Smart Automation is defined as using technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), bots and robotic process automation (RPA) to automate complex business processes. The end goal? Improved productivity, accuracy and consistency with minimal human interaction and therefore lower costs.
The traditional role of a Project Management Office (PMO) is to define the standards for project management within an organisation. Sounds simple enough, right? Define the rules and then ensure everyone sticks to it… But when “the rules” in this context actually means finding the best, most effective and innovate ways to ensure strategic business alignment and delivery success, it’s easy to understand why PMOs constantly need to reinvent themselves. As project management continues to make significant shifts toward faster, smarter delivery, the key to survival for any PMO is finding the best way to facilitate agile practices by blending the right mix of technology, people and process. Leveraging technology to automate PMO tasksArtificial Intelligence (AI) and Robotic Process Automation (RPA) technologies are being used across many different industries to automate mundane and labour-intensive tasks. For the modern PMO, it offers the opportunity to automate all of the day-to-day tasks related to data collection, tracking and reporting. This is great, not only from a time-saving perspective but because it also means the PMO team can shift their focus to activities where they can add more value. Building a data analytics strategy A PMO’s power lies in its understanding of when and how projects succeed and fail, not only from a pure delivery perspective but also looking at post-implementation success factors like market share, customer satisfaction, employee adoption, increased profits and sales. Having access to this information allows the PMO to properly guide teams in a way that ensures a much higher rate of success. Understanding governance within an agile contextWith the shift to agile delivery methods, governance, visibility and control are all things that typically fall by the wayside due to the misconception that it only succeeds in slowing delivery down. The PMO’s mission should be finding the right governance fit for the industry type, organisational style and delivery scale by continually evaluating and assessing with the goal to make continuous adjustments and refinements. Placing a greater emphasis on coaching and upskilling With the shift to agile, PMOs typically expand to include people from across the business who come with a wealth of business expertise and experience but aren’t necessarily technically skilled from a delivery perspective. The PMO needs to step into a coaching role to support these new team members in effective ways of working while also building a better understanding of project dynamics, challenges and key considerations. Conducting a PMO audit It’s easy to fall into the trap of merely offering the PMO services that you think all PMOs should offer, but do these really make any material difference to the business? The purpose of a PMO audit would be to take a critical look at each and every service that is offered, marrying this up to what your business stakeholders need, and then stopping and starting services accordingly. In this way, you’re ensuring that you are focusing your collective energies in all the right places, thereby cementing your place within the broader organisation. Struggling with any PMO-related issues within your organisation? Give Analyze a call on 021 447 5696 or email us on info@analyze.co.za to find out how we can help.
Traditionally, business analysts focused on getting a deep understanding of business processes, policies and procedures in order to guide how these would have to be adjusted to support project-related change. But with digital transformation now taking centre stage, companies today are also leaning on business analysts to assist with technology selection, defining technology best practices, finding new digital business opportunities and more. With this in mind, the world of the business analyst in 2020 (and beyond) will start to look very different. At Analyze, we predict the following key shifts: Business Analysts will become more digital-focusedAs the digital landscape continues to evolve, business analysts will need to stay up to date with changing and emerging technologies, industry trends, new sources of data and ways in which organisations can leverage digital technologies to achieve their organisational goals. It’s all about applying a digital lens to typically non-digital operations and reimagining all ways of working. Data Analytics will become a core competency We’ve all heard of the Internet of Things (IoT) and all of the associated data that comes along with it. As more and more devices “go online”, data volumes will continue to increase. For the business analyst, being able to analyse and interpret this data in order to help inform strategic business, marketing and technology investment decisions will be key. Expect greater agility The role of the business analyst within an agile context has already brought about some fundamental changes over the past few years. Business analysts have needed to find ways to be more flexible in their analysis practices without sacrificing on quality and completeness, and we expect an even greater push toward working faster and smarter as we enter a new decade of rapid and continuous digital growth. Blurred lines and broad expertise Business analysts will become the collaborator, bringing different professionals and disciplines together to help get the job done. It will require a broader understanding beyond the conventional constructs of business analysis and will also require business analysts to be flexible in their roles by getting more hands-on with activities like design and testing. As an example: Business analysts do not need to be User Experience (UX) experts per se, but they do need to have a basic understanding of user interface design principles and who/what will be needed to ensure that you get it right. Becoming digital agents of change A business analyst’s involvement will not end once technologies have been selected and requirements have been defined. They need to be agents of change who will promote and facilitate the restructuring of business processes in order to align with these technological changes. Just as they’ve always done, business analysts will need to keep the bigger picture at heart, considering the people and the processes, but within a renewed digital focus. To discuss Business Analysis consulting options for your organisation, give us a call on 021 447 5696 or email us on info@analyze.co.za. Our team of highly skilled business analysts have experience across a wide variety of technologies, delivery approaches and industries, making it easy to find the right type of BA for the job.
