Denise Plumpton

On the road to a greener future

2008-05-22T12:47:25+01:00

The Highways Agency is responsible for the safe management, maintenance and operation of the strategic road network in England. Our roads carry one-third of all traffic and two-thirds of all freight.

We recognise that while travel and transport is economically essential, it is damaging to the environment. My role is to provide customers with information before and during their journeys to help them make a choice.

By encouraging pre-journey planning, customers can decide whether, when and how to travel. On-the-road information helps customers avoid being caught up in congestion and reduces the environmental impact of their journey.

Our customers want information services to be reliable, trustworthy and useful. Crucially, they now also want them delivered in a sustainable manner.

The Highways Agency has about 3,500 staff, of which more than 2,000 are based in nine main office locations. We also have staff at our seven Regional Control Centres, the National Traffic Control Centre and 33 outstations across the country, from where our traffic officers patrol the motorways.

We also have a small number of home workers. And with our services spread across such a broad base, many workers would frequently find themselves travelling between locations, unless we make the most of our IT systems.

We need positive action to reduce our environmental impact, to meet the challenging targets for reduced energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, and to increase the use of renewable energy. I believe IT has a key role to play.

We are setting our green computing agenda at an individual level, an IT level and an enterprise-wide level. The organisation encourages staff to reduce the amount they print, switch off any unused devices and make use of virtual meeting technologies, such as telephone and videoconferencing.

The Highways Agency has provided recycling facilities for paper, cardboard, batteries, toner cartridges, mobile phones, CDs and even hard hats.

Our approach is not based on “what to recycle” but “why can’t you recycle?” And during the past two years, the organisation has halved the amount of paper it uses and has removed more than 350 printers, copiers or scanners from our offices.

We look to use low-energy equipment and extend our hardware refresh cycles. Equipment disposal, meanwhile, is carefully managed.

The organisation is introducing remote switch on/off mechanisms and is consolidating servers. We have recently launched document management systems to avoid the need for multiple copies of documents, reducing our disk space requirements.

Finally, we also consider sustainability in our investment business cases and we extend the approach to our suppliers and partners. The Highways Agency wants to know the products we are buying come from organisations that take green issues seriously.

In short, the organisation has started a journey towards a greener IT future. We are setting targets, working with our stakeholders, raising awareness with our staff and, most importantly, taking action.

Where are all the IT skills?

2007-06-25T17:09:13+01:00

We keep reading about the shortage of people with IT skills in the UK and the risks that shortage might present to our standing in the world. Certainly, almost everyone I talk to is concerned about the difficulty they are having in attracting the right IT people to their organisations. More and more of the outsource providers and consultancies seem to be constantly advertising for a range of people, typically now the focus seems to be on project and programme managers. Are we all fishing in an ever decreasing pool ?

But wait, we also hear about entrepreneurs who are establishing new internet-based businesses and clearly have, and seem to be attracting, the very skills we seem to desire. Where are we going wrong? I'm told (reliably, I hope) by recruitment companies, that while money is important - after all, who wants to work for less than they need to - the real attraction of an organisation is the opportunity to work on interesting projects which are at the forefront of technological developments. So, are we too set in our ways? Are the skills we think we need actually those of the 20th century? Are we searching simply for a younger version of ourselves?

I think it's time to take stock of our real needs, not just for today but for the future and to think about a completely different aspect of IT skills. Are we communicating to these entrepreneurs in their space and in their language?

The other thought is that now IT is such an ingrained part of our existence, are IT skills actually recognised as a separate item by those individuals? We seem to want all of our staff, in whatever part of our businesses they work, to be computer-literate and to be able to use the systems and technologies we put before them. Are we overlooking an obvious source of skill and a much larger pool of people to attract? I think we are.

In thinking about how to deal with this, certainly for my team, we'll now be considering what skills we have within other parts of our organisation and how we can get to them. We'll also be looking at how we best communicate with what we believe are a wealth of good skills out in the marketplace and how best we can offer them the interesting and innovative work they'll be eager to do.

Wish me luck.

How committed are developers to open systems?

2007-04-05T16:05:23+01:00

Well, for me it's the new financial year and as always there is pressure on the budget and the need to get the best from the resources we have.

So with that in mind, I've just been reading how many organisations are spending far more than they need to because individual departments are reluctant - or even refusing - to relinquish their IT assets. It poses two questions in my mind.

The first, obvious, question is 'why?'

