"Transparent, Integrated Delivery Support" - Part 12 of 14: THE DATA ARCHITECTURE CONSTRUCTION PROJECT (free excerpts)

This is the twelfth part of the chapter titled “The Data Architecture Construction Project”, from the book “The Data Garden And Other Data Allegories”.

<< Click here to go back to Part 11 ("Pro-active Maintenance")

Click here to go to Part 13 ("The challenges ahead") >>

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Transparent, Integrated Delivery Support

Speaking to the entire room, you take a moment to share how impressed you are with the expertise that you can tell exists within and across teams. You acknowledge that there have been challenges with delivery in the past, but this has been in part due to a range of factors that were not entirely within the control of the people assembled here today.

Now there’s an opportunity for everyone to take back control and to deliver more successfully together. This is where you see the Programme Delivery team playing a pivotal role.

Effective delivery is important for all teams. As such, members of the Programme Delivery office will need to embed themselves within each team, to act as trusted partners in establishing good practice project management and cross-team collaboration. They will not be there to lead the delivery themselves, because that’s still the accountability of the leaders of each team, but they will be there to support and help steer. 

Also, crucially, they will establish transparent reporting on status and progress, which will be reported back to this leadership team every week, so that everyone understands what’s going on, across all areas. You want to hear about risks and issues early, so that action can be taken, and will be far more forgiving of people who admit that they’re struggling, than people who try sort out all of their problems by themselves, without sharing them with this group. “We’re all in this together. We’re one team, here to support each other to succeed collectively.”

At this point, you can see your Head of Programme Delivery is sat forward in her chair. You maintain your composure and nod positively in her direction. Despite the fervour, you know this is going to be a more challenging culture shift than your words make it sound, but success will be achieved through the practical application of this new way of working, day by day, and through consistent “leadership by example”. Enthusiasm is a very good starting point for this.

External Partners

Turning now to the group of Contractors, you thank them again for being so open with their observations, and state your intention to engage them pro-actively by making them part of the extended leadership team. You acknowledge the fact that they are independent and their loyalty will rightly be with their private investors. You also point out that there will be some activities and discussions that they will not be able to be part of, due to their external role, but at a minimum, they’ll have a seat at the weekly leadership team meetings.

By involving them directly, you’re keen to hear their candid views on what’s happening across the rest of the town, what’s working and not working, as early as possible. Doing this will also mean that they will get to hear about, and in some cases influence, initiatives that are being managed by this team.

Referring back to the concerns that they raised earlier about unsafe data practices, you inform them of your intention to talk to the Data Insight Town’s governor, to take steps to address this formally.

Build Team

Getting back to your Head Builder, you’re pleased to announce that you’ve spoken to him this afternoon and he will be formally taking on the role of your deputy. He smiles and nods, and you can see the look of approval from people around the room. 

As such, people should feel free to come to either you or him if they have any questions or concerns. You’ll be working together to make sure that everyone in this new leadership team is connected and supported. The Build Team will continue to be engaged across teams, as it has been previously, prioritising their effort based on the areas of greatest need. 

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I hope you’ve enjoyed this excerpt. Please do let me know what you think in the comments below. 

If you want to read more chapters from the book, please do check it out on Amazon:

• The Data Garden on Amazon.CO.UK
• The Data Garden on Amazon.COM

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