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Best Practices for Managing Cross-Agency
E-Government Initiatives

Table of Contents
Introduction
What Can Make Cross-Agency Initiatives Hard
Principles of Successful Cross-Agency Initiatives
Competencies/Techniques
Summary of Key Tasks
Detailed Task Descriptions
Resource Planning
Conclusion

Successful emergence of E-Government applications will depend on skillful management of complex cross-agency initiation, planning, communication, alignment and control. This paper presents a set of skills and activities that – when integrated with strong traditional program management skills and processes – will yield the best results for cross-agency E-Government initiative.

Many of the aspects and organizational structures for E-Government projects will be similar to traditional development projects. Traditional structures require resources and competencies for planning, project management and project control phases and also require skills in budgeting, project planning, resource management, risk analysis, earned value management and project implementation.

In addition to these competencies, successful clients have found it useful to incorporate the following skills/practices/processes into a traditional program planning model when cross agency initiatives are involved.

• Often times the initial rationale for the initiative is forgotten, if ever made clear.
  
• The connection to the overall vision and strategy is also difficult to maintain.
  
• Lack of detailed assessment of current situation and clarity about the business case for change.
  

• Often leaders feel their job is to launch these initiatives and get back to their real priorities.
  
• Maintaining leadership involvement can be challenging.
  When the leader fails to make their intentions clear there is little to build on. A common mistake is for leaders to feel that they can determine the overall direction of the organization solely through a collaborative process and/or a bottom up planning process. This is important but usually not sufficient.
  
• It can be difficult for leaders to first describe what the current conditions are and where they must change things. This intimate assessment of the current state is often masked by needs to reassure the Board and investors.
  

• Proactively align top management team around 1) Leader’s Intent, 2) Current State, 3) Desired State, 4) Case For Change, 5) Strategy, 6) Barriers
  
• Maintain this alignment throughout the entire process.
  
• Gain commitment and a clear process for senior leadership to be accountable for success, and remain actively and continuously involved in the Level 4 initiative; making adjustments, removing barriers, marshalling resources, solving problems, …
  

• Communication plans are effective when a significant percent of staff can explain the vision of the organization and how their day-to-day activities support the realization of the vision. Often, leaders fail to fully saturate the organization with opportunities to understand and relate to the new direction.
  
• Failure to manage the intractable dilemmas of 1) Long Term <-> Short Term, 2) Good For Whole <-> Good For Part, 3) Certainty <-> Speed often severely derails strategy implementation.
  
• The big budget ‘blink’. Strategies should drive the allocation of resources. This is a test of resolve that is often not passed.
  

• Failure to maintain clear linkage of enterprise transformational projects to vision and strategy of organization.
  
• Misguided emphasis … reversed priorities (technology over desired behavior change).
  
• Lack of fundamentals of sound project management: Sponsor, Charter, Leader, Resources, Decision Process, Outcomes, Time Frame, Governance, Goal, Time Frame, Consequences and Implications Of Success and Failure
  
• Lack of continuous and meaningful end user involvement
  
• Lack of chunking (rule of 90/2M) and inadequate differentiation of lanes within a given project (i.e. Organization development, IT, Process evolution, and Change management)
  
• Inability to maintain leadership attention and involvement.
  
• Lack of core skills for extremely complex project implementation: root cause problem solving; knowledge management; group process; …
  

• Unclear indicators
  
• Implicit and unclear decision process
  
• Project meetings and reviews become more like ‘Let me explain how good we are’ verses ‘This is tough, we are learning a lot and we need your help’.
  

• Failure to make it clear that rewards are for those who contribute to strategic direction; punishment is for all who inhibit the process.
  
• Leaders fail to fully convince rank and file that failure is not an option (Model Behavior / Symbolic Acts)
  

This management body, representing the key stakeholders in each of the affected agencies, is an essential component of a cross-agency initiative and will be responsible for managing critical interdependencies. This committee must articulate and approve the goals and performance objectives for the initiative, insure that the necessary resources are in place, and assist with removing barriers and obstacles to success.

Complex projects can get off course quickly. In addition, there is a lot of learning that happens that needs to be shared. Clients have been most successful when they follow the principle of “going slow to go fast” to ensure that the key players are working collectively towards the same end.

A team that is co-located and part of a single organization is challenged in communicating the purpose of a measure, the definition of a measure and the ideal targets. Cross-agency teams require simple measures that are clear, meaningful and manageable.

Informal knowledge are the decisions, agreements, assumptions and expectations that are surfaced during meetings in formal settings, and are altered in hallway conversations. Cross-agency programs have been successful when there is a systematic approach to managing informal knowledge across the project.

Teams are comprised of individuals with multiple learning styles. Members from various agencies will bring their cultural norms, management styles and learning styles to the team. Team productivity improves when each of the members feels a part of the solution and successful programs have benefited from techniques that elicit the strength of these various team members.

