s real requirements, or the maintainability of
the resulting system was diminished by loss of the original developer and lack of documentation for the unfortunate employee required to pick up support.
The methodology team determined that it was critical to ensure that easy-to-use tools were available to help the staff resist the urge to short-circuit the methodology.
The team relied on a central repository, referred to as a toolkit, that contained an online textual version of the methodology. This generic toolkit was tailored to include the forms, templates, and examples that project leaders and team members would need to efficiently and consistently produce the required deliverables.
Training in How to Apply the Process
Finally, a training class was needed. Before launching into the specific subject matter, the students needed some introductory information to help them understand the need for project management, and, in particular, rigorous project planning.
Examples of projects that failed when project planning was not done or was done haphazardly were given. The business drivers for both the customer and the service
provider were covered in some detail. Once they understood why the subject was important to them, the employees were ready to learn the new methods.
The students needed to become familiar with the detailed procedures and to be confident in how to find the procedure they needed and apply it to the task. They also needed to understand the components of the toolkit and how it would assist them in following the methodology. To achieve these goals, hands-on lab sessions were incorporated into the training. These labs were intended to ensure that what was being discussed in the lectures could be applied once the student went back to the job.
The course material was constructed and reviewed by the team, followed by a pilot class delivered to the management of the target audience project personnel. Piloting with management gave needed feedback on the content and duration of the course, and also assisted in getting buy-in from management to support the process when it was deployed.
The students in each class offered feedback and suggestions for improvement.
Where possible, these suggestions were incorporated. All suggestions were carefully reviewed and considered, and the conclusion of each class included a management review of refinements in work and planned. This review also addressed all the concerns raised during that class, whether the suggestion was in work, planned, or neither. In this way, the students were able to see that their concerns were being considered by management, even if every single concern could not be accommodated.
What was originally planned to be training for a small pool of 10 to 15 project managers grew into a training initiative that covered over 200 project personnel. As the project managers attended training, they recommended that their team members attend as well. Personnel with responsibility for very small, one-person projects saw the methodology as an opportunity to practice proven techniques that could lead them to greater responsibilities in the future.
Those trained were, for the most part, enthusiastic about embracing the new methods. By obtaining the knowledge and tools to do effec tive project planning, they became more confident that they could develop a plan and commit to a realistic schedule and budget to meet their customers’
needs. The new approach also made
them feel more professional — more capable of seeing the broad perspective associated with planning a project. Much like the general contractor building a house, they could understand how all the subtasks fit together, rather than seeing the much narrower view of a subcontractor.
CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS
Mutual Goals
The primary purpose of this chapter has been to discuss how to go about effecting a culture change using a project management program as the tool to do so. For any such program to succeed, it must be based on clear, specific goals. Since culture is primarily a behavioral issue, to change the culture, one must change behavior.
Changing behavior is an extremely difficult endeavor. This is particularly true when the culture has been entrenched for an extended period of time. Of course, changing a culture does not necessarily imply that the existing culture is bad. Culture provides a framework for the effective operation of any enterprise. This statement is certainly true for most enterprises.
In the case being discussed, the culture had been in place for such a long period of time that an “entitlement” mentality had begun to develop. The same group had supported the same customer, the same way, using the same procedures such that it had begun to take the customer for granted — or at least that was the perception of the customer. Real or not, perception becomes reality.
For a culture change to take place in this kind of environment, it is necessary that both the customer and the IT organization have mutually agreed-to goals. In this case, the management of both parties wanted change.
For both the customer and the IT organization, predictability of results was an overriding goal. Due to the inconsistency of project management procedures and processes being used, it was very difficult to do effective budgeting and scheduling.
Often, the success factor seemed to be primarily the skill of the individual project manager involved, rather than any well-defined process that was used on a regular basis.
One of the primary reasons that both parties were so interested in change was that their respective businesses had changed. The competitive environments for both had increased dramatically. Business costs had risen significantly; thus, profit margins were coming under increased scrutiny. Consistent, predictable results for IT projects were critical.
The customer’
s major goal was to have a project management methodology that was standard, effective, and used across all IT projects and groups to achieve consistent project success. The IT organization’
s primary goal was to develop a new culture that
was based on a strong sense of urgency, the use of standard processes, accountability, and a focus on successful business results, such as consistently achieving budget and schedule targets, as well as technical excellence.
Discussions between the management of the customer and the IT organization revealed a commonality of goals and a desire to work together to achieve them.
Thus, the foundation for a successful culture change effort was put in place.
Sponsorship
Once the goals for a culture change effort have been put in place, the next most critical task is to clearly identify the sponsors for the program. It must be clear that the appropriate levels of management of both parties are strongly behind the effort and actively involved in making it happen. Memos, e-mails, and statements of support are not sufficient. Active participation is the only approach that identifies to employees that the management team intends for the change to take place and is personally involved in making it happen.
In this case, the head of the IT organization where the project personnel reported made a personal appearance at each class. This person was able to reinforce the
importance of the new approach (and indirectly the new culture) by showing enough personal interest and advocacy to take time to address each group of students.
In addition, the new management team was given direction that their group’
s
compliance with the new approach would be used as a measure of their success.
While they were given freedom to give input for improvement to the defined processes and training, expectations were clearly set for following the methodology once it was in place.
Reward and recognition played a part in the sponsorship effort as well. When customer ratings improved, and the new methodology was cited as the driver for that improved perception, several forms of recognition were used to reward both the methodology team that defined and deployed the process and the project teams who implemented it.
Employee Buy-in
The third, and perhaps most important, critical success factor in a culture change effort is employee buy-in. When these types of programs are attempted, this factor is the one that most often determines success or failure. Goals are necessary, as is sponsorship. Without the support of those who will actually use and implement the program, however, its chances of succeeding are minimal.
In this particular case, there were a number of actions taken in order to help ensure success. The first of these was the recruiting of a new management team. Senior managers with a wide range of experience in different companies and cultures were conscripted. Each was hired with the knowledge that a major effort to change the existing culture was going to be put in motion and they would be held responsible for implementing it.
Knowing they would be accountable for implementing the program was certainly important in ensuring success. More importantly, however, they were given the opportunity to help develop the program. When the training class was being developed, the management team was the pilot class. Their comments, criticisms, and suggestions for improvement were incorporated into the class in order for them to achieve a sense of ownership; thus, they felt that they were owners of the process.