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BRINGING PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND CHANGE MANAGEMENT TOGETHER TO BUILD A COLLECTIVE INTENT

Martin Kerr

Summary: A collective intent is about setting a vision in which everyone can align and aspire to. The difficulty in progressing toward any vision is the challenge of aligning people from different functions and inspiring and empowering them to do so. The Asset Management Delivery Model for example is a foundation for allowing this to happen but it is challenging for most people because they don’t understand how to build a road map that supports “change appetite” and “change ability”.

If Project Management centres on delivery and Change Management centres on transition what is the common thread that brings the two together in an Asset Management context for any industry? This paper sets out to provide an approach for ordinary people to drive, deliver and sustain change on the back of Asset Management principles to build a collective and sustainable intent.

Keywords:

Change, Culture, Transition, Project Management, Alignment, Organisation, Planning

1 INTRODUCTION

In 2011 I presented a paper at ICOMs titled "Using a Project to drive Asset Management Principles". The core message in the paper was by creating a focal point for a project that was centred on an element of the Asset Management Delivery Model a team can create and drive a "collective intent", align effort and more importantly drive an open and honest dialog amongst the team and stakeholders to reach a common goal.

In the example above the project (a rolling stock build project) used “Integrated Support” as the focal point. In plain terms this was achieved by bringing Maintenance and Operations further up the process to ensure their requirements were considered. The focal point approach also meant that other business functions such as Finance, HR, Engineering, Supply Chain and Operations stopped to consider what Integrated Support was and how their function played an important role. A by-­product from this approach was that people who previously had little understanding of Asset Management principles.

“Using a focal point will ultimately pull people toward an outcome rather than the need to push people…”

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Since this presentation I have further developed and tested the focal point approach. I have applied it in both complex and geographically diverse projects and I am convinced that the approach works on the most complex of projects, across any region or culture(s).

This next iteration of the approach could also be seen as a “Structured Change” because there are now tangible building blocks from beginning to end.

1.1 Project Management

Project Management sets out to deliver something of value to one or more stakeholders. It is a temporary venture, with a degree of risk and is typically measured against time, cost and quality. Projects are designed around the work that needs to be completed in order to achieve the final deliverable. These are typically grouped into Activities and Tasks. Activities being the work conducted with a task usually resulting in a tangible deliverable. These activities and tasks will roll up into a work breakdown structure (or “WBS”) and if there is effort and dependencies noted for each task then a Critical Path can be established. A typical project lifecycle is laid out below.

For a project to be deemed successful activities and tasks must be completed in the correct order and there is an overarching assumption that people will know what is required of them, when it is required and that they are motivated to do so.

1.2 Change Management

There are a plethora of definitions available for Change Management. For the purposes of this paper we will define Change Management as controlling and sustaining items that need to be changed in order to meet the deliverables of a project. Change Management is often considered in two ways.

The first is an organisations “Ability” to change. This starts with considering an individual and aggregating change up to the organisation level to understand that if there is an incremental change, is there a risk that the organisation will “break” or “impair” itself in the process.

The second consideration for change is an organisations “Appetite” for change. If there is no motive to change, at least at most levels then the likelihood of successful change is unlikely. For the purposes of this paper successful change is change that is sustained.

One popular change management process is the ADKAR[1] process, which illustrates change as a journey that transitions through 5 phases.

• Awareness – People know of the change • Desire – People want to be part of the change • Knowledge – People have the information • Ability – People have the capability and capacity to change • Reinforcement – Once the change journey starts there is a continual assessment of how the change is

sustaining

Initiation Planning Execution Closure

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1.3 Setting the scene

Have you ever had a great idea that you were passionate about? You set up a plan of attack, you execute your plan and you deliver what it is you set out to do? It may be a holiday, a school assignment, cleaning out the tool shed or planning a Sunday dinner with the family. The point is that in your mind you knew why you were doing it, what needed to be done, when it was needed, you negotiated the resources, you made the time and throughout the process you remained motivated.

