Bridging the Gap in African Healthcare Access with P3.express

About the organization

Founded in 2009 and headquartered in Senegal, Nyquist-Shannon is a fast-growing social impact company operating across Senegal, Benin (a branch established in 2019), and France. With a team of approximately 22 staff members, they are tackling a critical challenge—ensuring accessible and affordable healthcare for the vast majority of the African population.

Nyquist-Shannon's flagship project is Tojumi, a digital platform that empowers individuals to provide healthcare services for their loved ones. This innovative marketplace connects patients with healthcare providers, including hospitals, clinics, and pharmacies.

This initiative addresses the significant gap in Africa's social security system, which only covers a small fraction of the population (less than 10%). Traditionally, individuals rely on informal support networks, often sending money to relatives through expensive money transfer services like Western Union or MoneyGram. International institutions estimate that the African diaspora sends around €70 billion annually back home, with a significant portion (20%) earmarked for healthcare. However, a concerning 8% of these funds are lost due to transfer service charges.

Tojumi reduces these fees through its e-wallet system and promotes transparency. In the past, funds intended for healthcare haven't always reached their intended purpose. With Tojumi, subscribers can track how their contributions are used, ensuring their loved ones receive the critical healthcare services they need.

The decision to use P3.express

The management team chose to prioritize a structured and unified approach to project management when handling the Tojumi platform. After evaluating several project management options, they carefully decided to adopt P3.express. This decision was primarily driven by the clarity and visual step-by-step approach that P3.express offers for managing project activities. The team valued this as it ensured consistency across projects and eliminated ambiguity for team members.

Another factor in the decision was that the P3.express roadmap wouldn't stifle individual creativity or established expertise. The management team decided to implement the system in a way that allowed project managers to incorporate their preferred techniques for each step within the roadmap. This flexibility enabled experienced project managers to leverage their existing knowledge while adhering to the organization's standardized approach.

Impact of Implementing P3.express

Nyquist-Shannon's adoption of P3.express has yielded significant benefits for both individual projects and the organization as a whole. Nyquist-Shannon estimates overall cost savings of 15-20% as a result of streamlined processes and shorter project lifecycles. These savings free up valuable resources for further development of the Tojumi platform, ultimately contributing to their mission of providing affordable healthcare solutions to more people across Africa.

Here's a closer look at the positive impact:

• Enhanced Decision-Making: P3.express's "Go/No-Go Decision" activity injected a crucial pause point into the project lifecycle. This structured reflection allowed teams to assess project viability and make informed decisions that maximize resource allocation and value creation for the company. Additionally, the "Measure and Report Performance" activity, conducted weekly, provided a vital mechanism for tracking progress and identifying potential issues early on, something that has proven a challenge in previous projects.
• Streamlined Communication: P3.express's standardized activity roadmap has demonstrably improved internal communication. By outlining a clear sequence of management activities for everyone involved, the project could improve collaboration and transparency among stakeholders.
• Continuous Improvement Culture: By using P3.express, the company was able to foster a culture of continuous improvement within project teams. The cyclical nature of the system ensures consistent attention to critical tasks like risk management and change requests. Daily activities within this framework prevent these areas from being overlooked, keep projects on schedule, and mitigate potential roadblocks. Furthermore, P3.express facilitates knowledge sharing through peer reviews. New project managers gain valuable insights into the organization's established project management practices, accelerating their learning curve.
• Improved onboarding of new project managers: P3.express's lightweight and straightforward approach improved the onboarding of new project managers and their adoption within the company. All junior project managers now follow an obligated P3.express Practitioner course in the first months of their onboarding, which allows them to quickly understand the way of working.

By implementing P3.express, Nyquist-Shannon has equipped its team with a powerful project management tool that promotes informed decision-making, fosters collaboration, and cultivates a culture of continuous improvement. These positive impacts have resulted in enhanced efficiency, cost savings, and, ultimately, the ability to deliver a groundbreaking healthcare service to a broader audience in Africa.

Challenges in the implementation process

While the overall impact of P3.express has been positive, Nyquist-Shannon did encounter initial challenges during implementation. One notable hurdle was the integration of peer reviews, a core activity within the P3.express framework. Previously, project managers at the company operated independently, each with their own established project management practices.

Initially, project managers struggled with this change as they were used to working in silos. It was challenging to find peer reviewers within the company and persuade them to dedicate enough time and energy to the task. Additionally, accepting feedback was sometimes difficult. However, over time, the benefits of peer review became evident. Project managers began to welcome constructive feedback from their colleagues, which resulted in improved project execution and overall project management effectiveness.

Conclusion?

P3.express's clear roadmap offered Nyquist-Shannon a structured project management approach, replacing siloed workstyles and fostering collaboration. The implementation yielded significant advantages, including cost savings and improved project execution. Ultimately, this helped the organization achieve its goal of a broader reach for its impactful healthcare solution and bridging the gap in Africa's social security system.

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