SMS Management & Technology

SMS Management & Technology has been recognised as an ABA100® Winner for Project Management in The Australian Business Awards 2016. The Australian Business Award for Project Management recognises organisations that have achieved outstanding results through excellence in project management.

“Sustainability Victoria as part of their organisational transformation implemented a customer (or stakeholder) relationship management (CRM) solution to manage its stakeholders, procurements, contracts and grants. SMS delivered the project using an Agile framework, this framework was chosen based on the client’s desire to do things differently, the focus on innovation and the desire to develop degrees of connection across the organisation. By forming a true partnership with SMS, Sustainability Victoria wanted to accelerate learning and embrace new ideas. By setting clear checkpoints through the project with highly measurable outcomes trust was earnt. SMS started light setting strong foundations and introducing and evolving the framework to be purposeful to the Sustainability Victoria environment.

“Sustainability Victoria embedded key subject matter resources within the project acknowledging this was key to success. SMS encouraged openness and transparency introducing a cultural and behavioural shift in ways of working. The progress and engagement was highly visible in the organisation with visual and change techniques introduced such as Kanban walls and ‘breakathons’. The people involved in the project became champions for the way of working, encouraging their peers to be involved in the exciting organisational change. Through replayed success narratives this enabled an underlying cultural shift that seeded through into other parts of the organisation with other projects embracing agility as their new way of working.

“This project is a perfect example of project management done well. Sustainability Victoria now not only have a new Customer Relationship Management tool that connects the whole business, but their staff have the skills to implement the agile framework for their projects going forward. This has resulted in agility being embraced outside technical change with the new 2016 ‘Take 2’ campaign and initiative embracing agile in their delivery. This project was a true catalyst for change and we are very proud to have been a part of it.”

David Moodie, Managing Director, Capability Development, SMS Management & Technology

Sustainability Victoria (SV) is a Victorian government statutory authority delivering programs on integrated waste management and resource efficiency, supporting Victorians to be more sustainable in their everyday life. SMS Management & Technology (SMS) cultivates innovation, digital, mobile and design-led business and technology capability to empower organisations across all sectors.

The objective of the project was that SV employees would have access to a single source of truth, providing a complete view of external stakeholder relationships across the organisation. Processes across the various business functions would be connected so as to effectively track the flow of, and efficiently govern the storage of, information coming in and out of the organisation.

To set the project up for success and build trust, SMS and SV co-created a contract which enabled risks to be managed in a transparent way. An Agile team was formed, bringing together resources and key skills from both organisations. SV took accountability for key roles such as the Product Owner, which was critical for project success. By using a sliding scale, SMS and SV were able to understand where there was flexibility within the project. They both worked together to develop both the CRM and an understanding of the Scrum framework. A two-day session trained everyone involved in the project in Scrum, ensuring they all understood the work methods, the culture and behaviours of co-designing a solution.

Through regular updates and two-way feedback, progress and risks were communicated in a transparent way. The project was delivered on time, within budget and has provided SV with a platform that is enabling faster decision making, improved customer service and better strategic outcomes.