Directing Change – a model for business improvement. Paul Major, Program Framework

Is persuading senior directors that there should be a change specialist on the board ‘mission impossible’ or an opportunity to move your organisation forward?

The role of change managers is to make the business successful, not merely making incremental tweaks. There is also a need for speed, especially in today’s economic climate which itself is changing day by day.

Project managers are change managers. Their skills should be in the boardroom, directing and driving operational change that is successful and sustainable – a ‘Chief Creator of Competitive Advantage’.

Because being better at business as usual is not enough. Now you need to become the best at not only doing the right things, but also doing things right.

The challenge for the project management community is to take this message into their organisations, raising the profile of the profession and taking effective change management out of the back room and into the board room, so that enterprise project management become enterprise change management.

Do any of your organisations have representation on the board for change management?
Yes 65%

What new horizons can we see? Project management for business start-ups – Richard Newton, consultant

The skills and mindset of a project manager are an important tool in starting up a new business – and it is business start-ups that could take us out of the current economic downturn.

Start-ups are dynamic, uncertain and volatile, awash with emotion, uncertainty, ambiguity and assumptions. Tasks are difficult to identify or estimate and resources are limited.

On the plus side, the people involved are highly motivated, decisions are made fast, there are fewer sacred cows when it comes to prioritisation, clear accountability and progress, all mixed with passion and ideas.

Credibility and confidence is needed especially when chasing funding. A project manager can help to develop this by being the honest voice of calm and reality and by bringing clarity, structure, problem solving and robust processes to the table.

A pragmatic approach, being action and outcome orientated, keeping plans as simple as possible and the ability to drive ruthless prioritisation and fast decision-making are all great project management attributes for this world.

It’s not for the faint-hearted – you need to be flexible and go in with your eyes open. If you can’t take the stress, don’t do it!

Do you think project managers can add value to a start-up business?
Yes – 100%
As a project manager, would you relish the challenge of that kind of environment?
Yes - 75%

Practical agile project management - Dr Peter Merrick

Agile project management means responding to changing circumstances – it is characterised by its flexibility and speed. It is questionable as to whether it can be used in all circumstances, but it is useful in disciplines such as IT.

Agile projects tend to be smaller, shorter, the team is more capable and because there is nowhere to hide, the individuals become more capable. It can also create higher staff turnover because of the personal accountability and peer pressure that agile project management promotes. Sponsor involvement is often much closer.

There is resistance to the approach because it can be fairly imprecise in terms of time and budget. It relies heavily on trust over formal governance structures.

However, an agile culture can grow organically. Once success is realised it is often adopted elsewhere in the organisation.