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OUR SERVICES
The way projects are managed in an organisation can have a major impact on a company’s business operations.
PSG assists organisations implementing consistent project management by working alongside personnel to help identify key risk areas and business imperatives.
At times, these initiatives can cause major organisational changes, which PSG can facilitate to ensure that any business transition is achieved with minimal adverse effect.
PSG offers a full suite of Project Management services, including:
CONSULTING
We offer our clients a full range of consulting services for project management, project development, feasibility studies, quality assurance and related areas.
We are interested in your project’s successful execution and stand by all of our clients, from the initial concept stage to its completion
STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT CONSULTING
PSG has experience in business planning initiatives and execution of those plans to effect business change. PSG can provide consulting services in the following areas:
- Information Strategy and Planning
- Operational Planning
- Change Management
INFORMATION STRATEGY AND PLANNING
Information Management is central to most businesses and as a result is considered a key player in assisting the organisation to realise its overall business strategies. In this respect it is important that the IT department has strong direction for its staff and key stakeholders in the form of plans and strategies for its area.
Some areas where PSG can assist are:
- Business Plans
- Information Management Plan
- Technology Strategy
- IT Standards and Policies
- Scorecard Reporting
- Service Oriented Architecture Analysis
OPERATIONAL PLANNING
Our Specialist staff can assist with the implementation of your strategies and plans at the operational level. Activities include assistance with budget development, identifying process improvement in support of service delivery objectives and establishing Service Level Agreements.
CHANGE MANAGEMENT
We are aware that implementation of projects can have a severe impact on a company's business operations. PSG can manage these changes using impact and risk analysis methods to ensure that the business moves through these transitional situations with minimum adverse effect.
PROGRAMME MANAGEMENT
Programme Management is essential in aligning organisational projects with the overall business strategy. This is generally facilitated through a Programme Office.
The Programme office concentrates on the establishment of projects that support the organisational business plan.
PROJECT OFFICE
A Project Office will provide governance of the day to day running of projects within your organisation. The Project office can be established on a project, departmental or corporate level, depending on the requirements.
Considerations for establishing this initiative are:
- Centralised management of project management standards.
- Centralised management of staff competency and skills development.
- Centralised reporting and tracking of project performance.
- Centralised project management governance and portfolio management
TENDER MANAGEMENT
Tender Management is the management of the client's tender process. Typically this includes:
- Business Study preparation.
- Definition of required solution including alignment with the Business Strategy.
- Creation of the Project Mandate.
- Creation of the Project Definition
- Creation of the Business Case
- Creation of the Project Charter
- Preparation of the Request for Tender/Proposal.
- Tender evaluation
- Negotiation
- Project Delivery
- Project Closure
- Project Review
PSG bring their core skills in project management to the process of Tender Management.
The benefits of using PSG delivering Tender Management are:
- Freeing staff to focus on business requirements.
- Having a third party accountable for performing the required steps ensures that details are attended to.
- Having an independent customer advocate with industry knowledge involved in the process from the initiation of the project.
- Having the project managers involved from the project initiation means that there is no induction time required.
SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT
PSG prides itself on delivering projects on time, to budget and within client's expectations.
PSG's Software Delivery Life Cycle (SDLC) is integral to maintaining this standard. It employs a planned and carefully documented seven-step process that covers the total delivery cycle from the Business Needs Analysis, through to Support and Maintenance.
Professional Project Managers (PM) are assigned to each project from Day One to ensure successful delivery with the least possible risk. Well before any code is written, they work with clients developing and agreeing on needs, deliverables, accountabilities and costs.
Progression through the SDLC only occurs once the client's business drivers and needs are clearly understood, and following full sign-off at each step. The following provides a brief overview of each stage of the Software Delivery Lifecycle:
- Needs Analysis
- Business Requirements Analysis
- Systems Design Phase
- Development (inc. Unit & Module Testing)
- Integration Testing
- Deployment & User Acceptance Testing
- Support
PSG has experience in using the IBM Rational Unified Processes and the Agile Software Develoment processes to provide the project manager with a quick starting point for planning and initiating a project. A delivery process involves key stakeholders early and will provide an initial project definition for requirements and delivery.
The process PSG has developed, which manages the initial business requirements through to solution delivery is represented at a high level below:
Client » Sales » Operations » Testing » Back to Client End Users
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PROJECT SERVICES
PSG applies a standard framework based on PMI and Prince2 guidelines. This allows us to benchmark our performance against a globally recognised standard and provide our customers with a consistent high quality service.
The Project Services offered by PSG include:
This is all a VALUE ADD to our Clients; when you work with PSG you can be assured we will not re-invent the wheel - we will improve it!
