Q&A with VP of Corporate Operations, Michael Stratton
Q&A with SAM VP of Corporate Operations, Michael Stratton
Q: Can you discuss how our project management process helps optimize resource allocation and project timelines?
A: Most mid-size and large companies struggle with maintaining good communication between different departments. As a result, departments can often end up working within separate silos rather than as a cohesive collective.
Effective project management (PM) greatly mitigates this via a Project Steering Committee (PSC) that includes Chief Officers and representatives for all departments. The PSC meets regularly to discuss all departments’ project needs and plans. Then, it prioritizes the company’s efforts to ensure the needed resources are applied to the most important and impactful items first.
This model also helps create better and wider-reaching solutions through greater awareness and combinations of efforts. For example, during a PSC meeting Ops explains they’re developing a new tool. It’s seemingly unrelated to the Accounting Department, but Accounting listens and realizes that if Ops added one more item to a dropdown list and automatically notified the appropriate Account Rep when that item was selected, that would streamline an accounting process and help ensure greater accuracy, timeliness, and client satisfaction.
So, instead of a different developer creating something separate for Accounting, the developer creating the Ops tool can simply add an item to a list and create an automatic email. Then, both Ops and Accounting will get what they need with effectively zero incremental effort. Likewise, prioritizing projects and initiatives in this way helps arrive at more accurate and achievable timelines because everyone involved is aware of who is working on which projects and how long each step should take, so it’s far easier to develop and adhere to project timelines.
Q: What strategies do you employ to foster collaboration and communication among different teams involved in a project?
A: To use the old cliché, it’s not rocket science: we simply treat all team members with respect and value everyone’s ideas and contributions. We allow no project to exist in a vacuum, and no one decides what works best for others without getting their input. The free and unselfconscious exchange of ideas is always critical to success, and we create an atmosphere that fosters such exchanges.
Similarly, we drive active and effective collaboration through regular meetings. Each project has a Project Team comprised of an executive representative for each department involved and various Project Workgroups, with at least one Workgroup per department.
The Project Team will, for example, meet weekly to address high-level issues and ensure the project continues moving forward. Each Project Team member ensures accountability for their department’s Workgroup(s). Each Workgroup may meet once or even multiple times per week to dive into the details and do the planning, development, and implementation work, with a Project Manager ensuring appropriate and effective communication.
Q: How does our project management strategy support the scalability and adaptability of our services for different client needs?
A: By helping ensure that all projects that support scalability and adaptability are properly prioritized and executed. Team members’ ideas and solutions are the drivers of scalability and adaptability; Project Management simply helps realize those solutions and positive outcomes in timely, efficient, and effective ways.
Q: What tools or technologies are most effective for managing projects and improving efficiency?
A: Project Management includes various forms that drive effective project completion. Just two examples are the Project Charter, which clearly outlines the project scope, who’s responsible for each piece, and other key data. Another is the Business Requirements form, which delineates everything the project will involve, where each item will be, what it will look like, how it will work, what other action(s) it triggers, and so on.
The forms are not just to check off boxes, as it were: they guide Project Teams and Workgroups through all the steps of effective Project Management and help ensure all elements of the project scope are accomplished on time.
There are also the standard technologies everyone uses, like Outlook, Teams, cell phones, etc., and tools specifically designed to manage projects, such as Trello, monday.com, or Microsoft Project. All such PM systems have plusses and negatives, and we are determining which will be best for us to adopt, given SAM’s specific needs.
Q: What are future plans or goals for the project management function within our company?
A: One item is adding a Project Manager to increase our capacity to help other departments realize their goals. Another is to create simplified versions of our PM forms for non-project work.
Only some initiatives will qualify as projects with a Project Manager. For example, the CCC may have a need that does not involve or affect any other departments and is small enough in scope that a small team within the CCC itself can implement the solution. That would not qualify as a project, and, therefore, the PM department wouldn’t have any direct involvement.
But, following general PM best practices would help the CCC team design and implement their solution as effectively and efficiently as possible, so we will create simplified versions of some PM forms that will act as resources for teams working on such non-project initiatives. As discussed above, the PM forms guide people through the steps of effective project management, so simplified versions can be a great asset to teams working on smaller and/or less complex efforts.
Are you interested in how our third-party management solutions can enhance your business? Send us an email at info@storageasset.com to connect!