Top tips to successful PPM in the education sector

By Shan Ali, Manager, Moorhouse Consulting Ltd.

The spotlight is firmly on the UK education sector right now. Schools, Governing Bodies and Local Authorities are delivering education reforms across the country and under pressure to drive change, and many have new initiatives in place to do so.  But are your change programmes actually delivering the benefits you need?  Are your major project teams working effectively?

Read on for our top 8 tips to successful programme and project management:

1. Put on the shoes of your end users

Work hard to really understand the needs of those involved in delivering transformation in education - be they teachers, school leaders, business managers or anyone with responsibility for delivering the front line service.  Don’t assume you know the answers; live their experience, go and talk to them, all of them (or at least a representative sample). Solutions often lie in the trade-off between one group and another. The Children’s Plan has child-centric provision as its core, for instance, and the old divisions between professions and agencies are no longer relevant.  It is essential that all the nuances of previously separate disciplines are accounted for, and accommodated to achieve coherent delivery and true multi-agency working.  This may mean a fundamental rethink of the roles people need to adopt around the provision of services. 

2. Keep your stakeholders close

Today there are many ‘proxy’ organisations, elected or otherwise, who represent the interests of others affected by your proposed plans. Your stakeholders may be a wider ranging group than you might at first think, and will almost certainly include this extended community.   Getting to know the landscape and forging key relationships is critical to success, and the ability to connect with those beyond the immediate area of activity will become more important as your change initiatives become more complex.  And don’t just work on those who hold the same views as your own. Invariably, you will learn more and make more progress if you openly engage those who disagree with you.  It is this dialogue where new solutions are found.

3.  Build a compelling case for change, and involve those affected in the process

People accept change more easily if they understand why it needs to happen and are involved in shaping the future.  So involve them. If, for example, a successful outcome is improved premises and facilities, be sure to address the “what’s in it for me” dimension for those who might be on the periphery, and who might not automatically be in tune with the reasoning for the change. Involve your end users in the process of defining requirements, shaping options and evaluating solutions.  Create a forum that meets regularly and helps guide your thinking. Make sure that you have representation from across the board, whether business managers, policymakers, professional associations, teachers, pupils, parents and the community as a whole.

4.  Develop a shared vision

The most common reason for change projects failing is that people don’t share the same vision. You need to glue your stakeholders together behind one simple and powerful story that tells what needs to be achieved and why.  The trick then is to distil this down to its simplest form. If this is, for example, enhancing physical education facilities, then make this your key message and share it regularly with your stakeholders, in an easy to understand format. A diagram, one pager or even a cartoon work well.  Once people are hooked in to it they then do something really powerful - they take the story and make it their own, adding personal benefits to it.  Once you have those most affected (such as pupils) sharing why the vision works for them, half your battles are won.  And don’t forget the wider community- they will have an interest too.

5. Don’t underestimate the approval dimension

Much change in education requires approval, whether from Governors, councils, Ministers or others.  Problems with approvals are widely recognised as a cause of failure and slippage.  Don’t underestimate the time (and cost) required to secure approvals from partners, colleagues, policymakers or those directly responsible for delivery.  Ensure that reaching consensus is properly planned for and managed.  Don’t over promise on delivery while consensus is being built.  The hardest part of this to manage is the political dimension, so be sure you have the appropriate skills, knowledge and relationships in your team to make this work.

6. Create momentum through quick wins

The rapid delivery of small but meaningful ‘no brainers’ sends out powerful messages to the organisation.  As the old adage goes, ‘actions speak louder than words’.  The successful delivery of these quick wins signals that you mean business, which builds your credibility and allows you licence to do bigger things.  Importantly, it demonstrates to your delivery team that they can really make a difference and spurs them on to achieve even bigger and better things.  For the senior owner it provides useful material to build the case for even greater levels of change. For example, staged opening of facilities will let people really feel the progress for themselves, and will emphasise that change is real and well underway. 

7. Manage the downside but lead the upside

Risks and benefits will be the undoing or making of your programme or project.  Make everyone involved aware of the risks and benefits associated with what you are trying to achieve so they can stay focussed not only on the goal but what might trip them up along the way.  Plan for the ‘unthinkable’ – just in case.  Record the key points in risk charts and benefits profiles, and share them with the team.  Find a standard, flexible approach to spotting, managing and mitigating potential risks and get people trained in how to use it. But remember, uncovering risks can also introduce you to new solutions and opportunities…so be flexible enough to embrace these if they come knocking.

8. Pick and build the winning team

A premiership football manager is constrained by the players in the squad.  Similarly, team choice is often constrained by who is available.  The art of the football manager is to place individuals into the most appropriate role to maximise their talents, apply individual coaching to further build on their strengths, address their weaknesses, and coach the team collectively so that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.  You need to do the same.  Engender a tribal spirit and create a winning team.  If that means transferring top talent from another organisation to fill a key position, so be it.

© 2008. Moorhouse Consulting Ltd.

If you would like to talk to us call on the number below. Alternatively, click on the consultants email address, provide us with your details and we will call you back. We look forward to speaking to you. Contact: Email: Tel: Shan Ali shanali@moorhouseconsulting.com +44 (0) 20 3004 4482