Verto Case Study: working with the City of Wolverhampton Council

The city of Wolverhampton lies at the heart of the Black Country and is one of three cities in the West Midlands region. The city and council are experiencing a period of unprecedented growth and transformation, highlighted recently when the City of Wolverhampton Council was awarded ‘Local Authority of the Year’ at the MJ Awards, 2017.

The council serves a population of around 250,000 across 20 wards. It has a mission to ‘work as one to serve our city,’ and a vision that by 2030 ‘Wolverhampton will be a prosperous and inclusive city that celebrates its diversity and heritage and plays its part on the regional, national and international stage.’

Like all local authorities, the City of Wolverhampton Council has a complex structure made up of the full council and its various committees, directorates and services.

The council works with a wide range of other organisations through several key partnerships, including the local strategic partnership for the area and the West Midlands Combined Authority.

It has to report regularly on its progress in delivering its plans, both within the council itself and to its various partners.

What the City of Wolverhampton Council wanted to achieve 

The City of Wolverhampton Council’s Projects and Programmes Team currently produces highlight reports on 59 projects and 32 workstreams. These are developed into an overall dashboard and shared monthly with the council’s wider leadership team.

Prior to using Verto the Projects and Programmes Team were preparing these reports manually. Now, with Verto, the process is automated, which makes best use of officer time and ensures information is prepared for senior managers in an efficient and cost-effective way.

How we’re helping the City of Wolverhampton Council achieve its goal 

When we started working with the council in 2015, we worked alongside the Projects and Programmes Team to configure Verto in line with their project management process, from a project’s initial proposal right through to its close.

We also worked with them to set up standard reports which can be produced at the press of a button.

“The team from TMI provided excellent customer service. They prioritised our change requests and are good at turning things round when we need them to – straight away if they can. And they use our feedback to help them develop Verto so we, and others, can get more from it.” 

Laura Palmer, Portfolio Delivery Manager, the City of Wolverhampton Council

How the City of Wolverhampton Council is benefiting from using Verto

Since using Verto the City of Wolverhampton Council has seen a number of benefits. Perhaps the most significant is that they now have a controlled management and workflow process across the council.

With Verto all the council’s programme and project data is in one place. This means the Projects and Programmes Team can support project managers and projects officers from start to finish. As Harpreet Riyat, the council’s Project and Resources Manager says, “Verto is very clear and easy to use. Everything is in front of you on one screen and it guides you through the whole process so it’s very easy to learn.”

The Projects and Programmes Team have established a bi-weekly Project Assurance Group (PAG). This has helped programmes and projects become more visible and made it easier for the group to establish links, find commonalities and break down barriers. As a result they have also been able to identify both financial and time savings.

The increased visibility of programmes and projects also makes it easier for the PAG to agree which proposals should proceed. And once projects are up and running, the Projects and Programmes Team can quickly and easily produce monitoring reports which show progress, outcomes and risks.

Because Verto is based in the cloud it allows for mobile working so staff can easily work on it where and when they need to. This also makes it easy for people to collaborate across partnership projects and programmes. They can then use Verto’s instant messaging tool to communicate with each other.

Harpreet Riyat also commented that using Verto has substantially reduced the Projects and Programmes Team’s need to use paper.

We continue to work with the City of Wolverhampton Council. Recently we supported their move to VertoPro and resolved small technical issues very quickly.

We are also due to set up and roll out a single sign-on which means users no longer need to log in to Verto with a user name and password. Instead Verto will automatically be available to them when they log on to the council’s system. This has removed a potential barrier to using Verto and encouraged more consistent use of the tool.

The Projects and Programmes Team would like to develop more intuitive reporting so are currently reviewing our latest reporting options. We will then configure the reports they’d like to use to suit their needs.

To find out more about how Verto can help your local authority please call us on 0118 334 6200 or message us here.


Verto Case Study: working with NHS West Cheshire Clinical Commissioning Group

NHS West Cheshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) is one of 207 CCGs across England responsible for the planning and commissioning of healthcare services for their local area. Each CCG must assess its local needs, decide on its priorities and buy appropriate services. As local needs change, which they constantly do, CCGs must also adapt and respond to these changes.

