STRATEGIC PROJECT MANAGEMENT (SPM) IS KEY TO EXECUTING STARTEGY

A)What is Strategic Project Management?
1.Strategic Project Management (SPM) is the process of thinking about your Projects in light of their connection to your strategic plan.
2.In other words, Strategic Project Management is about forming clear links between your Projects and Strategic Objectives.
3.The premise of Strategic Project Management is that 'Projects' should actually work to achieve the goals and objectives outlined in your strategy.
4.This is why thinking in terms of strategic project management is key.
5.Strategic Project Management isn't just about the process of project-managing big and important projects, it's about designing and managing your portfolio of Projects to ensure that it supports your strategy, by ensuring that:
5.1) The mix of Projects is appropriate and sufficient to deliver your Strategic Objectives.
5.2) Your Projects are appropriately resourced.
5.3) If time lines and resourcing have to be changed, Projects are prioritized accordingly based on the strategic plan, and impacts reflected in the plan.

B)“Projects that support strategy" vs "Operational Projects"
1.Here we're talking about Projects that are supposed to be supporting your strategy, which for simplicity we'll call "Strategic Projects". You may have operational projects that are key parts of delivering your day-to-day business, which although essential, aren't part of moving the organization forward - and that's how to tell the difference between the two: if it supports an Objective in your strategy, in our context it's a Strategic Project.
2.The key thing to note is that Strategic Projects in this context don't have to be huge - pretty much all your big Projects should be Strategic Projects (otherwise why all the time and investment?), but you may have many small to medium Projects that are, in their own way, crucial to delivering on your Objectives.

C)What's the Difference Between Strategic Project Management & Project Management?
1.There's a lot of overlap between traditional project management and strategic project management. That's because the 'strategic' part of the phrase is essentially talking about applying a 'strategic lense' to your existing portfolio of projects.
2.That means that you'll still apply all of your traditional project management skills and processes to strategic project management, but in addition  project management teams need to manage the wider business aspects of their projects to better support and align with organizational strategy, rather than just being concerned with meeting standard project management issues - time, budget etc.
3.Think of Strategic Project Management as an extra sub-discipline within the broader discipline of project management. In the same way that managing dependencies or resourcing are today.

D)How to Ensure your Projects Support your Strategy
Your Projects are the meat of your strategy - they are where things actually get done and progress gets made. It's also where all the time and money gets spent. So how do you make sure that your activities are well aligned to the goals of your strategy?

E)Make sure your Projects support your Objectives
1.Every active Objective/Goal/Outcome needs at least one Project - This is the obvious one. You may have future Objectives that haven't "started" yet, which is fine, but any "active" Objective must have Projects that will work towards completing the objective- otherwise you're not actually working on it. Depending on how big your initiatives are, you may find you need to have sub-Projects under Projects to best represent how you intend to deliver the work.
2.The Projects must deliver on the Objectives - For each Objective, you need to be able to say that if you do a good job of delivering all its Projects , you will achieve the Objective. If you can't say that, you need to look at the Project mix and identify your gaps.
3.The Projects shouldn't "overlap" or be redundant - Look carefully at your Project mix under each Objective and across your strategy. Generally you should not be able to fully deliver on an Objective without a particular one of its Projects - if you can, seriously consider whether you actually need that Project. Maybe that effort can be better spent elsewhere? You have to be prepared to remove or reduce scope on Projects. Equally, make sure that you don't have Projects within or between Objectives that "overlap" in scope, essentially duplicating work.
4.Every Project must have a clear link to one or more Objectives - Even if it isn't directly linked to an Objective (e.g. it's a sub-Project within a parent Project under an Objective), it has to clearly support what you're trying to achieve. If you can draw a clear line from your Projects to the KPI it will improve, that's an excellent indicator of fit. Note that once in a while you might find that you have a Project that clearly demonstrates strategic value, but doesn't align to a specific Objective - that can be a sign that you need to revisit your Objectives and make sure they themselves give you the right coverage.

