The project issues
Harrow’s Project Office had been in place for approximately 12 months and a software tool (Work.Together) had been implemented to provide the means of managing and sharing project information.

Gary Keers, Service Manager Projects, brought us in because he had identified that, in addition to maintaining day-to-day management of the Project Office, there was a need to build on this earlier work, making improvements in the way projects were being managed.

In parallel with this, he had identified the need to establish better control over the implementation of changes to the operational environment arising from project implementations and ‘business as usual’ requirements.

The Socitm Consulting solution
Our consultant stepped in as interim manager to take over the day to day running of the office, recruiting administration support staff to free up consultancy time to address the improvement issues.

We interviewed officers to gain understanding of the practical issues and the business requirements, and studied the process flows of the existing change and problem functions.

Our report outlined potential areas for improvement in project management based on PRINCE2 and Change Management based on ITIL.

In the area of Project Management a number of key improvement areas were identified, with a recommended approach for implementation of each. In our interim management role, we initiated work on those considered by our client to be of highest priority.

In the area of Change Management we designed new processes and prepared forms and a staff guide. Staff volunteers were enlisted to provide feedback on the revised processes. We assisted with the launch of the new process, and oversaw its running of the process for several weeks to ensure it was embedded.

The benefits to the client
The interim management of the Project Office both ensured delivery of a resilient service to the IT department and resulted in significant improvements in its practices and procedures. The consequence of this was improved efficiency, allowing a greater number of tasks to be carried out by administrative staff.

The report recommending improvements to Project Management practice has provided the Council with clarity on the actions to be undertaken, together with priorities and anticipated deliverables. This was acknowledged by the client as a significant step forward.

The introduction of ITIL based change management processes achieved better visibility and control of changes to the operational environment, resulting in improved resource planning, fewer operational problems and a more objective basis on which to make decisions on priorities.

Project identification
Client organisation: London Borough of Harrow
Client contact: Gary Keers, Service Manager Projects, 0208 424 1060, gary.keers@harrow.gov.uk
Lead consultant: anne.goddard@socitm.gov.uk
Project no: 5422