I was discussing with my current project team the other day what a capable Project Manager (PM) looks like. They said for some of the projects they experienced previously with other PMs, the project would probably have been just as successful, if not more successful, without the PM. Why is this the case? Doesn’t success [...]
There are good reasons to build the strategic programme management capability in your organisation. Here are just a few of them: Programme strategy – Make sure that the purpose, size and structure of the programme is suitable for the outcomes required, and that there is a clear understanding of the organisational drivers. Programme design – [...]
How often do you hear that in an enterprise? I have worked in a number of businesses and often hear the words from the business such as “IT doesn’t understand what I want” “This system does not do what we asked for” and from IT “We have given the business what they asked for” “Why [...]
I was at a meeting recently where someone began nearly every sentence with the words ‘with respect’. The topic was fairly contentious, and so I suspected the intent was to diffuse any tension. But after a couple of hours relentless use, even I had to wonder whether it was a habit the user had become [...]
Components of business process management have been around for a long time in a variety of iterations. Those of you who are ‘longer in the tooth’ like me, will remember things like Clerical Work Improvement Programs, Process Re-engineering, Workouts, Continuous Improvement Programs, Six Sigma, Lean, Business Process Mapping, Business Process Modeling …and the list goes [...]
IT projects failure has been an issue almost since the dawn of computing [i] and recent data suggests the failure rate is not only not improving but actually getting worse (Standish 1994-2009). It is clear that the traditional approaches are not improving results despite more than fifty years of intensive effort. Project governance is emerging [...]
For any investment to deliver the expected benefits, top management have to play their part. They have to govern the investments that have been authorised. Boards have to have ways to hold sponsors accountable for the promised benefits and have ways to intercede effectively whenever the expected benefits turn out to be unrealisable. My research [...]
Boards appear to be genuinely interested in improving their performance [i]. They are also looking for guidance on IT issues but (a) their experience with IT advisers had been disappointing [ii] and (b) ‘best-practice’ had been found to be of little practical utility with no consistent impact on success [iii]. However new governance Standards (ISO38500, [...]
Governance legislation since the Great Crash of 1929 has largely been enacted in response to corporate excess. Arguably, the objective of the legislation has had more to do with reassuring the public than reducing risk. Most authorities point to the UK Cadbury report (1992) as the source of our modern ideas of corporate governance. The [...]
The financial crisis has regulators, governments, and the media focused on economic stimulus. However tough questions will soon be asked about what went wrong. Ineffective governance will be one of the first targets, and it won’t be just the financial sector that faces increased scrutiny[1]. Few doubt that effective governance has value, but to paraphrase [...]