F)Make sure your Projects actually happen
1.Every Project must be realistically resourced - Time, money, skills: there are never enough to go around, and they are probably the most important element of actually delivering on a Project. This means you must have:
2.Estimated the Project needs - Get ahead of things: make sure every Project that you're proposing has at least a high level time, cost, and resourcing estimate. You'll find that this will pay dividends when you come to try and prioritize - you'll get caught needing to do it anyway, and may be under more time pressure at that point.
3.Budgeted for the Project - For real. Who's team is it in? Whose budget is it coming from? For some organizations everything comes from one bucket of people and money, in others you may have a complicated Opex/Capex request process. Either way, if it's not in someone's budget, you can guarantee it won't happen.
4.The Project timelines must align with your Objectives - We see this all the time. An Objective will be set in a management meeting, and then some time down the line someone figures out what actually needs to be done, creates the Projects and the timelines just don't stack up. Something has to change, either the Projects or the Objectives, but bite the bullet and make sure it does - if you don't, your plan becomes unrealistic, which means it won't be credible, which means it won't be useful.
5.Every Project must have an Owner - Critical. Someone needs to be interested in the delivery of the Project, they need to be responsible for getting it off the ground and delivered, and they need to have the authority to make all this work. The Project will only happen if all these three things are true.
6.Stop operational Projects getting in to your strategic plan, and vice-versa - You want to keep your strategic plan focused. This means you need to avoid letting operational Projects and activities creep in to the plan, as it will dilute your focus and impact the delivery of your Strategic Projects. Equally, you need to prevent Projects that should be on the strategic plan, mapped to Objectives, sliding in to the operational plan and becoming invisible when you're tracking your progress.

G)Make sure you stay on top of things
1.Govern your Projects strategically - Every Objective will have its own mix of Projects, and then there is the mix of Projects across the whole strategic plan (in bigger plans you will even be thinking in terms of the mix within different business areas, departments etc.). Don't lose sight of the bigger picture - in the same way that the overall strategic management process emphasizes a governance process across the whole of strategy execution, the same applies to strategically managing your Project mix across your whole portfolio.
2.Prioritize Projects strategically across the whole portfolio - Change will happen, you can guarantee that. How you handle it will seriously affect the execution of your plan - when the internal or external environment, available resources, strategic needs etc change, you need to prioritize Projects strategically across the whole plan, based on the needs of the Objectives.
3.Allow the Projects and Objectives to inform each other - The strategic plan needs to live and breathe. Sometimes this will be top-down changes driven by refinements in what you want to achieve (or how you want to prioritize the Objectives), but you must allow room for the realities of Project implementation, and what you learn from actually doing, to be reflected in the higher level plan - even if it is just by keeping the Objective timelines current and accurate. The more isolated your Projects become from the rest of the plan, the less real your plan becomes.

H)Strategically Managing your Project Mix, and your Portfolio/Program Management Approach
1.We've focused here on the element of Strategic Project Management that relates to designing and managing the right project mix to achieve your Objectives, and therefore deliver on your strategy. This absolutely relates to areas of portfolio and program management - depending on your organizational structure and practices, this kind of Project mix management is certainly part of your portfolio and program management process. We're not introducing a parallel or alternative concept, it's simply one of the key functions that has to happen as part of that process.

I)The Importance of Strategic Project Management to your Strategy 
1.We've shown the importance of taking a strategic view of building your Project mix, to best deliver on your Objectives across your whole plan, and how this is a key part of truly taking a Strategic Project Management approach.
2.If you're serious about taking a strategic view of your Project mix, that allows you to see and manage alignment and contribution of Projects to Objectives, what the Project mix is across different parts of your strategic plan (and across the whole plan), and then be able to track and refine your Project mix over time, you'll need to keep your strategy in a platform that can handle all that - why not start a free trial of Cascade, our strategy execution platform designed for exactly this? No credit card required!

Shared by: MKR

HOW TO WRITE A PROJECT PLAN IN 8 EASY STEPS

Step 1: Explain the project to key stakeholders, define goals, and get initial buy-in
1.1)The first step in any project is to define the “what” and “why”. Key stakeholders have the influence and authority to determine whether a project is successful, and their objectives must be satisfied. Even if the project comes from the CEO himself, you still need their buy-in.
1.2)Use this initial conversation to get aligned, define goals, and determine the value of the project. In this part of the project planning process, discuss needs, expectations, and establish baselines for project scope, budget, and timeline. This creates a solid base for your project work plan.
1.3)Questions you should consider reviewing with stakeholders:
1.3.1)How do we write a project plan that aligns with company goals?
1.3.2)What do stakeholders expect? What will be expected from them?
1.3.3)How will you measure success?
1.3.4)What are your resources?
1.3.5)What assets or deliverables are expected out of this project?

