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Welcome to
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Strategic Project Management
Delivered by
Terry Dean Schmidt and other CSM consultants
The Systems Thinking Approach to Planning &
Implementing Successful Projects, Initiatives and Strategies
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This Booklet Includes: |
Workshop Description:
Synopsis
Strategic Project Management provides interactive thinking tools and a step-by-step process that takes a systems thinking approach to designing projects and execution plans for strategies. This proven process begins with examining the big picture goals and environmental factors. By contrast, most project management approaches focus on activities, budgets, and schedule.
This workshop will give you new ways to approach complex strategies, projects, issues and opportunities. You’ll learn a simple yet sophisticated tool called The Logical Framework which systematically links your project to key goals. This unique tool helps team set precise objectives, define success measures, and manage projects as ongoing learning systems and experiments. This tool is based on the same elements of CSM’s Systems Thinking Approach, and is ideal for fleshing out strategies identified during Strategic Planning.
This approach adds special value at the “fuzzy front end “ and expands beyond the narrow technical focus of conventional approaches to encompass human and external issues.
Strategic Project Management offers a proven process and breakthrough tool for designing difficult, slippery, or risky projects or strategies which involve multiple players. This brings benefits when improving internal procedures, developing new systems, conducting technical analyses, leveraging quality improvement, implementing change initiatives, and tackling situations where incremental learning is necessary to discover the best approach.
Learn how to RAP (Rapid Action Plan), design a difficult project with a team in under two hours, and apply the Logical Framework project planning tool to develop a first-cut plan on a topic of your choice. Ideal for rapidly turning cross-functional task forces and other diverse groups into committed and effective teams. The bottom line: your projects will reach their goals faster, smoother, and with fewer problems.
Workshop Purposes:
Strategic Project Management
Two-Day Hand-on Interactive Workshop
Workshop Objectives
- Understand how Strategic Project Management overcomes the common “planning flaws” that keep most strategies from succeeding.
- Apply the key concepts of chunking, if-then logic, hypothesis formulation assumption testing, action- learning and the strategic success cycle.
- Acquire project-oriented systems thinking tools for turning general strategies into executable plans.
- Learn how to use the Logical Framework tool to design projects which link to and support the higher strategy and key goals.
- Identify how to analyze and involve your key stakeholders throughout the project cycle.
- Learn to make a smooth transition from general goals and strategies to concrete and effective project plans.
- Experience the Rapid Action Planning (RAP) process which quickly builds action plans while simultaneously building an effective and committed implementation team.
- Develop an immediately useful action plan for a program, strategy, project, initiative, change effort, or mess of your choice.
- Identify how to tailor and apply strategic project management concepts and tools to improve communications and impact.
Benefits
- Bridge the execution gap -- close the divide between plans and results.
- Ensure common understanding and consensus of approach.
- Relate projects to the “big picture” - goals, strategies, missions.
- Overcome the myopia of traditional project management.
- Eliminate preventable problems and reduce risk.
- Consider all the key factors needed for success.
- Simultaneously build project plans and accountable project teams.
- Create strong foundation for successful implementation
Workshop Agenda:
- Day 1 -
| 8:30 | OPENING & OVERVIEW • Welcome & Introductions • Workshop Objectives & Expectations • Your Critical Issues |
| 10:00 | BREAK |
| 10:15 | SYSTEMS THINKING AT A PROJECT LEVEL • How the ABCDE Model Applies to Projects • Strategic Management of the Project Cycle • Why Traditional Project Management Usually Fails • Keys to Bridging the Execution Gap |
| 11:00 | SNEAK PREVIEW OF THE LOGICAL FRAMEWORK • Overview of Key Concepts • Common Vocabulary for Results • Converting Strategic Goals into a Cluster of Projects • Formulating Your Strategic Hypotheses |
| 12:00 | LUNCH |
| 1:00 | PLAN FOR THE PLAN • Analyze Stakeholder Interests & Plan Appropriate Participation • Build the Core Team |
| 1:30 | BREAKTHROUGH PROJECT DESIGN : THE LOG FRAME APPROACH • Vertical Thinking -- Sharpening Objectives and Hypotheses • Horizontal Thinking -- Measures & Verifications • Identifying and Reducing Risk -- Testing Assumptions |
| 3:15 | BREAK |
| 3:30 | HANDS ON PROJECT DESIGN: NOAH’S ARK CASE STUDY • Form Teams • Develop Log Frame • Review & Critique |
| 4:45 | END OF DAY REVIEW • How did the day go? |
- Day 2 -
| 8:30 | CONCEPTS REVIEW • Project Management “Bingo” |
| 9:00 | RAPID ACTION PLANNING • The Six Most Critical Questions to Ask & Answer • Sharpen Your Planning Process Steps • Scan Environment for Assumptions |
| 9:30 | LOG FRAME PROCESS & APPLICATIONS • Application Examples • Linkages to Ten-Step Strategic Model |
| 10:00 | BREAK |
| 10:15 | ENSURING SOUND PROJECTS • Advanced Measurement Issues • Turning Strategic Goals Into a Cluster of Projects • When and How to Use WBS, Software & Conventional Tools |
| 10:45 | APPLY CONCEPTS : BEGIN YOUR OWN PROJECT DESIGNS |
| 12:00 | LUNCH |
| 1:00 | CONTINUE YOUR PROJECT DESIGN |
| 2:30 | BREAK |
| 2:45 | MAKING TEAMS WORK • Shaping Effective Norms & Dynamics • Responsibility Charting to Ensure Accountability • Fresh Tools for Monitoring & Updating • Improving Project Review & Evaluations |
| 3:45 | ACTION PLANNING • Identify Your Next Steps • Rolling Out the Plan to Others • Options for Applying Concepts on the Job |
| 4:45 | END OF DAY REVIEW |
Workshop Participant Notebook
Strategic Project Management
Table of Contents
Appendix: Generic Project Strategies for
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What People Say About The Program
“Hits the nail on the head with fresh approaches to achieve essential goals.”
Philippe Goetschel, Director
Microsoft Corporation
“Gives you all the tools you need to jump start your projects at the speed of light.”
April Sanders, Senior Systems Engineer
Raytheon Corporation.
“Will elegantly guide your thinking about any reasonably complex goal you’re trying to guide achieve.”
David Allen, Author
Getting Things Done: the Art of Stress-Free Productivity
“Lots of management tools sound good in theory but are hard to apply. This approach helped our teams to start faster, think smarter, and get more done.”
Lynn Ballard, IT Security Manager
Beckman Coulter
“Gave our planners, managers, and analysts the tools and insight to successfully redirect a major process reengineering effort taking place in a rapidly changing IT landscape.”
Michael J. Greenhalgh, Supervisor
Sacramento Municipal Utility District