Project Launch Process L065

L065 - Define and Agree Approach to Skills Transfer

DEFINITION

Define and agree the approach to the transfer of skills from external specialists to permanent staff members of the client organisation.

SUMMARY

An important part of any project using external consultants or other specialists is to pass knowledge and skills to the permanent staff.  The way in which this should be achieved should be discussed and agreed.  There are some cases in which the client organisation may not wish their staff to become too well skilled if that might lead to their leaving for a better job.  The overall approach should be agreed with the project sponsor and other key management.

Where appropriate, specific mechanisms may be put in place to aid the knowledge transfer.  The outcome of this process will also impact the project planning, project organisation planning, and individuals’ roles within the team.

PATH PLANNING GUIDANCE

Optional - used where external specialists will be able to pass on knowledge and skills to client organisation staff.

DEPENDENCIES

Prerequisites (Finish-Finish):

• L010 - Review / confirm Terms of Reference (ToR), Scope, Objectives

Dependent procedures (Finish-Finish):

• L080 - Quality Plan
• L100 - Define organisation, people and support requirements

Dependent procedures (Finish-Start):

• L120 - Detail the Segment Plan
• L130 - Detail / revise staffing, team structure and organisation

RECEIVABLES

• (none)

DELIVERABLES

• Agreed approach - may be documented in the Quality Plan (L080) if appropriate

TOOLS

• (none)

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF TASKS

An important part of any project using external consultants or other specialists is to pass knowledge and skills to the permanent staff.  The way in which this should be achieved should be discussed and agreed.

Application software implementation projects are normally conducted in mixed teams combining the range of skills and backgrounds needed to address the various issues.  The team tends to be focused on a particular sub-set of the overall needs, typically an area of business processing or a technical sub-system.  Typical teams might comprise:

• Consultants,
• business-oriented management and staff from the client organisation,
• IT-oriented staff from the client organisation,
• external specialists, eg package specialists from the package vendor.

Within these categories a large range of specific knowledge and skills will be required.  Some of these will normally exist within the client organisation and need to be communicated and understood by external project members, for example:

• strategic direction,
• business needs,
• culture,
• how things are done now,
• how the current IT systems work,
• IT systems analysis,
• programming.

Other skills and knowledge may be provided by external team members, for example:

• how to redesign the business processes,
• industry best practice for business processes,
• programme/project management,
• change management - managing the human and organisational change,
• how to define requirements and select a package-focused solution,
• state-of-the-art in package solutions,
• how to design and build package-focused business solutions,
• team leadership,
• legal and regulatory requirements,
• how the package works,
• state-of-the-art in technology.

The right skills are combined in mixed teams so that knowledge can pass easily between the team members.  This should normally ensure a good common understanding of the overall issues and the solution.  In particular, this knowledge should be left behind with permanent members of the client organisation so that they can continue to take maximum advantage of the systems, and also so that they can re-use their new knowledge on other initiatives.

There are some cases in which the client organisation may not wish their staff to become too well skilled if that might lead to their leaving for a better job.  This has become a major problem in areas where specialist resources are scarce and large salaries are available to anyone who can claim relevant experience.  In such cases, it may be appropriate to limit the degree of knowledge which can be acquired by any one permanent staff member.  For example, they could:

• be given limited roles,
• be kept in user-only teams,
• not be involved the parameterisation of the system,
• not attend the package-specific training,
• be used on a part-time basis,
• be rotated regularly in and out of their line role,
• not be issued with their own copies of manuals and documentation.

Although this may have the desired effect, it must be balanced against the effectiveness of the team.  In most cases, good knowledge levels and transfer of information are key to the project’s success.

Where appropriate, specific mechanisms may be put in place to aid the knowledge transfer.  Training and coaching are normally important.  In addition, teams would normally be involved in reviewing each other’s work and discussing issues together.  These may be built into the project approach as defined in the Quality Plan - see Process L080.

The outcome of this process will also impact upon the project planning, project organisation planning, and individual’s roles within the team.  Teams should be set up to support the required degree of knowledge and skills transfer.

The overall approach should be agreed with the project sponsor and other key management.  It is not normally presented as a formal document.  Any specific conclusions may be documented in the Quality Plan (Process L080) or in terms of the defined organisation, structure and roles for the Project Team (see processes L100, L120, L130).