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Project manager

The project manager is responsible for management of all projects involved within the SPT business. He facilitates and supports the project team in successful completion of projects. The project manager is responsible for project preparations, establishment, guidance and closure. Monitoring of budget, planning and progress are as well part of his job responsibilities. Moreover, the project manager contacts with customers and reports progress.

Operations manager

The manager operations is responsible for all activities related to personnel of SPT. He is involved in the appropriate allocation of work-related tasks among employees and divides client and project requests among available employees. Personnel planning and division of labour are part of his job responsibilities. The manager of operations fulfills a more facilitating role towards project

management, but is however not involved in the technical part. Sales manager

A sales manager is responsible for the sale of SPT software products and related issues. He is

business oriented and commercially positioned. A sales manager is point of contact for clients of SPT and is responsible for maintenance of all client- and business relationships. He is present in business meetings and prepares sales pitches. Moreover, he collaborates with the Product manager in search of new market- and sales opportunities.

Portfolio manager

A portfolio manager is responsible for management of the portfolio, in other words: strategic management. The portfolio manager is involved in all activities related to the achievement of long- term organizational goals, objectives and strategies. Strategy development, implementation and monitoring of the business strategy are part of his job responsibilities. Furthermore, a portfolio manager monitors the interrelation between different projects in the business portfolio and aligns organizational goals.

Product manager

A product manager is responsible for the entire life-cycle of a product. He is involved in product development, marketing, logistics and implementation. Furthermore, he translates and prioritize customer requirements and preferences into feasible product requirements in order to direct the SPT software team. In contrast to a product owner, a product manager is more business oriented. He is point of contact for clients of SPT and collaborates with the Marketing & Communication

department of SPT for marketing and product related strategies.

Product owner (or technical manager)

The product owner is responsible for the technical development and implementation of software products. He and his project team operate by the agile way of working and the scrum methodology is embedded within their approach of projects. Furthermore, the product owner sets directions for the team, guides them if necessary and monitors the project.

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Other roles

Management team

The management team includes all managers as described above. This team manages and directs the entire SPT department, each manager responsible for his own field of expertise. As a team collectively, they set directions for SPT and pursue predefined long-term organizational goals and objectives.

Project team

The project team includes SPT employees involved within a particular project. Employees with different backgrounds and expertise are involved, e.g. software architects, software developers and software testers. Management expertise is part of the team as it supports in managing and directing the project.

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Initiation New Meetings

New meetings are initialized in order set interim moments of reflection and timely direction of strategy and activities. The next section provides a detailed explanation of the differently themed meetings.

Evaluation Meeting

This project evaluation meeting covers the assessment of all activities involved within the project and is organized to review the entire project from start till closure. All involved internal stakeholders are offered the opportunity to give feedback and points of improvement, as well as key

accomplishments and best practices. The quality of deliverables is assessed, as well as lessons learned. All stages of project execution have to be taken into account in order to achieve overall project assessment. Outcomes of this evaluation meeting are used within the bi-annual overall Project Evaluation Meeting. In here, results of the executed projects are addressed and appropriate measures are taken.

What? Evaluation meeting

Who? Project Manager and involved SPT project team When? After completion each project

Overall Project Evaluation Meeting

In order to evaluate on each project after completion and allow for a moment of feedback and improvement, the aforementioned project evaluation meeting is one of the final steps in the Operational Planning. In here, the project is evaluated in terms of process, quality, costs, planning, deliverables etc. Results of these meetings are gathered. In biannual overall project evaluation meetings, the results, best practices and lessons learned are evaluated and taken into account in the Tactical Planning. By biannually discussing and assessing all project evaluations, decisions in terms of project prioritization and termination can be kept up-to-date.

What? Overall project evaluation meeting Who? Management team

When? Biannually

Portfolio Meeting

In quarterly scheduled portfolio meetings, ongoing projects will be assessed based on their progress and process. The Project Assessment Criteria Checklist will be use to assess projects on project-, partner- and feature level. Entire management team has to be involved in completion of this assessment. Furthermore, the results of the application of portfolio tools will serve as input for this meeting. Projects that require attention will be presented, as well as projects in line for potential prioritization. These results are of key importance in decisions concerning project prioritization, continuation or termination. Essential within these meetings is a centralized focus on prioritization of projects and resource allocation.

What? Portfolio meeting Who? Management team When? Quarterly

177 Tactical Meeting

In the Tactical Planning, projects are reviewed and assessed upon a set of portfolio metrics as mentioned above. Each project in the SPT portfolio will be evaluated quarterly. Hereafter, results and outcomes, in terms of project continuation, prioritization or termination, are gathered. In annually scheduled tactical meetings, these results are discussed. The feedback and results of these meetings will give the opportunity to review and redirect the SPT strategy and update if necessary. What? Tactical meeting

Who? Management team When? Annually

Brainstorm Meeting

In order to foster new opportunities and innovation in project- and product developments, differently themed brainstorm session(s) will be initialized. Participation of internal stakeholders (employees SPT) is desired in these meetings, both technically and strategically skilled. Besides internal stakeholders, external stakeholders as for instance partners, customers and financers, are welcomed as well. This brainstorm session will be scheduled biannually. A Brainstorm project team is assembled and held responsible for the theme definition, e.g. exploration new markets, trends & developments, new technologies etc. Furthermore, they are responsible for guidance of the session(s), development of a plan of action based on the outcomes and implementation this plan. The acquired ideas and opportunities will serve as input for the Strategic Planning, resulting in new insights and opportunities related to New Product Development (NPD).

What? Brainstorm meeting

Who? Internal- and external stakeholders When? Biannually

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Implementation within ERP software

In order to take initial steps in the implementation of the tool, the appropriate elements will be prepared for application within ERP software. ERP is short for Enterprise Resource Planning, a software system supporting organizations in the automation of their business processes. This information- and management system bundles processes related to payroll, finance, ordering, CRM, HRM etc. The application of ERP software makes administrative-, logistical and financial business processes more effective, efficient and productive. Furthermore, it enhances the ability to monitor business processes, costs are reduced and customer satisfaction is increased.