The BRM Safari

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The BRM Safari

• British Council Story
• Barbara Stock (BC)
• Julia Wall (sigma)

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• What does the British Council do?

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Organisational Context

• Major change
• 110 countries to operate as 12 regions
• UK operational change to reflect changes
  overseas
• SAP implementation

To achieve benefits
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Similarities to other organisations

• Global multi-site
• Integrated business processes
• Increasingly faster response times expected
• Passive travel
• using communication tools well -
• a behavioural as well as a technical challenge

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Who are we? - the intrepid travellers

• Programme Support Office
• Centre of Excellence
• Critical friend
• From 2003 embedding programme and project
  management in
• investment and change programmes

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Currently PMO vision P3O
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Setting off with the kit - mid 2005

• Toolkit templates, guidance
• Standards
• Risk and issues database
• Standardised reporting
• Training Managing Successful Programmes
  Prince2 Management Of Risk - Gateway

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Hunting the lesser-spotted benefit

• Programmes described benefits in their
  business cases
• so we thought measuring and tracking would
  quickly follow
• but.. it didnt and gateway
  reviews and a capability study (P3M3)
  drew attention to it

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Finding the right guide

• April 2007 3 staff attended a sigma Public
  Seminar
• May 2007 initial senior management briefing
• June - Sept 2007 Overseas UK PMs
  experience
• October 2007 engage sigma consultant

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October 2007 on the benefits trail with our
trusty guide

• We knew what we were looking for this time
• We planned the route benefits mapping
• Identified friends and foes the
  stakeholders
• We had our satnav for recording the results
  - ChangeDirector

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Similarities to other organisations

• To create a multiplicative effect from central
  skills
• Coach not nanny
• Immediate momentum ongoing sustainability.
• Grounded adaptable approach senior
  moments
• Clear plan deliverables

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2008 getting into the deep jungle of BRM

• Measurement
• Baselines
• Targets
• Reporting
• Results
• Ownership the hardest bit of all

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Holding our nerve

• Embedding the whole process
• Coming out in the open
• Unexpected movement in all directions new
  top level initiative
• Different reactions from different peoples
  understanding of the process

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SEP SET(somebody elses problem somebody
elses timescale)
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Sustainability

• Flurry of mapping and aligning the programmes
• Measurement lurch
• Internal facilitator wobbles!
• Managing resources

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Where we are now?

• All talking the benefits talk
• Appointment of the first dedicated
  in-programme benefits post
• The ongoing challenge of measurement and
  ownership and tracking

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Tips for survival

• BRM is not a crusade
• BRM can speak for itself
• Listen and influence
• Bottom-up positioning for senior management
  buy-in
• The link back to MSP
• Be prepared for the hidden swamps on the way to
  success

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Other benefit hunters in the jungle
Avon Somerset Police
Cranfield University
CIMA
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Questions

• We have been
• Barbara.Stock_at_britishcouncil.org
• JuliaWall_at_sigma-uk.com