 

CCGs have to regularly report on their plans and progress to NHS England, to their local Health and Wellbeing Board and to the public in their area. Their success is measured on how much they improve outcomes.

 

West Cheshire CCG serves a population of about 261,000 and has an annual budget of around £330 million. The CCG is made up of 35 GP practices from three localities each with 3-clusters. Together they work to secure high-quality, high-value healthcare that meets the needs of their local population. Their stated aim is: “Making sure you get the healthcare you need.”

 

What West Cheshire CCG wanted to achieve 

 

West Cheshire CCG wanted to improve their programme management systems. They also had the challenge of needing to deliver a balanced budget in 2016-17 and again in 2017-18.  This meant they had to have a rigorous financial recovery plan in place that detailed how they would find savings of around £10 million in each of the two financial years.  As such it was essential that the CCG could:

 

  • Work to consistent processes
  • Easily and accurately monitor projects
  • Easily and accurately report on outcomes
  • Plan with confidence
  • Make efficiency savings

 

In particular, the PMO team were under pressure. They were managing all the CCG’s projects manually on excel spreadsheets. This was time-consuming and did not allow for robust risk management or confident reporting on milestones.

 

How we’re helping West Cheshire CCG achieve their goals 

 

We started working with West Cheshire CCG in July 2016. By September they were able to start introducing Verto to individual project leads. By March 2017, everyone who needed to be was working on the new system.

 

We configured Verto in line with how the CCG works and to make it easy for them to transfer their project data. This meant that when staff logged on for the first time they could immediately see all their project documentation.

 

“The team from TMI really listen. They’re keen to fix issues and do so in a really short time. They’re open to new ideas and see opportunities for development rather than problems. This makes the whole process of introducing a new system much easier.” 

 

Reza Rahmani-Torkaman, Head of Programme Management Office, West Cheshire CCG 

 

The benefits West Cheshire CCG is seeing

The way Verto is set up makes it easy for people to follow project management best practice. As a result, the PMO team say that since moving to Verto everyone is working in a more calm, controlled and consistent way. This means there is no longer a pressure to find funds to expand the PMO team. And may have helped the CCG deliver their planned savings in 2016-17.

 

Because Verto is based in the cloud, CCG staff and members can now access their data wherever they are and whenever they need. This is supporting more flexible working and is something people have commented they appreciate.

 

CCGs have to measure their progress against national data. Because Verto gives the PMO team reliable and current data they can now measure their progress, project future outcomes and plan with more confidence.

 

As well as the PMO team, Verto also gives individual commissioning managers, the finance team and the business intelligence team easy access to their project data. This means they can manage risk, monitor and report on projects in a much more robust way.

 

We continue to support and work with West Cheshire CCG as they introduce new programmes of work and develop new practices. For example, in the future they intend to work in partnership with other organisations and across boundaries to deliver some major projects. Verto will make this collaborative working much easier for them.

 

To find out more about how Verto can help your CCG please call us on 0118 334 6200 or message us here.

 


7 things you should be doing to keep safe if you're a mobile worker.

These tips will make your mobile working safer.

 

Remember Apple’s iPod ads where you could have 1,000 songs in your pocket? At the time, it was revolutionary.

 

Since then developments in technology mean we can now have our entire business in our pocket. And changes in the way we work mean more and more of us do.

 

Easy access to data and the ability to work where and when we need to have enormous benefits. But they also come with some risk.

 

Devices can easily be lost or stolen. Remote access increases the opportunities for data to be breached. And inexperienced staff may not keep up with safe working practices.

 

Verto is cloud-based project management software, which means your whole team can make the most of mobile working. To help you make the most of these opportunities, we’ve put together some tips on how to make mobile working as safe as it can be.

 

These are really simple things you can do that will protect your data, your organization and your staff.

