Some Reflections
In the mid-1980's when working on early program management in British Telecom,
it became clear that the delivery of the project's benefits was not the project
manager's responsibility. It was the project sponsor's responsibility, managed
through the user or operator of the new asset or deliverable.
At the same time, I recall one major bank working on a branch information technology
project, actually a large program, which was justified on the grounds of improved
marketing information and increased efficiency in the branches. The program management
team received the following query from the Board: "We understand the project's
status in terms of project delivery to time, cost and quality, but where are
the benefits and when will we get them?" The team's response was to hurriedly
appoint a "project manager for the delivery of the benefits" —
and that was towards the end of the project implementation phase!
This became the responsibility of a poor young, recently qualified MBA student.
Most would say "too little, too late!" because the responsibility for
delivery of the benefits begins at the outset of the project and its definition.
Furthermore, there is increasing recognition that someone in the organization
must drive the delivery of the benefits. Is this what MSP calls the Change Manager?
I will look at this next.
|
The
Program Management Framework
