Background
The Airbus Helicopter Group Australia Pacific (Airbus) Enterprise Portfolio, Program, Project Management Office (EPMO) was born from the need to relieve and guide program and project managers through the day-to-day administrative tasks associated with managing programs and projects – and to ensure consistency by using frameworks supported by standardised templates.
The EPMO is regarded as a centre of excellence at the corporate level, developing and maintaining the portfolio, program, and project frameworks and methodologies – while ensuring consistent inter and intra communication. As the organisation continued to grow and mature, gathering detailed information about portfolio, program, and project status became more critical for successful Program and Project delivery aligned with its members’ culture.
To this end, the organisation decided that its project team members should be experienced and receive training to develop the necessary program and project management skills. Up to this point, it had been using the team level Project Management Office to persuade the organisation to change its culture from a reactive style to a project-oriented, proactive organisation.
During the initiation of the EPMO setup, the Paradigm Innovations transformation team (consisting of seasoned professionals led by Mansoor) conducted an internal review/survey to determine how well the organisation was supporting and understanding the truest sense of Portfolio, Program and Project Management, and it’s importance.
The survey had an 85% response rate, and the results demonstrated:
- The organisation lacked a holistic view of its portfolios, programs and projects
- The organisation lacked knowledge and lessons learnt dissemination
- There was no consistent approach for complex projects
- There was a lack of project ownership culture and mentality
- Lack of strategic alignment, sponsorship and leadership
- Lack of benefits realisation and governance frameworks
- Poor scope definition, validation and risk identification
- Project delivery delays and budget overruns
The EPMO intended to alleviate project teams of routine activities deemed low value and high time consuming, provide a governance framework, develop a community of practices enabling knowledge sharing, and offer project snapshots for all initiatives.
The EPMO setup, like any other project, was uncertain by nature. Paradigm Innovations knew changes, conflicts, and problems might occur at any point in time. However, through proper planning, an understanding of the organisational dynamics, open communication at all levels, and excellent teamwork, strategic changes could be managed systematically and rationally across the organisation.
Enterprise /Portfolio / Program /Project Office Infrastructure
We needed to remember that the organisation is delivering solutions for its customers, shareholders and stakeholders. Therefore, we needed the infrastructure for “people, processes and tools” available through the EPMO. One of the key factors we considered was the visibility and accessibility of these services.
We assigned a physical location for the EPMO at the beginning of the project. The advantages were that this gave the EPMO a high profile and that users could quickly identify where to go for accessing the EPMO services, which were collocated.
A marketing campaign and drumbeating sessions were also necessary to communicate the existence of the EPMO by selling its benefits to the whole organisation. This process enabled the creation of a coalition force and established a sense of urgency across the organisation.
Mission Scope and Objectives
It was necessary to persuade the executive management team of the need for an EPMO and its outlasting benefits. The key question asked was, “Why did we need an EPMO for Airbus Helicopter Group Australia Pacific?”
Paradigm Innovations made a compelling business case and established that the EPMO would add value to the key actors:
- Program and Project team members to receive:mentoring, consulting, and training programs to develop an augmented team and the necessary human intellectual
- Providing a culture shift to Program and Project management:including reusable tools and techniques, document and methodology support, global recognition, profitability improvement, and quality
- Providing a visible commitment to Airbus Customers: includes competent team support, quicker and more effective responses, and faster turnaround due to instant access to knowledge bases.
The Airbus EPMO Project Mission supported Portfolio, Program, Project Managers during the project selling and delivery processes, thus enabling focus on high-quality project management and added value to customers, stakeholders and shareholders.
Once established, the primary focus of Airbus Helicopter Group Australia Pacific Enterprise, Portfolio, Program, and Project Office was to:
- Act as quality assurance within the Program and Project Delivery Process
- Provide a breeding ground and hub for Knowledge Sharing
- Conduct Program and ProjectSnapshots
- Act as the front for all Program and Project Management Initiatives across the enterprise
After breaking down our first objective into more minor activities, one question came to mind: How does the end-user feel about the change?
We had several meetings with the different groups of consultants, portfolio, program, and project managers to verify the initial scope, which was a very valuable process. Getting these people involved from the beginning was great because it was the only way to convince them to use the EPMO. Being aligned with real needs has been our core objective during the whole project.
The EPMO must be the home front for all P3M initiatives:
- Creating a Program and Project Governance and Strategic Alignmentframework
- Tailoring Program and Project Management frameworks for enhanced delivery
- Ongoing Risk Management at Portfolio, Program and Projectlevels
- Establishing Communication Management Strategy with relevant Portfolio, Program and Project
- Facilitating Portfolio, Program and Project Management Forums for knowledge sharing.