Digital Transformation, in simple terms, is defined as the use of digital technologies to revamp your business processes (or create new ones) in order to improve the way you operate and to provide more value to your customers. But in reality, it is a whole lot more than that. It is also a mindset change, one that requires you to be open to continuous exploration and experimentation in order to find new and innovative ways to solve business problems.
Technology advancement continues to drive change throughout all facets of our personal and business lives. No wonder then that it has also had a notable impact on the way we run projects. Today, modern project managers have realised that their success largely relies on the strength of the technological tools they choose to exploit to their (and their team’s) benefit. Letting technology take care of the mundane Consider those everyday project management tasks like reviewing and updating schedules, prepping presentations, sending out status reports and following up on statuses of issues and other work items. These types of activities typically need to be executed regularly, in many cases daily, and can therefore become very time consuming. Without the luxury of a project administrator to assist with these tasks, which for most organisations is a resource overhead they simply can’t afford, project managers are leaning on project management software and AI tools to streamline and automate repetitive tasks. The best of breed project management tools today are able to instantly give you a view of what work is in progress, identify what items are lagging behind and predict where you are likely to run into issues in order to help you proactively manage the situation rather than reactively. This frees up the project manager to focus on those big-ticket items that add the most value, like recruiting skilled resources, people management, managing vendor relationships, drafting remediation plans for high impact risks, and focusing on integration management as a key driver for project success. Empowering your project team through improved accessibility and collaboration Thanks to project management software and cloud technologies, teams are now able to access and upload important project files, submit completed pieces of work for review and provide updates on what they’re working on in real-time without having to attend lengthy progress update meetings or book time with the project manager directly. This provides a greater level of accountability and productivity while still giving the project manager the information they need to properly manage the project. As far as communication goes, today even email is outdated to a certain degree. Teams are making use of various online chat, dial-in and screen sharing facilities to collaborate without even having to be in the same place at the same time. Questions can be posed and answered instantly and team members can draw on the expertise and input of other team members who may even be based in a different city or country. All of this makes the project manager’s job much easier while fostering a highly collaborative environment where people manage their own time more effectively. Critical project management skills – a new view Traditional managerial and people skills are no longer giving project managers the edge. Technological experience and expertise now play a big role in any hiring process and project managers therefore need to demonstrate that they have the right software and application knowledge to get the job done in the most effective and efficient way. The PMI has been promoting a concept of a person’s Technology Quotient which refers to their ability to adapt, manage and integrate technology based on the needs of the organisation and the project at hand. Data Analytics has also emerged as a key project management skill. This involves the ability to analyse data from previous projects to identify trends, patterns, and an understanding of common risks and issues that can be applied to future projects to ensure a higher level of success. As you can see, project management today is starting to look very different to project management 5 to 10 years ago. To gain access to our team of technologically proficient project management professionals, give us a call on 021 447 5696 or email us on info@analyze.co.za today. We pride ourselves in being able to find the right resource to suit your specific project management consulting needs.
Strength-based leadership is defined as the ability to identify and make best use of not only your own strengths, but also the strengths of your team. This is done by moving away from traditional employee development methods, which typically zone in on areas which people need to improve on, and rather highlighting where they excel and understanding how that contributes to the greater good of the organisation.
A Request for Proposal (RFP) process can be intimidating for any project. This is because there’s a lot riding on selecting the correct partner, one who is not only like-minded and aligned to your ways of working, but who can execute on your requirements in a way that is matches your company’s strategic outlook. After you’ve gone through the effort of putting together a detailed RFP information pack that fully describes the project mission, goals and objectives, the focus needs to shift how you will evaluate each respondent in order to determine the winning bid.
All project can be complex to manage, but there’s something to be said about the extra complexity that large-scale projects introduce. There are varying opinions on what exactly a large-scale project is, but to us it refers to a project that requires a much larger team (think 50 people plus), at least a year or more to complete and a much larger investment than your average project might.
In an article published on Fin24.com earlier this year, it was reported that, according to a study done by global cybersecurity company Kaspersky Lab, malware attacks in South Africa had increased by 22% in the first quarter of 2019 alone.
How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time of course… The same goes for developing a software product. Trying to tackle all of the features and functionality at once is going to feel like you’ve taken on an impossible task, and risk of failure will be high. By breaking that product down into its standalone components, you can start building the product up, one feature at a time.