Scope Management Plan (SMP)
Industry: Consumer Finance
Services Provided: PMO Team Development, Program Management, Project Scheduling, Business Process Improvement, Methodology Enhancement,
Measurement and Metrics, Mentoring / Coaching, Agile Techniques, Workflow
Monitoring and Management
Company: A consumer finance company with locations across North America
Challenge: Changing state and federal regulatory compliance challenges caused this company to reinvent its custom-built storefront and home office systems. The IT
and PMO teams were geared more for operational maintenance rather than for the
complexities of developing new systems. This resulted in an overwhelming workload
and schedule overrun measured in years. Project personnel had suffered through
turnover of staff and technologies, requiring numerous restarts and integration
pmsolutions.com :: 800.983.0388 :: PMO Services :: Program & Project Managers :: PM Training & Development
client successes
PM Governance Combined with Agile Tools Improves Delivery and Quality of Financial Services Programs
VA L U E D E L I V E R E D
A years-overdue project was
brought to Operational Pilot,
saving millions in development
time. By applying agile
techniques the throughput of task
completions over time improved
by 400%, while rejection rates
of work submitted for QA testing
dropped from 30% to 5% over six
months.
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PM Solutions is a project management consulting firm that
helps PMO, project, and business leaders apply project
and portfolio management practices to drive performance
and operational efficiency. Comprehensive offerings include
PMO transformation, project portfolio management process
improvement, program and project management resources,
and corporate training and competency development
delivered through the training division, PM College.
Agile Tools and MethodsAgile Tools and Methods
•• Scrum meetingsScrum meetings
•• Small team leadershipSmall team leadership
•• Sprint planning sessions with BA, QA, Sprint planning sessions with BA, QA,
and business owner inputsand business owner inputs
•• Bimonthly sprintsBimonthly sprints
•• Information radiators using Atlassian’s Information radiators using Atlassian’s
JIRAJIRA
•• Burndown progress chartsBurndown progress charts
•• Completion metricsCompletion metrics
•• Quality assurance metricsQuality assurance metrics
•• Kanban for process flow trackingKanban for process flow tracking
•• Work in Progress (WIP) limits for Work in Progress (WIP) limits for
improved time managementimproved time management
•• Use of story formats for task namingUse of story formats for task naming
•• Use of EPICs to sync with the work Use of EPICs to sync with the work
breakdown structurebreakdown structure
about pm solutions
challenges. Even basic business
requirements needed to be re-
initiated. Little progress other than
some “wire frame” models and
discarded technologies had been
realized.
Solution: The company reached out to PM Solutions for a senior-level program manager to take charge of the situation. He recommended a “back to basics”
approach, including a full project review and the establishment of stakeholder
ownership and project governance. Business requirements were then developed
to guide the team in the work necessary to succeed. Gradually introducing agile
techniques permitted a quick restart, with a series of sprints to develop “proof of
concept” components of the system.
The company already had Atlassian’s JIRA system for operational maintenance,
and PM Solutions expanded JIRA’s use by creating workflows and tools to apply
the agile approach to a new development project. Embedding the PMO business analysts and quality assurance personnel with the
developers helped to improve timeliness and success rates for delivered work.
To help pace the work, a Kanban approach was introduced; this also assisted project management in tracking deliveries and
reporting progress to the stakeholders. Workload assignment overloads in a department tasked with supporting both new
development and operational systems, threatened to derail the project; however, introducing work in progress (WIP) limits improved
work throughput, and management effectiveness for the team.
The company next employed PM Solutions to develop a change management system that emphasized the early management
review of requirements and authorizations prior to work being assigned. This reduced the overall workload for the IT Department and
permitted company leadership to take part in priorities and resource utilization decisions, and focus on the “must haves” before the
“nice to haves.” Transparency in the system reduced the impact of politics in getting tasks and projects prioritized in the information
systems departments.
After numerous restarts and turnovers of staff and
technologies over the five years prior to PM Solutions’
involvement, the assigned consultant helped the PMO
reorganize the development team to include project
management, stakeholder governance, business analysis,
and quality assistance. With a team of up to a dozen
developers, the system was redesigned and delivered to
stores in four states as a production pilot in two years. The
team now focuses on improving and developing systems
in more states, taking into account complex differences in
federal and state legal requirements.
Employing Kanban via JIRA, and a theme of “stop starting
and start finishing,” the throughput of task completions
improved from about one task in 20 hours to one in
five hours of development time. Improved requirement
definitions, and quality assurance participation in
planning also played a large role in the improvements to
throughput. Rejection rates of work submitted for QA
dropped from 30% to 5% over six months running up to
the pilot deployment. Workflow and success rates are now
measured and monitored weekly and monthly. When some
IT managers reverted to a more “traditional” workflow,
rejection rates increased and throughputs slowed.
Active governance was applied to bring work practices
into conformance with the new, proven processes,
demonstrating the value of a strong metrics and monitoring
program.
results
C S
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pmsolutions.com :: 800.983.0388 :: PMO Services :: Program & Project Managers :: PM Training & Development
client successes
“PM Solutions was a tremendous help in getting us organized and focused. “PM Solutions was a tremendous help in getting us organized and focused.
The implementation of agile methodology with a Kanban approach was The implementation of agile methodology with a Kanban approach was
great for getting our development team workload to a manageable level great for getting our development team workload to a manageable level
and thus improved our output. and thus improved our output.
“Our PM Solutions’ consultant was professional and a great mentor and “Our PM Solutions’ consultant was professional and a great mentor and
coach, introducing many new ideas to help the PMO.” coach, introducing many new ideas to help the PMO.”
— PMO Manager— PMO Manager