Are departments worried about the level of service they'll get if someone else is in control? Or is it a case of 'empire building' or 'empire protection' ? Surely this could be resolved if the IT department is a trusted part of the organisation and understands the business needs which are being serviced through the use of these IT assets. But I can see that in many organisations there is still a perceived chasm between the IT staff and their colleagues 'in the business'. It's on the radar of every CIO I have ever met for the last few years. This seems to have an easy answer but generally in the IT world we don't seem to be slaying this particular dragon. Something to think about another day.

The second question is more problematic to me. Over the years I have been on the receiving end of many presentations about open systems. The virtues of interoperability have been extolled over and over. So why is it that when we try to co-locate applications onto a common server infrastructure, developers are immediately up in arms saying that they couldn't possibly guarantee the performance of their application if it were to be moved. What are they protecting? Or more importantly, what are they afraid of?

For me, this reinforces the fact that when I am presented with a design proposal for a new or enhanced application, I shall probe very hard to make sure I understand all the limitations of the design as well as the always well-presented opportunities. So my belated new year resolution now is not to put up with 'development ego' from my suppliers and to make sure they really are committed to 'open' technologies. Let's see !

Reporting project progress

2007-02-27T10:32:00+00:00

Every week I seem to see reports of failed projects, many of which have previously been billed as the next raging success. What’s happening out there?

How honest are we in reporting project progress? And how honest should we be?

As someone often on the receiving end of project and programme progress reports, of course I want to see the honest picture. I would say that, wouldn't I? But is that really the case? And is it in the project/programme manager's best interest to give me a warts and all picture?

If you know there's a temporary blip in the project, but you're confident that you can manage to recover from it and still meet the key milestones, then why would you want to worry me (possibly unnecessarily) or risk me interfering (yes, we've all worked for managers who are keen to roll up their sleeves in the, often misguided, view, that they're the only ones who can put it back on track). So, there has to be a judgement made about when and what to report.

But, on the other hand, please don't keep telling me it’s all OK until the eleventh hour and suddenly report the project is late, overspent, poor quality, not fully tested or has some other significant defect. By this time it's too late for any of us to get it sorted to meet the original goals. And I'll be cross! You wouldn't like that. If you'd shared the issues earlier then maybe we could have done something together.

A bigger concern for me, though, is the project manager who either doesn’t realise the project is off the rails, or doesn’t want to believe it.

For those of you who don't realise until it's too late - please, get yourself a coach or mentor who can advise you on the pitfalls to look out for. Formal training may help but experience counts for everything.

For those of you who don’t want to believe it - the question has to be - why? There could be lots of different reasons. I'd guess that near the top of the list are: not knowing how to resolve it, fear of being blamed, fear of personal failure or a trusting belief that it'll be all right on the night, come what may.

And, at the end of the day, in my experience, the best way to get honest project progress reports is in an organisation which accepts that no-one and no project is perfect; that there will be times when it all looks hopeless but it's only by facing up to problems, and sharing them with a sympathetic ear, that we learn from mistakes and get better at project management.

So, to answer my first questions - no, we're not always honest about reporting on our projects. And, yes, of course we should be, but we need the right, trusting, environment to do it in.

Which leads me neatly into my next thought - how can the managers and leaders create that trusted place to work? Ah, if only…..

Project management - nature or nurture?

2007-01-30T15:43:58+00:00

We all read reports about so-called IT projects which have:

gone off the rails
failed to deliver the required benefits or results
gone over budget or over time or both
been cancelled because they were beyond hope.

But why is this? What's the problem ?

Firstly, I refer to them as 'so-called' IT projects because in most cases the projects we hear about are actually business projects which are utilising new systems or technologies to change the way an organisation operates.

There are many possible causes for such projects to go awry. These are well documented and include:

business not knowing, or being able to articulate, its real needs
business not understanding the need to put in resources to work alongside IT colleagues during the project
changes in scope, etc.

And so it goes on.

But I want to explore the concept of project management. Most organisations will say they use tried and tested methodologies for managing projects. Indeed, there are those ways of working which are becoming de facto industry standards.

Those same organisations will tell you that all of their project managers are certified in the chosen methodology. But does that only mean that they have been 'sheep-dipped' on the training courses and emerged with their manual and their attendance certificate?

The problems then start and I want to mention just two:

First - when was the project manager trained? There's a world of difference between 'just-in-time' training so that the learning is fresh in the mind and can be applied to the project with gusto, and the 'I've-got-a-manual-in-the-back-of-the-cupboard' approach whereby the learning is at best rusty or, worse, thinking and best practice standards have developed to the point that renders the old training meaningless.

