Manage complex or sensitive initiatives

“Budget or team size bears little relation to how tough or risky a project will be.”

Most ???????????????????????????????people already know that you need senior, experienced program and project managers to run large initiatives with big budgets and big teams.

More sophisticated project sponsors/change leaders understand that the need for senior, experienced program and project managers is perhaps greater when you have a sensitive or complex initiative, which may or may not be large by conventional metrics.  An initiative may be complex or sensitive due to one or more of the following reasons:

  • The end-state or scope may not be known or knowable in advance, and may change over the course of the initiative
  • The large number or sensitivity of stakeholders or stakeholder groups involved
  • Project resources are not dedicated full-time to the project
  • Project resources and/or stakeholders are from disparate functions, cultures, geographies, organisations, and/or value systems
  • The number of interdependencies within the initiative itself, and between the initiative and other elements in its environment (eg, other projects within the organisation happen concurrently)

Strategy2Life specialise in running complex or sensitive initiatives, because:

  • We focus on outcomes more than outputs – including stakeholder relationship outcomes
  • We have the strategic, systems and design thinking and problem-solving skills that help you and your team work with ambiguity and complexity
  • Over and above our project management training and certifications, we have the experience to judge the appropriate balance between discipline and flexibility so that project management is not just an administrative, bureaucratic exercise but a true enabler of successful delivery.

You benefit from the freedom of focusing on the big picture, while you leave the details to people with a track record for successful execution working with you and your team.

“Stephanie’s superb stakeholder management skills, together with strong intellect and project management, have combined to deliver great outcomes. She is one of the few people that I trust to quickly understand what I want strategically, then join all the dots and achieve the required outcome, all without constant oversight on my part.”   – Russell Harte, Chief Executive, Standard Bank, Jersey

 Example past assignments:

  • Implementing an operational risk regulatory requirement (while still in an ambiguous, ill-defined stage) in 11 divisions/departments in a major Australian bank (read more)
  • Managing a program with over 40 strategic procurement initiatives in a large public sector organisation, in partnership with consultants from a separate government department. Stakeholders included a steering committee with 6 from the top management team, with regular reporting provided to the Board and 2 government ministries (read more)
  • Coordinating a team of 16 from 4 organisations in 7 locations to design and deliver an accelerated solution/collaborative design workshop, with attendees drawn from multiple disciplines and over 30 organisations.
  • Led the pre-sale disengagement planning for a A$650M corporate divestment, involving the coordination of more than 10 stakeholder groups, legal representatives, and 2 international subsidiaries. Achieved under strict confidentiality and a tight transaction-driven timetable.