- Establishing a Program and Project Management Coaching and Mentoring program
The EPMO scope did not include operational activities, and it does not include all activities presently executed by project administrators. The EPMO does not substitute the Project Manager role. The most critical aspect is that EPMO will not cure all the organisation’s problems.
The Process of “Leading the Change”
History teaches us that human beings are incredibly flexible and adaptable when accommodating change in their lives. Nevertheless, individuals and businesses exhibit specific tolerances or limits to the amount of change they can assimilate over a given period.
Futurist author Alvin Toffler coined the term “future shock” to describe the threshold beyond which a person or organisation can no longer effectively adapt to change. Once this point is reached, healthy coping behaviours are displaced by dysfunctional symptoms (e.g., low morale, miscommunication, reduced productivity, increased anxiety, confusion, high turnover, defensiveness, territoriality, obstructionism, and hostility).
To avoid these costly symptoms of future shock, managers responsible for implementing major business decisions need to know what impact change efforts will have on the “targets” – those individuals or groups who will alter their knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviour as a result of the change. Paradigm Innovations had to predict the impact of the change before implementing the EPMO.
We followed a four-step process:
- Identify key players
- Develop an Implementation plan
- Understand behavioural patterns and reactions
- Lead the changeprocess
The Project Management Initiative defined this process at the corporate level. The primary purpose of this process was to gain support for the change and to minimise the impact of resistance.
Step 1. Identify key players
The EPMO stakeholders were the managers of the different businesses and solutions within the organisation and had real influence over end users and upper management. The stakeholder analysis helped us understand how other individuals can influence the decisions along the course of the project. As key players of the project, all identified key stakeholders were interviewed face to face.
Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced. Positive results from the Airbus EPMO project depended upon corresponding changes in people’s behaviour. Mansoor and the Paradigm Innovations team had many formal and informal meetings with the key players to convince them of the EPMO value.
We used corporate tools, such as visual management boards, to raise awareness of the organisation’s current positioning for implementing the EPMO. It provides a high-level analysis of the possible risk areas for the planned change – a ‘first pass’ assessment to take the ‘temperature’ of the situation. Risk is assessed based on eight critical success factors or fundamentals for change.
Following the process, and we asked ourselves four basic questions:
Who are our stakeholders?
The Airbus EPMO Project team brainstormed to identify all possible stakeholders. We identified where each of our stakeholders was located, and, for all stakeholders, we identified the relationship the project team had with them. We then created a stakeholder matrix based on the influence and interest level, adding identified stakeholders to the stakeholder register.
What are our stakeholder expectations?
We identified for each stakeholder their primary project expectations at a high level, and we identified the critical success factors for the EPMO project.
How does the Airbus EPMO project or products affect the key identified stakeholders?
For each stakeholder, we analysed how the products and deliverables would affect them. We determined what actions the stakeholder could take, which would affect the success or failure of the project. We prioritised the stakeholders based on who had the most positive or negative effect on the project’s success or failure. We also incorporated this information from the previous steps into the Risk Analysis plan to develop mitigation procedures for stakeholders who might negatively impact the project.
What information do your stakeholders need?
The stakeholder analysis was fundamental to project success and has been the map we have used to track all the political issues throughout the project life cycle. Each project stakeholder has personal, professional or social objectives, and our team had to deal with those factors.
While the EPMO project sponsor was a well-revered senior executive with a strong influence to drive the EPMO initiative across the organisation, Mansoor concurrently had to drive the change acting as a change agent with the help of the EPMO project team and supporting advocates (consultants and project managers that believed in the EPMO project), while keeping a high level of transparency with the sponsor.
Step 2. Develop an implementation plan
Starting with a deliverable-oriented roadmap, we elaborated a plan among team members. While the implementation plan lasted eighteen months, we had to demonstrate that the EPMO added value to the business monthly, recognising triggering events to assure change implementation.
We organised the EPMO project into four key stages, involving representatives of the target audience and planning for contingencies.
Setup and Rollout
The estimated time for this stage was two months. The main activities were staffing, office location, roles & responsibilities, project charter, initial projects review, objectives definition, PM tools definition, team building, EPMO Services definition and success definition. This phase was stressful for the EPMO setup team, as the senior management team expected weekly progress and quick results. Thanks to thorough planning and precise execution, the EPMO setup team was able to meet these expectations.
Operational
The estimated time for stage two was four months. The main activities were to delineate the structure of EPMO, to define the P3M digital platforms which would be used, and to assign the following: communication, methodology, education, tracking, EPMO success metrics, process improvement, improved critical stakeholders’ agreement, prioritisation, and an EPMO database housing historical data.
Fully functional EPMO
The estimated time for this stage was four months. The main activities were achievement-driven: measured achievements definition and assigned deliverables for accountability, assignments/defined templates, use of templates/automatic computations, automating significant processes, conducting trend analysis, mentoring in place, ensuring 70-80% of all projects have a project plan, activities duration derived from historical data, and programs have a program plan which acts as a precursor to the initiation of a project.
