Project Management can help save lives Yes, you heard it right! Have a look at this case-study for work we carried out with a dynamic and respected global NGO which transforms lives across the world by improving access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene. They asked us to help with a project vital for the success and progression of their international programme of works.
The project
To facilitate their charitable works worldwide and ensure consistency and accuracy of programme information sharing, the NGO was planning a rollout of an ambitious Global Programme Management Information System. No small task, and one best trialled to mitigate expensive risks and potential problems. The NGO decided to pilot the project regionally before the global rollout and asked PMOD to provide expert PM support to deliver the pilot in the Southern African region, in partnership with GreenLight, a Programme Monitoring and Evaluation (PME) organisation. GreenLight also provided a Software as a Service (SaaS) solution that could be delivered in a relatively short space of time, supported with two levels of training – users and super users.
The challenges This Project Management role was fairly complex as it involved delivering the pilot across the UK as well as five countries in the Southern African region. Our Project Manager was required to work closely with multi-lingual teams at national, regional and global levels, and was deployed full-time to the regional HQ in Africa during part of the project.
Our input and outputs
We delivered a complex project plan detailing all the requirements and outputs of the pilot, then worked with the SaaS provider to develop a multi-lingual platform to fit the organisational needs. We built trusted relationships with teams at national, regional and global levels of the organisation and successfully delivered the project and all its training requirements, across the UK and Southern African Region. We collected valuable data via workshops and questionnaires from all parties involved so that we could accurately report to the NGO Directorate team with recommendations on the global rollout, as well as create a development roadmap hand in hand with the SaaS provider. Additionally, the Project Manager worked closely with the SaaS provider on a proof of concept of systems integration to ensure that the system in its current and future state would continue to support organisational needs. The results The NGO used the results and recommendations of the pilot project to inform the planning of their global project rollout. In 2016-2017, ‘Projects to improve planning, monitoring, evaluation and reporting for programme work, fundraising and resources’ were successfully delivered by the NGO as planned. (NGO Annual Report 2016-2017).
Our view
“This was a very successful PM deployment for us. A core of our Project Managers have the ideal skills and experience for working with both large and small charities. Sometimes there can be a lack of knowledge on project best practice within organisations, but this does not pose a problem for us. We have the expertise and adaptability to work with organisational challenges, and are well equipped to deploy PMs for work overseas as required. This can be hugely helpful for NGOs and charitable organisations which are operating globally.” - Nadine Schofield, Managing Director, Project Management On Demand.
If you think your charitable organisation or NGO could benefit from flexible Digital Project Management support, contact us here to discuss your requirements.
Project Management On Demand supplies skilled Project Management professionals to digital businesses when they are needed most. Working remotely or in-house, our PMs look after your key deliverables, mitigate issues, and keep your critical path on-track, and your clients happy. For more information on our services, visit www.projectmanagementod.co.uk/our-services