We are delighted to announce that Director, Martin Stevens was recently appointed a Sessional Lecturer at Anglia Ruskin University, London

Anglia Ruskin University’s story started in 1858 when art critic, patron and philanthropist, John Ruskin founded the Cambridge School of Art

The University’s London Campus, in the heart of The City; offers courses in: Business, law, marketing, finance, health, social care and project and programme management

Martin recently delivered two on-line webinars, part of a Masters Degree module in Enterprise and Innovation Management on the topics of:

• Innovation management in private sector organisations
• Developing an Innovation Strategy

Martin commented:

I greatly enjoyed working with staff colleagues and a well-engaged cohort of students in delivering these sessions, albeit in a slightly surreal live on-line environment rather than a lecture room. I look forward to presenting more lectures in the autumn semester”

“It’s Gone Wrong!”

A thing which cannot be accomplished should never be undertaken”

Anonymous African (Yoruba) Proverb

In the final day of our ‘Sprint’ we consider what to do when things have gone wrong.  Something, I’ve referred to elsewhere as the “pear-shaped” project.

Successful project delivery contributed £820.5 billion to the turnover of UK businesses in 2017 or 21% of the total output of £3,861 and yet 31% of those projects were at risk of failure at a cost of £254.3 billion to the sponsoring companies. (Source: Business Matters 3 July 2017)

These numbers are “sizeable” and, clearly, even modest improvements in the way in which UK plc conducts projects could provide a massive economic boost to both the companies involved and the wider economy.

Project failures are less due to external factors and are more to do with the underlying processes that are either flawed or insufficiently robust.  A corollary to this would seem to be that the individuals involved may lack the requisite expertise.

Download our paper from the Academy

#projectmanagement #2020vision #betterprojects

Before we move onto the final day of our ‘Sprint’ in which we consider what to do when the project goes wrong; today we look at project support and, more specifically, the PMO.

What is it? What’s it for? What are the Benefits and where should it be located?

Download the paper from the Academy

#projectmanagement #2020vision #betterprojects

So now we’ve ‘finished’ our project, we turn to consider Closure and Post Project Review.

Closure is not a project stage, but a defining point at the end of the delivery process.  What does the closure process involve?

Why should we undertake post project evaluation review and what should be included in it?

Download the paper from the Academy

#projectmanagement #2020vision #betterprojects

Monitoring project progress and reporting to management and stakeholders is part of the project manager’s duties.

Monitoring involves the elements of:

◆ Establishing the baseline

◆ Data collection of actual performance

◆ Assessing the implications of any variance

So, what should you report and are dashboards a good thing?

Download our paper from the Academy

#projectmanagement #2020vision #betterprojects