SPIW03 Taking the Geek out of SharePoint Project Governance

Editor's Notes

• #3: Introduce me and 21apps – “changing the way people work and helping our clients realise SharePoint Business Value”
• #4: We are nearing the end of the day so lets make this interactive! Feel free to ask questionsI’m going to make you work for the right to have that SharePint!
• #5: This content is based on the 21apps consulting model (21shift) and the “SharePoint Governance and IA Master Class we run”
• #6: Some of the content, particularly around f-laws was from Russell Ackoffand the SharePoint Gov/IA Master Class
• #7: Why do we do SharePoint?Because its coolWe have to its our jobBecause your all here on a Saturday, I’m guessing there not the primary reasons?I guess you are passionate about what SharePoint can doThat it has great potential to deliver value and solve problems within our internal or external customersYes?
• #8: SharePoint is Awesome!Great platform, broad feature setPotential to deliver great business outcomes and “do good”I’ve seen and been a part of some great implementations, as I’m sure you guys all have?
• #9: So why do we hear of so many Challenges & Project Failures?Project failure – is not that you haven’t delivered SharePoint project, hit the targets on the Gannt chart – its that you’ve not delivered the expected outcomes of the businessUser Experience isn’t what they wantNot delivering business valuePoor user adoption** ASK - Whats your thoughts?
• #10: Tell the story of a typical Project in the old worldStrategy – cascaded downProject gets created because - IT want SharePointProject gets created because - Local Business ProblemBusiness see demo of SharePointI “want” rather than “the organisation needs”Requirements based upon SharePoint features – I want a mysite, 5 doc libraries and some workflowThe SharePoint features get delivered as requestedThe project is “in theory” a successBUT….
• #11: Finish the StoryAnti-climax Project Fails – bad outcomes - lots of reasons Business loose faith in IT and wonder whether we were listeningSharePoint team are wondering what the problem is, they did what was asked of them…
• #12: Notice I haven’t said that the technology sucksI haven’t said that SharePoint “can’t be made to do that”The technology isn’t the problem here guys…You guys are awesome and we can make SharePoint do ANYTHING… So why is this all so hard?Why are there SharePoint project problems?Why do we have a HUGE SharePoint Business Value problem?
• #13: Celery contains 6 calories. But the mere act of digesting said stalk burns more like 10 calories, resulting in a negative caloric intake.This is like spending lots of time and effort, licenses, hardware and project time and money, but not delivering anything the business needs¾ of SharePoint projects I was aware of over the past 5 years DID NOT deliver true Business Value** EVERYONE STAND-UP ** Sit down if you’ve seen a “Celery” SharePoint project.
• #14: There could be any number of reasons for SharePoint project problems, but really common ones I have witnessed are:
• #15: We’re looking at problems with an IT/Technology focus – SharePoint Knows Nothing…It doesn’t know your business, sector, organisation, business problem
• #16: No shared understanding between IT and the businessAs an asideI recommend exploring a move away from just using documented requirements and moving to more “Visual Thinking” approach:Visualisations and story-telling are very powerful techniques for gaining a shared understanding between two very different groups of stakeholders:We use and have developed a wide range of techniques that includingIssue MappingSharePoint Project CanvasEmpathy MapsDrawing on the back of a Napkin
• #17: We allow projects to be specified as SharePoint features not business outcomesSTORYRequirements copied and pasted from the Microsoft web site!Have any of you seen that kind of behaviour from a client?
• #19: IN Latin means “to steer”Steering a boat you start somewhere and you have a destination, the path you take depends on many factors.STORY - I know this is true and works here in Holland because when I was 13-15 I sailed on Lake Brassamemeer in the World Championships (I didnt win!) 48/100+
• #20: We have an unhappy baby, our goal is to have a happy baby (otherwise the mum will shout at us) Governance is everything we need to consider to achieve that goal
• #23: Microsoft governance overview doc doesn’t talk about users, requirements, value
• #24: Microsoft governance features doc doesn’t talk about users, requirements, value
• #25: This is the easy bit, well documented and lots of experts 
• #27: So why does a typical project make so many assumptions about user requirements?
• #28: Taken from one of Jeff Conklins booksHands up who agree with that approach?There is no definitive statement of “The Problem.” It is a moving target. “they don’t know what they want”The problem is composed of an evolving set of interlocking issues and constraints. Each attempt at creating a solution changes the understanding of the problem. Therefore, the information needed to understand the problem depends on one’s idea for solving it …In order to describe a wicked problem in sufficient detail, one has to develop an exhaustive inventory for all the conceivable solutions ahead of timeA number of designers participated in an experiment in which the exercise was to design an elevator control system for an office building. All of the participants in the study were experienced and expert integrated-circuit designers, but they had never worked on eleva-tor systems before. Indeed, their only experience with elevator systems came from riding in elevators. Each participant was asked to think out loud while they worked on the problem. The sessions were videotaped and analyzed in great detail. The analysis showed, not surprisingly, that these designers worked simultaneously on understanding the problem and formulating a solution. They exhibited two ways of trying to understand the problem: efforts to understand the requirements for the system (from a one page problem statement they were given at the beginning of the session); and mental simulations (e.g. “Let’s see, I’m on the second floor and the elevator is on the third floor and I push the ’Up’ button. That’s going to create this situation....”).
