Project & Program Management
Our team brings experience with all aspects and levels of project-related issues to help our clients successfully deliver one project or many. Our highly skilled and seasoned consultants provide high value solutions for short, medium, or long-term projects. We also provide interim or advisory services to reduce risk and help you invest in your staff. We estimate, plan and manage business projects, application projects, product selection and integration projects. Moreover, we send our project managers to you with full backing and support from our own Operations and Delivery best practices, tools and executive guidance team.
Our collaborative approach provides a unique perspective that spans from C-level executives to project managers while ensuring that project goals and objectives are met. Each engagement will establish a business case, expected Return on Investment (ROI) and alignment with your business strategy to ensure that business and financial benefits can be measured.
Many of our projects require change management and vendor management experience to successfully deliver, and we provide that assistance on an as-needed basis.
Project Management
When the focus is on an individual project, Bluestone’s consultants combine a solid grounding in best practices endorsed by organizations like the Project Management Institute and the Software Engineering Institute. With years of practical experience customizing Project Management approaches to suit the culture and conditions of the individual project, Bluestone will:
- Apply the client’s life cycle methodology and work practices
- Establish a collaborative interaction with the client team
- Provide supportive team building and management
- Estimate and plan the project
- Initiate the project with confirmation of its charter and scope
- Measure and track project progress, budget, schedule, scope, risk, and quality
- Perform vigilant but practical monitoring and control
Program Management
When a client’s challenge is a group of related projects that needs to be coordinated and managed in an integrated way, Bluestone’s Program Management team leverages their experience handling the special types of complexities, nuances, and logistical challenges programs can face. The Program Manager attends to the management of the group of projects in the aggregate and acts as sort of a first-level Program Management Office (PMO) for the projects:
- Establishes program-level methods, standards, and procedures to ensure consistency and quality across all of the related projects.
- Arbitrates contention for the allocation of resources and staff to projects, prioritizes and schedules projects, and facilitates cross-project communication.
Project / Program Governance
Bluestone’s Program Management and Methodology team specializes in assisting clients with establishing or maturing a PMO or other Project Governance organization. An effective governance organization must operate in alignment with the organization’s corporate goals and executive requirements, accounting and investor perspective, and team needs for support and growth. Such an organization may perform some or all of four key functions:
- Project Portfolio Management
- Project Launch Support
- Project Delivery Management
- Project Methodology Management
Through these functions, the governance organization ensures that:
- Client assets are spent on the right projects;
- Projects get a healthy start;
- Effective oversight and support is provided during project delivery; and
- Appropriate policies, procedures, standards, methods, processes, life cycles, and other best practices are defined, communicated, and implemented across all projects.
Project Offerings
Project / Program Health Check
Our rapid assessment and collaborative approach takes a streamlined diagnostic look at an individual project or program’s mission. Our team plans and estimates, assesses the current status, captures key artifacts, apply best practice methodologies, provides clients with the issues and risks the project faces, and suggests the best team structure to accomplish the project goals. We assess strengths and weaknesses and then present a prioritized, succinct action plan for a healthier project.
Project / Program Launch
We consider your project’s mission and budget, and then plan, schedule, staff, and launch the project. We put in place an appropriate and effective work process for the team and for the management of the project. We can staff the Project / Program Manager role for the duration of the project, or we can conclude the successful launch with a smooth transition to your permanent staff.
PMO Setup
We consider your organization’s project portfolio and delivery governance needs and then define appropriate PMO structure, roles and responsibilities, project management standards and practices, and delivery guidance approaches. We then collaborate with your staff to implement the project governance approach that spans C-level executives to project managers, culminating with a smooth transition to your internal staff.
PMO Health Check
Bluestone provides a C-level to project manager perspective on each engagement. We take an in-depth look at your PMO’s structure, roles and responsibilities, project management standards and practices, and delivery guidance approaches. We assess strengths and weaknesses and then present a prioritized succinct action plan for more effective project governance.