This document discusses how to make promises in IT projects that can be kept. It notes that customers want IT that enables their business, but IT often constrains businesses instead. Many IT projects experience cost overruns, delays, and failures. The "Malevolent 7" causes of project issues are identified as poor planning, inflated scope, inadequate resources, poor design/build quality, legacy environment issues, unidentified risks, and weak project management. The document advocates creating conditions for success by squeezing out unnecessary scope, providing truthful timelines, ensuring right resourcing, assembling a high-performing team, and protecting the team from pressure. Making realistic promises to the team regarding enablement and engagement can help ensure project success

1. PM
RO
ISESPROMI
SES -MAKING PROMISES
W E C A N K E E P – D A V I D BO T T O M L E Y – S P E C S A V E R S

3. Promises, Promises
… making promises we can keep
David Bottomley
Head of IT Delivery, Specsavers

4. but IT (sometimes)
Customers want IT that ... supplies IT that . . .
 enables their business  constrains their business
 saves time and money  adds time and money
 is always working  is unreliable
 is totally secure  is insecure
 is flexible and scaleable  is inflexible & unscaleable
 is easy to use  is legacy and clunky
 is cheap to implement  is tricky to use
 is delivered quickly  is expensive to implement
 is modern and sexy  is delivered late
 lasts for a while  soon needs replacing
 is implemented by helpful  is implemented by grumpy
IT people who fully highly-paid IT people who
understand their business don’t understand their
business

5. Expectation vs Reality
PROMISING DISAPPOINTING
REALITY
EXPECTATION

6. IT Projects - School Report
• Harvard Business Review 2011, 1471 IT projects
o Cost overrun - 27%
o 1 in 6 is a "black swan"
 Cost overrun - 200%, time 70%
• Standish Group
o Average overrun - cost 40%, time 80%
• Panorama Consulting - 2,000 projects / 61
countries, 2006-2012
o ERP Projects - 61% late
• BCS "only 1 in 8 IT projects can be considered truly
successful" - ie delivered to cost, time and quality.

7. Project Delays
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
0-2 3-5 6-8 9-11 12+
Delay in months for 29 projects

8. The Malevolent 7
 Poor / over optimistic planning
 Inflated scope
 Inadequate resources
 Poor quality design/build
 Hostile legacy environment
 Unidentified risks
 Weak project management
Left to their own devices, all projects will go wrong
and deliver late….

9. Helpful things we do
when projects go wrong
 Get closer to the detail
 Critique the MSP Plan
 Ask for more reporting / RAGs
 Add new progress meetings
 Tighter control and process
 Solve issues ourselves
 Add more management
 Bring in the consultants
 Enforce overtime & tell them to work harder
 Implement bonuses / penalties
 Sack the vendor
 Change the PM
 Shout and intimidate
 Demand more / increase the pressure
 Take over ourselves . . .
 . . . and save the world

10. Plan B
Ask not what
your team
can do
for you
Ask what
you can do
for your
team

11. Setting ourselves up for success
 Create the conditions for success
 More Leadership
 Less Management

12. We Manage
We Lead
• Authority & Control • Influence & Negotiation
By
• Directing • Consulting
• Precision • Vision
Focussing On
• Risk avoidance • Risk vs Opportunity
• Consistency • Flexibility
• Short-term • Longer-term
• Formality • Informality
Using
• Our own experience & knowledge • Our team’s experience &
knowledge
Providing all of the . . • Answers • Questions
TASKS AND PROCESS PEOPLE & STRATEGY

13. The dimensions of success . . .
Quality
Time Cost
How do we create the conditions for success?
Scope

14. Squeeze out the scope
With the Business
 Flush out real
business value
 Challenge woolly With Your Team
business cases
 Keep IT simple
 Challenge  Function
functional thinking  Technology
 Do the MUST  Deliver in chunks
haves

15. Tell the Truth about the Timescales
Confidence
Variability in estimate
FS /
BRD / LLD
HLD Cone of
Initiati
on Uncertainty
Time
Conception

16. Lets Play . . .
Deadlines, Targets, Plans and Promises
Customer
PLAN REALITY > FAILURE
False Deadline
IT PLAN REALITY > FAILURE
Unrealistic Target
PLAN = SUCCESS PLAN = SUCCESS
Achievable Plan
Promises we Keep

17. Right Resourcing
 Do - portfolio resource planning
 Don’t - spread people across projects
 Don’t - start without the right
resources.

18. Assemble into a team
 Enabled
 Squeeze scope
 Truthful
timescales
 Right resources
 Now we need to
glue together a
team

19. High Performing Teams
Engagement / People
LOW HIGH
Enablement / Task
DETACHED MOST EFFECTIVE
HIGH PERFORMING
HIGH
5% 49%
(n 50%
= 744)
Specsavers 2010 = 46%
Hay Group norm = 46%
LEAST EFFECTIVE
WALKING DEAD FRUSTRATED
LOW
21%
20% 25%
(n = 313)
Specsavers 2010 = 23%
Hay Group norm = 27%

20. What can we Promise our team?
 Enablement  Engagement
 Resources  Calm
 Scope  Clarity
 Timelines  Honesty
 Protection  Trust
 Support
 Communication
 Protection

21. Provide Protection
Be a Buffer for the Pressure – not a cause of it.
Performance
Pressure

22. 5 top qualities of a Leader

23. We get what we give . . .
 Fear (of you)  Confidence
 Pressure  Support
 Mistakes  Pride
 Cover-ups  Honesty
 Blame  Trust
 Failure  Success
 Disappointment  Praise

24. Failure due to poor
leadership Promises we Keep
Success
Failure due to poor
management