Ftm Business Template - Health Check Projects

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HealthCheck Project Management Business Template

What is a HealthCheck?

When should you use it?

The Projects HealthCheck template provides a structured method for assessing the current status of the Projects area of your business based on industry best practices.

Make the use of HealthChecks part of your annual review of the critical areas of your business. However, ensure that your improvement actions are planned and monitored on a more regular (quarterly) basis. Note that for some teams, the HealthCheck will also form part of an external audit or compliance process driven by customers or industry regulators.

Why is it relevant? As industries become more competitive survival is about doing more with less whilst still delivering against customer expectations at a level that exceeds the competition. To achieve this you need to: 1) understand what ‘best practice’ looks like, and 2) understand your current performance – ideally against the competition.

Who needs to be involved? The HealthCheck is completed by all those that are responsible for performance in this particular area of the business, but ensure you seek the views of all those involved – even if you do not agree with them. Stakeholders may mainly be internal to the business, but ensure that you get an external perspective involving the views of key customers and suppliers.

How should you implement it? Plan the HealthCheck carefully and ensure that you get the right people involved early in the process. Gather information through face-to-face interviews where possible, although electronic checklists can enable you to involve a larger group. Gather evidence of performance as you go. Then consolidate the various views and look for areas of inconsistency across different stakeholders, and assess areas of concern. Finally, develop a clear action plan with ownership and timings for getting to green or for improving the score on an individual item.

© SofTools, 2009. For more information on related products and services, visit www.Fast-Track-Me.com or contact us at: [email protected]

HealthCheck Project Management This is a case example based on a fictitious company called TVT – all the data is displayed for demonstration purposes only. For a detailed explanation of what each cell is used for please refer to the Virtual Consultant on the following pages.

ID

Category

1

Business Needs

A

Align to Business Imperatives

B

Evaluation criteria Score

Status

All current projects are clearly aligned to the business strategy and to strategic priorities

2

Green

Understand Consumer Requirements

All projects reflect customer and consumer needs within their objectives and supporting information, be they internal or external

3

Green

C

Identify links to other projects

The interdependencies between projects are highlighted in the projects’ charter from either a risk management or synergies perspective

2

Amber

2

Project Goals

Score

Status

A

Setting objectives

All projects have clearly understood, actionable SMART objectives

4

Green

B

Agreeing Key Performance Indicators

All projects have clear and agreed KPIs and Return on Investment (RoI) targets

4

Green

C

Establishing the business case

The organisation understands how important each project is to delivering value to the business and the business case has been agreed by all stakeholders

5

Green

3

Stakeholders

Score

Status

A

Identify Stakeholders

Project managers and their core teams understand the key stakeholders and have carried out some stakeholder analysis

4

Amber

B

Assess commitment

The commitment of project stakeholders has been assessed and the core project team is aware of the results

3

Amber

C

Influence supporters & resistors

A communication plan has been created in order to address the commitment, or otherwise, of project supporters or ‘resistors’

4

Green

© SofTools, 2009. For more information on related products and services, visit www.Fast-Track-Me.com or contact us at: [email protected]

4

Workplan & Timings

Score

Status

A

Define Tasks& Priorities

All projects have a list of defined and identified tasks and the structure of the project is clear

4

Green

B

Identify Critical Path

The Critical Path has been calculated and the earliest finish date of the project understood

4

Green

C

Agree Milestones

Milestones against which progress will be checked have been set appropriately

5

Green

5

Issues & Risks

Score

Status

A

Identify Issues & Risks

A risk register or log has been opened and is used throughout projects. Risks are reviewed and prioritised at team meetings

1

Red

A

Agree corrective actions

Actions to address risks are identified and plans changed accordingly.

