Return arrow Back to Client Services & Project Delivery Studio

Thinking Like a Program

PM

At LDS, we envision and deliver business solutions: solutions that bring real strategic business value inside the enterprise at some of the largest global companies. This requires a holistic perspective to the management of solution efforts, a management approach that cares for and balances the relationship of business value, solution delivery and sustainable operations to achieve lasting results.

CS-PD_Blog_Program_Nov2015_withcopyright

 

A Program provides the structure to address and balance perspectives for solutions to deliver sustainable business value

LDS firmly believes that core project management methods need to be augmented and driven by programs focused on a broader view of business solutions. The usual focus on balancing scope, cost and time to achieve quality still has validity, but is insufficient to represent the broader set of concerns and relationships that bring business value, sustainability and solution evolution over time.

Some of the key areas of focus are:

  • Business – requires an understanding of business strategy, the business models that encapsulate relevant organization, program and people goals as well as particular attention to stakeholder management. To support resulting impacts from the introduction of the solution (i.e., change), we ensure business sponsors and stakeholders understand, agree to, and support the business solution. We do this by ensuring stakeholders receive support for business solution socialization and decision-making.
  • Operations – considers and factors operational impact throughout the process to avoid crippling issues with sustainability and maintainability. It probably goes without saying, but the value from business solutions can be greatly eroded when they cannot be reliably sustained.
  • Solutions – requires insightful project leadership throughout the process, based on complexities of the solution concepts, to ensure the solution is comprehensive and rational. Promoting design thinking, managing teams of diverse experts, and engaging business, operations and IT stakeholders are some of the key concerns to address in order for solutions to be both innovative and rational. These days, business solutions inside the enterprise have an ever increasing set of expectations for a consumer-grade experience, and need to work within the enterprise ecosystem. Additionally, managing a solutions roadmap to realize business value over time requires we pay particular attention to an agreed path forward.

In upcoming posts to this blog series, we will pull apart and these ideas and explore topics related to managing programs for successful innovative business solutions. We feel we have some unique perspectives to offer, and in doing so hope to represent something about who we are, how we think, and how we solve challenging problems. Stay tuned…