Ingredients to Creating a High Performance TeamHigh Performance Team

to Manage Enterprise Level Projects

ASAEJan Collins - CIO, National Education Association

Raj Leyl MBA PMP COO RelianceNetRaj Leyl, MBA, PMP – COO, RelianceNet

A d /O iAgenda/Overview

Background

Plan of Action (Strategic and Tactical)

Communication Applied to Projects

Wrap-Up Discussion

B k d P lBackground - PersonalJoined NEA as CIO – Mar 2006Joined NEA as CIO Mar 2006Assigned Goals and ObjectivesAssessed current environmentAssessed current environmentID OpportunitiesActing on OpportunitiesActing on Opportunities

Establish HIGH PERFORMANCE Establish HIGH PERFORMANCE PROJECT TEAMS to help deliver key enterprise projectsenterprise projects

B k d NEABackground - NEAWhat does NEA do?What does NEA do?Organizational StructureBusiness Goals coming inBusiness Goals coming inTechnology Plan alignment

Wh i NEA?What is NEA?NEA believes every child in America, regardless of family income or place of residence deserves a quality education In pursuing its mission NEA has determined residence, deserves a quality education. In pursuing its mission, NEA has determined that it will focus the energy and resources of our 3.2 million members at the national, state, and local levels on improving the quality of teaching, increasing student achievement and making schools safer, better places to learn, and making great public schools a basic right for every student a reality.public schools a basic right for every student a reality.

NEA lobbies Congress and federal agencies on behalf of its members and public schools, supports and coordinates innovative projects, works with other education organizations and friends of public education, provides training and assistance to its affiliates, and generally conducts activities consistent with the policies set by its affiliates, and generally conducts activities consistent with the policies set by its elected governing bodies.

Our members consist of :

K- 12 Educators

Educational Support Professionals

Higher Education

Students

Retirees

NEA O i i l SNEA Organizational StructureGovernance (Elected officials)Governance (Elected officials)Management (At will employees)Union Staff (NEA is a union within a union)Union Staff (NEA is a union within a union)

B i T h l T f tiBusiness Technology TransformationNEA is undergoing a business technology g g gytransformation to create business efficiencies, savings, provide a greater value, and generate non dues revenue opportunities to support the non dues revenue opportunities to support the mission, vision, and goals of the Association to make a great public school a basic right for every

d lstudent a reality.

Core Competencies: Core Competencies: Effective knowledge leadership Increase membershipIncrease membership

Ali B i & T h l PlAlign Business & Technology PlansEffective Communications Strategy/Non Dues Revenue generation

Upgrade of NEA.org (Corporate website - younger/tech-savvy constituencies)Upgrade of NEA.org (Corporate website younger/tech savvy constituencies)Creation of InsideNEA (New Intranet /Greater Collaboration and process improvements)NEA Academy.org (Online Professional Development)Upgrade of NEA Today (Media Convergence)“New” NEA Book Store and Café (Brick and Mortar solution)

Improve Membership management processes and systemsWeb enablement (new interface)Web services (real-time updates and data manipulation)Business intelligence and reporting (better decision making)

Streamline and fine-tune IT systems and infrastructure to reduce maintenance costs and security

Basic Assessment of technologyImproved Customer Service ToolsIT Convergence

Pl f A iPlan of Action

Assessment

PlanningPlanning

Execution

Plan of ActionA d IAssess and Improve

Source: Project Management Institute, Inc 2007

A PhAssessment PhaseStrategic Alignment of Business and Technology Plansg g gyTechnology Infrastructure – assess as-is healthBusiness support processes to support project deliveryHuman Capital – skills and availabilityCulture – observed dynamics

/ f dGovernance/Organization – formed new teamsData – took inventory

OUTPUT Opportunities Identified

O i i Id ifi dOpportunities IdentifiedOptimize technology infrastructure p gyBridge process gaps for delivering projectsIncrease opportunities for professional developmentIntroduce tools to help foster a culture of collaboration and team workGet control over data to help eliminate redundancy Get control over data to help eliminate redundancy and inefficiencies

Pl i PhPlanning PhaseUpdated Technology PlanFinalized portfolio of projects; IT goals – picking the right projectsDetermined resource needs to deliver to schedule, ,scope, and budget constraintsPartnered with trusted vendors to bridge gapsDetermined processes to optimizeDetermined processes to optimize