Successful teams have adapted to building solutions and managing projects by breaking down the problem or solution into more manageable modules. This reduces the risk, allows the team to be successful and builds morale (i.e., “Success breeds success.”).

Due to the unique nature and complexity associated with cross-agency initiatives, there are a few key skills and competencies that have improved the success of the program, through improved communications, collaboration, decision-making and alignment. These skills are in no way a replacement of traditional program management skills. Indeed, in cross-agency efforts, these skills are critical to the success of the program.

Complex team compositions, project requirements and team structures (co-located and virtual) have found that strong facilitators can improve team productivity and performance.

There is both formal and informal knowledge that must be tracked and accessible to the teams. A knowledge agent is not only skilled a tracking formal knowledge (documents, charts, spreadsheets, project plans) they are also very effective at capturing, documenting and tracking agreements, decisions, expectations, assumptions and requirements.

Using visualization tools to diagram the roadmap for the project, to illuminate key aspects of the problem, or to present major components of the project (key processes, value chain, stakeholder models, etc…) can greatly increase team learning, improve problem solving and planning efforts and facilitate more robust recommendations.

Teams get into complex human dynamics, and program leaders and project leaders can learn from experienced coaches on how to best deal with situations that are impeding progress.

The following pages out-line the tasks for launching and managing cross-agency projects. These tasks related to the planning and management processes, practices and methods. These tasks do not include the primary development tasks including design, development, test and quality assurance and implementation.

The tasks include:

The senior leadership team and sponsor to develop a charter for the overall project that defines the project purpose, scope, organization structure, decision and problem solving processes.

Develop the business case that defines the customer selection and value proposition, strategic control, value capture/profit model, and scope of the initiative.

The program manager and team leaders develop a management; project and resource plan and get approval from the executive steering group.

The on-going management of the program, including preparing and conducting management reviews, managing the budget, the project plan and unforeseen contingencies and interdependencies. In addition, the closeout of the program, including capturing the lessons learned, recommendations for future phases, repository of deliverables, performance evaluations and accomplishment acknowledgement.

The project charter process is a structured approach to defining the strategy, boundaries, practices, processes and accountabilities to ensure a projects success. It is a brief document that summarizes the essential information for a project team. The purpose of the charter is to ensure that the team members are aligned with their Sponsor as to the purpose, timeframe, support, and key checkpoints.

Teams too often fail, in spite of the best of intentions and effort on the part of members, because of missing ingredients. The missing ingredient may be clear expectations by whoever set the team up, inadequate leadership, the wrong people on the team, inability to get support from others in the rganization, or a variety of other factors. While the Charter does not automatically take care of all of these, it does require thinking through each of these items in advance. This greatly improves the odds for the team.

The elements of a project charter include:

• A project purpose and intent and deliverables
  
• A set of clearly defined tasks, with team leaders and organization structure
  
• A stakeholder and partners hip model
  
• A high level resource plan for the program
  
• Decision making and conflict resolution process
  
  
  

1. Organizational Systems
   a. Define organizational structure.
   b. Define the organization and governance structure.
   c. Define the responsibility matrix and external partnership agreements.
2. Scope
   a. Describe the task, time, staff, organizational, and financial boundaries of the project.
   b. Define the project processes and structure including change control and approval process.
   c. Define the requirements (content, hw/sw/services, channels, end user interfaces).
3. Strategic Control
   a. What are the critical success factors.
   b. How to establish and maintain long-term success in a given policy/service area.
   c. How to get people to use the initiative?
   d. How to advertise and communicate the plan?
   
   
   

This task is typically accomplished through a series of full or * day workshops with the senior leaders to create the charter for the program, agree on a governance structure, expectations, and high-level deliverables and organization structure for the program. In addition, the leadership team will develop a stakeholder model, and assign program management positions. In small working groups details of program scope, stakeholder, resource plans, outcomes, and risks are developed.

Deliverables from a project charter include

• A project charter that includes clearly defined purpose, outcomes, deliverables, team structures, team leader assignments, governance structure, decision process, key milestones, and project roadmap.
  
  
  

An innovative approach to defining a business case that pools e-business knowledge and expertise as need to define the key project details that lead to success. The elements of the business plan or business case include:

1. Customer Definition and Value Proposition
   a. Define the type of constituency groups to be targeted.
   b. Define which agencies and intra-government agencies are stakeholders in the initiative and how they are affected.
2. Define the value proposition for these customers/stakeholders
   a. Value Capture/ Profit Model
   b. Define how the government will fund the initiative.
   c. Define how the value will be captured.
3. Keeping score of business results
   a. Design a scorecard for the project with up to six key indicators
   b. Define the measures, identify data sources
   c. Assist in selecting the appropriate tool(s) to track progress
   
   
   

This task is typically accomplished through a series of full or * day workshops with the senior leaders to create the charter for the program, agree on a governance structure, expectations, and high-level deliverables and organization structure for the program. In addition, the leadership team will develop a stakeholder model, and assign program management positions. In small working groups details of risk assessment, ROI analysis, and preparation of supplemental information are established.

