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  "PageContent": "<h3>Embrace Change</h3>This article is for you if…..you manage technology and are involved in a project or programme and you are afraid to ask ‘who is suppose to be doing what?’Or…if you are regularly involved in technology change projects and you need a resource to share with your clients or internal customers because they keep asking you questions that are better answered by somebody else in the project team.Referenceshttps://sfia-online.org/enBackgroundIf you run a function that is about to or is going through a significant amount of changeChange either happens iteratively and continually or in a big step such as through a project or a programme. You are probably involved in continual change all the time either helping people develop their skills, tweaking a process or procedure and making small changes to reports or the systems that you use. However, when a project or programme comes along it usually accompanied by help from outside the function or organisation. Technology change projects can bring with them a bewildering number of people that have opaque job titles who seem to know what they are doing and you are probably wanting to ask “what exactly is it you do?”. This article helps you understand exactly what each job is designed to do and who you need to go to so you can find answers to your questions without being given the runaround. It explains who is on the hook for what and what outputs you can expect from all of these strange people that have invaded your space.If you help deliver changeIf you are involved in projects and programmes all the time you probably take for granted what everybody does. However, it recently came to me as a shock that one of my senior clients wasn’t aware of the differences in the key roles. So, if you are involved in the delivery of technology change then you can use this article as a resource to share upfront to demystify what it is you do.How this article helpsThe good news is that there is a really helpful online resource that is free for you to access for your personal knowledge, that is well laid out and can help you cut to the chase. What is even more surprising is that most people involved with technology don’t know that this resource exists.The bad news is that we often see ‘hybrid roles’ where people describe themselves as having a mixture of skills but we will get to this later.The theoryThe online resource is the Skills Framework for the Information Age (“SFIA”) and is the management system that you probably haven’t heard of. It defines the skills and competencies required by people who manage and protect the data and technology that power the digital world (SFIA Website). The people who are aware of it treat it with great affection and often call it ‘Sofia” or even “Sophie”. It is a relatively modern management system introduced in 2000 but is already on its 8th version. So how does SFIA it work? SFIA has a series of skills (think of them as job families) – for example, Information Security. For each skill, there is a ladder of seven levels starting at level 1, the lowest, going up to level 7, the highest. The levels are summarised as:SFIA describes not only the autonomy but also the level of influence for each level as well as the complexity, business skills needed, and the knowledge required to perform at that level.SFIA also provides guidance where certain levels are not normally seen within a job family. For example, Level 1 and Level 2 are rarely seen with the Information Security skill due to the complexity and skills required. Whereas Levels 6 and 7 are not normally seen for the Incident Management skill but levels 1 to 5 are.For each skill there are some guidance notes and it explains what you can expect from each level. There is also a useful list of links to related skills. For example, the related skills for project management are listed as:It is important to note that SFIA lists all aspects of technology that includes business change, data science, learning and education, selling, product management, support as well as core Information Technology skills.Project and Programme roles that you can expect to see that are covered by SFIA…The content below is to help you understand in practical terms what you can expect from the key roles you are likely to encounter. You can then use the SFIA material for more detail.Project ManagementThe Project Manager is the ‘Quarterback’. They might not score many points but they make all the play. However, in projects the project manager not only drives the project forward but also drives the defensive play as well. They make milestones happen (the ‘points’) and they are on top of the risks and have plans in place to ensure risks are minimised or don’t actually materialise (the ‘defence’)Even at the lowest SFIA level (level 4), the project manager defines, documents and executes the project. At level 4, the projects are small or even sub-projects and level 6 is reserved for complex projects. Level 7 isn’t usually a project manager role but somebody who sets the governance up for projects within an organisation or who authorises large-scale projects. However, at level 7 you can expect somebody will this level of skill to lead strategic, high impact, high risk projects.What you can expect from the project manager?That the project is delivered to time, to budget and to scope/quality. The project manager will often refer to their triangle of timescales, cost and scope. They are seen to only be able to manage these three variables. What outputs will the project manager own?a plan! This needs to be a series of activities that has start dates, end dates, milestones and named resources.a list of Assumptions; the Risk register; an Issues log and a table of Dependencies. This is often grouped together and referred to as an ARIDDetails of Project Management in SFIA can be found here.Different types of project managerGood project manages control their three variables intently. They will own the timescale, be meticulous about the scope and be heavily involved in the resourcing to