[58] in magellan
Advisory Group Discussion at the 2/11/1999 Discovery TLs Meeting
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (David F. Lambert)
Sat Feb 13 11:01:12 1999
Date: Sat, 13 Feb 99 10:59:53 EST
From: "David F. Lambert" <LAMBERT@mitvma.mit.edu>
To: magellan@MIT.EDU,
Enterprise Printing Discovery Project Team <discoprt@mitvma.mit.edu>
Discovery Leaders & Discoprt Team,
Greg asked me to lead a discussion around Advisory Groups at
the 2/11/1999 Discovery TLs Meeting. I thought attendees & others
might appreciate an electronic copy of my prep notes. Subsequently,
I've had a chance to think a little more, and jotted down those
thoughts in this note too.
I've often felt that we look too much to others for solving problems,
clearing roadblocks, dealing with tough political issues, etc. We
often seek out someone "in authority". Some of this is reasonable
but I think we often short-change ourselves by not understanding
how much *we* can influence others and resolve issues which
we've identified ourselves. It would be nice if we all felt
we had more "permission" to do this and that taking more risk
is encouraged. This is a tad off topic but does touch some on
the expected role of an AG, sponsor, boss, stakeholder, etc.
One learning for me from the printing project is that we (both
our AG and the team) should have clarified the role of our
AG at the start. Seems like this should be a shared responsibility -
what does the team need? what can the AG offer? what role do both
entities want the relationship to be? what are the expectations?
It's probably true that we need to strive for more clarification
on these expectations for all entities involved - AG, sponsor,
business/process owner, stakeholders, etc.
Several attendees nodded in agreement when someone (Keith?) mentioned
the need for these projects to be more driven (owned?) by the
business side. Many of us understood that comment well. I/T
stuff is not the end goal but merely one piece of a service/process
designed to address a business need.
The list below was a quick braindump of some possible responsibilities
& roles for an advisory group, sponsor or other team related entity.
However, again I believe the teams themselves can probably tackle
more of these items themselves given the right support, encouragement
and environment. Sorry for the preachy tone but, hey, what do
expect from a Baptist minister's kid! ;-)
- provide strategic direction & guidance
- define/clarify project scope
- help ensure the timing is right for the project
- clear roadblocks
- identify project resources
- help clear the current "workplate" of targeted resources
- allocate project resources
- identify & manage political sensitivities (remove from team's work)
- provide assistance with change management issues
- assist with ensuring appropriate metrics are established
- provide inspiration
- provide support (emotional and other)
- be an evangelist for the team's work
- help provide continuity between project phases
- assist in ensuring next steps/phases will occur
- ensure both I/T and business concerns are represented
- help ensure the full commitment and involvement of business units
Question: What are the differences between the roles of sponsor,
business/process owner, steering committee, advisory group,
stakeholders, etc.???
