100%+ Award for producing “the most advanced web site of any utility in Australia”; the Australian Financial Review judged it to be significantly better than any other website in the Australian energy, airline and health insurance sectors; and independent research company Global Reviews rated the website as the best in the Australian energy industry for over 3 years
  • Managing an ICT Workflow Management Project for the Department of Defence; this included improving the operations of the Work Management Committee and documenting key business processes, policies and guidelines.
  • Managing ACTEW ‘s Y2K Project; the ACTEW Corporation Board stated that “the management of the Year 2000 process within ACTEW reflected well on all those involved.  The Board particularly thanked the Year 2000 project manager, David Bailey, for his outstanding contribution”; David also won the ACTEW Business Systems Excellence Award for “demonstrating tenacity and determination in developing a methodical and structured approach to the Year 2000 Project in spite of many corporate obstacles.”
  • Managing mineral exploration programs in New South Wales and South Australia including geological, geochemical and geophysical mapping; diamond, percussion & RAB drilling; field party logistics; landholder engagement; and 24/7 team management
  • Providing project management services & coaching to a range of major Government initiatives including  a Federal Cabinet-sponsored Review of the appropriateness of Shared Services models across the Commonwealth Government; and the establishment of the ACT Government’s Shared Services organisation
  • As well as significant experience with a range of project management methodologies including Prince2, and extensive knowledge of the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK), Hub consultants have coached ACT Government staff on the development of winning concept briefs and business cases for projects with a significant ICT component; and assisted with the development of planning acquisition and management processes for the ACT Government’s IT Investment Portfolio.

If you have a project to be managed or you just need some advice, contact the Hub.  When you’re ready to talk, we’re ready to listen!