 

  1. Insist all your team use a password, or better still finger print scanning, to lock their screen.

 

  1. Set up all your devices to wipe their data after the passcode has been entered incorrectly a set number of times.

 

  1. Use remote management tools to track, lock and even wipe the data on your devices.

 

  1. Smart phones can’t be tracked once their SIM card has been removed. So accept we all lose things from time to time and encourage your staff to report a lost or stolen device as soon as possible without fear of penalty.

 

  1. Make sure all your mobile devices have up-to-date malware protection, exactly as you do for your desktop devices.

 

  1. Make sure all your staff are aware of the risks linked to mobile devices. For example, they should only use apps that your IT team have confirmed as safe. And they should only ever access sensitive data via a password secured network.

 

  1. Limit the types of devices on your network. This will help them integrate seamlessly with your back-office systems and make it easier for you to keep security measures up-to-date.

 

It’s worth taking the time to make mobile working safe as the benefits are significant. For example, mobile working means flexible working, which is good for both employers and employees. It can help you recruit the best staff. And it can help you cut costs. For more on this see our blog about how flexible working can make you a better employer.

 

To find out more about how Verto can help you make the most of mobile working please call us on 0118 334 6200 or message us here.


Our five golden rules for a successful meeting

Our five golden rules for a successful meeting

 

In our post on 9th March, we looked at the top five skills all project managers should have. Number five on our list was being able to manage meetings. Because well-run meetings are such a vital part of a project’s success, we said we’d look at them again in a future post.

So today, we’re going to look at how you can make sure your meetings are a success.

The professional meeting goer

Many of us go to so many meetings it can seem like that’s all our job is. An endless round of agendas, minutes, background papers, reports, coffee, biscuits and hoping you’ll be able to park.

Will your morning meeting be over in time so you can go back to your office before your afternoon meeting? How many of the people who were in your last meeting will be in your next meeting? How many people do you only ever meet in meetings?

What are all these meetings for?

But, however much we may moan about them, we do need meetings. They’re a key part of how we share information, make decisions and keep a project moving forward.

Meetings can also be the only time different people involved in a project get to see each other. So they can be an important way to keep partners connected and involved.

How to make sure people come to your meetings

When people are confident that your meetings are relevant, useful, well run and overall a good use of their time, they’ll come to them. And, perhaps more importantly, they’ll keep coming.

This is key, because consistent commitment and participation from the right people is one of the things that will help your projects succeed.

So take a look at our golden rules for how to run a successful meeting. They’ll help your meetings succeed and, as a result, help your projects succeed too.

 

Our five golden rules for successful meetings

 

 1. Make sure you invite the right people

Only invite people who are involved in the business of the meeting, can contribute to it and make decisions - or who have a direct link to those who can. This is particularly important with public sector organizations where the decision-making process can have several layers and be complex.

Generally, for a meeting to be effective no more than 12 people should be part of the core group. However, from time to time you may also want to invite people who you need to hear from or who need to hear what you’re discussing.

 

2. Plan the meeting carefully

When you’re putting the agenda together make sure you stay focused on a clear outcome (or outcomes, but not too many – see point about timing below). Think about what the meeting needs to decide, discuss and hear about now. If something doesn’t require immediate action or isn’t clearly relevant, leave it for a later date or don’t include it at all.

Show whether each agenda item is for decision, information or discussion. As people are usually more lively and creative at the start of a meeting, put items that need mental energy and clear heads at the top of the agenda. However, it can also be helpful to put items of significant interest and concern further down the agenda. This can help people get over the natural attention lag that happens about 20 minutes in to a meeting.

It’s also worth thinking about the impact agenda items will have on the group. Some will bring people together while others can create a divide. The order in which you include these items will make a difference to the whole atmosphere of the meeting. For example, it is worth ending the meeting with an item that creates consensus so that people leave on a positive note.

 

3. Time the meeting carefully

Set a time for your meeting and stick to it. And try not to let it last longer than two hours. Meetings that go on too long become less effective.

Include the start and end time on the agenda as well as the timing for each agenda item. This will help keep people focused and prevent the meeting from overrunning.

We all hate lengthy meetings that go on and on so doing this will help people look at your meetings in a positive way and encourage them to attend regularly.