Step 2: List out goals, align Objective and Key Results (OKR), and outline the project.
2.1) According to executive leaders, a lack of clear goals accounts for 37% of project failure. Without clear goals, you’ll find that the requirements, tasks, and deadlines you set for your project work plan have nothing anchoring them. But now that you have a list of key stakeholders needs and their buy-in, begin to assign them to goals and OKR.
2.2) OKR are a planning and goal setting technique made famous by Intel and Google. Your project should align with your team and company’s OKR.
2.3) Try writing down the project goals in a project plan board and connect them to the stakeholder requirements they address.
2.4) From there, build out the structure, milestones, and tasks it takes to reach those goals. Milestones can define check-in points throughout the project so that everyone is clear about what progress looks like, what the expectations are, and when they’ll be measured.  

Step 3: Create a project scope document
3.1) Now that you have the project outlined, your tasks aligned with goals, and buy-in from the team, it’s time to create a project scope document detailing the project elements you’ve listed in step 2.
3.2) Look at each deliverable and define the series of tasks that must be completed to accomplish each one. For each task, determine the amount of time it’ll take, the resources necessary, and who will be responsible for execution.
3.3) Finalize and record the project details so that everyone has a single source of truth.
3.4) Make the document easily shareable, like in your project management tool, in order to reduce the chance of costly miscommunication.
3.5) While preparing project scope documentation and calculating earned value should be standard practice.

Step 4. Craft a detailed project schedule
4.1) With your goals, tasks, and milestones already outlined for you, it’s time to start plugging your project into a schedule.
4.2) A Gantt Chart is a handy tool that helps you easily visualize your project timeline easily visualize your project timeline.
4.3) It’s an interactive timeline that gives you a complete view of the project’s progress, work scope, and dependencies.
4.4) Dependencies are tasks that need to be completed before other tasks can begin.
4.5) As you plot out tasks, use sub tasks to help you break up larger ones into smaller ones.
4.6) This can make reporting. Let’s define each:
4.6.1) Tasks: The individual tasks that people need to carry out to achieve your goals.
4.6.2) Subtasks: No longer than a few days each, these help you take a task and break it down into the smaller steps that will complete the larger task.
4.6.3) Milestones: Major phases or events in your project that help break up the project. Use milestones as check-in points throughout the project.
4.6.4) Pro tip: Want in on a little secret? As you set them up, add cushions to key tasks, so you have wiggle room for fire drills or unexpected bottlenecks — for example if a client needs extra time to review or a team member calls in sick.
4.6.5) In a perfect world, some tasks might take a day. So maybe you make it two in your plan. No need to give every task a cushion though. Weigh the risks and add it where it makes the most sense. Future you will thank you.

Step 5: Define the roles, responsibilities, and resources
5.1) Resources are the people, equipment, or money needed to complete a project. Once you’ve selected your tools and gotten a budget, don’t forget about your people. Even folks who already know how to write a project work plan and have done so a hundred times can underestimate their labor needs.
5.2) A Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed (RACI) chart helps you determine specifically who will do what for your project. It's a matrix of all a project’s tasks, paired with who's responsible (assigned to complete the work), accountable (has yes/no/veto power), consulted (needs to approve or contribute), and informed (needs to know about the action or decision). 
5.3) As you begin to assign tasks, make sure you take into consideration bandwidth.
5.4) Clarify the responsibilities and expectations of each person. Keep in mind that 95% of workers report working on more than one team or project concurrently and if projects aren’t aligned, workloads become too stressful for teams.
5.5) Stress causes about 50% of workers to start looking for another job, and 25% to quit their current jobs altogether, due to The Stress Epidemic.
5.6) As you plan your project, consider how you’ll filter incoming requests that impact the project’s timeline or budget.
5.7) Knowing how to calculate earned value to monitor the level of work completed on a project against the plan is imperative.