PMCommunicationsGovernance

OUTPUT Business Case and Plans Finalized

Example of some Outputs from Pl i PhPlanning PhaseID Task Name

Jan Apr Jul Oct Jan Apr Jul Oct Jan Apr Jul Oct Jan Apr1st Qua2nd Qu3rd Qua4th Qua1st Qua2nd Qu3rd Qua4th Qua1st Qua2nd Qu3rd Qua4th Qua1st Qua2nd Qu

0 NEA LMS Implementation

1 NEA LMS Project Schedule (Soft Launch)

2 Task Order Received

3 Project Management Plan

9/6 6/15NEA LMS Implementation

9/6 6/15NEA LMS Project Schedule (Soft Launch)

2/16

3/5 5/4Project Management Plan

9 Conduct Discovery Phase

12 Iterative Technical Services (AD/LDAP ba

39 GeoLearning Implementation Methodolo

73 U A t T ti

4/16 5/1Conduct Discovery Phase

4/9 5/23Iterative Technical Services (AD/LDAP batch process, data migration)

2/26 5/22GeoLearning Implementation Methodology

73 User Acceptance Testing

94 Level 2 Help Desk Support

96 GO-LIVE

97 Project Acceptance

5/9 6/4User Acceptance Testing

4/30 5/25Level 2 Help Desk Support

6/4

9/6 6/15Project Acceptance

108 NEA Marketing Campaign for Phase 1

109 NEA LMS Project Schedule (Phase 2) (PLAC

2/16 6/1NEA Marketing Campaign for Phase 1

NEA

6/4

E i Ph IExecution Phase – ImprovementStrategic

Contracted with trusted vendor partners to work with collaboratively with internal NEA team and bridge gapsGot buy-in on plan from executive managementBegan implementing a PMOg p gImplemented JIT PM trainingImplemented Proven Communications PlanEstablished strategic focus groups/committees

Kicked off and delivered following Enterprise ProjectsInfrastructure Technical AssessmentInsideNEA .org – Sharepoint intranet portalg p pNEA Academy.org – E-learning system to facilitate PDContent Management System Requirements PhasePerformed Data Inventory analysisNEA org NEA.org

OUTPUT Successful Delivery of Enterprise Projects, Gaps Bridged

Mapping of Enterprise Initiatives to B i G lBusiness GoalsGoal Initiative

d d h lImprove Communications and Collaboration

InsideNEA – Sharepoint Intranet PortalBegan Analysis phase of Document Records Management initiativeMedia Convergence (NEA.org and NEA Today)

Improve Professional development and member benefits

Launched NEA Academy LMS (e-learning)Introduced enterprise online content development tool

Optimize project delivery Hired PMO ManagerOptimize project delivery supporting processes

Hired PMO ManagerInitiated the implementation of anEnterprise Program Management Office

Optimize Technology Performed Independent Technology Infrastructure / Reduce Costs Assessment (partners)

Identified opportunitiesPerformed remediation using internal staffImplemented enterprise Help Desk system (HEAT)p p p y ( )

Improve membership management processes/systems and better decision making

Performed data inventory studyBegan web-enabling key data entry processesBusiness Intelligence

HOW DID WE GET IT DONE?HOW DID WE GET IT DONE?

Team Performance Enablers –A d O i iActed on Opportunities

Provide adequate tools to get the job doneProvide adequate tools to get the job doneDevelop an effective Communications PlanEstablish formal project organization frameworkp j gInvest in Professional DevelopmentEnhance Governance and oversightOptimize supporting processesSet expectations - clear goals, acceptance criteriaB ild tBuild consensus across teams

NET RESULT => Help Build High Performance TeamsNET RESULT => Help Build High Performance Teams

Successful integration of internal staff and external partner resources, complemented e te a pa t e esou ces, co p e e ted

with effective communication planning=

Successful Delivery of Enterprise Projects

Provide adequate tools to get th j b dthe job done

Supporting project delivery processes

Project Management Office

Best Practice templates

Just in time trainingJust-in-time training

Delivery tools

Planning for Success –D li f E i P jDelivery of Enterprise Projects

Have an effective Communications PlanHave an effective Communications Plan

Have an effective Project Planning ProcessHave an effective Project Planning Process