END TO END PROJECT MANAGEMENT
PSG offers an extensive range of services that provides clients with the capability to take projects from conceptual ideas, through to delivery and closeout, while providing all the necessary knowledge, expertise and tools to compliment the process.
PSG is one of a select few companies to demonstrate proven performance in the delivery of large and complex projects, in both shared responsibility and sole charge roles.
Taking responsibility for the end to end running and performance of a project makes PSG unique in the market. We also manage third parties on behalf of clients to ensure one point of contact and simplicity.
FEASIBILITY
A feasibility study will confirm whether an idea and/or planned business initiative is viable in terms of the expected Return on Investment, business benefits and Technology leverage.
PSG’s feasibility report will include a business case to financially justify the project.
SCOPING
The scoping process within any project is the most critical as it establishes the deliverables and supporting work activities for the project duration. An insufficient scope will lead to cost and time overruns, and a likely compromise on the quality of the product implementation.
As part of a detailed scope exercise you would identify the following:
- Identification of work required to be completed
- Realistic time estimates
- Budget estimate
- Recommended project structure
This service is normally helpful to clients either embarking on a large, complex project and/or are preparing to submit a tender. PSG will ensure that the scoping process is thorough and complete.
PLANNING
The planning process is a natural progression after completing the project scope. It is important that the project stakeholders and members are involved in the development of the project plan, which forms the basis for "how the solution will be implemented", "who will be involved" and "how the project will be delivered".
PSG's preferred approach to the planning process is one that encourages team input and team involvement. This will ensure that all participants are clear on what is to be delivered, what their roles and responsibilities are, and what the expected outcomes are of the project overall. Early involvement of key stake holders is of paramount importance.
STEERING
Large scale, complex projects may place demands on internal Business Managers that cannot be met due to other priorities or time constraints.
As a vendor independent organisation, PSG can provide a Project Director to sit alongside a key stakeholder for support, and/or act on behalf of a Project Sponsor or business owner as a member of the project steering committee.
GOVERNANCE
PSG can act in a governance role providing the client with an overview of a specific project, which may be considered critical to the business. This allows key stakeholders to have access to expert advice as to the status of a project through independent reporting.
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Most companies are managing operational staff and project staff across the organisation. This requires specific understanding of key person dependency and resource pool dynamics.
PSG has experience in implementing a Resource Management Methodology supported by the appropriate processes and tools. This will include resource allocation, performance management and skill management
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RESOURCES
CHOOSING THE RIGHT PROJECT MANAGER OR BUSINESS ANALYST
Selecting the right project manager is a management responsibility, and a difficult one. The project manager should demonstrate general management skills such as Negotiations, Communications, Supervision, Conflict Resolution, Project Management skills and have appropriate understanding of the application area, such as industry knowledge and technical knowledge. You need expert advice to select a project manager, involving a matrix of skills and experience for the job at hand. A competence and behavioural understanding is important.
Contract personnel selection is based on a person's:
- Key skills
- Proven success
- Commitment to life-long learning
Five Level Project Management Matrix
Our Five Level Project Management Matrix provides a benchmark for experience and skills for both internal and external project managers, and a clear career progression in the project management field.
View our Project Management Matrix.
Five Level Business Analyst Matrix
Our Five Level Business Analyst Matrix provides a benchmark for experience and skills for internal and external Business Analysts and a clear career progression in the project environment.
View our Business Analyst Matrix.
PLACEMENTS
Because PSG understands the Project Management industry we can find the best professionals for Employers of choice, so whatever the Client requirements are, (Permanent or Contract), we can search locally and internationally for an organisation’s next workforce acquisition.
In conjunction with our business partner our recruitment services include advertising, networking, target interviewing, profiling, and candidate searching. We will find you the very best candidate for your vacancy in the quickest time possible, to keep down the cost of recruiting Project Management professionals.
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QUALITY ASSURANCE
Quality Assurance services are intended to support the business in the following ways:
- Monitor project performance proactively
- Gauge internal PM capability
- Promote continuous improvement activity
- Determine the skills and ability of all personnel involved in Project Management and monitor improvement
AUDITS
An audit will provide an organisation with a detailed report which provides a breakdown of either:
- The current status of a project OR
- The ability of the organisation as a whole to deliver projects successfully
PROJECT HEALTH CHECK
The PSG "Profiler" will take a snapshot of a particular project to provide a health check on the project in terms of its structure, and delivery capability. This is a subset of the Audit service and is recommended as an ideal first step for companies requiring a high level overview of a project
PROJECT AUDITS
A Project Audit will provide an organisation with a detailed review of the current status of a project. The project audit report will answer the following questions:
- Is the project adequately scoped?
- Have I got the right resources with the right skills?
- Has the schedule been accurately prepared?
- Is the budget sufficient to deliver the project?
- Have the end-user expectations been properly addressed?
