Red Funnel’s Successful Implementation of PM3

Client Overview

Red Funnel, a prominent ferry service company, operates three distinct services connecting Southampton to the Isle of Wight: a vehicle ferry service; a foot passenger-only service and a freight-only service. Operating 24/7, 365 days a year, the company provides a lifeline service to connect the Isle of Wight. Claire Loon, the Head of Projects and Strategic Developments at Red Funnel, leads the team responsible for project management and strategic initiatives, overseeing a blend of permanent and contracted staff.

Challenges

Before implementing PM3, Red Funnel faced significant challenges:

• Lack of Project Management Standards: The absence of standardised processes and recognition of project management hindered efficiency and consistency.
• Inconsistent Data and Reporting: Projects were not managed uniformly, leading to unclear objectives, over-budget issues, and poor risk management.
• Time-Consuming Manual Processes: Financial and project reports were manually compiled from various inconsistent sources, leading to inefficiencies and inaccuracies.

Selection Process/Implementation of PM3

Red Funnel needed a project management tool that was intuitive, scalable, and cost-effective. After evaluating various options, PM3 was chosen for its user-friendly interface and ability to scale with the company’s growing needs.

Deployment Strategy

The implementation began with a phased approach:

• Administrator Setup: A PMO team member was designated as the administrator to gain expertise and configure the system.
• Prioritised Features: Initial focus was on critical features like risk and issue management, decision logs, and project gateways.
• Gradual Rollout: The tool was gradually introduced to project managers and later to other departments, ensuring a solid foundation before expanding usage.

Challenges Encountered

• Initial Learning Curve: This was easily overcome by the intuitiveness within PM3. It was easy to onboard new users to the system, develop skills and open up new features as and when needed.
• Integration with Existing Processes: Red Funnel were able to implement PM3 to facilitate the needs of the PMO and seamlessly transition the provision of reporting to the wider team through PM3.
• Remote Teams: PM3Learn enables the PMO leadership to set tasks and guide Project Managers on what they need to do and how to achieve it.

Benefits Realised

Single Source of Truth: PM3 provided Red Funnel with a centralised repository for all project data, ensuring that project statuses, risks, and financials were consistently updated and easily accessible. This improved the accuracy and reliability of reports provided to senior stakeholders.

Improved Efficiency and Accuracy

• Time Savings: Automating report generation saved significant time previously spent consolidating data from multiple spreadsheets.
• Consistency: Standardised templates and processes improved the quality and uniformity of project documentation and reporting.
• Financial Management: PM3 simplified budget tracking and financial reporting, providing more reliable data compared to previous spreadsheet-based methods.

User Experience

The feedback from project managers and senior stakeholders has been overwhelmingly positive. The intuitive nature of PM3 has led to high engagement and minimal resistance from the team. The flexibility to customise the tool to fit Red Funnel’s processes has further enhanced its adoption and effectiveness.

Impact On Red Funnel

Enhanced Project Oversight: The PMO place great emphasis on the benefit of having a single source of truth. This capability allowed for efficient and reliable tracking of all projects, including risks and issues, ensuring that information was up-to-date and easily accessible for decision-making.

Alignment with Organisational Goals

PM3 has helped align project outcomes with Red Funnel’s strategic objectives by providing a structured framework and a single source of truth for project management and reporting. The tool’s scalability and modular functionality have supported the PMO in providing project tracking and reporting to the senior stakeholders and will be deployed wider to enhance both the usage and value to Red Funnel.

Future Scope / Scalability

Red Funnel plans to expand the use of PM3 to additional departments and senior stakeholders, leveraging the tool’s full potential. Future focus areas include:

• Benefits Realisation: Implementing the benefits management module to track project outcomes against strategic goals.
• Advanced Features: Exploring additional functionalities such as Gantt charts, milestones, and lessons learned to enhance project management capabilities further.

Conclusion

The implementation of PM3 at Red Funnel has been a transformative journey, significantly improving project management practices, enhancing data accuracy, and driving efficiencies. By adopting a phased and strategic approach, Red Funnel has successfully integrated PM3 into its projects, preparing a solid foundation for the PMO to continually refine and develop the usage of more features, to drive adoption and widen the benefits potential for managing investment projects.