Project Management Consulting
About This Practice
New projects drive productivity, market share and shareholder value and help you to meet increasing customer demands in the marketplace. Yet being able to manage your projects within constraints such as time, resources and cost is not easy. You need to be able to accurately identify the customer requirements and translate these into business requirements. Herein lies the problem; without the use of consistent project management processes, tools and templates as a project manager you will not be able to successfully meet customer requirements and risk of project failure is high.
You are not alone. In fact, both our research as well as research of other consulting organizations demonstrates that project failure is a problem for most organizations.
How We Can Help
Business Improvement Architects | bia™ provides an array of services to improve project management effectiveness in your organization. This includes:
- Project coaching for project managers, sponsors and project teams,
- Setting up a Project Management Office, as well as
- Conducting project audits to turn around problem projects or for forensic purposes.
Global Experience & Knowledge of Project Management Best Practices
Our consultants have worked with large, complex, global projects as well as small, single location projects. Through our global research we have knowledge of best practices and have worked with our clients to implement them. And we’ve also worked in different countries around the world; including North America, Europe, China, India and the Middle East. This diverse range of experiences provides you with the comfort that we can quickly understand your situation.
Project Management Offices
If you need help to set-up and sustain a Project Management Office (PMO) so that it delivers a clear return on investment for the organization, Business Improvement Architects | bia™ can help you. Our guidance will help you determine the cultural change you require to create a project management environment that will be supportive of both the PMO and meets international standards. This will ensure that everyone in your organization is consistently applying sound project management processes when executing projects.
PMOs and thousands of individual project managers are regularly using our proprietary project management processes, tools and templates to great success.
On-Demand Coaching for Project Managers and Teams
Business Improvement Architects | bia™ is often called in to coach Project Managers, Sponsors and Teams around the world to increase their effectiveness and efficiency in the delivery of projects while considering the constraints of the scope of these projects. Our consultants work on all kinds of projects; some are large, complex and global, others may be small, single location projects. This diverse range of experiences provides you with the comfort that we can quickly understand your situation. We provide on-demand coaching that we will deliver either on-site or through video conferencing so that you won’t have to wait to resolve an issue, concern or challenge.
Business Analysts
As a Business Analyst, Business Improvement Architects | bia™ can help you to identify your organization’s specific customer, technical and business requirements for projects. This will help you develop the right project processes, tools and templates to clearly identify your technical, customer and business requirements.
Project Culture Assessment ™ (PCA ™)
Background
Many senior managers and executives talk about the need for a change in their corporate project culture. This is because an organizational culture that supports and rewards staff for the work they perform on projects is more effective and ensures that the strategic plan gets executed.
Why Assess Project Culture?
A corporate project culture that assigns special projects to people without the tools, training or resources to execute them is extremely unproductive and damaging to the organization as a whole. Organizations that maintain this type of project culture lose millions of dollars on special projects. The losses aren’t always only financial; these organizations may also experience difficulty in retaining both internal and external customers.
Benefits of an Ideal Project Management Culture
The ideal project culture is one in which projects get strategically implemented to support an organization’s key objectives. They receive the necessary attention; support of the senior management and the organization’s systems, to allow them to succeed. As an outcome, all employees in the organization understand their roles and responsibilities on assigned projects and are able to seamlessly implement each project successfully.
Process
Our proprietary Project Culture Assessment™ (PCA™) will identify the current state of project management throughout the entire organization and provide you with the actions required to re-shape your culture to manage projects more effectively.
The Project Culture Assessment™ (PCA™) will:
- Identify the current state of project management throughout the entire organization.
- Provide you with information on the current state of project management by position, department, location, etc.
- Detail the actions necessary to help prepare staff for the changes that will be necessary to create a project management environment.
Getting Started
Changing project culture is a journey that requires organizations to stay the course since change is constant. Contact us to discuss your requirements.
Success Stories
Improving Project Management for a Global Manufacturer
This global manufacturer wanted to enhance the skill and competency level of project leaders and their teams. As well, they wanted to engage their senior managers in discussions and training on how to create an effective project management environment. We began by undertaking a Project Culture Assessment™ to determine how ready this organization was to embrace project management. We determined the gaps they would need to close to ensure that they would be able to manage projects successfully and the major gap was project management training. We worked with them to train their project leaders and teams and held project leadership sessions for project sponsors and managers. Within the first six months they had trained almost 50% of their project leaders and teams. The outcome of our training was measurable improvements in business results for all projects.
