Sherry Hicks
VP, Global Implementation SafeGuard World International
October 9, 2015
 Project Management 101: The Basics
 Project Phases and Key Activities
 Defining Excellence to Maximize Results
 Driving the Project
 The Do’s and Don’ts When the First Payroll Hits
 Excellence After the Project
Project Management
101: The Basics
What is a project?
 A temporary endeavor undertaken to
create a unique product, service or results
What is project management?
 The application of knowledge, skills, tools
and techniques to project activities to
meet project requirements
Project Management Institute
(PMI) definitions
Project Management 101

Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK)
◦ Sum of knowledge within the profession of project
management
◦ Set of standards and best practices established via
consensus based process
◦ Provides a framework
Project Management 101
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
World’s largest professional association of project
professionals
PMI Certifications
◦ PMP – Project Management Professional (the Project
Management profession’s most globally recognized
certification credential)
◦ PgMP – Program Management Professional
A project has a defined beginning and end,
executed by a group of people to meet a
specific objective
PMI Project Phases
Typical Payroll Project Phases
Initiation
Planning
Planning
Discovery/Requirements Gathering
Execution
Configure/Build
Control and Monitoring
Test
Close-out
Transition/Go Live
A designated Project Manager is vital to the
success of the project

Responsible for the day-to-day management,
status reporting, issue, risk, scope and
resource management
◦ Ensures timeline decisions and communication of
decisions made
◦ Manages and coordinates activity of project team to
meet project schedule and deliverables
Designated Project Manager is vital to the success
of the project
◦ Ensures timely decisions and communication of
decisions made
◦ Manages communications to team and organization
◦ Manages constraints and obstacles, escalates to
Stakeholders as necessary
Attributes of an effective Project Manager
 Question why
 Positive, “can do”
attitude
 Partner well
 Hold team
accountable
 Respect others
 See the Big Picture,
thinks detail
 Excel in
communication
 Organized and
disciplined
 Lead
Project Management 101
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Executive Sponsor and/or Steering Committee

Project Manager

Workstream Leads (Payroll, HR, Finance, IT, etc.)
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Subject Matter Experts/End Users

Change Management resource
Project Management 101
 Identify uncertainties
 Assess their potential impacts
 Estimate the likelihood
 Develop plan to mitigate or control the uncertainties
 Prioritize the risk
 Periodically review and assess the risk
Project Phases and
Key Activities
Proper planning is the foundation of every project.
 Confirm the business case for and objective of the project
 Determine how to meet the project objectives and how success of the
project will be measured
 Identify the Stakeholder’s expectations
 Confirm the scope of the project
 Identify the constraints and assumptions
 Generate the project budget
 Establish change control process
 Develop a Communication Plan
Key Activities
 Create the project schedule (Work Breakdown Structure)
o What tasks are needed?
o Who is responsible for which tasks?
o What are the dependencies?
o Determine critical path
• The longest path of planned activities
• These activities will determine the duration of the
project
Key Activities
 Develop a risk management plan
o Identify known risks and possible risks
(constraints)
o Pay particular attention to risks with high impact
and high probability of occurring
 Project budget
o Monitor and manage via change control
Planning Phase – Key Activities

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Changes throughout the project are common and
to be expected
Purpose of change control
◦ To manage and control changes identified after the
scope has been approved
◦ Disciplined process for assessing
impact of change to cost,
schedule and scope/quality
Planning Phase – Key Activities
 Ensures timely an appropriate communication of all project
related information
o Communication standards
 Identifies communication requirements for all project team
members
o Meetings (Project Status, Stakeholder, etc.)
o Documentation
o Action Items
Planning Phase – Key Activities
 Establishes expectations for project information
distribution (who, what, when, how)
 Documents process for resolving open items and
escalations
o Status Report (for reporting period)
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Overall status of project
Accomplishments
Areas of Focus
Critical Open Issues and Risks
Planning is an iterative process and does
not end at the end of the phase but
continues throughout the project
The objective of this phase of the project is to finalize
requirements for resources, process and technology to result in
an accurately configured solution. In order to get what you
want, you must be able to define what you want.
Key Activities and Deliverables
 Future System Design
 Global Requirements
 Local Requirements
 Reporting Requirements
 Integration Requirements and definitions
 Updated Project Charter and Project Plan
The objectives of the Configure/Build Phase are to complete the
configuration based on the requirements documented during the
Discovery/Requirements Gathering Phase.
Key Activities and Deliverables
 Configuration
 Integration Development
 Report Development
 Data conversion
 Unit Test
 System is prepared for Testing and Training
The Test Phase ensures the configured system sufficiently meets documented
requirements and users are trained. The Test Phase may consist of various
test efforts.
 End to End testing
 Validates the configuration and that the data flows properly
 Confirm the integrations meet requirements
 May use subset of test data
 Scenario Testing
 End users run through real life scripts
 Validates configuration meets requirements
 Parallel Payroll Testing
 Uses actual data from a live payroll, paralleled in new system
 Validates the configuration and integrations meet the requirements
When the exit criteria for the Test Phase has been met,
the project moves into the final phase, Transition/Go
Live. This phase is a collection of controls and processes
to ensure a smooth transition to a “live” status and a
steady state environment.
Key Activities and Deliverables:
 Training and roll out
 Final data conversion
 Transition Activities
 Transition to Production
 A successful project will be a disciplined effort
 Set realistic expectations about the transition
 Communications need to be clear, concise and in
writing
 A project plan should be current and at the center of
all activities
 Tightly manage change control to avoid scope creep
 Transparency and consistency are key for success
 A comprehensive Change Management Plan will
increase adoption
Best Practices

