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The Convergence Methodology: Project Management by Results

November 24, 2009 | Author: PM Hut | Filed under: Miscellaneous

The Convergence Methodology: Project Management by Results (#1 in the series The Convergence Methodology)
By Frederic Delrieu

The convergence methodology has been developed in the Automotive industry (Renault company) to improve the project teams efficiency in a context of strong competition (schedules always tightened to be the first to sell a product, more and more innovations to differentiate the product).

Consisting in a real cultural change, this methodology is focused on the results to be got to reach the project goal and produces a real change of state of mind of each contributor. It supports the necessary transverse collaboration of all different expertise involved in the development of products more and more complex while a traditional organization cannot manage this complexity. Of course it doesn’t work against traditional company processes, but structures and challenges them.

The team building, as identification of each contributor and exchanges between each other is a key phase of the convergence plan building. During the project carrying out, the progress will be then monitored by relevant indicators and the convergence plan will be updated if necessary until the final result.

Convergence methodology and systems engineering

In a recent past, it was easy to split a big system into relatively independent functions one from the others. Nowadays, systems can mainly be split into sub-systems with interactions and interfaces. This complexity makes difficult to get the permanent visibility of all the results obtained vs to be obtained and identify one’s personal contribution regarding other contributors. The convergence methodology is a powerful tool, because it is collectively made to respect the targets and the constraints. It must be continuously updated and visible by everybody at each moment. The application of this methodology showed very good results in System Engineering as it fits each development stage from the stakeholders expectations to the detailed components study.

Convergence plan and expert process

The convergence plan does not work against traditional expertise process. It is a tool to be used especially in two cases where it will show a powerful efficiency : A special task-force in order to shorten the development schedule, or the implementation of an innovation where there is a need to define a new action plan because no usual process can be applied.

The expertise processes are the result of a long experience in the company and of a robust know-how. « By strictly applying the process, the result is guaranteed ». The advantage is not to lose time in re-inventing the method by applying what older experts have defined on previous projects. This way the application of processes is efficient and can save resources.

Nevertheless, the processes can not be frozen in a world in perpetual evolution. The convergence plan allows to challenge the processes and optimize them in time and resources, being of course aware not to remove important actions of the existing processes but organizing them differently with each contributor. The experts have here a very important role, by supplying the justification of each action in order to avoid that a past concern happens again.

In conclusion, the convergence plan allows to optimize existing processes or to create new ones in case of an innovation.

Frederic Delrieu has more than 10 years of experience in Automotive R&D. He’s an expert in Engineering Project Management, from the idea to the industrial application : Product road-map, product design, Systems Engineering, functional specification, supplier sourcing, development and implementation, quality assurance. Frederic’s can be contacted through his blog, or through his linkedin profile.

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