Daniela BianchiIT Services Analyst| MAN Latin AmericaSão Bernardo Do Campo, São Paulo, Brazil
It is always a challenge for the PM the closure of a project. I have one point specifically which are gaps that appears during the transition to operation, in most cases this transition is not foreseen in the project initiation. How do you mitigate this situation in your processes? Saving Changes...
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Jennifer JamesProgram Manager| PearsonMount Vernon, Ia, United States
I manage gaps in the transition to operation by:
- Documenting the gaps that are identified
- Ensuring that an owner is assigned to each item
- If it's something that could have been either identified or addressed earlier in the project, documenting it as a lesson learned that can be referenced for similar projects in the future Saving Changes...
Hi Daniela - after living through this a number of times to the point that our PMO was becoming the maintenance, support and help desk - we drastically changed our initiation and planning processes. Here's what we did:
- The operational resources are defined at initiation and are added to the project team (or a representative of that group). We typically implement technology and it is difficult to transition to folks who haven't been along for the ride. I have actually held project kick-offs if the sponsors could not provide the operational resources - once they even had to create a job description and hire people before we'd start the project.
- During planning, we set up knowledge transfer checkpoints at logical points in the schedule and if the operations group is large, we bring them in ad hoc for face to face updates, training, Q & A throughtout the project - not just to drink from the firehose at the end. This gets you great feedback too.
- Put your communications plan on steriods - newsletters, signs, etc. The more info you can get to the operational resources the better. Yes, we've been known to put flyers on the bathroom stall doors! :)
- Formalize closure - some folks find it hard for things to end and miss interacting with people they've worked with closely. I joke the PMBOK needs a process under the Closing Process Group - Close Stakeholder Management. Something like, you are now on my Christmas card list, but please don't contact me about this project ever again! I am willing to write that section. :)
Instead, we usually throw some sort of party - even if you are all at work having coffee and cake. The celebration seems to help folks grasp a role is ending and (for the operations folks) a new role or responsiblilities are beginning.
Hope this helps, it's no fun to be left with no one to transition to at the end of a project. Saving Changes...