Step 6:  Define the communication and check-in process
6.1) Employees spend nearly 20% of the work week searching for and gathering information.
6.2) Adding to that, inefficient communication and collaboration are two of the top causes of stress in the workplace.
6.3) When stakeholders have to dig through pages of emails or constantly ask for updates, they get frustrated and motivation dips.
6.4) Mitigate frustration by housing all project pieces — like assets, conversations, tasks, due dates, updates, reporting — in a single location, like a collaboration tool. 
6.5) This makes it easy to track progress, share updates, and make edits. Define how everyone should communicate throughout the project and keep it in one tool so everyone can access information.

Step 7: Plan for it not going as planned
7.1) Even if you’re an expert and already know how to write a project plan, the truth is that all projects have twists and turns — that’s what makes them fun. You’ve given yourself some breathing room during the scheduling process, you’ve made sure everyone knows their role, and you’ve set up communication.
7.2) But before you launch, sit down and identify potential issues like upcoming vacations for team members, holidays, or external teams that might be involved.
7.3) Set up a clear chain of command and list key contacts within the project. Communicate upfront about risks so the whole team can be prepared to tackle them together.

Step 8: Throw a launch party!
8.1) Every successful project needs a kick-off. Set a quick meeting with key stakeholders and have a clear agenda. Your goal should be to get everyone on the same page with goals, roles, process, and timeline. Your agenda should include everything you’ve focused on in the steps above:
8.1.1) Define the project goals and value they bring.
8.1.2) List out the assets the project is expected to deliver.
8.1.3) Draw the connection between stakeholder requirements and the project tasks.
8.1.4) Show the timeline (Gantt Chart) of the project so everyone can see dependencies and know the expected dates.
8.1.5) Describe the roles and responsibilities of each stakeholder.
8.1.6) Review how and where everyone will communicate throughout the project, where they can go for information — like your scope document — and who to call for questions
8.1.7) Discuss risks and ensure the team is prepared.
8.1.8) Get that final commitment!

SHARED BY: MKR

KISAH MALAYSIA

1.Malaysia ini bukanlah sebuah negara yang “Super Power” dan kaya raya.

2. Namun kita berbangga sebagai sebuah negara Majoriti Umat Islam Melayu yang tetap bersatu berganding bahu menghadapi wabak C19.

2.Sewaktu dunia luar yang kaya raya turut berperang dengan C19, kisah kejayaan Malaysia turut diceritakan.

4. Ramai yang kekurangan bekalan alat pakaian perubatan yang dipanggil PPE.

5.Warga Malaysia di IPT telah menghasilkan dengan cepat guna 3D print, banduan penjara dan selebriti pereka fesyen menjahit utk pekerja hospital.

6. Seluruh dunia menghadapi kekangan kewangan, termasuk Malaysia tetapi rakyat Malaysia dan syarikat swasta tetap tegar memberi sumbangan wang peribadi untuk menyokong usaha melawan C19.

7. Pengurusan Krisis Kerajaan Perikatan Nasional di Malaysia adalah antara yang terbaik di dunia.

8. Rakyat kita yang terkandas di luar negara dibawa pulang dan dibantu sepenuhnya, malah kepulangan mereka dinanti oleh petugas khas dengan pengangkutan bas mewah dikawal Trafik PDRM sepanjang jalan ke Pusat Kuarantin di Hotel 5 Bintang.

9.Walaupun Malaysia tidak kaya raya dan tidak berpengaruh di dunia, Kerajaan TSMY berusaha untuk bawa pulang semua Rakyat Malaysia.

10. Tuhan sahaja yang tahu betapa besarnya kos dan kesukaran membawa pulang mereka.

11. Kita bersyukur, Pusat Kuarantin C19 kita pun jauh lebih baik, bukan di sekolah daif seperti di India, bukan di kawasan tempat letak kereta seperti di USA.

12. Bagaimana Peralihan Kuasa dari Tun M kepada TSMY dilakukan dengan penuh rapi dan cermat seperti yang telah dirancangkan sejak sekian lama oleh para negarawan kita.