So, my advice is make sure your project managers are freshly trained in the latest thinking and techniques. It always helps if they have managed successful projects before, but a refresher is never wasted.

Second - what makes a project manager? I've seen countless people who claim to be project managers. They have been on the course, got the certificate, know the keywords, understand the process and can produce a project plan.

But - they can't manage a project; haven't got a clue! Why not?

Is project management nature or nurture? I don't have the answer. I'm sure others have their views. A topic for an MBA thesis perhaps?

Do call centres like customers?

2007-01-15T10:08:19+00:00

Over the years there has been great debate about call centres.

Are they the best way of providing customer service? Should they be staffed by employees of the organisation they serve? Can they be offshored? If not, which region has the best accent to encourage a friendly service?

There is no single or simple right answer, otherwise everyone would adopt the same solution. But - I want to look at the way calls are handled in call centres.

Yes - the staff answering the phone are usually friendly, they give you their first name and appear competent and keen to help. But why, oh why, do they have to depend on, and follow rigidly, a set script?

Let me give you a recent example. Just before Christmas, I wanted to check the opening times of my local bank branch. Its web site advised me that there were special opening hours between Christmas and New Year and that customers should phone the call centre number to check the actual times. So - phone in hand, I did just that.

First you have to run the gamut of the sales chat telling you of all the wonderful products that you are not interested in. Then you're reminded that calls may be recorded for training purposes (in other words, watch what you say!) Then comes the keypad selection : no, I don't have a query on my account; no, I don't want to open an account/setup a direct debit/pay a bill / etc. etc. So I hang on until the system recognises I want to be put through to an advisor. At last !

'John' answers the phone. He asks me for my account number. 'No', I say, 'I just want to know when the branch will be open.' 'Yes' he says enthusiastically, 'I can help you with that'.

He asks for my account number - again. 'Why?', I say, 'my account is not at the branch I want to know about. Please can you just tell me the opening hours of branch xx.'

'Yes of course' says John ' can I have your name please'. 'No! I just want to know when the branch will be open. It doesn't matter who I am. It doesn't matter whether or not I am an existing customer. I don't want you to sell me any products or offer to manage my account. I only want to know when the branch will be open. If I walk in to the branch, off the street, and go to its information desk, they'll tell me without asking my personal details, so why do you need to know?'

Eventually, John agrees that he can provide me with the information I need without knowing who I am. Success - but at what cost? - to his time and to my time and temper.

I could have complied and given John the details he wanted. I'm sure then he would have been happy following his script, eventually answering my query and trying to keep me on the line offering all sorts of help which I didn't need. But if I take that line of least resistance, will things ever change?

Who decides what the customer wants? Who considers the efficiency and effectiveness of the call centre? It appears to me, as a humble customer, that call centres are set up to be able to employ staff who can operate largely untrained by following a script and never deviating.

Call centres are not designed for customer happiness - and until someone recognises that, there will continue to be people like me who use them only a last resort and under great sufferance. But, perhaps that's what they want - after all, the fewer incoming calls they have, the cheaper the centre is to run and the greater the profits to the organisation! Or am I just being cynical..

No need for a banking security league

2007-01-02T13:33:00+00:00

There seems to be a lot in the press recently about security - and particular attention to the security measures the banking sector are taking to protect its customers accounts. I think this is a clear case for continuous development. Almost as soon as new security measures are put in place, there will be hackers and phishing attacks developed to break in. Add to that the unwariness of some customers - how many times have we all been advised that our bank will never ask for our details by email , and how many people still fall into the honey trap ? I regularly receive emails asking me to confirm my account details that purports to be from one of the major banks that I have never, knowingly, held an account with.

But do we really want to have a league table of the banks' security levels? I can see the benefit of a "name and shame" campaign to stir up action where there is currently complacency. But what might be the real outcome? Many customers are intrinsically lazy, so I doubt it would cause a mass migration of accounts to the bank at the head of the league table.

Equally, aren't we just inviting phishing incidents for those at the lower end of the league? It seems to me rather than walking through the supermarket car park, the opportune thief is much more likely to aim for the car which doesn't have the flashing alarm light on the dashboard and does have the tell-tale sat-nav mark on the windscreen. Why? Because, without much thought, he can see the difference and decide which is the easier target.

Do we really want to give phishing attacks a helping hand?. Security is a serious point and we must all be vigilant and keep our security measures up to date; but before we start thinking about what to publish, let's think about what we're trying to achieve from it and work from there.