Customer Story - Rapid Growth and Transformation at a Credit Union
Over the past seven years, a Milwaukee based credit union has experienced remarkable growth, expanding to over 1,200 employees and an IT department that has quadrupled in size since 2020. This rapid expansion has been challenged by updating many practices and attempts to improve collaboration methods in both operations and projects.
Call For Help:
- There was a significant shortage of experienced project managers and there were over 30 projects in the pipeline. Many technical staff members were stepping in to lead projects, but they lacked project management expertise. As a result, key stakeholders did not receive accurate status reports on project progress
- The company struggled to differentiate between operational and project work. Staff were primarily hired to support operations, and they approached projects as if they were operational issues. This approach led to several of the essential project management steps being overlooked.
- IT support operations had historically focused on resolving problems quickly, without adequately communicating the details of the issue. This lack of communication challenged business users who were trying to serve their members. Equipment failures due to uncommunicated updates further exacerbated the problem
FarWell Advisor Support:
- A FarWell Advisor collaborated to establish and standardize a project practice for the teams. This included:
- Implementing systems to hold resources accountable.
- Conducting project kickoffs, creating project charters, and appointing project owners/sponsors to clarify roles and communicate the anticipated project timeline.
- Scheduling regular touchpoints to ensure resources were completing work.
- Promoting resource ownership of project tasks.
- Maintaining a Risk, Issues, Decision, and Action Items log for updates, escalations, and decision-making for upper management.
- For the first project assigned, which involved upgrading 1,200 Windows 10 machines to Windows 11, the FarWell Advisor partnered with the HR Communications department to advertise the upgrade on the intranet and created a comprehensive communication plan. The FarWell Advisor leveraged tools like Microsoft Teams and SharePoint to create a space for project communication, information sharing, gathering feedback from credit union employees, and enhancing existing processes around these tools.
Results:
- Enhanced communication has been a significant factor in the success of internal IT projects. Team members are well-informed about upcoming tasks and responsibilities. Upper management is kept updated on project progress and any obstacles that arise, ensuring timely intervention when needed.
- Substantial progress has been made in implementing and understanding effective project processes. FarWell coaching has led to improved resource ownership and accountability.
- Projects are now being completed successfully and on time.
