Achieving SMART Performance

Implementing team-oriented, knowledgeable, and business-aware SMART performance

Effective management is crucial for success and growth. This best practice defines the roles and responsibilities of engagement and project managers. Techniques used by successful managers are described to ensure engagements and projects stay on track and continue toward a successful outcome for partners, the client, and the organization.

Engagement Management

Engagement Management

Engagement Management is an executive-level function for ensuring that both the client and the organization are satisfied with the outcome of an engagement. It concerns the interrelationships and dependencies between projects and overall client goals.

Project Management

Project Management

Project Management ensures that all the work that Excelacom has committed are completed on time and within an established budget. Additionally, appropriate deliverables are submitted to and accepted by the client.

SMART Performance

SMART Performance

Our SMART Performance methodology with the intelligent use of information technology and our approach for achieving SMART performance forms the foundation of our processes.

Excelacom’s success depends on the ability to work cooperatively with clients in achieving outstanding results. Engagement management creates an effective partnership that serves as the basis of success. Project management produces results on time and within budget.

The importance of Staging

Our work usually progresses through six predictable stages of maturity, plus one unpredictable and sometimes recurring stage— adapting to unforeseen circumstances. These stages apply, at appropriate levels of detail, to both engagements and projects, and even to individual phases of large, multi-phase projects.

Negotiation

Negotiation

During negotiations, expectations are determined regarding scope, responsibilities, schedule, and milestones.

Planning

Planning

During the planning stage, the scope and structure of a project or engagement are defined in detail.

Startup

Startup

Startup consists of establishing planned team members, structures, and logistics and beginning work on the activities outlined in the work plan.

Execution

Execution

Excelacom’s activities generally involve reviewing progress, removing barriers, and ensuring that development is aligned with client and performance targets for the effort.

Completion

Completion

Involves closing out completed efforts, transferring the responsibility of results and analyzing performance to improve future projects and engagements.

Adaption

Adaption

While timing is unpredictable, the need to adapt is absolute. Every engagement faces crises and issues that arise when circumstances change abruptly.

Engagement Management aligns with higher-level client objectives

Engagement Management

Engagement Management

Our success depends on our ability to work cooperatively with clients to achieve outstanding results for both the sponsoring organization and Excelacom. Engagement Management creates these effective partnerships, which serve as the foundation for success.

Engagement Management is more than project management

Shaping client expectations

Advising the client and resolving matters that affect the success of the engagement

Administering contracts and negotiating contract amendments

Overseeing projects that are part of the engagement

Managing engagement risk and profitability for Excelacom

Engagement Management

Engagement Management tames complexity

It sees through a tangle of data to understand trends, relationships, and dependencies. It looks ahead to predict ramifications. It makes and advises others to make decisions that are in alignment with the client’s overall objectives.

Project Management

Project management consists of managing the work that Excelacom has specifically committed to doing. Ensuring that all the jobs get done and the appropriate deliverables are submitted to and accepted by the client.

Client Needs

Client needs

Understanding client needs and objectives

Assembling

Assembling

Assembling and managing appropriate resources

Leading Project

Leading project

Leading project teams to produce high-quality results per contractual obligations

Managing Risk

Managing Risk

Managing project risk and profitability for your organization

Project Management

Project management

Project management is accountable for meeting specific contractual commitments

Excelacom approach

Excelacom’s approach to Project Management

Project Management practices vary across business units, but all project managers share a common characteristic. They are ultimately accountable to the client and Excelacom for producing high-quality results on time and within budget. While each project is assigned a single project manager, that person’s activities often depend on factors such as size and type of project, business unit management structures, constraints imposed by team member skills and levels of experience, and client expectations and needs. Several people working together may share the full range of project management activities, so long as ultimate accountability resides with a single individual.

Project Management

There is no engagement too small for Project Management

Even our small engagements emphasize project management over engagement management. It stands to reason since small engagements generally have few cross-project dependencies. The distinguishing characteristic of a small engagement is that one constituent project does not, for the most part, depend on other efforts within or on behalf of the sponsoring organization. Our clients enjoy the professionalism of our consultants while being ensured that the engagement will be completed in the highest professional standards.

Project Management Methodology

Engage Customers

  • Finalize staffing
  • Create project charter
  • Initiate project tracking
  • Compile risks
  • Review requirements
  • Develop a communication plan

Project Preparation

  • Compile detailed specifications
  • Update risk assessment
  • Update contingency plan
  • Setup action item tracking
  • Baseline plan
  • Implement a communication plan

Project Execution

  • Review objectives
  • Update project schedule
  • Manage issues
  • Manage action items
  • Update project plan

Project Closeout

  • Schedule lessons learned session
  • Finalize/Close-out budget
  • Close-out administration
  • Close-out contract

Executive Oversight

an insurance policy for project and engagement success

Executive steering committees

Executive steering committees

The role of the executive steering committee is to ensure that action is taken in a timely manner to achieve the engagement’s business goals.

Engagement and project reviews

Engagement and project reviews

Engagement reviews focus on the three or four most critical risks threatening an engagement.

Executive quality assessments

Executive quality assessments

These assessments appraise the health of selected engagement or project areas. Their objective is to identify and manage risks.

Excelacom Project Governance

  Participants Outputs
STEERING COMMITTEE
(Executive Management)
  • Executives
  • Project Sponsors
  • Tech Intelligence Platform Lead
  • Executive Commitments
  • Issue Resolution
  • Strategic Directions
ENGAGEMENT GROUP
(Relationship Management)
  • Project Sponsors
  • Tech Intelligence Program Manager
  • Tech Intelligence Platform Lead
  • Issue Resolution
  • Project Plan Realignment
  • Change Control
  • Issue Escalation
  • Resource Requisition
DELIVERY GROUP
(Project Management)
  • Workstream Leads
  • SMEs
  • Tech Intelligence Program Manager
  • Issue Escalation
  • Revised Plan
  • Metrics
  • Risk

Benefits of using Excelacom’s project management consulting

In today’s ever-changing world, our clients expect a flexible approach to delivering projects and seek more agility. However, for organizations offering programs and projects, and where conventional project management processes still exist, the informality of the agile approach is challenging and considered to be too risky. While agile is part of Excelacom’s DNA, all our consultants have numerous years of experience and multiple agile and scrum training. Which allowed them to become scrum masters and provide the highest business value for any engagement reflected in:

Top product quality Higher customer satisfaction Increased project control Reduced risks Faster ROI