ensure that the project gets done. There is a whole toolkit for managing change that a good project manage won’t hesitate to invoke should something change. Good project managers keep the risk register simple and proactively manage the risks.Exceptional project managers will work with stakeholders to ensure that no change comes as a surprise and provide costed options to the person accountable for the project in advance. The exceptional project manager will work with the sponsor/owner of the project sufficiently far ahead so that options are realistic and credible and avoid decisions being an inevitability.Blame the project manager if…the project is delayedthe project is over budgetthe project doesn’t deliver the features or benefitsIn particular, the project manager is at fault if there are any surprises with the timescales, costs or scope. Ultimately, it is the project sponsor that is accountable but the project manager will be controlling the timescales, budget and scope and managing change.Projects are remembered for being late, over budget or put something in place that is of poor quality.If you want the change to be successful, ask the project manger about…resourcingwhether the overall risk score is coming downwhat are the chances of hitting the next milestoneThings to look out for…Project managers can be light touch. It is common to have project managers on the project only one, two or three days a week.Business Analysis (or “Business Situation Analysis”; “Benefits Management’ and “Requirements Definition and management” in SFIA)A business analyst is used to investigate a particular business situation that might be a problem or opportunity. The skill level involved of the individual is linked to the complexity of the problem and the level of involvement of stakeholders. The SFIA model is quite tight for Business Analysis and only goes from level 3 to 6. What outputs will the business analyst own?problem statementsbusiness requirementsrecommendationsuse casesuser storiesvalue chains‘as is’ process maps‘to be’ process mapspain pointsBusiness Situation Analysis in SFIA can be found here , Benefits Management can be found here and Requirements definition and management can be found here.Sometimes the business analyst will be involved in scoping the testing. They can also be involved in writing a business case – especially the benefits section.“Pure play” business analysts are rare. They have a wide range of techniques and tools to get to the bottom of a problem or to be able to capture the benefits of an opportunity. Most sponsors of projects or programmes expect more outputs from a business analyst, however, most sponsors also significantly underestimate the effort and skills required to determine business requirements for a solution or the skills required to actually measure the impact of a problem.Different types of business analystsGood Business Analysts will work hard to ensure that the requirements catalogue is complete and create it in a timely fashion. Good business analysts will avoid ‘analysis paralysis’ and excessive delays. An exceptional business analyst will be able to articulate benefits as quantifiable, financial and cashable.Blame the business analyst if…requirements are missing (often not found until User Acceptance Testing and can cause cost over runs because of delays)‘as is’ processes that haven’t been discoveredrecommendations are not implementableIf you want the change to be successful, ask the business analyst about..reporting requirementsintegration requirementsdata migration requirementshow benefits are being measuredthreats to timescales, cost and scopeThings to look out for…the term ‘Business analyst’ covers a multitude of skills (3 across SFIA). Good ones are worth their weight in gold and most don’t command a high salary or day rate because they only cover a small set of the skills. Good ones are worth as much as project managers but are often seen as subservient. Try to determine which aspects of business analysis your business analysts are actually covering as it might leave gaps in your expectations.Programme ManagementProjects are common; programmes are rare because they are not understood. In SFIA, Programme management only exists at level 6 and 7 and so levels 4 and 5 at project management have no equivalent.So what is the difference between projects and programmes? Put simply,..…a projects delivers a single asset that is a tangible output through a unique and temporary organisation. They have clearly defined scope, start points and end points. Projects can be as short as 3 months and can be up to 2 years..…a programme delivers benefits and the deliverables maybe unclear at the start and the scope can change as the programme unfolds but ultimately are judged on the benefits (increased revenue; increased customer satisfaction etc). Programmes almost always have multiple projects (the “programme portfolio”) delivering separate assets and programme usually last start at 2 years and can go on for as long as 4 years and upwardsSo why is there confusion? There is a lot of overlap in terminology. For example, a project will have a business case that articulates the benefits (“programme speak”). Projects can have multiple work streams which can often be referred to as separate projects that contribute to the overall single asset. For example, a new IT system might have a reporting project; data migration project; integrations project…however, these all come together at the same point in time to create the new asset. This leads to a portfolio of projects (again, “programme speak”)True programmes are rare. However, ‘big’ projects might be termed as programmes to attract high calibre (“Level 6”) project managers and used to justify higher financial reward. Very few organisations have three levels of banding for project managers (which SFIA supports) but do refer to job descriptions as:project managerssenior project managersprogramme managersProgramme managers have overall accountability for each projectProgramme management in SFIA can be found here.This leaves nowhere to go when there is a genuine programme