FINAL GPSJ Summer edition 2024 ONLINE VERSION.2pdf - Flipbook - Page 19
LOCAL AUTHORITY & COUNCIL
through one software dashboard,
rather than a series of emails, submeetings and separate department
IT systems, better collaboration is
almost inevitable.
Everyone can see each other’s
tasks and current progress, in
real time, all in one place. The
chances of their work accidentally
overlapping or becoming too siloed
fade away. Feeding into one central
piece of software brings a sense
of togetherness and ownership
for the project, too, boosting staff
motivation and morale.
Teams feed the latest project
data into the system, so it can
flag up automatically when a task
is falling behind schedule, needs
more resources or is running into
difficulty. This allows senior leaders
to intervene as soon as they need
to, providing guidance and support,
rather than waiting for teams to
ask for help – by which time it may
be too late to avoid more serious
problems. A lack of project visibility
amongst senior leaders, with
all information coming from one
project manager, can and has led
to spiralling costs and problems
and possible project failure, in my
experience.
A spreadsheet or one project
manager co-ordinating everything
via DMs might work for small
projects, but not for the sort of huge
data-gathering and building tasks
councils and other social landlords
have ahead of them. Working
through a centralised dashboard
is much more likely to make such
daunting tasks successful.
Automatic admin not
bureaucracy
If a project manager has to contact
dozens of team members to harvest
the latest data and budget details
for reports to executives, it can
eat up a huge chunk of their time,
as can the data analysis required.
But if staff are all constantly feeing
information into a digital hub, there’s
no need to chase it and it can do
the data analysis automatically.
Indeed, software solutions can
even compile information into report
templates and help generate endof-project documents for CEOs, the
housing regulator or whoever needs
them. A good system will also
prompt users to update it, such as
with details of the latest resource
GPSJ
usage or filling out RAID logs.
A very useful by-product of
working with a good PM software
provider is that their systems can
upskill your staff. Training in how
the software works shouldn’t
just cover which button to press
when. It should also cover the PM
fundamentals and best practice that
underpin how the system operates.
This can provide employees with
the knowledge and confident to run
a successful project, saving you
the cost of hiring in new staff or
expensive PM consultants.
A major headache for organisation
is when a project manager or other
key team member leaves before a
project is finished. It can take hours
to locate vital information, from
contact details to work schedules,
that are spread out across work
emails, Excel and Word documents
or even on pieces of paper. Data
may be lost forever. Centralising all
information in one place takes this
business risk away.
its results to their everyday job.
Slotting projects into place
how to operate it. For this and
Any project, no matter how well
designed or executed, can fail if
people don’t know how to apply
other Flowlio training solutions,
This could be particularly true if
the project is designed to facilitate
some of the new ways of operating
required by the Regulator of Social
Housing.
Just as a central dashboard
allows you to display clearly
people’s tasks during a project, it
can also set out actions they need
to complete and approve before
go-live. This automated process
avoids confusion and a loss of time
and money if a project is launched
too soon.
Stephen Repton is CEO and
founder of OneConsulting and
Flowlio. He is also former Assistant
Director Business Transformation,
First Choice Homes Oldham and
Group IT Infrastructure Program
Manager at Your Housing Group.
Flowlio offers a unique endto-end project-management
SaaS, along with full training in
please visit www.flowlio.co.uk
GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC SECTOR JOURNAL SUMMER 2024
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