Introduce Adequate GovernanceIntroduce Adequate Governance

Simplification ToolsI C B DIt Can Be Done…

Standardize

•Consistent Way of CommunicatingConsistent Way of Communicating

•Use Methods to Meet People Preferences

•Have Consistent Time for Communicating

Communication and Project Planning Tools I C B DIt Can Be Done…

Communication Communication

RhythmRhythm

Communication ToolsC i i Rh h S hCommunication Rhythm Snapshot

Applied to Enterprise ProjectsC i i M PlCommunication Management Plan

What information needs to be collected and when?Who will receive the information?Wh ill d di t ib t th i f ti ?Who will prepare and distribute the information?What methods will be used to gather and store the information?information?Project Roster for team and stakeholdersSchedule for distribution of each type of communicationCommunication Channels complexity (N*(N-1)/2)

Applied to Enterprise Projects C i i M PlCommunication Management Plan

Issue Management ProcessIssue Management ProcessChange Management ProcessContinuous Improvement ProcessContinuous Improvement ProcessStatus Reporting process

Frequency Format AudienceFrequency, Format, AudienceDistribution matrixResponsibility matrixp y

Information ManagementWhere, Who, How ?

If the Project Doesn't Make Sense on Paper, the Project will not be Completed as

E t dExpected.

Applied to Enterprise ProjectsP j Pl i PProject Planning Process

Define Scope – Project Objective Statement –Wh t h h h?What, when, how much?Cost/benefit AnalysisID Deliverables, acceptance criteria, target dates, p , gDefine/clarify deliverables where neededList assumptions and constraintsID external dependenciesID external dependenciesDetermine project organizationDefine/Clarify roles and responsibilitiesID A d Miti ti f i kID, Assess, and Mitigation of risksFlexibility matrix – prioritize constraintsReview Communications Plan with team

RESULT = GET EVERONE ON THE SAME PAGE

Applied to Enterprise ProjectsSample Project OrganizationSample Project Organization

ProjectO SteeringProject SponsorPMO Steering

Committee

ProgramManager

Project Manager

Sub Project

Project Manager

Sub Project

Project Manager

Sub Project

Project Manager

Sub Project

Project Manager

Sub Project

Project Manager

Sub ProjectSub Project 1

Sub Project 2

Sub Project 3

Sub oject4

Sub Project5

Sub Project6

Analyst Analyst Analyst Analyst Analyst AnalystAnalyst, Developers,

Architects, etc

Analyst, Developers,

Architects, etc

Analyst, Developers,

Architects, etc

Analyst, Developers,

Architects, etc

Analyst, Developers,

Architects, etc

Analyst, Developers,

Architects, etc

Applied to Enterprise ProjectsF i Hi h P fFostering High Performance

Role of Executives?

Successful Projects Teams –R l f E iRole of Executives

Help organize work into projectsPi k h RIGHT j d f h Pick the RIGHT projects and perform them at the RIGHT timeDevelop and maintain close stakeholder and customer relationshipscustomer relationshipsAdhere to a suitable project management processEnsure projects follow a documented baselined planEnsure projects are based on documented requirements Ensure projects are based on documented requirements Ensure project resources (time, $) are commensurate with needsEngage middle management helpSelect and develop project managersEstablish and defined roles and performance standardsAsk the right questions

P l I i h C l iPersonal Insights – ConclusionExecutive Project LeadershipExecutive Project Leadership

Optimize project portfolio – choose the RIGHT projectsProvide mentoring and coachingCh h i h ( d )Choose the right partners (vendors)Stop talking, Start doingDo not be tempted to take path of least resistance – be a change agent!Furnish team with needed tools and trainingImplement effective communication plansImplement effective communication plansGet executive alignment and buy-inDo not under-estimate executive involvementB b d B d f h b k ibl Bob and weave - Be prepared for push back or possible sabotage

T k H T lTake Home ToolsTools available:

Project Management Plan TemplateSample Communications PlanChecklists for SuccessChecklists for SuccessSample Roles/ResponsibilitiesSoft copy of this slide deck

Downloadable at: http://www reliancenet com/ASAEDownloadable at: http://www.reliancenet.com/ASAE

Thank You!

Jan Collins – jcollins@nea.orgRaj Leyl – rleyl@reliancenet.com