Chris DavisProject Manager| HighPoint SolutionsCollegeville, Pa, United States
Got into a heated discussion with another PM when building a program close out deck for a group of system integration projects...
At kickoff, a year ago, the global strategic goal of establishing a standard platform for certain business processes was identified as the program driver.
Subsequent scoping sessions identified a number of local systems to be integrated into the corporate standard that made up the individual projects within the program.
One or two systems were later to determined to be out of scope, to be addressed at a later time.
All other integrations were completed as scheduled.
During the course of the year, additional local systems were discovered but not added to scope as planning was complete.
Was this a program successful? Did we do what we set out to do? Saving Changes...
Stéphane ParentSelf Employed / Semi-retired| Leader MakerPrince Edward Island, Canada
Planning is never complete. Plans and other project artefacts are constantly updated as the scope becomes clearer. Changes are managed throughout the project, not just the planning stage.
You could say that a decision was made to not include the additional local systems. Was it decided to not do them at all or as a follow-up project? The answer to this question will tell you whether the program was successful. Saving Changes...
Drew CraigSr. Agile & Product Coach| VanguardPhiladelphia, Pa, United States
Interesting question. Seems successful as per the agreed scope. However, as Stéphane points out, a question worth raising is what happened when the additional systems were discovered? Was there a determination to not warrant a Change, left for a separate initiative? Saving Changes...
LORI WILSONRETIRED - Technical Project Manager| RETIRED - LifePoint HealthClarkston, Wa, United States
Hi Chris: This is a thought-provoking question, so I looked back at some of my PMP study aids and truly believe that scope changes can happen and a project can still be successful.....however, any change to the project scope will surely impact project cost or project schedule and you would want to have Decision Documents or Change Advisory Board documentation to back up those scope changes. This would also have changed your project plan and WBS and perhaps even amend your charter. As professional project managers we would have made these changes and gone back to the stakeholders and leadership to ensure budget changes were properly approved and documented. With all that done, you would also create Benefits Realization that would quantify that your project was successful. You would then most assuredly win the argument :) Saving Changes...
Sergio Luis ConteHelping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based OrganizationsBuenos Aires, Argentina
You have to review your program objectives. If you have not defined them or you have definied them in inappropiated way then you are lost. You have to negotiated. Saving Changes...
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