If you had to share this goal with someone else or perhaps a team of people do you think they would possess the same mindset as you? Would they remain as motivated as you?

The challenge for all of us who aspire to Asset Management Principles and Processes is that there are always people who simply “don’t get it”. Using a project as a catalyst for change is ideal because along the way you can bring ideas together and share learning. Whether it is a build project, a design project or perhaps a business development project having people motivated, on the same page and heading in the same direction is paramount.

2 CHANGE OR DELIVER? THE GREAT DIVIDE… If we consider that a project deliverable is tangible compared to change, which is intangible, then what is the common thread that brings the two together? Both have tasks, both have deliverables and both require people in order to realise value.

At face value a project has a tendency to segregate people and promote silos. This is typically due to activities and tasks belonging to a single business function so when we want to unite and converge effort we find ourselves trying to work against the structure that was put in place to deliver something in the first place.

There are ways in which a WBS can be re-­structured to promote convergence and create a solid foundation for change. At this end of the spectrum certain functions will object to this especially because the structure isn’t in a format that allows them to reconcile data without a degree of analysis. Especially in the case of a project executing a product development or systems engineering effort. In these cases there will be iteration in the project and functions such as Finance and Supply Chain won’t completely understand the roadmap.

In 2012 I was Program Manager for a business start-­up in Kolkata India. For the western company it was about delivery but for the Indian company it was about the change. This awakening and realisation was the moment I first realised I had to strengthen the focal point approach into something that represented something of a structured change.

3 THE COLLECTIVE INTENT The secret to bringing delivery and change together to fuel a collective intent has been staring us in the face from the beginning…the humble “Milestone”!

A Milestone is an anchor, a control, an aligner, can form a roadmap, creates the basis for change, the buy in, the motivator, the communicator and allows anyone to understand what the project is and where it is going at a quick

Awareness

Desire

KnowledgeAbility

Reinforcement

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glimpse.

Typically the humble Milestone is often overlooked and used as a bucket for similar work. (E.g. “All Drawings Complete”). While this is a completely acceptable milestone we could change the wording to something like “The Concept Design is complete and approved by the customer”. What this does is change the milestone to highlight an outcome that all stakeholders can relate to. Secondly the milestone as an outcome brings multiple stakeholders together.

In the example above the first milestone of drawings appealed to the Engineering department whereas the second example will bring Sales, the Customer and Engineering together by virtue of the fact that they all share the benefit. In Asset Management terms we are aligning people on the back of value.

“The first key principle of asset management is that an organisation and its assets must have an “output focus” (AMBok Second Edition)

3.1 Why a Milestone?

A Milestone can be anything we want it to be! With consideration of who the stakeholders are, their knowledge in Asset Management, their position in the company and an understanding of where we want to take them, each milestone can be designed to place emphasis on anything at all. For example if the upcoming milestone is something to do with spare parts determination then involve the CFO and not just Supply Chain and Maintenance. After all it is an investment question…Bringing people together to have them collectively describe what good looks like for each milestone is the key principle to creating a collective intent.

Another reason for a focus on milestones is because integrating at the deliverable (task) is difficult and rarely successful because the deliverable is usually owned by a single business function. When integration occurs at the milestone there is a natural cohesion within the business to achieve a collective result. The secret to exploiting a milestone is to ensure it represents the “Change Appetite” and “Change Ability” of the collective team members and stakeholders. In the example above the integration of Finance, Maintenance and Supply Chain at the milestone natural “pulls” activities and tasks together as opposed to a traditional project trying to manage the separate deliverables and alignment

3.2 Taking people on the journey

The goal of change and transition is to get people on the journey. The best way to do this is to empower them to define the journey themselves. Leadership takes many forms, but by promoting people to lay out a roadmap we can create a foundation on the back of Asset Management principles.

If I were to ask a Finance person what would be the milestones for a project and they would probably list the financial milestones. If I asked an Engineer what the milestones are it would probably be something supporting systems engineering. Finally if I ask the end Customer they would probably lean toward the standard project management phases, then delivery and even mention the defects liability period (warranty) at the end.

