Agility Ability

7/29/2019 Agility Ability

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ECIAL SECTION | | Or ga niiat ion al Agil i ty

In a time of extraordinary upheaval,organizations must build ag ility into

their DNA using iterative practices androbust risk and change management

BY SARAH FISTER GALEILLUSTRATIONS BY JAMES STEINBERG


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AGILITY DOESNO T EOUALANARCHY.Faced with a tumultuous marketplace, organizations have to act fast. But a solid foundatiof project m anagem ent practices still applieseven if it is implem ented in a quick and itetive mann er. R ecklessness is no substitute for o rganizational agility.

Yet the increased volatility and complexity of the project landscape makes reacting toand planning forchanging market conditions more difficult than ever before. Whethdue to anemic economic growth or the continuing digital revolution, three-quarters executives said their business environment was changing, according to a 2010 report by tInstitute for Corporate Productivity.

To thrive in such an uncertain business world, organizationsand their project managment offices (PMOs)must identify risks sooner, adapt to change quickly and deliver valincrementally across the project life cycle.

PMI's Pulse of the Profession Organizational Agility report found that of projects at ornizations w ith high agility: 73% finish on time 75% finish on budget 83 % meet goals and bu siness objectives 71 % meet or exceed ROIAll those numbers are well above the survey average.

"It's a paradox," says Niel Nickolaisen, CIO of Western Governors University (WGUan online university based in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. "In this age of declining budgeorganizations have to deliver more results at a faster pace than ever before."

Business and project leaders are discovering one of the best ways to do tha t is by aggrsively reshaping their culture and business practices on a three-pronged front: More collaborative and robust risk m anagement Rigorous change management to better adapt to changing market conditions Increased use of iterative practices, based on a solid foundation of project managem

standards, that enable teams to follow new lines of thoughtAH three practices are gaining favor as organizations worldwide scramble for an elus

edge on the competition, according to PMI's 2012 Pu lse of the Profession r epor t

Severe resource constraints caused by economic conditions require PMs to be ultra efficient. Karthik


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"Organizations across sectors are trying to increasetheir agility so that they can get innovative productsto market faster," says Kshitiz Verma, head of cloudoperations at NEC, an IT firm in M umbai, India.

By stripping away the layers of procedures thatcan slow projects and replacing them w ith mo re col-laborative decision-making processes, organizationscan deliver projects faster and more efficiently thantheir rivals.

"You can't achieve agility if everyone works inisolation," Mr. Verma says. "You've got to operate asa team w here everyone has a chance to contribute."

Such partnerships enable organizational lead-ers to build the strongest portfolio and ensure thatproject goals align with business strategy, says Mr.Nickolaisen. This, in turn, liberates organizations totake calculated risks and turn all the volatility andchaos to their advantage. "That's when you get orga-nizational agility."THE R IGHT RISKSWhen organizations are forced to make rapid-firedecisions, projects can careen out of control. Pro-active risk management that begins during projectselection and planning enables executives and proj-ect leaders to identify the factors that could secureor sabotagesuccess. Whether it's tracking a shiftingregulatory environment or recognizing a lack ofadequate internal resources, early and consistent riskmanagement allows organizations to be more flex-ible and manage obstacles more fiuidly.

That can only happen when executives, businessunits and project teams work together throughoutthe project life cycle. Only then can they makechanges to projects before problems arise, saysPete Nathan, PMP, senior manager of the PMO atGulfstream Aerospace Corporation in Savannah,Georgia, USA.

"The next step in managing project risks is pre-venting the risks that derail projects, not dealing withthem after they happen," he says.

A June study by Deloitte and Forbes Insight

found that 91 percent of U.S. executives say they planto reorganize their approach to risk managementover the next three years. Strategies include: Elevating the profile of risk management through-

out the organization (52 percent) Reorganizing risk-management processes (39 per-

cent) Providing additional training for staff (37 percent) Incorporating new technologies (31 percent)

To make the most of their risk-managem entefforts, executives need to leverage the firsthandknowledge and expertise of project leaders, particu-larly those within th e PM O.

"Executives choose projects for business reasons,but they may not fully understand the technologicalor resource limitations related to those choices," Mr.Verma says.

By joining forces, executives and PM Os each get amo re diverse perspective on risks and opportunities.Mr. Nickolaisen says that at WGU, every projectplan is evaluated based on whether it will increasegraduation rates, improve operational excellence andserve WG U employees.

"You have to define your competitive advantage,then focus your inn ovation efforts o n projects to sup-port that advantage," he says.

Establishing stringent selection criteria lets orga-nizations identify where to take risksand where toscale back. At WGU, for example, network reliabilityprojects may be mission-critical, but they don't drivecompetitive advantage, so Mr. Nickolaisen opts foroff-the-shelf solutions that require fewer resourcesfor implementation. That lets the school focus ona more cutting-edge student analytics project thatcould help the university improve graduation rates.

"Because we choose standardized solutions forthose projects, we have the capacity and resourcesto support innovations that push our competitiveadvantage," he says.ITERATIVE APPROACHESTo lessen the possibility of failure on these high-

"You c an'tachieveag ility ifeveryoneworRs inisolation.You've gotto operateas a teamwhereeveryonehas achance tocontribute."Kshi ti z Verma , N ECMumbai, India

PMP, @froivkanhik, Chennai, Tamilnadu, India \\ I think org change should be bottom up. You need the suppo rt f rom th e pe


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value projects, WGU's delivery team breaks theminto smaller chunks, delivering iterations in phases."Bybreaking the project into bite-sized, value-drivenpieces, we lower our risks dramatically," he says.

