Nine months ago, I was thrown into the role of program manager of three software as a service (SaaS) implementations at various life cycles. I don’t have experience with IT, HR or Real Estate. I never shy away from a challenge (opportunity). I said okay and figured things out as I went.
It’s been fun. I’ve learned a lot. Amassing the confidence to know that I can manage any program in any industry, function, or complexity. Managing 30 cross-functional team members and executive stakeholders took some juggling, but I did okay.
I’ve had to swap people in and out. The ideal team size is 7 or 5. My job is to remove roadblocks and enable experts do their job. I make sure everyone is equipped with the right tools and support.
Solve problems. I get things done.
I remove dependencies (excuses) and make up stuff (assumptions) to manage uncertainty. We never have 100% of the information we need.
I’ve been managing projects and programs all my life. Creating bias towards action through structure, rigor and discipline, I bring 15 years of cross-functional project and program management experience from multiple industries: Infrastructure, FMCG, Insurance, Mining, Military and Telecommunications.
Below, key principles for on time and in-budget project delivery:
- Buy-in from the top
- Money
- People, People, People – Nothing can be done with no people or wrong people
- Autonomy to make decisions
- Plan and adapt. Planning is like forecasting. Accuracy becomes 100% only when we finish.
- Effective communication to ensure everyone knows what they’re supposed to do and where we’re going
- Only do things that create value.
- Do it right the first time
- Output driven. It’s either done or not done. There is no in between
Structure, rigor and discipline brings everything together, creating and sustaining accelerated pace to establish continuous flow.
Apparently, this way of working is called SCRUM: “The art of doing twice the work in half the time” by Jeff Sutherland.
SCRUM is practical, tangible, and will help you get things done. It takes practice and dedication, but it’s worth it.
-HNG, self-proclaimed Scrum Master