2

Amber

C

Manage change requests

A change management process is in place for all projects and changes to the scope and plan of the project are managed by the project manager at regular meetings

2

Amber

6

The Team

Score

Status

A

Select project leader

The project manager (leader) has content and process experience relevant to the project in hand

3

Amber

B

Build the team

The team has a balance of skills and complements those of the project manager. The team has a common agreed goal

2

Amber

C

Agree roles & responsibilities

The roles and responsibilities of the core project team are clear and understood by all

3

Amber

7

Critical Decisions

Score

Status

A

Identify decisions

All decisions and their reasons are recorded for audit purposes

1

Red

B

Agree decision making process

The process by which issues are decided upon in the project is understood and authority levels are agreed

1

Red

C

Gaining buy-in

All stakeholders are informed of major changes in the project (scope or plan) and their input is sought and potential conflicts addressed

2

Red

© SofTools, 2009. For more information on related products and services, visit www.Fast-Track-Me.com or contact us at: [email protected]

8

Resources & Budgets

Score

Status

A

Identify Resource requirements

Resources (consumables, materials, skills etc.) are identified up front

4

Green

B

Specify quantity and quality

All resources identified have clear quantitative and qualitative standards attached

5

Green

C

Agree budgets

All project budgets are understood and total project funding upfront is agreed with Project Sponsor and/or Finance Director

5

Green

9

Project Leadership

Score

Status

A

Right Skills

The project manager and project sponsor have the right process and content skills and complement each other

4

Green

B

Right Thinking

The project manager understands not only the process of delivering a project but understands the bigger picture and where the project fits, in order to be able to make the right decisions when appropriate

4

Green

C

Right Commitment

The project manager and sponsor are committed to the successful delivery of the project and its business outcomes, despite any personal reservations

5

Green

10

Communications

Score

Status

A

Upward

A process and platform exists for communicating progress and escalating issues to the Business, the Project Review Board (PRB), the Project Sponsor and/or Customers

4

Green

B

Sideways

A process and platform exists for communicating project and resource issues to other Project Managers and Functional Heads

5

Green

C

Downwards

A process and platform exists for communicating with the project team, suppliers and/or project specialists as necessary

3

Amber

© SofTools, 2009. For more information on related products and services, visit www.Fast-Track-Me.com or contact us at: [email protected]

Audit Summary For each element of the checklist add up the scores of the 3 related questions and divide by 3 – this will give you an average score for that specific element. See example below. Element

Score

0

1

2

3

4

5

Improvement Actions

Business Needs

2.3

Need to improve effective linking between projects in the overall portfolio

Project Goals

4.3

Stakeholders

3.7

Workplan & Timings

4.3

Issues & Risks

1.7

Need to formalise the use of a structure Risk Register on all projects – consolidated across the portfolio

The Team

2.7

Need to focus on the skills of the Project Leader and key members of the team (gap analysis)

Critical Decisions

1.3

Need to formalise the process of capturing critical project decisions

Resources & Budgets

4.7

Project Leadership

4.3

Communications

3.9

Need to ensure earlier involvement of stakeholders in project planning in order to gain commitment

Need to improve effective communication of project issues and outcomes to all stakeholders

In the TVT example above, the managers conducting the Audit have identified that the weakest link is that of the Critical Decisions used (average score 1.3). The plan would therefore be to focus attention on and improve this area within the business first until it was no longer the weakest link. Once the senior management team has increased confidence that the Platform (in this example) has improved, the next stage would be to focus on the Issues & Risks (1.7) and Business Needs (2.3) areas.

© SofTools, 2009. For more information on related products and services, visit www.Fast-Track-Me.com or contact us at: [email protected]

Virtual ConsultantTM The Virtual ConsultantTM provides a step-by-step guide to completing this business template. It is worded as a series of questions designed to make you stop and think about this topic in a challenging and creative way – as if a business coach or consultant was sitting next to you.

HealthCheck Use the following checklist to assess the current state of your team: Consider each criterion in turn and use the following scoring system to identify current performance: 0 – Not done or defined within the business: unaware of its importance to project management 1 – Aware of area but little or no work done in the business 2 – Recognised as an area of importance. Some work done in this area 3 – Area clearly defined and work done in the area in terms of project management 4 – Consistent use of best practice tools and techniques in this area across the business 5 – Area is recognised as being ‘best in class’ and could be a reference area for best practice Then reflect on the lowest scores and identify those areas that are critical to success and flag then as status ‘Red’ requiring immediate attention. Then identify those areas that you are concerned about, and flag those as status ‘Amber’ implying areas of risk that need to be monitored closely. In your project management framework the whole Project management Process is only as good as each individual element. If one ‘link in the chain’ is weak then the Project management Process within the company will not operate to optimum efficiency and there is an increased risk of failure. The action plan therefore should be to focus attention and resources on the elements of greatest weakness first, and then to move the whole framework to a level of excellence. This approach optimises the use of resources and sets up a process of continuous improvement.