Getting a Government Project Back On Track
This government client was unable to achieve significant progress on a project due to the pending introduction of a new piece of legislation that greatly impacted the project’s delivery. After six months into the project, it was failing to meet its delivery completion deadline, and so this client called us in to help them get the project back on track. We met with the project sponsor and project manager to map out a process for rapidly getting the project back on track. Then we facilitated a number of work sessions with them to: identify prospective team members, define the project’s scope and create a detailed project plan. Acting as an outside coach to the project manager throughout, we assisted with management of some of the project work and helped to create an on-line presentation for distribution to the field offices introducing the project to all employees. Within one month of working with this project team, they had made far more progress than in the previous six months and we managed to help them get a failing project back on track.
Testimonials
The Department of National Defence called in Business Improvement Architects to conduct a mid-term audit on a highly complex project with multiple stakeholders.
"Michael Stanleigh of Business Improvement Architects did an incredible job of assessing all aspects of the project and compiling a detailed assessment of what was working and what was not working. The most valuable information and guidance of this report was not only the identification of all major problem areas, but the substantive recommendations Mr. Stanleigh recommended on how to correct them. This report was invaluable to improving the overall probability of success for a highly complex project."
Facilitating leadership development through assessment, coaching, consulting and training, the Business Improvement Architect's (bia™) team worked with senior executive, mangers and staff to help them build leadership competencies. bia™ stayed with them throughout the process helping them to develop and implement their key strategies and implementation plan.
"Business Improvement Architects has been instrumental in helping us develop our leadership team. Through the implementation of their recommended processes and continuous guidance throughout, they have helped us build a team of successful leaders and together we have increased customer service, employee satisfaction metrics have increased and projects are implemented more efficiently. I recommend bia™ for their strategic perspective, on-going support and practical measurement tools."
Three separate art facilities in a large city received a mandate from the local government to combine operations in order to better service general public needs and save costs. bia™ was asked to help the management and staff to unify the operation and help the team to overcome their challenges in bringing the exhibits together in one place. As well, staff did not function well as a unified team, rather, they continued to operate as three separate units within one building. bia™ used an "Innovation Process" and "Project Management" to create breakthrough performance for the staff and the organization. The outcome has been highly successful, with most of the innovations having been translated into projects.
"We are impressed at how Business Improvement Architects has very quickly and effectively managed to get us working co-operatively as a team. We highly recommend them to others."
This manufacturer of computer driver heads in China was looking for a competitive edge to gain revenue and recognized that project management could help them save time and money and improve the level of quality and customer satisfaction. bia™ was called in by the CEO to implement a training program for different levels in the organization in project management. This ensured that the management team, their direct reports and project managers had the shared knowledge to implement a project driven strategy. The strategy has proved highly effective for the organization, leading to acquisition of new multi-million dollar sales contracts.
"Business Improvement Architects has given us much help and guidance in our project management learning. All members of the LAFE team have a keen admiration for bia™."
Business Improvement Architects (bia™) was brought in to train IT staff in the art and science of project management. Through the process, bia™ has been able to help RIM to reign in and refocus several high profile projects to help them move forward successfully. The result of the skilled knowledge-transfer from bia™ has positioned the IT department to be nearly self-sufficient in project management. Now other areas of RIM are demonstrating interest in working with bia™ to bring project management to other areas.
"Our relationship with Business Improvement Architects has been a wholly positive relationship and an experience which we unreservedly recommend to others."
Business Improvement Architects worked with this organization of 1200 employees to help create a Project/Process Management Office and implement lessons-learned from a previously failed try. The result has been positive due to our implementation-based consulting process and because we ensured that a solid foundation for change was in place before the implementation was done.
"Business Improvement Architects was instrumental in helping us turn around a project that was in crisis and bring it back in control with their expert processes and measurement tools. They were able to effectively identify the root causes of our problem and then continued to work with us to implement the solution and provide tools to manage on a forward-going basis."
Brookfield Properties asked Business Improvement Architects to help them implement a Project Management approach that would assist in the execution of their strategic plan. bia™ trained all project managers and project team members as well as those who were responsible for the new strategy.
"Business Improvement Architects successfully helped us apply a sound Project Management process that was effective in helping us execute our strategic plan. We are happy to recommend them to others."
Business Improvement Architects was asked to develop a customized, standard protocol and methodology that could be used for all of their projects. bia™ was highly successful because we recognized that all levels within the organization could benefit from application of a consistent methodology and our protocol addressed this opportunity.