 

4. Set the right tone

You, or the chair, need to set the tone for the meeting from the start. Make sure it’s purposeful, focused and energetic. However, you also want people to feel comfortable and able to contribute so make a conscious effort to include everyone and allow some time for a more easy-going approach.

The right tone also relates to what happens outside of the meeting. So make it clear you expect people to prepare, to turn up on time, to participate and to carry out actions they commit to.

 

5. Follow-up the meeting properly

Once you’ve held your meeting send the minutes to everyone promptly, preferably within a week. Include the actions you agreed on and the names of the people who will carry them out.

Minutes also help people who weren’t at the meeting catch up on what was discussed and agreed. If necessary, get in touch with them in person to share what happened and discuss any particular issues with them. This will show they were missed and encourage them to stay committed to the work of the group and attend next time.

Well-run meetings are particularly useful when you’re managing multi-agency projects. They can bring people together who otherwise wouldn’t meet. They can help to define the partnership. And they can help people to understand both their collective aim and the way in which they and others can contribute to and influence this.

 

To find out more about how Verto can make your project management easier please call us on 0844 870 8785 or message us here.

How Verto Helps You Manage Risk

You’ll have noticed in our blogs that we often talk about risk and how important it is that you manage it well.

 

In our last blog we described effective risk management as being aware of everything that could go wrong, having plans in place to respond quickly if something does go wrong and updating these plans as the project progresses and the risks change.

 

Others say that risk management is about anticipating what could happen between where you are and where you want to be.

 

This means looking at:

 

  • What you’re aiming to do
  • What might go wrong and why
  • If it does go wrong, what would happen
  • What you can do to stop it happening or make it have less impact

 

You should identify potential risks as soon as you start to plan your project. And you should monitor them throughout the life of the project.

 

Verto can help you do this.

 

A quick and easy way to manage risk

 

One of the greatest risks to any project is poor communication. For example, John finds out that in order to meet the deadline for a bid a member of his team needs some information. He’s out of the office when he’s told this, so makes a note to sort it out when he gets back. However, events overtake him and his note gets lost in the pile of other things he has to do. The deadline passes and his project ends up short of funds.

 

With Verto, wherever John had been when he first heard about this risk, he could immediately have sent a message to however many members of his team he needed to. And they could have picked it up, wherever they were.

 

He could also have created a task to remind them what they needed to do and by when. He could then have set an alert to let him know when the task was complete or if it was at risk of being missed.

 

A quick and easy way to monitor risk

 

Of course, you’re aware of some risks from the start of a project.

 

Let’s look at another example from John. He’s managing a project and has six months to complete one part of it. From the outset, some of his team warned that it could take much longer than this. However, the management team chose not to restructure the whole project. Instead they asked for weekly progress reports and for John to have a contingency plan in place.

 

If John were using Verto he would have a clear and detailed view of all his projects, in one place. This would make it easy for him to keep a close watch on the part of his project that was at risk of overrunning. Verto’s automatic notifications would also alert him straight away if anything began to fall behind. So John would be able to step in and take immediate action. And he would be able to produce and share an accurate progress report so his management team were always well informed.

 

While this wouldn’t remove the risk, Verto’s tools mean John could stay in control of the situation rather than just respond to it.

 

After all, it’s better to manage a risk than manage a crisis.

 

To find out more about how Verto can help you manage risk please call us on 0844 870 8785 or message us here.


How Verto’s mobile working tools make collaboration easy for you

In our last blog we looked at the benefits of collaborative working and why it’s worth investing in. It’s been shown that when we work together costs go down, results go up, our learning improves and we have a more united voice.

 

This is why, increasingly, both public and private sector organisations are being encouraged to develop and maintain strong partnerships.

 

But, as we also acknowledged in our blog, collaborative working isn’t always easy. For example, how do you enable people across a range of organisations to communicate quickly and easily? How do you make sure everyone has access to the most up-to-date information? And, with so many people involved in a project, how do you stay on top of what’s going on?

 

We understand both the value of collaborative working and the barriers to making it a success. This is why we designed and developed tools that directly overcome these barriers. And allow you to enjoy all the benefits of working with others.