© SofTools, 2009. For more information on related products and services, visit www.Fast-Track-Me.com or contact us at: [email protected]

HealthCheck Project Management Use the following blank template to address an issue or opportunity within your business or team

Form 1: Detailed Audit ID

Category

Evaluation criteria

1

Business Needs

A

Align to Business Imperatives

All current projects are clearly aligned to the business strategy and to strategic priorities

B

Understand Consumer Requirements

All projects reflect customer and consumer needs within their objectives and supporting information, be they internal or external

C

Identify links to other projects

The interdependencies between projects are highlighted in the projects’ charter from either a risk management or synergies perspective

2

Project Goals

A

Setting objectives

All projects have clearly understood, actionable SMART objectives

B

Agreeing Key Performance Indicators

All projects have clear and agreed KPIs and Return on Investment (RoI) targets

C

Establishing the business case

The organisation understands how important each project is to delivering value to the business and the business case has been agreed by all stakeholders

3

Stakeholders

A

Identify Stakeholders

Project managers and their core teams understand the key stakeholders and have carried out some stakeholder analysis

B

Assess commitment

The commitment of project stakeholders has been assessed and the core project team is aware of the results

C

Influence supporters & resistors

A communication plan has been created in order to address the commitment, or otherwise, of project supporters or ‘resistors’

4

Workplan & Timings

A

Define Tasks& Priorities

All projects have a list of defined and identified tasks and the structure of the project is clear

B

Identify Critical Path

The Critical Path has been calculated and the earliest finish date of the project understood

© SofTools, 2009. For more information on related products and services, visit www.Fast-Track-Me.com or contact us at: [email protected]

Score

Status

Score

Status

Score

Status

Score

Status

C

Agree Milestones

Milestones against which progress will be checked have been set appropriately

5

Issues & Risks

A

Identify Issues & Risks

A risk register or log has been opened and is used throughout projects. Risks are reviewed and prioritised at team meetings

A

Agree corrective actions

Actions to address risks are identified and plans changed accordingly.

C

Manage change requests

A change management process is in place for all projects and changes to the scope and plan of the project are managed by the project manager at regular meetings

6

The Team

A

Select project leader

The project manager (leader) has content and process experience relevant to the project in hand

B

Build the team

The team has a balance of skills and complements those of the project manager. The team has a common agreed goal

C

Agree roles & responsibilities

The roles and responsibilities of the core project team are clear and understood by all

7

Critical Decisions

A

Identify decisions

All decisions and their reasons are recorded for audit purposes

B

Agree decision making process

The process by which issues are decided upon in the project is understood and authority levels are agreed

C

Gaining buy-in

All stakeholders are informed of major changes in the project (scope or plan) and their input is sought and potential conflicts addressed

8

Resources & Budgets

A

Identify Resource requirements

Resources (consumables, materials, skills etc.) are identified up front

B

Specify quantity and quality

All resources identified have clear quantitative and qualitative standards attached

C

Agree budgets

All project budgets are understood and total project funding upfront is agreed with Project Sponsor and/or Finance Director

© SofTools, 2009. For more information on related products and services, visit www.Fast-Track-Me.com or contact us at: [email protected]

Score

Status

Score

Status

Score

Status

Score

Status

9

Project Leadership

A

Right Skills

The project manager and project sponsor have the right process and content skills and complement each other

B

Right Thinking

The project manager understands not only the process of delivering a project but understands the bigger picture and where the project fits, in order to be able to make the right decisions when appropriate

C

Right Commitment

The project manager and sponsor are committed to the successful delivery of the project and its business outcomes, despite any personal reservations

10

Communications

A

Upward

A process and platform exists for communicating progress and escalating issues to the Business, the Project Review Board (PRB), the Project Sponsor and/or Customers

B

Sideways

A process and platform exists for communicating project and resource issues to other Project Managers and Functional Heads

C

Downwards

A process and platform exists for communicating with the project team, suppliers and/or project specialists as necessary

Form 2: Audit Summary Element

Score

0

1

2

3

4

5

Notes

Business Needs Project Goals Stakeholders Workplan & Timings Issues & Risks The Team Critical Decisions Resources & Budgets Project Leadership Communications

© SofTools, 2009. For more information on related products and services, visit www.Fast-Track-Me.com or contact us at: [email protected]

Score

Status

Score

Status

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