90% of global senior executives and project management experts say “good project management is key to delivering successful results and gaining a competitive edge”
CornerStone Dynamics
At GKS Consultants our team have the experience to help you deliver your next project and take some of the delivery strain away from you. Our collective project management experiences come from a variety of fields, including the NHS (IT and new premises build/fit-outs), insurance sector, financial institutions, international logistics, the luxury goods market and general business expansions. All of these engagements add up to many 1000’s of hours of hands-on project delivery experience.
We are flexible on how you can engage our services. We can be your outsourced Project Manager, managing the duties this entails. Or maybe you just need help with a specific part of an existing project?
We are comfortable taking on distinct roles or responsibilities, for example:
Robust Governance.
With well-defined and robust governance in place, the project has specific guidance on protocols such as the responsibilities of delegated authority, a known valid escalation route for issues and processing of change requests. With good governance, confidence is imparted to your board of directors/trustees confirming that the investment in the project or programme is well managed.
Setting clear goals and objectives, as well as deadlines.
Taking into account your requirements, past experiences with project delivery, available (and adequate) funds/resources, we ensure that a realistic schedule ascertained from the outset.
Effective leadership.
A true definition of a successful leader is someone who has a vision of where to go and the ability to articulate it. A successful project manager possesses these skills and visualises the big picture associated with your project. They should convey your project’s deliverable effectively (the big picture) to the entire project team, answer any questions or concerns. By obtaining their buy-in, consolidating their understanding and start a two-way team dialogue, the team starts a project with strong foundations.
Assigning responsibilities.
Working collaboratively with all of the involved teams, setting clear and defined responsibilities is vital. We work to ensure all project members understand the programmes expectations and overall deliverable from them. A major part of everyone’s responsibilities is continuous two-way communications and reporting, allow detailed progress tracking against project commitments. Close progress tracking offers the best chance of spotting potential issues early enough before they negatively impact the project.
Conflict resolution.
When working with a group of people, regardless of size, conflict is inevitable (sad but true!). With our proactive approach, we aim to prevent or resolve conflict before it becomes a problem. Once again, having robust continuous two-way communication and reporting helps to maintain a cohesive team, reducing potential conflicts.
Coordinate people and processes.
To produce the desired result and inspire a sense of shared purpose within the project team, while encouraging personal growth. A good project team should be learning from each other, cross-training and stretching themselves whenever possible. A strong Project Manager should see where growth opportunities lie and capitalise on them.
Assist in defining milestones or iterations.
No matter the size of a project, there must be clear demarcation points (either milestones or iterations) within a planned delivery. These way-points are not always obvious, especially if you are in a rapid development delivery process. We can assist in defining the milestones, with clear objectives that must be accomplished for a milestone or iteration to be marked as complete.
Effective management of RAID log (risk register).
Irrespective of how good a project runs, risks are ever-present and left unmanaged, issues will occur. If the issue is significant, delivery is impacted, potentially with substantial time, resource and financial loses. The challenge is maintaining an accurate and meaningful risk register that all stakeholders have sight of and input too. We see this area of governance getting overlooked in later delivery stages, with risks that should have been mitigated ahead of time. Lack of ongoing care is a guaranteed way to lose control and allow risks to crystallise into issues. Our team can assist with this indispensable part of a project’s governance.
This is only an overview of what we can do to assist you, as there is much more to good governance. The key is getting the right level of balance – overall stringent governance vs. swift and effective delivery. That’s another piece we can help with!
We lead each project with passion and dedication!
We treat each engagement as though it’s our business benefiting from the project’s output. Our flexible approach to implementing change ensures that innovative and original ideas are presented to you and tailored to your individual needs. We ensure that best practice PMO methodology (project management practices) is adhered to, and most importantly, we make sure that the planned tasks get actioned!
They offer support and guidance to project teams and Project Managers, and they develop the right metrics on the practice of project management and its execution within an organisation. The main point of a PMO is to standardise project delivery practices and introduce economies of repetition throughout a project or programme implementation.
As you read this page, you might be asking yourself:
We’re sure that you have other questions too, but below are some of the main benefits that a PMO could bring to your business.
What are the benefits of having a dedicated PMO function available to your business?
Setting up a robust PMO (Project Management Office) isn’t easy. It requires a solid understanding of your business, in combination with careful integration planning, so you get the maximum benefits.
A Project Management Office (PMO) is 'a group or department within a business, agency or enterprise that defines and maintains standards for project management within the organisation. The PMO strives to standardise and introduce economies of repetition in the execution of projects.'
APM - Association for Project Management