The Secret to Significantly Increasing Enterprise Project Success

Every project has a person who is at the center of the action, constantly pushing the team to excel.  They live and die by the successes and challenges that are encountered. 

At first glance it would seem that the Subject Matter Experts (SME) possess the passion to drive a project to successful completion.  But that might not be their core motivation; subject matter experts are driven by being known as the go-to expert on a particular topic - let’s say security.  They have achieved success as a vertical thinker.  Vertical expertise is critical to the success of the organization and to a project, but it has a narrow, although important, focus in relation to enterprise success.

If you look deeper into your project team you will see the Business Analyst (BA) has obtained the overall knowledge that can lead to project success.  The good ones can answer any question about the project, follow a well-defined process, translate business “asks” in to actionable tasks, and clearly understand the factors that will determine their team’s success. A BA helps facilitate and develop solutions for the subject matter expert – they are driven by the challenge of solving the tactical problems.  

The BA thinks horizontally and can assist in generating new ideas to solve problems.  They are required to assimilate multiple requirements from multiple SMEs and consider technical constraints in order to formulate a solution.

Let’s use an example of creating a weapon that can destroy a planet, reference the Death Star – I can’t help but use a Star Wars reference here. The BA will wrangle with irrational requirements, they will solve problems that seem unsolvable, the project will not succeed without them - the larger the project, the bigger the pressure.  

Now consider that the project the BA is working on is only a single project in a larger plan.  There are several projects of the same size and scale each with their unique challenges and all with different stakeholders.   

Who owns that? Or who can own it?

The evolution of the BA into a business strategist starts with the understanding of the detailed requirements coupled with the wider knowledge of how these requirements fit into the projects that dovetail into the programs.  A business strategist must prioritize the components of the roadmap to ensure that a specific mix of projects will achieve the organization’s vision.  The business strategist must be able to communicate to all levels within the organization as well as provide inspirational leadership to a variety of teams.

The success of large enterprise initiatives depends on the ability of skilled Business Strategists. We believe a BA can grow into a strategist whether the enterprise itself fosters that larger role or the BA as an individual challenges himself or herself to “be a business strategist within their project”.  

Join the DefinedLogic team at the 2013 Project World & World Congress for Business Analysts to learn the skills a Business Strategist must have to drive your Enterprise Vision.  You may also learn what would have happened if the “Empire” used a Business Strategist.

It’s not too late to register! Click here to attend: http://bit.ly/15EfWyf

This post was written by Alex Shanley, Partner, Business Strategist, Defined Logic LLC.

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What's The Project Plan For Your Career?

Yesterday I had the pleasure of moderating yet another of our PW&WCBA webinar series. This session focused on career development - both for the manager that wants to bring out the best in their team, as well as the "rock star" on the team that wishes to drive their career forward. It got me thinking about project management and business analysis career paths, (which is always one of the hottest topics at PW&WCBA.)

Browsing PMI’s 2012 Pulse of the Profession I was interested to read the following:

"2011 PMI Project Management Salary Survey found that nearly 70% of organizations now have a career path for those engaged in project or program management. However, the majority of these are still informal and not clearly defined and in writing."

Anecdotal evidence from speaking with various PW&WCBA attendees agrees. One particular example from yesterday's webinar stood out to me as well: While the "rock star" on a team may need to be encouraged and developed to keep them within the team and the company - not everyone is suited to moving to a people management role, and in fact it may not even be something they're interested in. Whether that "rock star" is you, or you are the one in the management position, it is important to establish communication and evaluate what those career goals are.

If this is something you struggle with, several of our sessions at this year's PW&WCBA focus directly on next career moves, employee development and team leadership including:
What is a Business Architect and How Might YOU Get There? with Cecilie Hoffman, Business Architect, Railinc Corporation
Developing Project Managers into Project Leaders with Mark Schlosser, Director, Enterprise Project Change Management & Analytics, U.S. Cellular Corporation & Jackie Staley, Director, Enterprise Project Management, U.S. Cellular Corporation
How to Create and Sustain a Culture of Innovation in Your Organization with Srini Penchikala, Security Architecture Program Manager, Texas Guaranteed and
New Frontiers in PM: Creating High Performing Teams with Silvanus David, Program Manager, South African State Information Technology Agency

Plus, simply attending the conference can help you gain the skills and knowledge needed to take that next step - be it a people management role or more technical.  Download the brochure to learn more about these and all of our other sessions.

In your experience, is it difficult to define a project management or business analyst career path? Once you've reached a certain point, do you find yourself asking "what's next?" Share your experience with us in the comments.

Michelle LeBlanc is a Social Media Strategist at IIR USA and the voice behind the @Project_World twitter. She may be reached at mleblanc@iirusa.com

Filling the "Air Sandwich"

I recently had the pleasure of moderating another one of our Project World and The World Congress for Business Analysts year-round webinar series. Our featured speaker was Mark Morgan, founder of StratEx Advisors. Mark has a 30 year history of work with individuals, teams and organizations helping them clarify what they want and focus on getting it. His belief is that solutions to organizational challenges are best constructed to match the unique DNA of the organization. His career has covered engineering, line management, leadership development, business start-up, project management, program management, portfolio management, strategic planning, workshop facilitation and public speaking. Mark has worked with individuals and companies in the high-tech, bio-tech, construction, consumer goods, high volume manufacturing, software, healthcare and internet industries.

Mark raised one point during the webinar that I found particularly applicable to a lot of situations.
How can we fill the void or avoid the disconnect between strategy and individual projects? Or as Mark put it, how can we put content in the "air sandwich"? He identified several key characteristics that can help an organization with this goal: Traceability, Sufficiency, and Capacity.


Is this a challenge you have faced in your company? How did you address the issue? Share with us in the comments.

To enjoy year-round learning benefits such as the webinar series throughout 2012, register for the event today. Readers of our blog receive an exclusive 15% discount off the standard registration rate with code PW11BLOG.

Michelle LeBlanc is a Social Media Strategist at IIR USA with a specialization in marketing. She may be reached at mleblanc@iirusa.com.

Training Tip Tuesdays: Aligning Information Technology with Business Strategy & Goals

Join us for on Wednesday, November 18th at 9am for a special keynote presentation by James A. DiMarizo, CIO, Mazda North American Operations. In this presentation, DiMarizo will speak on how aligning IT with corporate goals and strategies may be the key to survival. IT teams who are good "service providers" cam be replaced with lower cost alternatives. But teams with align with the business in order to achieve the strategies and goals are valuable "partners." Alignment includes all aspects of IT from project prioritization to organizational structure. This session will cover:

• What is the culture needed to align with business
• How can the IT organization structure inhibit or help the alignment with business
• When to discuss business plans instead of projects