 

Project updates and notifications

 

Verto’s updates and notifications help you track projects and stay on top of tasks.

 

You can create different task lists to help people manage their work. These lists can be for individuals, specific teams or everyone involved in the project, whichever is best for you.

 

You can then set Verto’s notifications to keep you and other members of the project up to date with what’s going on. You’ll know when someone has completed a task and you’ll know when things start to fall behind. This means you can take action immediately and make sure your project stays on schedule.

 

Instant messaging

 

Verto’s instant messaging tool means you can keep in touch with everyone involved in your project, quickly, easily and whenever you need to. And they can keep in touch with you too.

 

You can check in with one person, bounce ideas off a whole team and update everyone involved in the project.

You don’t always know when you’re going to need a piece of information - perhaps you’re in a meeting and you’re asked for a specific cost that you don’t have to hand. That’s no problem with Verto as you can simply message the person who has the answer. And they can get back to you in an instant.

 

File sharing

 

When a lot of people are involved in a project, it’s vital everyone has access to the same information.  Verto makes this easy too.

 

When you use Verto you can store all your documents in the cloud. This means anyone who needs to can access a document to read or update it. Whenever they need to and from wherever they are.

 

Crucially, Verto’s inbuilt document control tool also means you can be sure you’re always looking at the most up-to-date version of any file.

 

And remember, because Verto is based in the cloud, you can use it on almost any device, at any time, wherever you are.

 

To find out more please call us on 0844 870 8785 or message us here.


Why it’s Worth Investing in Collaborative Working

No one ever said collaborative working is easy. To make it a success definitely takes effort. But making that effort is worthwhile because the benefits of collaborative working can be significant, for both your service users and the organisations taking part.

 

In future posts we’ll look at some of the barriers to collaborative working, what can go wrong, and how you can make it easier.

 

But for now, perhaps because we’re still in a positive New Year frame of mind, we’re going to focus on the benefits of collaborative working.

 

What is collaborative working?

 

Before we start, it’s worth being clear what we mean when we say collaborative working.

 

There are many definitions posted on the web and published in guidance documents, some of which will suit your organisation and specific collaboration better than others.

 

From our experience supporting people and organisations involved in collaborative working, we’re happy with:

 

Collaborative working is two or more departments or organisations working together. This may be to contribute to a particular activity, function or project, or to contribute to a new organisation. The arrangement may be for a fixed time or it may be permanent.

 

Why do we work in collaboration?

 

It’s also worth looking at what’s driving us to work in collaboration.

 

The impetus may come from public opinion, government policy and the ongoing public sector drive for improved efficiency and effectiveness – most likely it’s a combination of all three.

 

However, what initially led to the collaboration is less important that what the outcomes may be. Because when collaborative working goes well, these can be extremely positive.

 

 

  1. Collaborative working helps you save money

 

Organisations working together are usually much more cost-effective than, what we now call, silo-based working. From joint procurement to cutting duplication, there are many ways that collaborative working can lead to savings. As evidence of this, our clients are currently using Verto to help them track £13.2 billion of planned savings.

 

  1. Collaborative working helps you be more effective

 

At the heart of collaborative working is improving outcomes for service users. When we focus more on why we’re providing a particular service and work together to find solutions, both of which collaborative working makes us do, we’re more likely to make a positive difference.

 

  1. Collaborative working helps you learn, share and repeat success

 

Closely linked to the point above, working with others and learning from their knowledge and experience, helps us understand more about what we really need to provide and how best to do this. Over time, services can become more resilient and expertise in teams can grow.

 

  1. Collaborative working helps you build a strong and united voice

 

When we share our knowledge and experience, we may also uncover shared problems and concerns. If we then need to lobby for change, one clear message sent by many will have much greater impact.

 

 

We designed Verto to help make collaborative working easier and more successful for you. In future blogs we’ll look in more detail at how Verto’s specific tools do this. Because whether you want to make communication, reporting, risk analysis, task management, resource management, performance planning or document storage and sharing easier, we can help.

 

For more information please call us on 0844 870 8785 or message us here.


