Socialising the Workplace

As an interim for many years now, I often find myself at a client’s site frustrated because the software they provide does not measure up to the software I use at home. The reason I am so enthusiastic about the power of IT is because it has the potential to dramatically improve the efficiency of an organisation or an individual.

I invest in software that makes me – I believe - very efficient, often automating tasks that would otherwise be time-consuming. It also improves the way I store and display data, e.g. programme plans, brainstorming and contact management, so I don’t “lose stuff” and I know what conversations I’ve had with whom a year or more ago and I can track agents’ performances over time.

The quantum shift in easily accessible software with the advent of mobile apps and the emergence of social networking sites is likely to cause similar frustration amongst people far younger than I am as they enter the workplace. Sites like Facebook, LinkedIn and others change the face of communication. Text messaging and video calling on smart phones similarly alter the way people communicate.

All this creates a huge shock to the system for new people entering the office only to find they have to communicate via email or book a room to hold meetings. In their social lives they have probably been announcing parties/plans/events etc. to their friends via Facebook for years, and suddenly, when they are supposedly in a professional environment, life slows to snail’s pace.

I’m not suggesting of course that business is conducted via Facebook, but I do believe that businesses must embrace socialising technology. That is to say central repositories for programme documentation, bulletin boards, instant messaging and wikis for faster, more efficient communication.

When I entered the workplace – just after the company archived the abacus – a quality review involved booking a meeting room, finding a convenient time for everyone, meeting to discuss the document, making the changes after the meeting and then literally walking the document around the office to confirm to people that the agreed changes had been made. How much better now to use software to store the document where everyone involved can access it and make comments. Furthermore, it will be subject to version control so the history of changes is easily tracked. We used to call that “Configuration management” and employ someone just for that!

With efficient systems, no-one is in any doubt which document is the current version and discussions are open for all to see.

This has implications for programme management of course. Security of the documentation must be paramount, and user access should be allocated judiciously. Perhaps more important than these mechanics is the implication for programme morale. I believe this programme socialising generates far more of a team ethos. Stakeholders aren’t limited to weekly – or even monthly – updates and any problems aired have the potential to be answered quicker because the whole team is aware there is an issue.

This more collaborative way of working should lead to greater motivation, more transparency and a greater degree of trust. It just needs managers to update their thinking and embrace what’s new – arguably the very reason they came into IT in the first place.

I’d like to hear your views and experiences; is your workplace socialised? Are a wiki and instant messaging cutting edge for you, or business as usual? Perhaps they are yesterday’s news and you are far more sophisticated?

Steve Syder RPP, FAPM is a freelance programme manager and RPP Assessor based in London. His web site is www.stevesyder.com

Quiet Time

After a really hectic year on two different assignments with virtually no time off I'm now enjoying a break.

Playing a lot of golf (and improving!), doing those jobs that always seem to be ignored when you're working and catching up with old friends.

I've let it be known that I'm looking for a new assignment for the New Year, but I don't expect much to happen in the market now until January.

Programme Management for the 21st Century

RPP Assessors' Training Day

Spent a good day yesterday at the APM's RPP Assessors' training day.

It's great to see how committed to the standard everybody is.

RPP (Registered Project Professional) is also being well supported by more and more organisations, and in time it's likely to become the first thing employers look for when recruiting Programme/Project Managers. One or two corporates have already declared that it will be compulsory when they recruit in future.

The verification process that has been added to the assessment process should ensure that all candidates receive a consistent evaluation, and in time all assessors will achieve a common view of what constitutes a successful application.

Once APM achieves Chartered status for this denomination the slow burn of applications we are seeing at present will become a raging fire!

I'm really pleased to have been part of it right from the start.

All change again!

My current assignment comes to an end in September.

I'm looking forward to a break, because the last two assignments have been a log slog and I've only had a week off all year.

This current assignment has been one of my most enjoyable, probably because the programme was in such a state when I arrived.

The end client had been promised a lot and had received little. The transformation part of the programme was roughly a year behind schedule, with no signs of delivering much in the near future.

Some people on the programme had to be replaced; they were either getting stale and jaded or they simply weren't up to the challenge.

In some cases, the developers had been asked to achieve the impossible, but it took a change of management for anyone to realise it was impossible and so change the way they were working.

Structurally, the organisation's business model did not lend itself to efficient delivery, because people were not necessarily incentivised to focus on one particular account.

The parlous state of the programme was hidden - not necessarily deliberately - because reporting was very subjective.

My first task was to make the reporting objective, based on the programme schedule. This turned most RAG reports red almost instantly, and people began to understand the scale of the problem. Then, we reorganised the way the account was set up, to incentivise people to focus on the one account.

I also replaced people in key positions, created a whole new programme management team below me and restructured the sub-programmes into outcomes-based projects in order to reduce complexity and risk.

Next, I mandated a better governance structure, based on MSP and PRINCE 2, and increased the size of the PMO. Programme and sub-programme boards were dramatically reduced in terms of the number of attendees so they became proper management forums instead of talking shops, and finally RAID management became effective.

All of this, of course, was done against a backdrop of commercial/contractual "discussions" with a somewhat unhappy and tense end-client.

Things are back on an even keel now, but it has become clear that the programme will take far longer to complete than was ever envisaged. Consequently, I've started replacing contract staff with FTEs to reduce burn rate.

With the programme in a far healthier state and on track to deliver, I can hand over to a permanent Programme Director and look for my next assignment - once I've played a bit of golf of course!

Busy Times!

I'm typing this using my iPad on a train, which is where I seem to do a lot of my work these days. 


The programme I am directing has run into serious difficulties, which is why I was brought in, and we are in the middle of completely revising our approach to the work and new timelines. The end client, with the potential to become my client's biggest customer, is understandably disillusioned and will take a lot of convincing that the programme can be turned round, but the delivery teais so committed that I am confident it can.


Today is a visit to one of the end client's sites to give them the opportunity to express their misgivings and for me to tell the what we are doing to turn the programme round.


One other thing going in our favour is that the end client continues to behave collaboratively and genuinely wants to help us succeed. Yesterday was a full day's workshop with 30 representatives of all areas of the delivery team, and it went very well; strong commitment from everyone present and some real insights into what we can do to turn things round. I've several more workshops of a similar nature, often including the end client, over the next week or two before we present a revised proposal to the board.


Lots of travelling, hard work and lots of mental stimulation - I'm loving it!