13. Bagaimana kejayaan TSMY membentuk Barisan Kabinet yang paling mantap dan berwibawa dalam tempoh singkat menjadi paradigma serta naskhah akademik Pengurusan Perbezaan dan Politik Kompromi yang terhebat dalam sejarah.

14. Ramai dari kita tidak dapat mencari rezeki kerana keterbatasan kita kesan daripada PKP/MCO/RMO.

15. Lihat sahaja keberkesanan Menteri-Menteri Kerajaan Perikatan Nasional bekerja dengan pantas sejurus selepas pengumuman skim bantuan khas oleh YAB TSMY demi merancakkan kegiatan ekonomi.

16. Dalam konotasi dan interaksi PKP yang masih berjalan, peniaga kecil mengeluh, bantuan untuk mereka juga diumumkan. Pelbagai platform bantuan & pemudahcara dilancarkan oleh Kerajaan.

17. Dari sentuhan Raja yang berdaulat, DYMM SPB YDPA dan Raja Permaisuri pun berkenan supaya Kerajaan Malaysia tidak membayar Emolumen Diraja kepada Seri Paduka Baginda Berdua selama 6 bulan.

18. Sentuhan Kerajaan Perikatan Nasional yang penyayang dan menakjubkan dengan Gaji Perdana Menteri dan semua jemaah menteri juga dipotong selama dua bulan yang kemudiannya disalurkan ke Tabung C19 Malaysia.

19. Walaupun kita bukan kuasa besar dan berpengaruh di dunia, di saat orang lain mengeluh, susah dapat bekalan luar, Malaysia reda dan menggunakan diplomasi untuk mendapatkan bantuan, seberapa yang boleh.

20.Kerana kita Malaysia, berbaik dengan semua negara. Ya kita memang baik dengan negara luar.

21. Saya ada pengalaman berkelanana ke banyak negara luar di dunia amat kagum dengan kebijaksanaan Kerajaan kita mendepani bencana kemanusia antara yang terbesar dalam sejarah dunia. Kepada yang biasa ke luar negara mesti tahu bagaimana kebanyakan negara luar sangat hormat dan suka bila kita sebut kita dari Malaysia.

22. Masa kita menempuh rantaian serangan C19 ini, banyak negara bantu kita, China, Arab Saudi dan lain-lain.

23. Malaysia tetap aman, walaupun dalam kondisi Masjid, Surau & semua rumah ibadat ditutup. Institusi akademik juga ditutup sementara.

24. Kita tetap aman dan Ahli Parlimen dalam Kerajaan Perikatan Nasional tidak berbalah sesama sendiri untuk berebut Jawatan Perdana Menteri seperti apa yang berlaku dalam Kerajaan Pakatan Harapan sebelum ini.

25. Kita hidup dengan apa yang kita ada. Demi negara. “Yes. Malaysia can do better”.

26. Lihatlah Menteri-Menteri Kerajaan Perikatan Nasional bekerja siang dan malam dalam di bulan puasa tanpa jemu. Menteri-Menteri kita mendahulukam Rakyat lebih dari segalanya.

27. Representasi meringkaskan Sidang Parlimen juga amat bijak dan paling efisyen. Kita tidak mahu para Pemimpin kita membuang masa duduk bersidang dalam Dewan yang sejuk dingin sedangkan ada rakyat yang susah.

28. Kita juga tidak mahu Ahli-Ahli Parlimen bersidang dari pagi hingga tengah malam sehingga meletihkan mereka dan dengan jamuan makanan yang enak serta mewah di Kaferia Parlimen sedangkan di luar sana ada rakyat yang memerlukan bantuan.

29. Sekarang bukan masa untuk berdebat, berkonfrantasi dan bergambar dalam Dewan Rakyat seperti yang pemimpin PH buat. Sekarang adalah masa untuk kita FOKUS KEPADA MATLAMAT dan PERJUANGAN membantu rakyat seterusnya memimpin negara ke arah KECEMERLANGAN.

30. Berbangga menjadi rakyat Malaysia. Tanah tumpahnya darahku. MALAYSIA NEGARAKU.

MKR