That's one big reason more organizations areadding iterative and agile approach es. PwC's Insightsand Trends survey of global project managementpractices released in August found that 34 percentof respondents use an agile project managementapproach within their organization. And the Pulseof the Profession report has seen a steady rise in theuse of agile approac hes.

When a project is divided into smaller piecesdelivered more frequently and with a regular streamof stakeholder feedback, organizations can deliverprototypes on a rapid basis. Not only can projectowners get immediate value from those deliverables,they can gain better control over what comes next.

"It's a business enabler," says Bart Jutte, manag-ing director of Concilio, a project and risk man-agement consultancy in Delft, Netherlands. "It's alow-risk, low-cost way to deliver big benefits."

But adding such iterative approaches won'tdeliver benefits without standards as a foundation.Then the outcome can be chaos. To achieve truebuy-in, everyone, from the executive office to thePMO to the delivery team, has to be on board withthe basics and the processes. Alas, it's the top tierthe one that can compel the rest to followthat'soften hardest to convince.

"The programmers are usually in favor of itera-tive methods. The hurdles come when you tryto get operations and management to accept theapproach," Mr. Jutte says. "But you must have sup-port from the top if you want to achieve this kind ofchange o n an organizational level."

That's where the PMO comes in. PMO leaderscan act as a vital link between senior leaders andproject teams, communicating the business value ofiterative practices in terms executives understand.The PwC report found that organizations that havehad a PMO for six or more years reported higher

performance around quality and achieving intendbusiness results.

Mr. Jutte is currently working with Crdit Agcole Consumer Finance in Amsterdam, Nethelands to implement an agile approach for its department. The stakeholders were skeptical the processand of the IT department's ability deliver projects on time and bud get. Rather than to explain the benefits of a more agile approach, tPMO decided to show them.

The IT team chose a project to rework a cutome r website, created a proof of concept an d delered a rapid prototype of the upgrade in two weekThen the PMO broug ht the stakeholders togethershow them the prototype, demo nstrate the new sand receive feedback on how to proceed.

The stakeholders were properly impressed, MJutte says. And by getting their reactions early othe team was able to make adaptations to increathe project's value.REDUCING THE DRAMA OF CHANGESNo organ ization can keep up w ith all the shifts w itout securing buy-in across the enterpriseand thtakes change management. The PMO has a pivorole to play by acting as a source of information aadviser to portfolio leaders. "The PMO provides tfacts so the executives can m ake the b est decisionsays Janice Weaver, PM P, associate vice presid ent the enterprise program management office at Noton Healthcare, Louisville, Kentucky, USA.

M s. Weaver's team aims to ease the dramof change by building fiexibility into its standaproject management practices. If, for example, issue has a low likelihood of occurring, the teawon't run it through a formal risk registry areview process.

"We make note of it and discuss it informallyshe says. "But we don't spend hours on tasks thdon't add value to our process."

The best PMO leaders help manage chanon projects by acting as a knowledge chann

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"It's a parad ox. Inthis ag e of decliningbudgets, organizationsha ve to dieliver m oreJes uits at a faster pa cethan ever before."tftUei Nickolaisen^Vdlli^ltfpernors University(WCU), Salt LateCity, U t i p A .


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i l lThe biggestfactor that causesproblems onprojects is surprise.If I knoTAT somethingis going to happen,I can plan for it, butif it's a surprise, ittakes a lot longer todeal with."Jody Pollack, PMP, Ricoh C ompany, A tlanta, Georgia, USA

are both high predictors of troubled projects atGulfstream, says Mr. Nathan. When project leadersspot these potential issues during assessment, theycan find a new stakeholder or secure additionalresources. Or, they can delay the project until itha s the leadership and support needed to succeed.Either way, the leaders must manage those changesin the project plan to ensure it doesn't go com-pletely on track.

"Early predictors can be a project's salvation,"Mr. Nathan says. "You can change its fate and getit back on track."

It's that adaptability that drives organizational

agility, he says. "The sooner problem s can be solvthe more agile anorganization becomes."

Organizations can further enhance their agilby incorporating strategic interventions into tproject plan, says Jody Pollack, PMP, senior prgram manager at office equipment maker RicCompany, Atlanta, Georgia, USA. "The biggest fator that causes problems on projects is surprise,"says. "If I know som ething is going to happen, I cplan for it, but if it's a surprise, it takes a lot longto deal with."

Mr. Pollack is currently overseeing deploymof 750 copiers and devices to 85 locations. Eamachine must be configured based on the clienunique specifications, andmany of the locationssuch as a chemical company and governmesitesrequire background checks and safety traing for the installation crew. "There are a t remedous amount of logistical issues to contend witM r. PoUack says.

On such projects , resources are alwastretched thin, and clients have a high senseurgency. So rather than waiting until these issurear their ugly heads, Mr. Pollack's team is deepeing the talent pool, working with senior executivto launch a training program and backgrouchecks for all technical personnel who will thenready for action.

By thinking about project obstacles from a pofolio perspective, the PMO eliminates a recurririskand accelerates the company's response tim

Of course, there is no single path to organiztional agility. But if PMO leaders and executivwork together to add more iterative practices, idetify risks upfront and be more open to change, thcan solve problems, take smarter risks, anddelivinnovative products and solutions to market fast

"W e are trying to think about change and rmanagement more proactively," Mr. Pollack sa"It's easy to get m ired dow n in the day-to-day batan d not take a step back to look at the big pictubut that's what you need to do to succeed." PM


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