SVANE CONSULTING

Trusted advisor



Project review



Most senior executives seek assurance that a project is on track and can realize the benefits as defined in the business case. This is even more important if a project is business critical or for other reasons "cannot fail".


The purpose of the review is to point out major opportunities, issues, and shortcomings, not to focus on minor potential enhancements. Sometimes we look at projects that are suffering or downright catastrophic, but even with projects that perform well, there is always that nagging feeling that something might be off. Most projects will encounter problems. Let us help you in assessing whether yours requires further actions or if everything is within the normal boundaries.


The words "Project" and "Program" are often used interchangeable - which is also the case in what you see below.



Verify project



The review aims to verify that the program is conducted in an appropriate and effective manner.

  • Validate that the program overall is managed appropriately and that status reports are accurate.
  • Deliver a consolidated assessment of the program setup and management mechanisms.
  • Provide input to ongoing program quality assurance and enhancement.
  • Document key observations relevant for success
  • Recommend actions


Approach



  • The review is conducted through interviews and by reading available documentation.
  • The review is normally completed within 4 weeks.
  • The interviews are typically with one person at a time for 1-2 hours, this helps us identify mismatching expectations and different perceptions and opinions.
  • In order to identify areas of improvement it is important to get information from most major stakeholders.
  • Most interviews are attended by 2 people from Svane Consulting.

Most of our reviews are confidential, but references are available upon request.



Timeline



All projects are, by definition, unique endeavours and there is no "one size fits all" for a review - but even so, it is possible to timebox an investigation, and we have yet to come across a project that requires many months of investigation.


Most projects will benefit from a relatively small review - e.g. 4 weeks and perhaps 160 hours of consulting time. It's certainly possible to spend more time and effort, but it's unlikely to change the main conclusions.





Content of review report (EXAMPLE)



The report is aimed at the Steering Committee and executive management outside of the program – but when it comes to the implementation of recommendations, it is vital that program manager(s) read the report.


The report progressively details topics from general to specific, so that the reader may start at the beginning and stop when it gets “too detailed”. Steering committee members are advised to read the whole report.

  • Conclusions: Chapters 1, 2 & 3 contain the executive summary, key observations, possible scenarios and high-level recommendations on how to proceed.
  • Background: Chapters 4 & 5 provide a background for the interview as well as a timeline of events. Appendix A contains a list of interviews and available program documentation.
  • Detailed findings: Chapters 6 & 7 provide more detailed assessment & recommended actions and a few deep dives into selected topics.


Examples of key findings



Findings are always assessed against benefits and costs - and actions are suggested. We never "happen to have a bus full of eager consultants" as you would find to be the case for many of the bigger consulting companies.





Scoring against "best practices"



It's often comforting to know how the project performs against "best practices," and to that effect we have developed a scoring model. It is loosely based on maturity models, and always adapted to the specific project. Not everything is important to measure - let's start by discussing what's relevant.





Furesø, Denmark



SVANE CONSULTING