Project Management

We help to build an efficient and harmonious change management support for large scale transformations as well as for spot adjustments. Our assets?

1. A structured, and therefore easy to follow, change process, tailored to your project and to your specific situation, and based on the ADKAR principles

2. The capacity to “transform” practices by anchoring the change in the daily activities of the teams: new practices, new professional gestures, new postures. And this goes far beyond simple communication and training…

3. Technics based on the SWITCH model to treat and solve all types of resistance to change that are met on projects: “it will not work”, “change! What for?”, “what’s in it for me?”, “it works OK as it is”, etc…

4. Simple yet practical tools that allow change to become fully operational. Amongst others, we use: the Seven Drivers, the Allies’strategy, Sociodynamics, the “Match” method or the Impact matrix

A project has a beginning and an end, but mostly it has expected results to which all the project stakeholders must commit. This is one of the most important keys to successful projects: a multiple stakeholder commitment to a fully cooperative approach guaranteeing the achievement of the SQLC (Security, Quality, Leadtime, Cost) objectives.

Optim helps to sustain this stakeholders’ commitment through all major steps of the project:

> Preparation: define the needs, “translate” them into SMART objectives, choose the relevant project methodology, set-up the corresponding project structure and responsibilities (RACI),…
> Planning & organization: identification and planning of tasks and milestones; resource allocation; piloting and reporting tools, …
> Implementation: monitoring of actions using a visual management system and allowing practical and grounded decision-making yet securing the appropriate level of escalation with regards to trade-offs to be made, hazards to be managed, communication on the project, …
> Completion: validation of the project results; communication & celebration; action plan to sustain the results; feedback involving the project key players and lessons to be learned (continuous improvement).

> The “Critical Chain Project Management” methodology developed by E. Goldratt in the 1980ies is both simple and revolutionary. Taking into account the actual capacity of resources, it mutualizes the buffers taken by each participant when planning their individual tasks in order to build a common buffer which consumption will be monitored throughout the project.

> Indeed, built-in buffers at individual task level in a classical planning mode are lost anyway due to inadequate “human” behaviours such as Parkinson law, Student syndrome and multitasking. Projects are therefore very rarely completed as per scheduled

> CCPM planning minimises those misbehaviours and allows for an efficient monitoring throughout the project thanks to the “fever chart”. This tool is also very useful to visually manage a portfolio of projects (see “project portfolio”)

> A performing management of a project portfolio must rely on the Critical Chain method principles.

> It must also allow the resolution of some key issues that must be simultaneously addressed (systemic notion) and cannot be addressed in isolation:

1. Creation of projects bottleneck, thus slowing down their delivery

2. Working on a “remains to be done” mode which quickly blurs the overarching vision

3. Carrying out trade-offs on project resources already allocated which would generate conflicts over critical resources

4. Working without a overarching vision bringing decisions consistency and thus general understanding by each project player of these decisions

5. Working without an “alarm” system helping to deal appropriately with unexpected and/or critical events

There are 3 different levels of training