Project Planning Competency Modeling

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

It should not have to be said, but I will, “Plan Your Work, Work Your Plan”.

Developing and/or implementing a competency model demands a significant amount of resource preparation and requires basic project management skills, as would any other major organizational effort. In these times of limited resource availability and multiple duty assignments, no one has the luxury of unnecessary steps or wasted actions. Depending on the scope of your implementation someone will need to function as the project manager and coordinate, schedule, mange the interviews of dozens of individuals, review dozens of questionnaires, arrange meetings, perform analysis, draft proposals, develop communications materials, and follow-up with numerous individuals. To make all of this to happen in an orchestrated fashion, a plan of sufficient details is vital to the success of the undertaking. The goals and objectives of the implementation should be clear and concise as to the business justification for the endeavor, the impact on product lines, functions, jobs or locations, the methodology for the model’s creation, and identification of the roles and responsibilities of team members.

Many organizations have internal or even external guidelines, which dictate how any enterprise-wide project is developed, funded, and deployed. These guidelines may deal with the planning tools used, how resources are allocated, the use of steering committees, how outcomes are measured, and who or what has finial approval of the project. Detailed project plans that itemize every conceivable step during an implementation are the norm for many organizations. My own experience tells me that senior organizational leaders generally do not want a review of low-level detail. A summary of the major steps generally is acceptable for the C-team members with milestones and overall time periods clearly identified. Whatever level of detail is common in your organization is your target, however; it should clearly identify individual team members’ roles and responsibilities.

With any project plan, it is essential to identify possible roadblocks and alternatives to facilitate moving past any obstacles. These roadblocks could be include, the unavailability of key resources, an unanticipated competing organizational initiative, changes in the management team, and changes in the financial position of the company, to name but a few. A well-developed plan will help to identify potential barriers and allow for alternative planning steps, if encountered. Example, if a new member of management joins the organization, there should be a plan in place to provide background, bring then up to speed on the status of the project, their role and responsibility, and any impact on their functional unit(s). One planning technique is to build a small amount of “pad” time to allow for any project slippage caused by impediments. This will at least allow you to meet your overall plan deadline without a major work stoppage. One major subsection of the project plan is a communications plan. It is common for planners to under estimate the resources required to develop, gain approval, prepare, and fulfill communications materials. Since most large employers have some level of access to marketing and/or commications resources, either internally or externally, coordination of these resources requires significant efforts.

While the project manager of an enterprise-wide replacement of a Payroll-HRMS-Financial system, someone on my team came up with the idea to give everyone who completed the end-user training a pin-on button reading, “Mission Ready”. This sent the message to others that training was important and helped to “brand” the Payroll-HRMS-Financial system. While an e-mail, blast may pass as communications in some organizations, the success or failure of many projects hinge on your target audiences’ acceptance of a well-crafted message from creditable sources.

In these unpredictable times, priorities and plans must change to accommodate new demands from the market place. Any project must allow for a change in direction, reallocation of resources, and scope.