which is why sometimes the term ‘programme director’ is used to describe the person is actually running a true programme. Blame the programme manager if…benefits aren’t being realisedbenefits aren’t being tracked as each project is deliveredIf you want the change to be successful, ask the programme manager about..benefits trackingthe target operating modelthreats to benefitsThings to look out for…Programme managers often have project managers to support them. I’ve been a programme manager that had 22 projects in its portfolio and we had 4 project managers that handled 4 projects each at any one time. Project Management Office/PMO (or “Portfolio, Programme and Project Support” in SFIA)A good project manager will set the tools up so that tracking, recording, reporting and exception handling has minimum administration. However, big projects and every programme starts to get too big for an individual to control and they need help. This is where the PMO comes in.A PMO can either be set-up specifically for a project or programme or can lean on a central PMO within an organisation. What outputs will the PMO be responsible for (if there isn’t a PMO then this comes down to the project manager)…Reporting packs that include highlight reports, risk updates, milestone schedulesscheduling workshopsreducing admin for the project teamtooling (e.g. timesheets)Portfolio, Programme and Project Support in SFIA can be found here.Different types of PMO:Weather station: report status with an accurate short range forecast and somewhat variable long range forecastAir traffic control: they don’t fly the planes but do control when a plane (or project) can take off (project start-up) or land (project closedown)Resource pool: provide project managers, business analysts, project support staffBlame the PMO (or project manager if there isn’t a PMO) if…reporting packs are late or inconsistent actions are overduerisks aren’t being managedthe project team complain that there is too much admindecisions are not being taken on timeIf you want the change to be successful, ask the PMO (or project manger if there isn’t a PMO) about..benefits trackingthe target operating modelthreats to benefitsThings to look out for…if there isn’t a PMO and the issues highlighted above are starting to materialise then it is time to set-up a PMO. The project manager might not welcome this because it maybe seen that they are failing but if you are the sponsor of the project then you are accountable and need to actWhat type of PMO you actually have. Some will step in without asking if projects are off track, some will identify interventions and make recommendations and the weather stations will just tell you it is going to rain without telling you what to do about it.Technical Lead (“Solution Architecture” in SFIA)It is often assumed that the supplier will define what the solution looks like. However, rarely will a solution exist in isolation. Technical solutions, even cloud based products, need to be integrated with other technical products and the technical infrastructure of the organisation- “Solution architecture”. In addition, solutions need to be kept simple (using configuration not customisation; “No code/low code not pro-code”) and there needs to be a technical authority to oversee what the supplier is proposing at every turn- again, “solution architecture”.It is possible that somebody from the organisation’s IT team can be assigned to the project but this person needs the technical understanding of the solution that the supplier is providing as well as an understanding of the technical landscape of the organisation. Very few people have skills in both.What outputs will the technical lead be responsible for…Ultimately, the quality of the technical solution. Think of this as the supplier will deliver a washing machine but the technical lead is responsible for plumbing it in and wiring it up…a sustainable solution that the in-house team can manage once the supplier and project team have been disbanded and moved onDifferent types of technical lead:Information Technology covers a broad spectrum and solution architects typically from a specific background and so have a lean towards one of a number of areas‘data’ such as database managers or developers‘hardware’ such as servers and storage‘software’ such as coding and developmentsecurity’ such as information security analystsBlame the technical lead if…The solution doesn’t workThe users are frustrated with the user experience (e.g. too many clicks) There are data protection/information governance issues that delay implementationIf you want the change to be successful, ask the technical lead about..How technical decisions will be made?Where is customisation/pro-code unavoidable?What are the key technical risks?Which other organisations have successfully implemented what we are attempting (if any)Things to look out for…Try to find out what the technical lead’s background is and what they lean towards. For example, a software background might make them particularly skilled in the areas where coding is required (such as integration).The organisation may have an Enterprise Architecture function or individual who can provide standards and policies but is unlikely to be able to dedicate the time required in order to be involved in the number of design workshops, attend daily stand-ups and scrutinise the testing.Hybrid rolesThere is a lot of cross over in the project and programme management world. Things to look out for include:“PM/BA” (a Project manager and Business Analysis combined). This can be sometimes justified if a light touch project manager is required and the business process is relatively simple and not changing. In this instance you can expect, for example, the Project Manager to create the requirements catalogueTechnical Project Manager (a project manager combined with a solution architect).Project Manager/PMO. This is common on smaller projects where you have an experienced project manager. However, smaller projects with a level 4 project manager are often supported by a central PMO.",
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