Regular readers of my blogs will know that we are in the midst of a transformation here at NHS Resolution. This means, of course, that we are hitting the usual lumps and bumps in the road as things pan out differently to expected/planned.
In one of my previous blogs, I covered some tips around starting projects. So I thought maybe I'd cover off some thoughts around being in the "middle":
- Vision creep: I do try not to get too involved in the details of the projects, not least because I have an incredible team who are more than capable of running things without me. However, occasionally this means that sometimes things deviate from the original "mission", this may be because your team have done a better job of interpreting what was needed but sometimes it is because you didn't do a good enough job laying out the key elements of the vision in the first place.
- Brilliant basics: It's easy to get excited about the new shiny things that projects are working on and forget about the basics of project management e.g. good, metric based status reports, RAID logs etc. If your team or supplier can't produce these easily then that's a good indication that something is awry.
- Overload: I said this before but it is still true - the impact on BAU teams of project work cannot be underestimated. BAU tech teams tend to have a lot of time critical activities (patching, upgrades etc) so when you layer on project requirements it can be very difficult for them to juggle. I am not the best at saying "no" to new stuff - so this is something I definitely need to work on!
- Barriers: As teams get more established, it can be easy for silos to develop, despite good intentions around collaborative ways of working. It's easy to slip into old habits and/or it's easy to stop making the effort to include people in discussions and meetings. I'm making a conscious effort to remind teams to bring back to life the "ways of working" principles and take positive steps to engage.
- Tired teams: There's always a great amount of energy at the start of a project, people are excited and raring to go. Mid project of course, things feel a bit different, maybe there's been problems and plans have had to change, maybe people have been working long hours and are feeling the burn. Whatever the reason, it's important to find ways to bring back that energy - either by some rotation of people or just doing some fun (possibly social) stuff together. We've also found bringing in some external speakers can be really inspiring for this.
This is by no means a complete list, but just a few of the things I've noticed. Do any of these resonate with you? What are your tips for avoiding the mid-project blues?
CEO @ Wyser | AI-led Customer Case Services
2 年Hi Niamh, I really enjoyed reading your post. We've seen a lot of the points you mention in the digital transformations that we have managed on behalf of clients. To keep our teams engaged who all work remotely, we use a tool called Gather (link below). In it we have created a work environment where everyone in the business can engage with each other as they you would in an office face to face. We can also add games areas, a team event area and chill out areas too. Plus we can invite clients into our space or create a separate area, which is perfect for a model office. I'm not a gamer so I started using it with some trepidation as initially it had that feel about it, but I've got to say it is great and helps the team keep motivated. https://app.gather.town/app
I'll help you embed change, software, culture and new behaviours with innovative, engaging e-learning and blended solutions. Reduce abstractions and improve knowledge retention with solutions your learners will enjoy.
2 年Great blog Niamh McKenna. All sooo true. People get change-fatigue and it's like anything that's 'midway' - you get comfortable, perhaps a bit tired, things aren't shiny and new any more. So finding ways to keep the team(s) engaged and motivated also help with morale and getting people refocused.
Chief Digital and Information Officer at Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Airedale NHS Foundation Trust
2 年Some excellent simple truths here Niamh - thanks for sharing
Technologist & Believer in Systems for People and People for Systems
2 年doing some fun (possibly social) stuff together (even virtually) really works. Recharges their thoughts process and restores the synergy of team. Tired teams really need good recharging pauses of reasonable time to make things work for them ?? Similar to maintenance shutdown window for systems. Sorry about the analogy but heavy lifting projects are so for the teams.
NHS Resolution Core Systems Programme Communications Manager
2 年A very comprehensive list I think! But I would also add that whilst we have all become pros at working efficiently and effectively from home...in forming a newly built cross-organisational team for a collaboration project, we can definitely still underestimate what a bit of old fash F2F time can do to help with almost all of the above! Particularly with service design.