INNOVATIONS AND INSIGHTS
ADAPTING YOUR PROGRAM IN THE FACE OF UNCERTAINTY ALL PROJECT MANAGERS ARE USED TO DEALING WITH UNCERTAINTY TO VARYING DEGREES.
(Source: Canva)
As we all know 2020 has been a major
What does an average day look for you?
year of unpredictability, and we remain
Right now it looks like a lot of Zoom meetings! I’m programmanaging a large change initiative called Enterprise Service Management, leveraging ServiceNow where we are making it easier to make and fulfil requests for services for our staff and students.
in the woods. So how can project managers and their organisations face the upcoming months of uncertainty, and keep their projects on track? We spoke to Ian Sharpe, former AIPM Chairperson, and Associate Director, Business Transformation at Western Sydney University about his current digital transformation program, how it has changed as a result of COVID-19 and what his advice is to others facing uncertainty with their projects.
You have been in the project management profession for 22 years – what have been some of your career highlights? Over the years, I have been involved in several projects and programs, from consulting to delivery, with a range of organisations around the world including Banking, Defence and Aerospace. I’ve had the great fortune in my career to work with a number of organisations like Sydney Trains and NASA and am now working at Western Sydney University. 14
SUCCESS IS GOING TO COME FROM YOUR TEAM How have you had to adapt the program due to COVID-19? If you had said to me in September 2019 Australia is going to encounter the following things, ‘fire, floods and a global pandemic in the next few months’ I would have said you’re talking doomsday, and yet all of us are in that circumstance. You can’t possibly think of all scenarios in advance, but you can help the team to be resilient and adaptive to them. Getting the right people, in the right roles is really important as success is going to come from your team. If you don’t have the right team in place and delivery partners, working well together, no matter how technically ready you are, you will not succeed. It’s important on this kind of program to be able to adapt quickly and I’m proud of the work the team has done.
