Planning and Delivery Projects: Start Right — Stay Right

“My team met the budget and schedule on our project, but the stakeholders aren’t happy.
They say we didn’t meet their expectations!”

Suppose you’re walking down the street and see a food truck advertising “Dogs.” You order a dog with mustard and the vendor plops a cold, uncooked wiener in your hand and gets ready to squirt mustard on it. You can imagine the scene that follows: You protest, and the vendor tells you that you got what you asked for: a dog with mustard.

While that’s technically what you asked for, it’s certainly not what you expected.

Everybody knows that a “dog with mustard” means the wiener comes in a bun with the mustard on top! Right?

Something similar happens all the time with projects.

The business requirements are gathered in the planning stage, but usually only the “what you want” requirements, not the “what you expect” requirements. When the project is completed, those unspecified expectations are not delivered, and the project is a failure.

Many of these expectations fall into what Business Analysts call transition requirements, which relate to how the business will use its new capabilities and all the pieces it takes to do that successfully, such as training, without which implementation will fail.

This is where we come in. We uncover those expectations, gain alignment, and communicate them with all stakeholders throughout your project and organization to deliver the expected results. We have the expertise, tools, and techniques in project delivery, business analysis, and communication to do just that.

Think of your project as a train ride, or any trip for that matter. You know where you want to go, you make plans, purchase your ticket, and get on the train. You expect to arrive at your planned destination, right?

But what if the train isn’t on the right track to begin with? It’s a great trip and you really enjoy it. But when you get off the train, you realize you’re not where you thought you’d be.

This is often what happens when projects fail. No matter how well project managers and business analysts keep a project on track—and they’re usually pretty good at that—if it starts on the wrong track, it will not end well.

We’ll help you start projects on the right track, stay on the right track, and get back on track if the project is derailed by identifying—

• What the destination is and what the world looks like when you get there
• What the path looks like during your project journey
• How long your project journey takes
• How to keep your stakeholders up to date and their expectations aligned
• What to do when changes occur

Our planning deliverable is the Five Pillars Project Guidebook.

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“My team met the budget and schedule on our project, but the stakeholders aren’t happy.
They say we didn’t meet their expectations!”

Suppose you order a hot dog and when it’s ready, the vendor plops a naked, steaming, mustard-covered wiener in your hand. Well, that’s what you asked for, but certainly not what you expected. Everybody knows that a hot dog means the wiener is in a bun, right?

The same thing happens all the time with projects. The business requirements are gathered in the planning stage, but usually only the “what you want” requirements. We miss the “what you expect” requirements. When the project is completed, those unspecified expectations are not delivered, and the project is a failure.

Many of these expectations fall into what Business Analysts call transition requirements, which relate to how the business will use its new capabilities and all the pieces it takes to do that successfully, such as training, without which implementation will fail.

This is where we come in. We uncover those expectations, gain alignment, and communicate them with all stakeholders throughout your project and organization to deliver the expected results. We have the expertise, tools, and techniques in project delivery, analysis, and communication to do just that.
Think of your project as a train ride, or any trip for that matter. You know where you want to go, you make plans, purchase your ticket, and get on the train. You expect to arrive at your planned destination, right?

But what if the train isn’t on the right track to begin with? It’s a great trip and you really enjoy it. But when you get off the train, you realize you’re not where you thought you’d be.

This is often what happens when projects fail. No matter how well project managers and business analysts keep a project on track—and they’re usually pretty good at that—if it starts on the wrong track, it will not end well.

We help you start projects on the right track, stay on the right track, and get back on track if the project is derailed.

We do this by identifying—

• What the destination is and what the world looks like when you get there
• What the path looks like during your project journey
• How long your project journey takes
• How to keep your stakeholders up to date and their expectations aligned
• What to do when changes occur

Our planning deliverable is the Project Guidebook that contains these five harmonized key components:

• Initiation Plan
• Risk Management Plan
• Communication Plan
• Adaptive Project Plan
• Change Control Plan

We’ll develop and use these effective tools on your behalf, or we’ll train your team how to do it. Either way, your projects will deliver the expected results and delight your stakeholders.

 

Contact us to schedule a time to discuss our services.