Everyone is correct but there is a simple way in which to construct milestones so they mean something to everyone and they drive an asset management focus.

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The image above represents some of the early phases of a business start-­up project. The milestones depicted in the diagram were agreed and created by the wider project team during an early project workshop. You can see from the diagram that they are labelled as “People”, “Process”, “Equipment”, “IT” and “Plant”. Some milestones can be seen to be an enabler for the next milestone whilst some milestones integrate and branch to enable multiple milestones. The beauty of the diagram is that it quickly tells a story and the story can be measured.

The image below is a report version of the graphical roadmap above. Both the roadmap and the report linked directly to the risk register so that through any lens the project reported a consistent message. The other benefit of combining the report with the roadmap is that it creates an ideal platform for communication.

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The Asset Management Capability Delivery Model can be used for any project. It describes everything from cradle to grave, requirements through to delivery and there are an infinite number of milestones that can be created.

4 STRUCTURED CHANGE If a milestone is the representation of an outcome then the outcome must be treated like any other outcome or business case. When creating / agreeing to the milestones that will represent a project certain considerations will ensure that the correct focus remains throughout delivery.

4.1 Milestone considerations

The questions below for each milestone are by nature the same considerations we would make during Support Analysis. This synergy or likeness continues to align people and get them thinking (and behaving) toward the outcome.

The following questions need to be considered for each milestone. As described earlier each business function will see a milestone through different lenses which when tested, using the questions below, strengthens the likelihood of success. Negative comments become risks and optimism becomes opportunity!

4.1.1 What is the Benefit of the milestone? A simple way of defining the benefit of a milestone is to ask the team to consider the following question. “What will the business get if we stopped the project at this milestone? What will we achieve? It should be a S.M.A.R.T. statement (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely)”

4.1.2 What is the People assessment? For the milestone in question is there a people impact (positive or negative)? Eg will a position description change, will a head count change?

4.1.3 What is the Process assessment? Will we need to modify a process in order to realise the milestone? Will we need to introduce a new process?

4.1.4 What is the Plant assessment? Are there any infrastructure impacts likely due to the milestone being delivered? If we are l;;ooking to buy additional spares is there space for them? If we ramp up production is there enough equipment?

4.1.5 What is the Parts assessment? Are there any stock (material) changes likely? For instance does the realisation of the milestone affect the stock balances on the factory floor? Should we increase stock levels leading up to the milestone as a safe guard (“risk management”)

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4.1.6 What is the Technology assessment? Will our computer systems (automation) still be effective after the milestone is achieved? Are there any changes that warrant training of some kind?

4.1.7 Risk and Opportunity Register The risk and opportunity register is aimed at the milestone only. While a standard risk and opportunity register can be used to represent the milestones, it is encouraged to have them in a separate register.

4.1.8 Delivery Plan The delivery plan is typically the work breakdown structure of the project but there is an opportunity to link all sub deliverables to Milestones, so outcomes can be illustrated as a critical path.

4.1.9 Acceptance What does good look like? How will we know? Because we are referring to an outcome so should the acceptance! Acceptance could be “Approved”, “Agreed”, “Commenced” or even “Defined”

5 CONCLUSION Project Delivery and Change Management can seamlessly exist together to deliver benefit. Benefit is as much the journey as it is the destination. Taking people along for the ride by empowering them to be involved and encouraging them to move from responsible to accountable is the change that most organisations yearn for.

A roadmap created with a set of interrelated milestones representing a project creates a foundation for success. Being able to articulate how a value journey is proceeding in terms of both quality and quantity keeps an audience focussed on the outcome.

The understanding of how project and change management converge in order to deliver value is often dismissed in project management. The simple concept of leveraging the humble milestone to bring people together and create a collective intent has worked for me in many asset management related projects. I am sure this approach can work for others.

6 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Asset Management Council of Australia

7 REFERENCES The book Living Asset Management by J. R. Lafraia, J. Hardwick (2014)

Using a Project to drive Asset Management Principles by M. Kerr (ICOMS Presentation 2011)