Project Management Case Study #1

SITUATION

The ANZ Bank (ANZ) was in the middle of an initiative to centralise multiple legacy learning & management systems. The project called Stargate, was being delivered by BizEd (a consulting company), and the key stakeholders of both organisations were located across Sydney, Melbourne, and Canberra.  

 

ISSUE

The project status was ‘Green’ one week prior to a specific tollgate, then became ‘Red’ on the tollgate date with no plan or revised resolution date. ANZ lost confidence in BizEd and planned to terminate the project unless BizEd could provide a compelling case to proceed.

 

RESOLUTION

I was engaged as Project Manager by BizEd and charged with the responsibility of restoring confidence with ANZ as soon as possible. I met with ANZ the next morning and was able to instil enough confidence for to allow me a window of 2 weeks to define the issues, create a resolution, and provide a plan. 

 

My priority was to meet with team members individually to gain an understanding of the deeper issues. As is often the case with derailed projects the main issue was communication. Each key team member had concerns but didn't feel safe to communicate them for fear of being undermined. 

 

I was able to create a safe space for genuine communication as well as a new project plan, which I communicated to ANZ. The plan wasn't pretty, but it was real, and ANZ appreciated the transparency. 

 

The project team felt heard and after two months ANZ communicated that they were happy to proceed as long as I continued as the Project Manager. The technical issues grew as we dove deeper, but I provided regular, consistent & honest updates which were appreciated by ANZ.   

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