COMPANY ETHOS
Kev Jackson Ltd has been involved in a large number of programmes and projects over the years, and has learned a huge amount about a number of sectors including Health, Motor Manufacturing, Finance, IT, 3PL, Aerospace to name but a few! However, the company ethos has remained the same. Our MD, Kev Jackson explains his and the Company ethos:
PASSION
All our team love projects. We love that a project is going to create something, or change something for the better, or save money. We love that we are controlling a project that is going to have a positive outcome, and not only the outcome, Equally, we are passionate about the project process.
We are passionate about the project process because over the 100 years combined experience, we've seen it done spectacularly badly so many times as well as other times that it has been done extremely well. You can tell the difference, because the Project Manager is in control, and is not put into a tailspin by scope creep, or changes in the deliverables. The alternative is the one that is flustered, not sure which way is up, and generally in a mess.
STRUCTURE
I believe that all our Project Managers should be working to a structured process that all members of the Project Team, and more importantly, the Sponsor or Exec have signed up to. It should be a very logical process that ensures that nothing is missed, and identifies any risks, dependencies and assumptions early. Nobody likes to be thrown a curveball, and as a Programme Director, I hate it and see it as a personal failing if it happens because it should have been identified earlier.
The project process should be agreed right at the very beginning of a project, or programme. It is vitally important that everybody knows what is going to happen, when it is going to happen, who is responsible for making it happen, and over time, non Project Managers get to understand what is expected of them. Once a project process has been agreed, any changes need to be agreed by everyone, logged and they need to understand their impact. Similarly, in a programme it is vitally important that all projects are run on the same structure, or the poor old Programme Manager has a heck of a job comparing apples with apples (or bananas!)
So, for me, structure is important in the Project process. It gives stability, it gives confidence, and it gives a roadmap of how the project will be run.
GOVERNANCE
I guess I could have lumped Structure and Governance together really, but I think that it warrants its own section.
Governance is vital in a project or programme. Governance for a Programme Director or Project Manager is the comfort factor, ensuring that everything that has happened or is going to happen has got the backing of the Project Board or Sponsor. We've all been driving down a road where we are unsure if we should go left or right, and have to make a decision. Well guess what? We've got a great sat-nav alternative, and it's called the Project Board or the Sponsor. That is what governance is - using the Project Process and Governance to ensure that any checkpoint, any change, any scope creep, any variation is agreed by the right people, and that they remain accountable.
Governance ensures that a project remains on the rails, and ensures that things like Stage reports, checkpoint meetings, status reports, exception reports, etc are done. It can be as simple as minutes from a project Team meeting, but Project Governance covers the Project Manager's back, and thats why it warrants its own section!
COMMUNICATION
This is another thing that I've seen done really well, and really badly too.
Within any Project, transparency is absolutely key. We live in a world where knowledge is power, and people hide information thinking that it gives them power. I hate that thinking. I'm all for transparency, especially in a project.
Communication of everything that is going on in a project is vital, to the Project Board, and to the Sponsor. A number of years ago I missed an item off a Weekly status report to the Sponsor. He then went into a Directors Board meeting, and gave them the wrong information. Never again! I got such a rocket off him afterwards that I vowed to never make that mistake again!
A weekly status report, and access to the Project RAID log are vital to the communication of any project, as well as going through the RAID logs at Project Team meetings (I like to have these weekly). Whilst I'm on Project Team Meetings, I think its important to go through the Project Plan at these meetings, ensuring that all the workstream leads are upto speed with what they are doing, what they should have done that week, and what they are going to achieve by the next meeting. It just keeps things tight, and the Project Manager informed. It also give the opportunity for the rest of the Project Team to provide ideas or just to understand what else is happening on the project. Transparency, its the way forward!
Finally, communication is all about the people. Engaging the stakeholders and the Project Team in good communications so that they all feel a part of the project. This is something that I excel at, and I enjoy doing. Each member of the team is like a member of the family - they all bring their own strengths and weaknesses, and I love to use their strengths, and to help them overcome their weaknesses. I've lost count of the number of times that at the end of a project someone has said 'I learnt how to do X' or 'I now know about Y system'. It gives me a buzz!
SUMMARY
So... My Project Ethos, and the way that the Kev Jackson Ltd team work sounds a little bit like we are Dictators on a Project, but it really isn't like that. Our view is that all of the people involved on a Project, from the Sponsor to the BA, to the Project Support, or the people on the factory floor are part of the project team. All are trying to make something great happen, and there is nothing better than looking back on a project and saying "You know what? We did a good job on that - we made a positive difference" The client may need some nurturing along the way, they may need to be taught how projects work, or they might need to be chastised if they haven't delivered, but using a good Project Process, coupled with appropriate governance, and great communications, anything is possible.
Thats why I love running Programmes, and thats why I am proud to be heading up Kev Jackson Ltd.