A case study in Program and Project Management'

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A case study in Program and Project
Management. Business Statistics Innovation
Program (BSIP)
Melanie Taylor Section Head, ESG Coordination and
Support
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Session Outline

• Background information
• What is the Business Statistics Innovation
  Program
• What we achieved
• Managing the program - How we did it
• Planning
• Implementing
• Managing and monitoring
• Tools and templates used
• Outcome realisation
• Measuring the success of the program
• Lessons learned

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What is BSIP

• Fundamental change to the way we do business in
  ESG
• Moved from subject matter specialisation to
  functional specialisation
• Significant role changes for many sections and
  staff
• Movement of many surveys across state offices
• Establishment of many new sections

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Background

• Developed a set of Strategic Scenarios for the
  future organisation of ABS business statistics in
  the second half of 2001
• Project driven by an expected reduction in
  availability of resources of about 12 over the 3
  years to June 2005
• Also very conscious of opportunities to improve
  aspects of provider and client relationship
  management and methodology and technology use

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Background

• Final decision taken in February 2002 to adopt a
  compromise model called the Middle Ground
  Option
• Implementation commenced from July 2002, with
  organisational transition expected to be
  completed by June 2005
• No additional resources provided from government
  to assist the change process
• An overall reduction of some 134 staff years
  expected with no disruption to business continuity

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Economic Statistics Data Centre

• Responsible for
• Provider advocacy and interests
• All business based registers and survey frames
• Despatch and collection management including
  follow-up and imaging
• Most survey activities prior to input editing
• Main functions include
• Business register,
• Survey frame creation and management
• Sample design and selection
• Instrument development, testing and production
• Despatch, collection and data capture (imaging)
  of all forms
• Written and telephone reminder action and
  complaints handling
• Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI)
• Administrative and electronic data acquisition

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Economic Statistics Data Centre

• DCU Despatch and Collection Unit
• PCU Provider Contact Unit
• CMU Collection Management Unit
• BRU Business Register Unit
• ADAU Administrative Data Acquisition Unit

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Business Statistics Centres

• Responsible for
• Survey design and content
• Quality assurance (editing) of survey data
• Most editing and output functions
• Main functions include
• Specification of collection methodologies and
  output requirements
• Leadership in collection instrument content
  design
• Unit record processing, quality assurance and
  data analysis
• Statistical frameworks, standards,
  classifications and concepts
• Design and production of regular outputs
• Quality assurance of regular outputs incl.
  clearance materials
• Evolutionary survey research, development and
  analytical work

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Business Statistics Centres

• Economy Wide Surveys
• International Investment
• International Trade in Goods and Services
• Financial Surveys
• National Accounts
• Labour
• Prices

• Agriculture
• Environment
• New Economy (research and development,
  innovation, ICT)
• Service Industries
• Construction
• Transport
• Tourism

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National Statistics Centres

• Responsible for
• Statistical leadership in at least one field of
  statistics
• Key client relationship management
• International contribution and liaison
• Main functions include
• Prime carriage of the interests of the National
  Statistical Service
• Maintain close relationships with key clients
• Understand policy debates and their potential
  statistical impacts
• Lead development of statistical issues within and
  outside the ABS
• Lead role as expert in national and international
  statistical frameworks and standards, development
  and implementation
• Undertake complex and/or cross-cutting analytical
  work

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National Statistics Centres

• National Accounts
• New Economy
• Financial Accounts
• Public Accounts
• Environment
• Goods and Services

• Economic Standards and Classifications
• Business Demographics
• Integration
• Balance of Payments
• Prices

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BSIP - Outcomes sought

• Improved efficiency/productivity
• Methodological and technological improvement
• Improved data quality
• Improved management of providers
• Capacity to respond to emerging needs
• Stronger statistical leadership
• Enhanced opportunities for staff

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Main Achievements

• Resource/productivity savings have been achieved
• Aimed to reduce from 1,029 staff to 895 staff
• Outcome appears to be about 856 staff
• Saving of 173 staff years or about 17
• Majority of the organisational change has been
  completed
• Business continuity maintained
• Improved cost and quality data available
• Improved methodologies and technologies
• IFP, PIMS, IDW, ABS, telephony

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Main Achievements

• Improved provider management practices
• PIMS
• Inward contact
• Follow-up escalation
• Centralised complaints handling
• Improved data capture
• More consistent instrument design
• Improvement in response and imputation rates
• Significantly improved clearance processes

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Main Achievements

• BSCs better able to focus on data quality
  management and outputs
• NSCs better able to focus on client
  relationships, research collaborations,
  frameworks, and international involvement
• Improved client relationships
• Development of Information Development Plans
• Research collaborations

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Main Achievements

• Clearer range of skill and experience options for
  staff
• Opportunities for staff to be involved in new
  work
• Staff involvement in a developing rather than
  static environment providing opportunity for
  innovation
• Greater attention to analytical skills development

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Project management - The theory

• ABS Project Management framework
• Covers all aspects of project management from
  planning to completion of project assessment
• Tools - PMF DB - Provides templates and
  practical tools
• Provides numerous reporting mechanisms for
  monitoring and managing outputs
• Allows for monitoring of budgets
• Shows dependencies and timelines
• Tools and reports accessible by all senior
  managers involved in running the project
• Scalable framework - only use the items you need

