3B - How to effectively engage users and managers in IT projects - Richard Collings
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This document discusses techniques for effectively engaging users and managers in IT projects. It argues that involving stakeholders is important for project success as human factors strongly impact software development. Specific techniques are presented for each project stage, including establishing a working group to build requirements, using early demos and prototypes to involve users in procurement and implementation, and training managers to facilitate rollout. The document emphasizes informal communication, understanding stakeholder needs, and allowing time for learning and adaptation.
3B - How to effectively engage users and managers in IT projects - Richard Collings
- 1. How to effectively engage users and managers in IT projects Richard Collings Independent IT Consultant “Helping people, technology and organisations work together”
- 2. Agenda • Introductions • Why involving users and managers is important • Some general observations, principles and tools • Some specific techniques for each stage of a project
- 4. Your background 1. Executive team/Trustee? 2. IT Management? 3. Project manager? 4. IT Practitioner? 5. Business manager/user? 6. Some or all of the above? 7. Other?
- 5. Your approach 1. Traditional/plan driven/PRINCE 2 (and not going to change) 2. As for 1 but interested in agile 3. Hybrid 4. Wholly agile (Scrum, DSDM, etc) 5. Other/not sure
- 6. My background • Practitioner consultant (with some sales) • 20 years as an independent working in not for profit sector • „Soup to nuts‟, complex, multi- stakeholder projects • Mainly large (multi-year) but some small • Work at interface between business and IT • Use multiple methodologies • Sceptic
- 7. Example projects Project size Rural Payments Agency Grant management C&C system Supporters/ Service Multiple Multiple Departmental Single Public Users/ partners/ departments/ stakeholder Members mergers regions Refugee Councils Case Management Web site Web site
- 10. Some evidence But not a lot! Good „clinical‟ evidence is hard to come by: „…we need considerably more empirical studies of practice. We simply don‟t have enough information about the actuality of practice to be certain that our research efforts are addressing the significant problems of a practice oriented discipline‟ Robinson, H. (2001). "Reflecting on research and practice." IEEE Software, Jan/Feb 2001, 18(1): 112-111
- 11. Why IT Projects are difficult „Human and social factors have a very strong impact on the success of software development endeavours and the resulting system. Surprisingly, much of software engineering research in the last decade is technical, quantitative and deemphasizes the people aspect‟ John, M., Maurer, F. and Bjomar, T. (2005). Human and Social Factors of Software Engineering - Workshop Summary. Proceedings of the International Conference of Software Engineering, St Louis, Missouri, USA. <IT Projects> are conducted today in complex environments. <They> occur in a fragile matrix of applications, users, business demands, laws, internal politics, budgets and organisational dependencies that change constantly„ Standish Group CHAOS report (1998)
- 12. Factors affecting success Success factor Influence User involvement 20 points Executive Support 15 points Clear Business Objectives 15 points Experienced Project Manager 15 points Small milestones 15 points Firm basic requirements 5 points Competent staff 5 points Ownership 5 points Other 5 points Standish Group CHAOS report (1998). Survey of 23,000 firms
- 13. Why involve senior managers? • Generate or „buy into‟ the vision • Getting the right decisions made • Deliver the „something magic‟ • Commit the resources • Knock heads together • Ask the difficult questions; solve the difficult problems
- 14. Case study: RPA “There has been a lack of senior management ownership of the scheme in the Agency and DEFRA” NAO 2009 • Poor senior decision making • Total cost: £350m (cf original est: £75.8m) • 100 contractors @ £200k pa to maintain • Avg cost per grant: £1743 (cf Scotland £285)
- 15. Why involve middle/team managers? • Understand existing systems (but ….) • May have the vision how the new system will deliver improvements • Responsible for delivering the changes needed • Their attitude will affect the attitude of the teams • Monitor/QA use of system by their teams • Use data from the system • Can steer senior management (sometimes)
- 16. Why involve front line users • Often have best understanding of existing system/ways of working • Have a lot of knowledge in their heads • Understand the variations that can occur • Will be the main users of the new system • Their attitude will have a dramatic effect on success or failure • „Word travels fast‟