• #30: Just like overnight successes don’t ever happen over night they usually take years of failure and learning
• #31: There are Dark forces at play in your SharePoint projects, lots of things in your “project world” that influence you and challenge the project success
• #32: Pace of change – project timescales, resource limitationsProblem Wickedness – Can’t define the problem etcTechnical Complexity – What do we need to do to deliver?Social Complexity – people are a pain, they change their minds, they have opinions etc
• #33: **** This is why agile techniques fit better than waterfallThere is no definitive statement of “The Problem.” It is a moving target. “they don’t know what they want”The problem is composed of an evolving set of interlocking issues and constraints. Each attempt at creating a solution changes the understanding of the problem. Therefore, the information needed to understand the problem depends on one’s idea for solving it …In order to describe a wicked problem in sufficient detail, one has to develop an exhaustive inventory for all the conceivable solutions ahead of timeA number of designers participated in an experiment in which the exercise was to design an elevator control system for an office building. All of the participants in the study were experienced and expert integrated-circuit designers, but they had never worked on eleva-tor systems before. Indeed, their only experience with elevator systems came from riding in elevators. Each participant was asked to think out loud while they worked on the problem. The sessions were videotaped and analyzed in great detail. The analysis showed, not surprisingly, that these designers worked simultaneously on understanding the problem and formulating a solution. They exhibited two ways of trying to understand the problem: efforts to understand the requirements for the system (from a one page problem statement they were given at the beginning of the session); and mental simulations (e.g. “Let’s see, I’m on the second floor and the elevator is on the third floor and I push the ’Up’ button. That’s going to create this situation....”).
• #35: Why are we doing this project, what are we trying to achieve? No reason then the project shouldn’t exists
• #36: Humffrom Nick Jnr.Look it up in wikipedia!Book - “Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies” by James Collins and Jerry PorrasExplain BHAG – There needs to be a bold, big reason for doing the project that the SharePoint project team can believe in
• #37: PlatitudesHomer was rendered infertile from years of radiation exposure and fearing a lawsuit, they created a phony award
• #38: Homer was rendered infertile from years of radiation exposure and fearing a lawsuit, they created a phony award
• #41: The power of a vision, that isnt full of platitudes in SharePoint project Governance21shift modelReview of client’s home pageMapping of Vision (non platitude) to what was articulated on the home page – Home Page did not support the Vision at all!
• #42: Make sure the client, all their stakeholders, all the users and all your SharePoint project team have a shared understanding of the project goal/vision – make sure everyone is going in the same direction
• #44: Dave Snowden (Ex-IBM)Business Problems & SharePoint projects are what I would class as “Complex” ProblemsShow the canevan- Cynefin Matrix… Show where Business & SharePoint is versus a technology problem.***** STAND UP…. SIT DOWN WHEN YOU THINK WE ARE IN THE ZONE OF MOST SHAREPOINT PROJECTS ***** Simple Domain - “Everytime you do X you get Y”Complicated Domain - “If you apply method A, on the advice of experts B and C, you will get to Z”Exchange deploymentComplex Domain - “Based on department X feedback, let’s try this new configuration of sites, document libraries, folders and content types”Business projects & SharePointChaotic Domain- “Try method A and see whether it got you any closer to Z. Review whether your understanding of Z has changed as a result”
• #48: If we focus on what does the technology “allow us to do” then we end up with a technology based solution….
• #50: You need a way to redress the business-technology balance…
• #51: Use facilitation and visual tools to gain a shared understanding
• #53: Go through the model explaining briefly the purpose of each stageThen show that everything in Delivery must be traced back to support Vision & Outcomes
• #54: At the start of this session we said that most Technology projects fail to deliver their true valueIf you spend more time focussed on the “what and the why” then you will find your Business Project will DELIVERSharePoint can Rock!
• #55: Stand up again!Lets finish this session on a real high!
• #56: “My SharePoint project needs aBig Hairy Audacious Goal”
• #57: “I promise I will check my projects for the celery effect..”
• #58: Any questions?What do you think?Does this all make sense?
• #59: May 2011Discount will be live from Monday – Friday next week
• #60: Please feel free to feedback on this presentation at the URL above
• #61: Thank you for your time and attentionThank you to our generous sponsors