Case Study
On-Demand Project Leadership
The Challenge
The founders of a fast-growing IT services company were seeking a project management consultant to help deliver their IT and digital transformation initiatives to a fast-growing law firm. When they reached out to Stratdel, the projects were already funded and the scope was defined, but they needed a resource they could count on to deliver the work – and deliver it quick.
The Solution
Each of our consultants at Stratdel have years of experience in project management, and as a result, we are able to join projects, often midstream, get up to speed quickly, and bring solutions to the table that focus on teamwork, collaboration and open communication.
We also understand the importance of setting the groundwork for a successful project. And that means evaluating current systems and processes and providing recommendations and solutions that best fit the needs of the in-house team, the client and the project as a whole.
In this particular case, our consultant took some key initial steps, which included:
- An immediate business process review to establish a baseline understanding of the law firm’s core workflows – helping to ensure the right software was recommended.
- Working with the client (IT service company) to validate and procure software that would help the law firm to be more efficient and cost effective.
- A recommendation that Stratdel become the central point to bridge the communications gap between the law firm and IT project team. This helped to create a collaborative working environment between the two, aligned teams to work toward a common goal, and improved relationships.
The Feedback
“We didn’t have structure or process before we brought in Stratdel. We didn’t give them a lot of materials or pre reqs. We just said it needed to be done and they made it happen. Stratdel was results-driven and they brought a tremendous amount of value add.”
Business Impact – Value
On-demand project leadership requires a heavy amount of adaptability, and Stratdel consultants are able to assimilate to new environments quickly. At the same time, we are dedicated to helping in-house teams to overcome existing challenges without sacrificing the quality.
With the IT services client, we were able to quickly:
- Provide organization and structure, helping their team to work more efficiently and effectively with their customer.
- Establish a communication structure that allowed for consistent communication from a central point of contact. Formal weekly, monthly, and quarterly project reviews were also put in place.
- Execute initiatives, on-time and under budget — building trust with the project team and their customer.
Business Impact – Process
To help deliver the law firm’s “roadmap” which centered on IT and digital transformation, our IT service client needed a project manager who could methodically plan a portfolio of projects around the schedules of part-time IT resources. To do so effectively, our consultant:
- Worked with their IT resources to balance schedules, taking into account work demands with additional customers.
- Reviewed transformation initiatives and prioritized projects based on value to the customer and to minimize in-house employee engagement.
- Developed an implementation roadmap that aligned with the law firm’s ongoing daily operations and the project team’s IT resource capacity constraints.
Business Impact – Leadership
Just as each project is different, so are the companies we work with – and their cultures and team members. It is our responsibility to find the right balance, to foster trust and to rally team members to work together towards a common goal.
Throughout the lifecycle of the IT roadmap, our consultant was able to help the law firm’s in-house team to:
- Better adapt to change through trusted communications.
- Train staff on new transformation applications to improve their workflow performance.
- Establish and lead monthly IT maintenance windows to improve infrastructure and applications.