- 17. Why involve Service users Case study: Stockport SEN Transport Using Vanguard „Check‟ Method (not from my own practice)
- 18. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS, PRINCIPLES & TOOLS
- 19. Introduction • Implementing IT systems that work and that users like is not easy • There is no silver bullet • Need to choose the right tools for the particular situation • Going to look at • A couple of different views • What I found works • A useful resource • Some health warnings
- 20. Choosing the right techniques Cynefin: what type of problem is it: © Dave Snowden used under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported licence
- 21. One approach: „Outside-in‟ Software Development: Outside-in Software Development A Practical Approach to Building Successful Stakeholder-Based Products Carl Kessler & John Sweitzer
- 22. People: • Learn as the project proceeds • Managers/Business Users • Implementers ie: your current project is the best source of learning • Are more flexible if they feel that they have been understood • Things become easier if people trust you • Are not always right • How to deal with this
- 23. Influencing people Useful tool from Roberta Chatham. People: • Respond to style (97-98%) not facts (2-3%) • Respond differently according to type: Pragmatic types Theoretical types Eg IT specialists and accountants Eg CEOs and Lawyers •Practical and matter of fact •Logical and ingenious •Structure and lists •Theory and models •Proof and evidence •Big picture and big ideas Sociable types Idealistic types Eg Nurses and receptionists Eg Journalists and psychologists •Sympathetic & friendly •Enthusiastic & insightful •Personal touch •Analogies & metaphors •Truth and respect •Passion and enthusiasm © Corporate politics for IT Managers. How to get streetwise. Keith Patching & Robina Chatham
- 24. People: conclusions • Need to understand each key stakeholder • „Test the water‟ • One to one sessions/chats are a key part of the process
- 25. Other bits and pieces • Managers often don‟t have a full picture • People tell you what they think they should tell you • It‟s the variations that cause the problems • „Backs of envelopes‟ are useful • Make decisions „at the last responsible moment‟ • High bandwidth/informal communication is critical (Grant management project)
- 26. Health warnings The following can be bad for your project health: • Sign offs • Methodologies • Shared service • Product owner/single business user • People who want things to be simple
- 27. Why this project failed • Culture clash • Communication failure
- 29. Governance • PRINCE2 is sound base provided • Procedure does not supplant common sense • Supplemented by • Informal one to ones • A culture which encourages early surfacing of issues
- 30. Planning/budgeting • Budget to backfill key managers/front line staff • Allow for travel/face to face work/ collocation/embedding project in operational areas • Provide for piloting and refactoring
- 31. Involving managers/users • Set up working group • „Diagonal slice‟ through organisation • Meets 2-3 times/week plus homework and on-site work • Choose managers/users: • Reasonably structured thinkers • Understand the work • Good people skills • Plus Reference Group (for the „challenging‟)
- 32. Requirements stage Aim • Build requirements • Build understanding of other stakeholders • Build understanding of requirements Techniques • „Ethnographic‟ investigation • Follow the work • Use Cases (vs User Stories vs BPM) • Generic models • Help stakeholders build understanding
- 33. Procurement • Early demos of different options • Site visits by suppliers • Managing „love affairs‟ • Get suppliers to work with you to build your scenarios
- 34. Implementation/testing • „Mockups‟ do work – particularly with scenarios • Aim for early and frequent release of software (don‟t be too scared) • Hands on testing by users and observe use (not „Show & Tell‟) • „Rocket Surgery Made Easy‟ (Steve Krug) • Manage expectations (there will be problems)
- 35. Rollout • Use your Design/Working Group as trainers • Start small – early releases are a learning opportunity • Release the „Minimum Viable Product‟ • Allow a learning/evolution period and then stabilise • Focus training on managers
- 36. WRAP UP
- 37. End result • Happy users and managers • Slow „post live‟ rate of change • Low cost of ownership • Adaptable systems • Delivery of business benefit
- 38. Downsides • Initial timetable looks longer (but overall project is often shorter) • Additional cost (but saves money in longer term) • Need to find staff who can backfill
- 39. The final word
- 40. Resources Email: rc@rcollings.co.uk Linked in: http://uk.linkedin.com/in/richardcollings/ Links to articles and papers: https://delicious.com/#richardcollings Booklist: http://www.shelfari.com/o1514895178 Twitter: @richard_colling
- 41. Questions