"Business Improvement Architects drove the process to develop a standard protocol and methodology for all levels of the organization to apply consistently and developed a customized GWL Project Management Approach."
Recognizing the importance of project management in ensuring the success of quality initiatives, ASQ asked bia™ to facilitate all Project Management training sessions as part of their on-going public and in-house programming. ASQ has continued to use Business Improvement Architects over the past 10 years for Project Management Training as well as training in Process Improvement, Strategic Quality Planning and Creating Visions and Strategies for Government Services. More recently, bia™ has developed webinars and virtual training courses for ASQ.
"bia™ is an organization that continually meets our high quality standards. They consistently rate highly in their delivery, class management, use of applicable and practical examples of concepts to the theory and ideas they are presenting and their knowledge of and experience with the subject matter they are teaching."
"I literally walked into the class on day 1 with NO project management knowledge. The presentation, exercises and reference sheets have provided me with the confidence and tools needed to be a successful project manager. The most significant thing I learned was how to efficiently manage my time within projects (both small and large)."
Business Improvement Architects has been on faculty with the Gardener Centre of Memorial University since 2003 and continues to work with them to provide open-enrollment programs.
"Michael Stanleigh of Business Improvement Architects has been a contract trainer for the Gardiner Centre, (Previously Centre for Management Development) of Memorial University in both open-enrollment programs with diverse clients and for client-customized programs around specific client needs. We have used Michael and his associates on many occasions, and continue to contract with them because of their professionalism, the invariably high participant evaluations and most importantly because of repeat request from our clients for their services. Michael's evaluations have consistently been among our highest."
Business Improvement Architects has worked with retailer Hudson Bay Company for many years in the areas of Critical Thinking, Impact and Influence, Process Management and Project Management.
"We have worked with Business Improvement Architects on previous occasions and they have always exceeded our expectations. They have demonstrated excellent responsiveness and management of expectations (always got back to you with an answer). It has been a pleasure to work with bia™ overall"
Business Improvement Architects facilitated project leadership and project management workshops for the Schulich Executive Education Centre, Schulich School of Business for almost 10 years. This has included sessions for the Masters Certificate in Project Management, Advanced Certificate in Project Management and the Executive Program.
"Business Improvement Architects...always exceeds our expectations and is a pleasure to work with. They are accommodating to changes and flexible in their ability to adapt their materials to our specific needs."
Business Improvement Architects (bia™) has worked in a variety of areas of the Ontario Public Service including several Ministries and Leadership Centers. Our work has covered a broad range of consulting and training assignments including: research on Benchmarking within a government environment, customer service training, coaching project managers and teams through major government initiatives, training the leadership in the areas of quality and project management and training staff on the skills of Kaizen (process management) and project management.
"Business Improvement Architect's facilitation and processes have effectively met our needs. The training has been engaging as well as practical and informative. We have found that our people are able to apply the learning to their workplace."
PC Financial asked Business Improvement Architects to develop training that was customized for them and that used their tools, templates, processes and specific project case studies. We continue to track the usage of the information presented in the workshop and find that the participants have started to shift the culture of the organization to a more productive project environment.
"Business Improvement Architects has done an excellent job of creating a customized training program for PC Financial. Participants have provided highly positive feedback about the training program and the quality of the bia™ facilitators. As a result of this practical and effective training, we are realizing a more productive project environment and a more supportive project culture."
Business Improvement Architects worked with this organization of 1200 employees to help create a Project/Process Management Office and implement lessons learned from a previously failed try. The result has been positive due to the bia™ implementation-based consulting process and because bia™ ensured that a solid foundation for change was in place before the implementation was done.
"Business Improvement Architects was instrumental in helping us turnaround a project that was in crisis and bring it back in control with their expert processes and measurement tools. They were able to effectively identify the root causes of our problem and then continued to work with us to implement the solution and provide tools to manage on a forward-going basis."
bia™ worked with the IR-Security Technologies to develop and implement a customized Quality Management and Project Management Curriculum for project/process teams and leaders. Attendance, while not mandatory, has been enthusiastic with positive feedback about the direct applicability of the knowledge learned to the workplace.
"Over the years we have found great value in working with Business Improvement Architects because their programs have been highly effective. There have been a number of positive endeavors demonstrated by the participants including applying the project management process to an existing project in order to bring it back on track. Others have successfully7 applied the knowledge directly to a number of new projects."
