It’s been proven time and time again that in order to successfully deliver a project there must be a clear and defined engagement process which is followed throughout the lifecycle of the project. The engagement process must be communicated to all stakeholders involved in the project, with roles and responsibilities clearly defined thus to enable complete ownership of deliverables.
There is a multitude of ways to approach delivering a project from inception through to final completion, however following the below 8 rules will ensure success each and every time:
- Maintaining Consistency – having the Diaxion PMO responsible for overseeing the project from kick-off through to project closure, there is a consistent methodology applied to all engagements.
- Having a Process-Driven Approach – by having a process in place that can be referred to for all phases of the engagement ensures uniformity.
- Being Clear As to Ownership – by ownership of various tasks being assigned to each of the resources involved in a project, there is accountability at all levels. Diaxion’s people are given the opportunity to “love the deliverable”.
- Utilising Performance Tools – having standard metrics whereby performance can be measured means that the success of a project is quantified and action can be taken to better the delivery next time around. These performance tools include all status report templates, risks and issues registers and lessons learnt logs.
- Integration of Quality Controls – these are required to ensure that project goals can be met successfully using best practice. Quality controls need to exist at every level of a project, from the initial construction of scope right through to project reporting.
- Using a Knowledge Management System – having a central repository for tools and templates required to carry out a project ensures that information can easily be found and leveraged for future engagements. This includes all documents in both the sales and delivery kits, as well as those in the project management tool kit – all which can be found on Diaxion’s SharePoint.
- Committing Everyone to Obtaining New Business – gone are the days of the “hard-sell”, where the onus falls solely on a salesperson to generate new business and work on maintaining existing client relationships to encourage repeat business. By continually educating staff at all levels of the various service offerings, Diaxion is committed to giving all their people the tools required to qualify and report back on potential opportunities.
- Implementation of Effective and Efficient Project Management – a myriad of Project Management methodologies have been developed over the years to enhance the delivery of projects, however the most important aspect of choosing which one to use in your organisation is to ensure that it is fit for purpose. Regardless of whether you choose one methodology and strictly adhere to it, or use a hybrid approach, there are four key success elements that need to be considered:
- A dedicated project manager and project team should be in place
- The project manager should select the project team
- All projects should have a clear beginning and ending with performance milestones along the way
- People who will be delivering the project should be involved in the process right from the initial scoping phase
Diaxion follows a Project Engagement Process methodology, and adherence to this project engagement process assists in ensuring that Diaxion’s project objectives are met each and every time. These objectives are: to deliver a project within budget; within the scheduled timeframes; to deliver a valuable solution and professional service to the client and; client satisfaction and reengagement. Diaxion is constantly reviewing the Project Engagement Process to ensure continuous improvement is achieved.