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Project management - The theory

• Planning activity needs to be very detailed for
  work in the short term - less detailed for work
  further away (update when information is
  available)
• Planning must include work to be done in total,
  including estimated starting and completion dates
  and any interdependencies
• Resource assignment - balancing conflicting
  timelines and resource workload is essential
• Allocating responsibility to relevant persons -
  clear communication of expectations of
  deliverables

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Project management - The theory

• Project management tools need to allow for good
  monitoring and management of both individual
  tasks and groups of activities
• Need to be able to identify dependencies
• Monitor and manage risks and issues
• Role of the project manager cannot be
  underestimated
• Must coordinate across all involved areas
• Project manager responsible for elevating
  unresolved matters to the project board
• Communication with team is critical - regular
  meetings and briefings needed

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Project management - The theory

• Outcomes - not the responsibility of the project
  manager - relies on users uptake of the product
  or process being delivered by the project
• Cannot be considered achieved until the products
  of a project are utilised
• Can be difficult to measure or to define well

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Managing BSIP - How we did it

• A great deal of time planning. Between 10 and
  15 of the program time spent in planning
  activities
• Involvement from most areas of the organisation
• Very high level of organisational awareness of
  plans and changes occurring
• Strong governance - Program board - High level
  cross Divisional representation
• Central team for implementation and coordination
  made up of cross divisional members.
• Remained focussed on the outcomes, while
  monitoring the outputs
• Enterprise architecture changes driven by
  business needs not by technological or
  methodological changes

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Managing the program - How we did it.

• Program Management Board
• included an outside expert
• met monthly for first 18 months, then quarterly
• focussed mainly on outcomes realisation
• regularly reviewed progress in related clusters
  of work
• took a particular interest in methodological and
  technological developments
• Implementation Coordination Team
• Secretariat to the Program Board
• Monitored milestone planning
• Acted as an intelligence gatherer and problem
  solving unit

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Managing the program - How we did it.

• Line Managers
• responsible for transition planning and
  implementation
• set milestone targets and managed processes
• very significant staff communication and guidance
  role
• attended Program Board discussion of their
  Cluster Reports

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Managing the program - How we did it

• After agreement reached on the plan - 2002.
  Large 4 day planning offsite involving all ESG
  senior managers and many other ABS senior
  managers
• Planning workshop allowed managers involved to
  gain common understanding of size of the program
  and began the process of planning individual
  section changes
• Initial operation plans were drawn up offsite -
  developed further in the next few months
• Detailed communication and HR strategies were
  developed and widely promulgated
• Many staff awareness raising sessions
• Commitment of staff to the success of the program
  was high

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Managing the program - How we did it

• Getting staff involved and onside was critical to
  success of the program
• Staff involvement started with discussions on
  strategic scenarios
• Regular briefings for staff and unions
• Issued draft proposals for comment which were
  then altered based on staff feedback
• Eventual model incorporated some compromise
• Extensive use of consultative forums
• Allowed space for some staff driven change
• Strong, visible, consistent commitment and
  messages from management

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Managing the program - How we did it

• Staff were sceptical at first
• Concerned about job security, Work availability,
  forced redundancy and skill development
• Early on staff commitment was reluctant but they
  were committed to the organisation
• Were concerned that the new model might not work
• Over time growing trust and commitment
• Now staff are looking to leverage off the
  opportunities BSIP has presented them with

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Managing the program - How we did it.

• Utilised the ABS Project Management Framework to
  manage the large number of projects within the
  program.
• Each affected area specified their own
  timetables (within the broader plan) entered then
  into the DB
• ICT monitored and reported on progress to the
  program board using various tools
• Numerous workshops and information sharing
  sessions held

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Managing the program - How we did it.

• There were many distinct projects within this
  program which amounted to over 800 individual
  milestones being entered into the Project
  Management DB
• Each was represented in the DB (although one
  entry often represented many tasks)
• Some of those projects have their own PMF tools
  to manage them as they are very complex (ie IDW)
• Many interdependencies to manage
• Risks and issues managed via registers

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Managing the program - How we did it.

• Projects and milestones were linked to outcomes
  for reporting
• Program board focussed on the outputs initially
  then outcomes as the outputs began to be
  delivered
• Outcome realisation measured at the conclusion of
  the 3 year program
• Several outcomes obviously achieved, some
  obviously secured but not yet achieved.

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Lessons Learned

• Need to be clear and focussed at the start about
  the outcomes being sought
• Implementation strategies need to be tightly
  related
• Know what you want to achieve by the end of the
  transition, vs what you want to have secured by
  then
• Keep the amount of change manageable (for
  example, we delayed work on editing
  re-engineering even though it was/is one of our
  main priorities)

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Lessons Learned

• Good governance arrangements critical
• Importance of regular, open, realistic
  communication with staff at all times
• Need for management solidarity regarding
  objectives and progress
• Get skills development processes in place early
• Move as quickly as possible beyond transition to
  the new business operating model

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Conclusion

• BSIP has successfully positioned ABS in terms of
  both
• resource management within budget and
• establishment of an infrastructure that will
  support management of ABS business statistics
  into the future
• This achievement is to the enormous credit of ABS
  staff who have supported the change process
  despite significant transitional impact on their
  work and their careers

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