Lessons from the Tif Awards shortlist
The Corporate IT Forum, Tif, presented its annual awards earlier
this month. As the judges analysed the shortlisted candidates for
the awards, which include prizes for technical innovation and IT
projects that have boosted profits or cut costs, several common
themes emerged.
Close relationships
The successful shortlisted projects all had exceptionally close
links between the business leadership and the project team. The
business customer/IT supplier approach was all but absent and the
judges saw the development of integrated teams, based around common
goals, with each individual or group contributing something of
value to the project.
There was genuine collaboration, with the programmes adding
something significant to the business. In many cases, initiatives
were led by a senior business executive and IT projects were
tracked at board meetings.
Good project management
IT projects generally have a poor reputation for delivery. However,
all the shortlisted schemes were founded on sound organisational
structures, with project boards, technical steering groups and high
levels of communication between the involved parties.
Some of the entries set themselves aggressive targets, with the
understanding that the detailed planning would probably result in
longer timescales. In cases where projects ran into unexpected
changes or difficulties, the project was either halted, or the
project manager felt that they had the power to halt the programme.
Risk management
All the projects carried a risk register, but the judges noted that
the status of risks was being constantly monitored by the project
team. In most cases, formal risk reviews were carried out at
frequent intervals - as short as a few days in some cases. As a
result, there seemed to be few surprises and the projects performed
in a very predictable fashion.
Measurement as a way of life
The capture and measuring of metrics was carried out extensively by
all the shortlisted candidates. A theme emerged which showed that
the project managers were analysing "in-flight" data to understand
their performance.
Measurement extended to all areas, not just standard project
control parameters. A considerable amount of effort was put into
understanding benefit metrics.
All the shortlisted projects had strong, quantifiable benefit
cases, but some of the entries went further and looked deeply into
the intangible benefit areas and attempted to measure them.
Intangibles are by nature difficult to measure. For example, if
turnover is increased, it is difficult to prove that a particular
IT system and its processes were responsible. The measurement of
intangible benefits was not perfect, but where it was done, it did
provide the leadership with a perception of probability.
Technological changes
Many of the entries used the same general principles when buying
technology.
Industry leading packages were chosen, and a number of entrants
outlined how they had rigorously checked the roadmaps for the
projects they had selected, so they could be confident that the
deliverable would continue to function for its planned life.
Second, bespoke development was only a minor part of the project,
and in the strongest projects was strictly confined to areas which
could generate genuine competitive advantage, such as forecasting.
Conclusion
There is nothing new in all the common themes to emerge from the
shortlist. The difference is that in these projects the principles
of project management, stakeholder management and risk management
were executed both effectively and ruthlessly.
Information on the Tif Awards
'www.tif.co.uk
The State of IT Project Management in the UK - definitive study
from ComputerWeekly.com and Oxford University's Templeton
College
'www.computerweekly.com