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.

$

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

1 2

6 -0

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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