Strategic Work: Processes and Tools

• Decision making around strategic investments by executives
• Communication of strategic direction to managers and workers
• Assigning resources to project work
• Articulating and collecting progress status on project work
• Reporting and monitoring on ongoing project investments

• Although strategic or project work accounts for the vast majority of discretionary spending in any given company, consistent accountable process and real time information need to support decision making in many companies is little or none
• Many businesses invest in software tools that could support a much higher degree of accountability and efficiency, but those tools are used to a very small degree or not at all
• The desire to implement and enforce better work management processes exists at many levels in a typical organization, but are rarely or inconsistently supported by the executives that could turn such initiatives into reality

The following table and chart describe a scale of process capability from low to high, and some of the typical characteristics associated with each level. Data has been gathered anecdotally through hundreds of customer interactions in 15 countries. In particular, categories of software are called out and the degree to which each is used is a good indicator of capability for a given division or company. Note that these descriptions are generalizations and a wide variety of deviation may occur. Following the table and chart ore more detailed descriptions of each level.

 

Amount of common process & top down decision making capability	Low or none	Medium-low	Medium-high	High
Work process characteristics	Ad-hoc project work assignments: 50% Time in meetings: 30% + Regular tracking of projects: 0 – 5%	Ad-hoc project work assignments: 40% Time in meetings: 20 – 30% Regular tracking of projects: 5 – 15%	Ad-hoc project work assignments: 20 – 25% Time in meetings: 10 – 20% Regular tracking of projects: 20 – 50%	Ad-hoc project work assignments: 5 – 10% Time in meetings: 10 – 20% Regular tracking of projects: 90%
Benefits from the Cloud	Email collaboration	Shared lists: tasks, risks, issues Shared document repository Instant messaging Virtual meetings Threaded discussions Wiki	Publish reports to portal Synchronize project schedules with portal Collect work status through portal Some reporting	Top-down process control Structured and ad-hoc reporting Role based dashboards
Software usage specifically for project work management	Email – High Spreadsheet – High Presentation – Medium Project Scheduling – Low Collaborative Portal – None	Email – High Spreadsheet – High Presentation – Medium Project Scheduling – Medium Collaborative Portal – Low	Email – Medium Spreadsheet – Medium Presentation – Medium Project Scheduling – High Collaborative Portal – High	Email – Low Spreadsheet – Low Presentation – Low Project Scheduling – High Collaborative Portal – High

 

Low Common Process

The largest numbers of companies fall into the low level of common process. Email is the main tool used to manage work in all phases: work planning, task assignments and status reporting. Spreadsheets are generally used in an ad-hoc manner for task and financial management, with common formats or templates used less that 25% of the time. The primary tool used for reporting is presentation software; the content is mostly narrative rather than metrics-based, and templates are used for less than 50% of presentations. In-person meetings are the primary method for communication of responsibilities as well as gathering updates of status. Project scheduling software may be used occasionally for very large projects.

 

Resources focused on strategic work can often spend more than 30% of normal work hours in meetings, which leads to either lower productivity or lots of overtime and low job satisfaction. As business processes are largely ad-hoc, there tends to be no motivation to capture or analyze process using Business Process Management tools or methodology.

 

Medium-low Common Process

Email remains the core for communication around project work. Spreadsheets are more structured and are used more often for semi-structured tasks lists; templates are now used more for than 1/3 of the spreadsheets. The collaboration portal is sometimes used, generally as a repository for project related documents. This usage of the portal makes a small but perceptible dent in the number and length of required meetings, freeing up more time for productive work.

 

Medium-high Common Process

Although there are relatively few companies at this level of process, it is the most rapidly growing group and therefore the focus of much attention from the work management industry. Use of the collaboration portal has now exceeded the use of email for managing project work. Task lists are maintained there, as well as lists containing other project related data. Project teams come to the portal regularly to understand both their own responsibilities as well as those of the extended team. In many cases reporting, in the form of spreadsheets, charts and even dashboards can be found in the portal, significantly reducing the need for meetings and creating of presentations.

 

High Common Process

The elusive goal of many Project Management Office managers, this is where a true enterprise project management process and solution are used. The Enterprise Project Portfolio Management portal is the center for strategic decision making, project work management and resource management. Dashboards driven by sophisticated business intelligence capabilities all but eliminate the need for spreadsheets or presentations. In many cases, project work time is collected and used along with task status to understand actual spend, progress and estimate to complete. Predictable deliverable quality, completion schedule and cost become the norm rather than the exception.