Happy New Year! We’d Like to Help You Get 2017 Off to a Flying Start

The merry and indulgent days of Christmas are behind us for another year and it’s time to get back to work. It can be hard to be enthusiastic during the dark days of January, so anything that helps us ease back into work after the holidays is always welcome.

We’ve pulled together some of our favourite comments on collaborative working and project management to motivate you for the year ahead. They remind us how rewarding and exciting working with others, planning and delivering successful projects can be.

Take a break for a few minutes and read them. We think they’ll inspire you and help get 2017 off to a flying start.

 

 

“Project managers are the most creative people in the world. We have to figure out everything that could go wrong before it does.” Fredrik Haren, author and speaker on business creativity, innovation and change.

 

“As a collaborative leader, you support people in their work – you remove roadblocks and help them win.” Kenneth H. Blanchard, American author

 

“They [project managers] are organized, passionate and goal-oriented, who understand what projects have in common, and their strategic role in how organizations succeed, learn and change.” Project Management Institute

 

“Collaboration is about team work. It’s not a cliché, it’s a practical reality.” JA Perez, humanitarian and author

 

“Project managers function as bandleaders who pull together their players, each a specialist with individual score and internal rhythm. Under the leader’s direction, they all respond to the same beat.” L.R. Sayles, Emeritus Professor, Columbia University

 

“Open collaboration encourages greater accountability, which in turn fosters trust.” Ron Garan, astronaut, speaker, entrepreneur

 

“Project managers rarely lack organisational visibility, enjoy considerable variety in their day-to-day duties, and often have the prestige associated with work on the enterprise’s high-priority objectives.” Meredith and Mantel, authors

 

“An outstanding project manager is able to take the team on a journey by sharing an appealing vision and a roadmap for achieving that vision.” Susanne Madsen, project leadership coach and author

 

“Project managers need to be unique when it matters; finish what they start and show strong leadership.” Lindsay Scott, careers specialist and director at Arras People, a project management recruitment company

 

“Project management isn’t just about working with tasks and deadlines. It’s about working with and understanding people. If you’re a good communicator and collaborator then you will also be a great project manager.” Jacob Morgan, author and journalist

 

“Project managers seem to forget that many of the conventional forms, charts and tables they must fill out are intended to serve as aids, not punishments.” Mantel, Meredith, Shafer and Sutton, authors

 

And finally;

 

“I’m a project manager, not a magician. Magicians have way cooler hats.” Merlin Mann, writer, blogger and podcaster

 

 

Whatever hat you wear (or don’t), we wish you a happy, healthy and successful 2017. And if you’d like to make success easier this year, with all your project management and communication tools in one place, Verto can help.

 

For more information please call us on 0844 870 8785 or message us here.


Our Top Ten Tips for Project Management Best Practice

However many projects you manage, no two will ever be the same. Even where projects share some aspects, they are unlikely to be totally alike. For example, the project team, stakeholders, funding streams or key targets could all be different.

 

However, some areas of best practice apply to all the projects you manage. Have a look at our top ten tips and make them part of the way you work. You’ll find your job will become easier and your projects will be more likely to succeed.

 

1. Plan your project properly

Thorough planning before the project starts will help you be clear and realistic about what the project is meant to achieve. This means you can set well-defined success criteria that you can measure and report on.

You’ll be able to make sure you have the right budget, the right resources and the right skills on the project team. It will also help you identify and plan for potential risks and set realistic timescales.

 

2. Start your project properly

To help set the tone for your project and create some energy around it, start it formally with a meeting or event.

Invite all your stakeholders and use it as an opportunity to remind everyone of the project’s aims and the part they’ll all play in its delivery – and ultimate success.

 

3. Keep in touch with all your stakeholders

Once your project is up and running make sure you communicate regularly with everyone involved. Let them know what’s going on, including any problems, risks and delays. Be sure to share successes too, like when milestones are reached, to acknowledge people’s input and say thank you.

How you share information can include anything from a simple message to one person right through to a formal report to the project board. What’s important is to make sure everyone is as up-to-date on the project as possible.

