Everyone wants quick and easy insight into the status of their projects. Especially when you have multiple ongoing projects that require you to divide your attention between them. While modern means of communication are indeed convenient, they can produce a lot of ‘noise’.
The theory: ‘less is more’
Projects have an initiation phase, a preparation phase and an execution phase. The project has been thought through from A to Z, and the final phase is simply a matter of execution.
The theory assumes that everything is predictable, and that unforeseen events never occur. Unfortunately, total information awareness is a utopian dream. It is precisely in the execution phase where we will see deviations from the plan. Every project manager faces the challenge of responding flexibly and communicating efficiently to handle these deviations.
Efficient communication with a weekly risk report
Smart and efficient communication in the execution phase starts with clearly formulating the basic premises in an action plan. A complete action plan includes milestones in the execution phase, the budget structure and naturally also the Key Performance Indicators.
Reporting deviations from the plan on a weekly basis keeps the Buyer well informed. The client is also informed if no deviations occurred. Information alone is not enough to promote proactivity. The Buyer must receive weekly feedback on whether the planned actions were satisfactorily completed.
The Weekly in practice: administrative burden?
In practice however, maintaining a weekly risk report appears to pose an administrative burden.
This lies first and foremost in maintenance, storage and circulation of the document, as well as in storing and responding to feedback. This does not sound like a significant administrative burden at first. However, using a Weekly to report on more than one project requires considerable working hours every week in order to complete and distribute the Excel file.
Second, the administrative burden also stems from the use of the Weekly as an issue list. The Weekly is intended to report on deviations from the schedule and budget for that week and on the processing status of previously reported deviations. Using the Weekly as an issue list and reporting on micro-deviations results in micromanagement.
The Best Value Pointer solution
The Best Value Pointer software is designed to reduce administrative burden in the production of the Weekly.
The Best Value Pointer Weekly is located in a centralised environment that is accessible to all users at all times. This reduces email traffic. This centralised and secure location for Best Value Pointer greatly reduces communication ‘noise’.
Everything under one roof
Another benefit is that the software lets you upload the action plan from the detailed planning phase. This gives you all of the relevant information in one place, reducing the administrative burden.
Simple structure
The environment offers a simple but comprehensive structure for reporting on undesired events. The status display for time, money and quality provides a clear overview of the impact of an undesired event – at a single glance. This simple structure also prevents the reporting of micro-deviations, which ultimately saves time.
