Programme and project recovery
Your programme has slipped and the deadline can't move. Or it went live a year ago and the benefits never arrived. I help organisations reset programmes like these and get them delivered.
Warning signs
Signs a programme needs a reset
Most programmes in trouble show several of these before anyone says the word "recovery" out loud.
- The go-live date is fixed, but the plan no longer reaches itSchedule
- Reports stayed green for months, then went straight to redReporting
- The supplier and your team disagree about what is finishedSuppliers
- Nobody owns the benefits, or they aren't being measuredBenefits
- Staff are working around the new systemAdoption
- Training and business change were left until the endChange
Approach
How a recovery engagement runs
Assess
Two weeks to establish what is really done, what is realistic and what the options are. The SRO gets an honest written view of where things stand.
Re-baseline
A plan the suppliers sign up to, scope traded against the fixed date where it has to be, and governance reset so problems surface early.
Deliver
Weekly tracking against the new baseline, with change, training and support planned alongside the technical work rather than after it.
Experience
Recovery work I've done
- 2023–present
Laboratory system rollout, independent healthcare
A LIMS deployment across 73 hospital sites that had slipped against a fixed delivery deadline. As one of five delivery managers, I've worked to recover the schedule for the deployment stage.
- Current
Patient administration system re-platforming, independent healthcare
A PAS upgrade and re-platforming programme in recovery after slippage, working to a fixed delivery date with cutover planned around it.
- Earlier
Programme turnaround, Metronet
A costly programme that had fallen well short of its expected benefits. Engagement and change planning had been missed during implementation the year before. The turnaround went back and did that work properly.
Leading the recovery, or strengthening the team
Some organisations want a recovery lead. Others have a good programme manager who needs another experienced pair of hands. I can take either role: lead the reset, run the PMO, or take on the workstream that is furthest behind.
Not sure it needs a full recovery?
An independent review is a smaller first step. It gives the board an outside view before it commits to a reset.
Programme off track against a fixed date?
Talk it through in a 30-minute call. No obligation.