 

4. Ask for feedback

Alongside keeping in touch with everyone involved in your project, ask them to share information with you too. Encourage people to give their feedback, as this will help them stay involved with the project and keep you in touch with what’s going on.

You can also use feedback to help you learn and improve your own performance.

 

5. Keep an up-to-date and detailed work plan

A detailed work plan will help everyone know what they’re responsible for and will make it easier for you to measure progress, hit milestones and meet deadlines.

These days, cloud-based applications make it easy to share documents. So update your work plan regularly and store it in the cloud so everyone can work off the current version.

 

6. Record everything that happens

Make sure you record everything that happens on your project and use it to improve performance across the board. You can learn from what has worked as well as from what hasn’t. You’ll also build a valuable source of data to help with your reporting and future planning.

 

7. Learn to say no

When someone asks you to take on more work or responsibility it’s tempting to say yes, especially when you know that’s what they want to hear. But always saying yes can easily lead to overload and a reduction in performance across the board.

So only say yes to new tasks or commitments when they won’t have an adverse effect on the priorities you’ve already agreed. Even small changes can accumulate over time and have a significant impact on your project.

 

8. Always document and agree any changes to the scope of the project

It’s likely that at some point in the life of your project, its scope may need to change. This may improve the overall benefit of the project but it can also have a negative impact.

So, before you go ahead with changes to the scope of your project, make sure the project board understands their potential impact and agrees to them. Finally, make sure you document the changes and update your project plan.

 

9. Be ready to respond to risk

Risk is a normal part of any project so you should build risk analysis in from the start. You can manage risk and minimise its effect by having a clear view of all the project’s potential risks, and mechanisms in place to let you know as soon as one arises.

The quicker you respond to risk the less impact it will have and the more likely it is that your project will stay on track.

 

10. Take time to reflect on the project when it’s ended

When your project has ended, involve the whole project team in reflecting on how it went. Look back in detail on how the project ran, its key events and issues. Learn both from what went well and what could have gone better.

Ask, for example, if the project delivered what it set out to achieve? Could it have done more and delivered bigger benefits? What went wrong and how could you have avoided these problems?

 

Use this learning to improve your own practice and share it with others to help future projects succeed. 

 

Verto’s cloud-based software makes managing projects easy for you. For example, its instant messaging tool, flexible reporting, instant updates, inbuilt version control and instant access to your documents and lessons learnt will all help you put these best practice tips into action.

 

For more information please message us here.


Who can benefit from Verto’s project management software?

You can benefit from Verto’s collaboration and project software, even if you don’t have the words programme or project management in your job title.

It doesn’t matter if you work in the public or the private sector either.

 

The benefits of our cloud-based software extend to a wide range of roles in a wide range of organisations, such as:

  • Private sector companies from SMEs to large corporates
  • NHS STPs
  • Other NHS organisations and health authorities
  • Local authorities including county, city and borough councils
  • Fire and Rescue Services
  • Government departments
  • Shared services organisations

 

Any PMO, organisation or individual who manages a number of different projects will benefit from using our software. For example, Peterborough City Council was managing 70 individual projects when we started working with them.

And any organisation working in collaboration with others will benefit from Verto’s shared platform too.

 

Verto can help you with:

  • Service delivery
  • Performance planning
  • Client and stakeholder engagement
  • Programme control and governance
  • Risk analysis
  • Shared practice
  • Managing resources
  • Flexible working
  • Costs and timesheets
  • Measuring project delivery
  • Business intelligence and reporting

 

We don’t just provide the software either.

We can train you and your team how to use Verto, and train you to train others in your organisation too.

We can help you move your operations to the cloud.

We can configure Verto to suit your individual requirements. For example, we can help NHS organisations run their QIPP reports and ISFE returns.

We can help you manage corporate transformation programmes.

We can help you manage your capital portfolio.

We can help you improve levels of governance and visibility across your projects.

And we can help you manage resources more effectively and make savings – to date we’ve helped our clients plan and track savings of £13.2 billion.

 

We could go on, but the best way to find out how Verto can help make your work easier is to talk to us. Please message us here.