- Have I got adequate communication planning?
- Have all the risks been determined and addressed?
- Has integration between the business and the project been achieved?
COMPANY AUDITS
Quite often a company will have a 'sense' that projects are not perhaps being managed as well as they could be. Too often this becomes an accepted trait of projects within an organisation, particularly in the IT environment.
A Company Audit will provide an organisation with answers to following questions:
- Does my project management methodology work? If not, why not?
- Can we manage our projects better?
- Why do our projects always seem so hard to deliver?
- Do I have the right departmental structure to support good project management?
- Do I have enough staff; is there more I could be doing for them?
PSG will review your internal Project Management structure and benchmark your activity against the accepted industry standards to determine your organisations capability. Following that process, you will receive a comprehensive report, which provides you with recommendations for improvement.
SKILLS ANALYSIS
PSG has developed a skills matrix, which establishes a competency profile for individuals involved in Project Management activities. The analysis is formed on the basis of industry standard Project Management disciplines and knowledge areas. This matrix can merge with competency requirements specific to your organisation.
Once the profile of an individual has been determined, a career development program based on individual and professional improvement is established.
BEST PRACTICE QUALITY ASSURANCE (XPRODi)
XPRODi, developed by PSG, is a best practice industry-independent Quality Assurance tool to expedite and delivery projects successfully.
To know more how XPRODi can assist you with your project, press here.
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TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT
Project Management discipline requires knowledge and skills relating to general management, project management and expertise in the area specific to the project. As a project manager, you first need to understand what your skills, competencies and capacities are. The project requirements and stakeholder expectations need to be understood in order to assess whether the project expectations can be met. This is usually verified with other experts or Project Directors. PSG offers training, mentoring and other services that can assist the development and upskilling of project managers.
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PSG provides a range of training programmes to support the development of individuals and their organisational management. We believe that Training is the KEY to bringing personnel up to a consistent level of knowledge and application. |
PSG is a Registered Education Provider (REP) for the Project Management Institute. Not only do we develop our courses internally but, we offer a wealth of knowledge to participants as the professionals who deliver these seminars have "hands on" experience in project management at a senior level.
PSG's aim is to achieve consistent quality systems delivered through people. Training plays an important part in achieving this. We offer courses for individuals and for corporates which are outlined below:
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
A systematic approach to project management allows a project manager to control all phases of the project and meet project objectives.
Our intensive three day seminars provide the knowledge, skills and understanding required to successfully manage a project.
Seminars are available at three different levels, which increases a project managers ability to gain consistency and deal with projects of a greater size and complexity.
1. Discovering Project Management
This programme provides an overview of the base principles of project management. It will be ideal for those who have responsibilities for projects and have not received any formal training, or as a refresher for Project Managers needing an overview.
Offered on request as an "in house" course to organisations.
2. Advanced Project Management
It is recommended that the basic Project management course is completed as a pre-requisite. This course is suitable for individuals wanting to advance into a senior project management position.
Offered on request as an "in house" course to organisations.
3. Contract Management
The objective of this 4 days seminar is to enhance participants’ understanding of contract management, and to enable them to effectively implement the knowledge, processes and skills to prepare, plan and administer contracts to successful completion.
PROJECT MANAGEMENT FOR EXECUTIVES
Executive Management Seminar (2 days)
Designed for executives who want a better understanding of how to manage large projects with a number of sub-projects or have been given the task of Project's Sponsor.
This programme will impart the knowledge, process and skills required to direct projects to their successful completion and plan for organisational success through best practice project management.
PRODUCT TRAINING
XPRODi
XPRODi is a best practice project management methodology consisting of a comprehensive framework with full instruction and support, templates and tools that are accessed through Adobe Acrobat Reader, MS Word and Excel. This process assists the user to understand and adopt best practice methods from feasibility to project close out. It provides a standard in which to achieve greater project outcomes consistently.
XPRODi will provide:
- A structured and consistent approach to manage projects
- Improved management and control of projects
- Reduced project risks
- Increased project success
CUSTOMISED TRAINING
Specific Training
PSG can undertake a needs analysis of your company's project environment and provide a tailored training programme to overcome:
- Existing project structure weakness
- Consistency issues
- Potential problem areas
- Individual project performance
- Ongoing project governance
Coaching
PSG provides coaching for individuals who may require one on one support. This proven formula is effective in the speedy development from a junior project manager to an advanced role.
MENTORING
PSG promotes mentoring as part of the way we work on a day-to-day basis. It is important that knowledge and experience is passed between peers to ensure growth within any business.
A Project Director or Senior Project Manager can:
- Provide feedback and assistance to your Project Managers to ensure the application of Project Management principals is appropriate.
- Review project management output to ensure consistent quality and ongoing learning for internal staff
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