The following principles of successful cross-agency initiatives are directly applicable to the Business Planning task.

• Include senior members from partner agencies as part of the process
  
• Ensure they have a meaningful role in the plan, make them part of the developing the solution
  
• Establish (or join) a board of advisors established by the cross-agency senior leadership team
  
• Establish a shared scorecard with key performance indicators that are designed to help with cross-agency programs (shared display, common language, common definitions)
  
  
  

The deliverables for the Business Planning task include:

• Detailed Business Plan/Business Case
  
• Risk assessment
  
• Key performance indicators
  
• Framework for reporting results
  
  
  

Given a valid Business Case is established, the program manager will work with the sponsor, key team members and stakeholders to define, document and gain agreement on a management plan. The elements of the management plan include:

1. Detailed Schedule
   a. Define work breakdown structure
   b. Define detailed timeline
   c. Define dependencies
2. Resource Plan
   a. Define task leaders and team assignments
   b. Define level of effort
   c. Allocate work responsibilities
   d. Define governance and organization structure
3. Detailed Budget
   a. Define and allocate budget line items
4. Communication Plan
   a. Define team communication plan
   b. Define customer/stakeholder communication plan
   c. Define change management and control process
5. Risk Mitigation Plan
6. Performance Measurement
   a. Define key performance indicators
   b. Define measurement process and communication plan
   
   
   

The following principles of successful cross-agency initiatives are directly applicable to the Project Planning task.

• Include members from partner agencies as part of the process
  
• Ensure they have a meaningful role in the plan, make them part of the developing the solution
  
• Establish clear expectations and requirements for each of the teams, and their agency partners
  
• Establish a shared scorecard with key performance indicators that are designed to help with cross-agency programs (shared display, common language, common definitions)
  
• Maintain a single source of knowledge for the overall project and for each team
  
  
  

The deliverables for the Project Planning task include a management plan that has the commitment from the management team and team leaders; approval of the board of directors / steering committee and agreements on:

• Governance and decision making, key performance indicators for the project and major milestones.
  
• A Work Breakdown Structure
  
• A detailed budget
  
• A detailed schedule
  
• Resource Plan
  
• Team structures
  
• Problem solving model / technique
  
• A review process to surface issues and impediments quickly
  
  
  

This is the critical control phase of ensuring that inhibitors are being addressed, insights and issues are surfaced and addressed, the teams get the support they need to be successful, and the projects are being done on time, in budget and to specification. This task includes the closeout process, which acknowledges successes, identifies program implementation strengths and areas for improvement. This formal closeout establishes a basis for future cross-agency relationship and captures the intellectual capital and lessons> learned to improve follow-on or simultaneous programs. The elements of the project control include:

1. Measuring Progress
   
2. Communication
   
3. Corrective Action
   
4. Performance Monitoring
   
5. Building Deliverable Repository
   
6. Intellectual Capital Capture
   
7. Executive facilitation and coaching
   
8. Visualization of models, frameworks, processes and roadmaps
   
   
   

The following principles of successful cross-agency initiatives are directly applicable to the Project Control
task.

• Include team members from partner agencies as part of the process
  
• Ensure they have a meaningful role in the plan, make them part of the developing the solution
  
• Establish systematic review cycles and methods for problem solving and conflict resolution
  
• Establish a shared scorecard with key performance indicators that are designed to help with cross-agency programs (shared display, common language, common definitions).
  
• Ensure each contribution and recommendation is acknowledged recorded.
  
  
  

The deliverables for the Project Control task include:

• Status reports and management briefings
  
• Project plans and risk assessments
  
• Budget plans and reviews
  
• Summary of key performance indicators
  
• Deliverable repository
  
• Project performance appraisals
  
• Intellectual capital analysis
  
• Lessons learned and follow-on recommendations
  
  
  

Specific resource levels and period of performance are dependent on the level of complexity of the given initiative. The complexity increases based on general understanding of the objectives, level of agreement of the stakeholders, number of agencies involved and scope of the development and implementation task.

Successful cross-agency programs have increased their investment of time in early stage planning, and management reviews and intervention at key touch-points and a dedication from all stakeholders to resolve problems quickly. Successful teams have leveraged the internet and adopted new methods for getting distributed groups together for virtual meetings, and they have invested time in managing both formal and informal knowledge. Traditional skills and competencies are still critical to project success and they are not entirely sufficient for delivering solutions in cross-agency development efforts.