Case Studies

 

Read about the results of recent Synergy projects

Failure is Not an Option:  "Leave it to high-tech defense contractor L-3 Communications to spice up training."  Synergy’s program management work with L-3 Communications has been recognized by the editors of Human Resource Executive Magazine as a "Best HR Idea for 2009.”  Called "Failure Is Not an Option," this program accelerates the professional development of L-3's program managers all over the US.

Improving the ROI of the Project Portfolio:  This worldwide semiconductor manufacturer invests heavily to stay competitive, annually funding a large portfolio of technology improvement projects. Unfortunately, this portfolio did not deliver full return on investment. Many of the projects missed schedule or budget, did not deliver what was originally intended, or caused last minute surprises to the senior management team.

Project Management Tools Help Get the Job Done With Synergy's help, Siltronic is introducing a new project management system into their technology development.   Dwain Oster, Director of Process Technology, explains why and how in this interview.

Improving the Development Process The design team for the next generation product was experiencing high levels of bugs on first article prototypes.  Reducing the number of design escapes was imperative in order to meet R&D budget constraints and strict time to market requirements.

 
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Taking Development to the Next Level The senior VP of product development knew that satisfied customers and increased market share would be the payoff if he invested wisely to increase development capacity and predictability. But where should he focus to get the most bang for his investment buck?

Executive Visibility and Decision Making Executives were surprised frequently on many of these critical projects, hearing about issues only after a project had deteriorated badly and customers were complaining loudly. The executives needed good ongoing visibility into the status, issues, and risks of current projects.

New Product Development System Developing standard products that have a consistent architecture and are easily reusable and customizable is very different from custom development. Recognizing this, the company asked Synergy to assess its capabilities and help it design a product development system that would succeed in its unique culture and niche market.

Articles and White Papers

Synergy's articles are published by a variety of publications, including the Project Management Institute and Project Management World Today.  Contact us if you would like to link to or publish Synergy articles.
    Title

Original Publication

46 A Program is Not a Project on Steroids Aug 2011
45 Carry Projects Through to the Finish Line June 2011
44 Building a Flexibility Toolbox (Part 4 of Flexible Projects with Preston Smith) Mar 2011
43 Creating a Flexible Environment (Part 3 of Flexible Projects with Preston Smith) Feb 2011
42 Enabling a Flexible Team (Part 2 of Flexible Projects with Preston Smith) Jan 2011
41 What Should a Project Management Office (PMO) Be? Dec 2010
40 Flexible Project Management: Extending Agile Techniques beyond Software Projects (Proceedings of the 2010 PMI Global Congress) Oct 2010
39 Agile Isn't Just for Software (Part 1 of Flexible Projects) Sep 2010
38 Learn from Projects or Perish Mar 2010
37 Backpacker's Guide to Lightweight Project Management Jan 2010
36 How to Get Things Done Nov 2009
35 Adapting Project Management to a Low Maturity Organization (Proceedings of the 2009 PMI Global Congress) Oct 2009
34 Four Steps to Conquer Lousy Project Meetings Sep 2009
33 Decisions When Starting Development of a New Product June 2009
32 Six Steps to Better Delegation May 2009
31 PPM: The Art of Saying "No" (Part 5: Portfolio Monitoring and Governance) Jan 2010
30 PPM: The Art of Saying "No" (Part 4: Keeping Your Portfolio Balanced) Aug 2009
29 PPM: The Art of Saying "No" (Part 3: Maximizing the Portfolio) Aug 2009
28 PPM: The Art of Saying "No" (Part 2: Strategic Alignment) Jun 2009
27 PPM: The Art of Saying "No" (Part 1: Overview) Apr 2009
26 Quality as Delighter Mar 2009
25 Pre-Mortems:  Hype or Innovation? Jan 2009
24 Get Your Team on the Bus Jan 2009
23 This Project Needs a Leader - Now! Nov 2008
22 Project Portfolio Management: How to Do the Right Projects at the Right Time (Proceedings of the 2008 PMI Global Congress) Oct 2008
21 Ten Tips to Make Change Work for You Sep 2008
20 Well Run Projects Are Not Enough May 2008
19 Driving Projects to Successful Completion Mar 2008
18 Think Like an Investor:  Building a Business Case Jan 2007
17 Advanced Risk Management   Nov 2007
16 Stuff Happens:  Dealing With Risks   Sep 2007
15 Are Plans Useless?   May 2007
14 What Makes Projects Succeed?   Mar 2007
13 How to Sabotage a Project Schedule Jan 2007
12 Recovering Troubled Projects Nov 2006
11 Stakeholder Commitment Sep 2006
10 The Impossible Dream May 2006
9 Project Portfolio Management - The Art of Saying "No" Mar 2006
8 Estimating Jan 2006
7 Glance Management Nov 2005
6 Project Retrospectives Sep 2005
5 Project Governance Considerations 2004
4 Navigating the Fuzzy Front End of Product Development 2004
3 Design Review Best Practices Research 2003
2 Valuing IT Projects 2003
1 Framework and Approaches to Navigate the Fuzzy Front End Sep 2003
       
Synergy is pleased to showcase the following papers from students and guests.
G9 How Do Clinical Pathways and Project Management Approaches Align? Amy Malloy
G8 Value Of Project Management in Health Care Research Rosemary Makar, MD
G7 Enabling Effective Communication in Projects Starla McCauley
G6 Distributed Teams Michele Durham
G5 Offshore Software Development Projects Renee Chambers
G4 Learning Lessons from Projects Jeff Caniparoli
G3 Leading Indicators in Technology Development Project Management Philip Scuderi
G2 Risk Management Dian Kurniawan
G1 When is Microsoft Project® Appropriate? Brian Pasero
 
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