Continuous improvement
The main activities estimated at this stage were software tools updates, measures of success updated/changed, improved project numbering, tracking of project success, decrease the number of failed projects, increased number of professional Project Managers on staff, 90% of all projects to have a project plan, and programs to have Program Plans accompanied by relevant supporting Business Cases.
The main factors enabling change were visibility, importance, motivation and empowerment. For instance, we explained that the EPMO implementation would help them be exponentially efficient in managing customer projects.
A prominent lack of appreciation of the importance of program project planning at the organisation was identified by the Paradigm Innovations EPMO setup team, and we articulated the importance thereof to the stakeholders.
Senior managers typically do not appreciate the necessity of program and project planning and, thus, do not allow enough time for proper collaborative planning. Fortunately, after the assignment of the Airbus project team members, we were able to work together to create
both the Program and Project WBS, reviewing all the deliverables to be provided and the acceptance criteria for stage approvals.
Step 3. Understand behavioural patterns and reactions
Learning from experience is, in our opinion, the best way to quickly learn and is evidenced when engaged in a project.
Understanding the different behaviours of different stakeholders within a project and planning potential resolutions from the beginning helps to manage change.
The Airbus executive management team was highly committed to the EPMO implementation initially but expected early results. The main challenge was rapidly achieving small deliverables and demonstrating quick wins without senior departmental management support.
We identified different three qualities, which were key to EPMO project success – Communication, Team ownership and Sponsorship Commitment:
Communication: The style and frequency of communication actions were fundamental to project success. We communicated with team members through formal weekly meetings and informal lunches at the department level. We participated in all department level “Area Meetings”, where we focused on presenting the services of the EPMO, providing project updates and relaying any issues.
At the management level: We asked for feedback in each management meeting and used that feedback to avoid misunderstandings and errors.
At the company level: We kept the stakeholders informed through publishing the project status on the corporate intranet. We also produced EPMO Newsletters and distributed them to all the employees within the organisation to ensure that everyone was informed about the implementation progress.
Team ownership: We empowered team members while concurrently coaching to fill experience gaps the EPMO had an identity.
It was imperative that its team members could be identified physically via a name badge. This process allowed employees to identify the key for project success and the local PMO and executive PMO team members.
Sponsorship: The Executive Sponsor supported the EPMO project from the beginning, and he explained to all parties the organisational effort made when investing in the EPMO. However, senior managers needed early, tangible results in the shortest time possible. The Paradigm Innovations EPMO setup team was instrumental in meeting this expectation.
Maintaining the Executive Sponsor’s sponsorship commitment level was a question of persistence and fluent communication. We often asked him to present the EPMO project progress in management meetings, which proved very effective and cemented the message across the organisation due to his articulation.
Step 4. Lead the change process
It was recognised that the Airbus Helicopter Group Australia Pacific EPMO was a new way of working. We needed to give the organisation time to adjust and catch up to where we were. We were flexible and created commitment incrementally by breaking down big issues and problems into small, manageable chunks. Small incremental achievements was our way of managing this project.
Being the leader of the EPMO Project Management team was challenging. To succeed, we based our daily activities on three principles:
- Passion: We believe in the advantages of an EPMO and the needs that it satisfies. When you believe in something, your positivity affects the rest of the team. This behaviour helps you to be happier and transmits happiness to others. Smiling every morning is part of our daily routine. We enjoyed our assignment in EPMO project management through our passion, and we believe that this was fundamental to our success. A Project Manager’s attitude is fundamental to team member and project stakeholder morale.
- Persistence: Each day,we reinforced the organisation’s portfolio, program, and project management knowledge. It does not matter if you find a project manager not following PM methodology or not using an EPMO procedure – you need to understand why and positively engage – them. In terms of implementation, nothing works the first time perfectly, and appreciating the learning curve is of utmost importance.
- Patience: Every project, every phase, every activity or task required time to be implemented appropriately. Therefore, the EPMO project management team needed to be patient. Understanding that adequate time needs to be allowed to complete activities successfully and that people work at different paces is paramount to success. One of our misconceptions was to assume everyone learned and applied knowledge at the same speed.
Step 5. Lessons Learned
- The EPMO cannot be implemented without upper-level Managementsupport and Buy-in.
- Stakeholder Analysis is fundamental for success because they often are crucial to success.
- Implementation plan development needs to take the organisational culture into account.
- Understanding the different behaviours from different stakeholders and the potential project and planning team reactions helps a lot with managing change.
- Passion, Persistence and Patience are vital for leading change.
- Most of the work of the EPMO is like primary education, where you endeavour to convince people that they will have better results if they change their way of doing