Document or review as-is processes

Identify the difference between policy and practice

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Standardize policies, pay type and deductions to
the highest degree possible
Ensure standards are valid across all locations and
not just HQ- centric, have provisions for local
needs
Best Practices

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
Always consider upstream and downstream
impacts
Standardization should be the underpinning for an
effective information management strategy
Intentionally define roles and processes for
transition and steady state
Best Practices
 Ensure data being migrated is clean data
 Use the data from the incumbent payroll system
 Identify external constraints (other business
activities, competing projects, shutdowns, etc.)
Best Practices

Role of Future State Change Agent
◦ Authority to make decision
◦ Drives standardization, challenges need for special
requirements
◦ Gets buy-in from organization (at all levels),
ensures partnering
Best Practices

Partner with vendors
◦ Listen to your vendors, they have experience that
you can benefit from
◦ Be open and honest with vendor regarding your
constraints
◦ Work together to assess risks
Change Management is essential to ensure excellence
before, during and after the project. It is the bridge
between the solution and the results.

Change Management is a systematic and proactive
approach to dealing with change

Change Management is:
o Creating leadership
o Changing attitudes
o Communication and Training in order to be able
to adopt the change
Change Management is essential to ensure excellence
before, during and after the project.

Clearly articulate the overall business benefits of
the project – why are we doing this now?

Shadow organizations exist mostly because buyin was never achieved upfront or lost
Change Management should start before the project
begins and not end until the new solution has been
adopted
Effectiveness of your Change Management is the key to a
successful implementation and will greatly impact
excellence after the project

Impact Assessment
o Assess the impact of the new solution on your
people and processes

Change Management Plan
o Defines and implements new procedures and/or
technologies
Effectiveness of your Change Management is the key to a
successful implementation and will greatly impact
excellence after the project

Communication Plan
o Establishes a common vision and integrated approach
to the communication campaign

Training Plan
 Ensures end-users are ready to perform tasks in the
system prior to go-live and their correct on-going
use
Effectiveness of your Change Management is the key
to a successful implementation and will greatly
impact excellence after the project

Readiness – What is a successful end state?
o Employees are able to access their data, and
request service using new tools and processes
o Managers are able to perform their roles using
new tools and processes
Primary reasons projects fail
 Unrealistic expectations
 Lack of involvement from Subject Matter Experts/End
Users
 Requirements are not completely identified
 Lack of accountability
 Lack of project governance/discipline
Successful projects require strong project governance to
ensure that the project follows the plans correctly and,
as a result, leads to the desired results.
 Use Technology
 Track Progress
 Identify Right Resources
 Maintain Control
 Keep Everyone Informed
 All Decisions Made Should Align with Project Objectives
 Encourage Peak Performance
Project Governance provides framework for
managing the project and keeping it on track.

Provides oversight at multiple levels
◦ Strategic (Stakeholders/Executive Sponsor)
◦ Operational (Project Leadership)
◦ Tactical (Project Manager)
Project Governance provides framework for
managing the project and keeping it on track.

Stakeholders/Executive Sponsor
◦ Ensure project remains aligned with strategic
objectives and direction
◦ Confirm status and resolution of escalated issues
or risks
Strategic
Operational
Tactical
Issue
Escalation
 Review and confirm alignment of program
with business strategy and direction
 Confirm status or resolution of any
escalated issues or risks
 Weigh-in on “Go/No Go” decisions
 Manage program issues/risks
 Track progress against program work
plan
 Revise milestones and deliverables
 Decision of “Go/No Go” events
 Confirm transition criteria
 Coordinate internal policy alignment
 Confirm scope changes
Steering
Committee
(Meet
Monthly)
Project
Leadership
Team
(Monthly)
 Confirm Interface Requirements
 Design Oversight
 Review scope impacting transformational
activities
 Approve Deliverables
Workstream
Leads
(Weekly)
 Manage program/project team
participation
 Prepare documentation
 Verify activities and tasks have occurred
 Verify transition criteria achieved
(readiness)
 Identify and resolve issues and risks
 Monitor and verify operational readiness
Project
Manager
(Daily to
Weekly)
Strategic
Direction
Setting
Do
 Ensure Go Live Checklist is complete
 Review criteria for a no go decision
 Review contingency plans
 Determine where and how support will be provided
for time critical issues
 Ensure pay period schedule dates are accurate
 Pay period begin and end date
 Pay particular attention to the pay date to
ensure it is correct
Do
 Ensure all parties (internal and partners) are aware
of the cutover dates
 Proactively communicate any known issues and the
mitigation plan
 Audit, audit, audit
 Ensure direct deposit files have been transmitted
 Communicate to all, announcing the go live
 Clearly document open items, drive to resolution
Don’t
 Process first payroll without a Contingency Plan
 Move forward without successful test results
without contingency plans and proactive
communications
 Move forward with partial set up on test results
without contingency plans and proactive
communications
 Forget to celebrate your success as a project
team
Ensure the delivered solution meets the documented
project objectives
 Create transition plan to ensure an organized and effective transition
from project team to steady state team
 Evaluate training needs – is any retraining necessary
 Document ownership of any open items
 Project evaluation – did project meet all objectives
Thank you and please remember to complete
your evaluation for this session.