Introduction:
This time we are coming up with a completely new thing – a BigPicture tailored training case study!
At GeniusGecko, we have a huge experience working with a lot of smaller and bigger companies from all around the world which means that we are constantly dealing with different problems and have to find solutions for them.
Recently we had an incredible opportunity to work with one of the world’s most famous and biggest banks in Europe.
Read this case study and learn more about the way we dealt with the company’s problems and help them work more seamlessly. Maybe it will occur that your company has the exact problems and we can easily solve them? ?
The Problem
In this part, we will focus on the company’s main problems. It is a crucial part and we are paying a lot of attention to it, because without the clear identification of problems we cannot find the best solution. In this case, there were four major problems:
- The size of the enterprise – it is such a large company that has dozens of employees with specific skills and tasks to manage.
- A huge number of projects in multiple areas and with vastly different approaches.
- A mix of tools used for work and project management by different areas with a lot of overhead to update data between systems. For example, Jira was used together with Microsoft Project or with BigPicture, and there was also Confluence.
- Reporting based on tools, that require a manual update of data, adds even more overhead and increases the risk of errors and causing additional problems.
As you may notice at this point, this company had a couple of problems that really affected their everyday work routine and effectiveness. But based on our previous experience, we were able to find the solution. Let’s find out how!
The Solution
Solving such a complex problem always has to be divided into particular stages. In this case, there were 6 major stages which are precisely described below.
Gathering information
- Firstly, our expert conducted an interview with the PMO, who was the initiator of the whole process. To aim was to identify the main requirements, and currently existing issues, and to learn about the used way of working. It was the first stage of gathering information critical to find the best solution.
- Secondly, we conducted another interview, but this time – with representatives of selected areas to discuss their approach to project management and identify their main needs.
- Thirdly, an interview with Jira administrators was conducted, to learn about Jira environment configuration, things that could be changed, and ones that have to remain as they are due to a variety of factors.
Drawing conclusions and giving solution
- After these interviews, it was agreed that the best approach would be to set a “common approach” to the project management on a high level (Epic and up) while leaving each area flexibility of their own approach on lower levels of project management (breaking down and planning work, planning resources, etc.). This would allow having a lot of flexibility in day-to-day work contributing required information used in reporting to common high-level elements.
- It was also agreed that information from high-level elements will be used for reporting.
Configuration of the tool and training for key users
- Based on the previously gathered information, our expert proposed and introduced the configuration of BigPicture based on the agreed approach and existing Jira configuration used by the customer. This configuration allowed to switch from using multiple manually synchronized tools to using just Jira with BigPicture with minimal impact on end users working in Jira.
- In the last step, we performed tailored training for key users, which covered selected features of the tool. During this step, we also introduced changes to the company’s project management process and dispelled any doubts.
After the training, our clients can be 100% sure that they will get any support if they need it. We always keep in touch and are ready to help our clients improve their effectiveness at any time!
Impact
What has really changed after the training? There were some major improvements:
- Thanks to the training, the number of systems that had to be used was decreased. It still has a huge positive impact on the company’s everyday way of working and makes it simpler. What is more, the amount of time needed for new employees to learn how to use those also decreased.
- Furthermore, the amount of additional work required to keep information synchronized between multiple systems decreased, as more work was done in a single well-integrated system like the combination of Jira and BigPicture.
- Last but not least: the company got more reliable reports with more data provided in real-time. Such reports are helping the company every day to get and gather all the important information that was not possible before.
Summary
The BigPicture training process does not always look the same in all companies, but there are some key points:
- Requirements gathering – We can’t start without knowing what you need. We schedule sessions with all of your stakeholders to learn what they need and how it has to be delivered. This is where we get to know you better so that we can serve you to the best of our abilities.
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BigPicture key-user training – With many users being able to access BigPicture and browse through the Jira data you need to know how to manage them to keep your data safe. Every BigPicture key user or admin needs to know the in and outs of the tool. Having this knowledge will prove crucial to keeping the Jira instance clean, protecting your data, and providing users with flexibility and proper permissions.
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BigPicture configuration – The main part of the job is to configure the tool according to your needs. This is where it happens. It’s an iterative process and you’re involved! We don’t want to do it alone, because when we’re gone, you need to know not only how things are done but also WHY. This also lays the groundwork for the next step, templating.
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Building templates and reports – Successfully driving the adoption process has several crucial components and proper templates and reports are two of them. We make sure to include this as a part of the whole implementation so that using the tool becomes as easy as possible. With the templates, starting a new process is just a matter of several clicks!
If you struggle with choosing the right tool or have any problems with your everyday project management workflow, or maybe want to find out if BigPicture is a right fit for your company, reach out to us and see how seamless this process could be with the world-class expert’s help. You can fill out the contact form or send an email to: info@geniusgecko.com.