Ali Zarei Reflection – Learning launch 

 Challenge & Selection 

 I was appointed to assist the Management to get an IT project back to the track . The project aims to   deliver an IT tool to support financing activity for several business lines in many regions involving 43   countries . The project has been started 3 years ago , and by now , is entering a crisis mode as the team is   struggling to deliver and finalise the project . The costs are steadily growing , and the end date is   uncertain . The project partially delivered some functionalities . The end - users are not satisfied and are   reluctant to adopt the new tool , they keep using manual processes or existing tools that are supposed to   be decommissioned . My role is to identify and implement a solution to get out of this situation . 

 Based on the preliminary discussions with various stakeholders , it was obvious that the project suffers   from " tunnel effects " and end - users un - satisfaction , I decide to use the learning launch as it will bring   visibility to the users . They can see quickly what the tool looks like and they interact with IT team . 

 Application 

 The starting point was to identify the roots of the crisis , what is behind the " tunnel effect " and the un- satisfaction of users . Based on " what is " technics : first , I gathered all data available on the project   documentation . Second , I prepared 3 types of interviews forms , one for the project team , one for the   end - users ( clients ) and one for the management . 

 The " what is " phase allowed to find out the following root causes : 

 1- The requirements have been amended several times , the project team adjusted the roadmap 

 involving costs increase and planning extensions 

 2- The end users ( clients ) are not appropriately represented in the project governance , some 

 business lines are absent , so their needs are not captured 

 3- The tool reached a degree of complexity that any change requires significant time and money 

 Then , we organised an offsite ( 1 day ) involving project team managers and end - user 's representatives .   It was the first time in 3 years that all stakeholders are gathered . We discussed the main findings of the   previous phase and asked each stakeholder to envisage what will be the ideal tool for him . The main   outcomes : 

 ( a ) the end - users want visibility ( no tunnel effect ) and simplicity ( break complexity )   ( b ) the project team wants stable requirements committed by all business lines 

 The decision was made to build a learning launch initiative in 2 months ' time . The initiative was   conducted by a core representative team including IT , end users and operations . A set of common   requirements was established and committed . The objective was to implement a tool for financing files   validated at local level . To break complexity factors , the tool will serve 2 main functionalities :   documents storage and files status management . 

 The IT platform was replaced by an " on the shelf IT tool " to minimise customisation . The working mode   was also changed to involve Agile interactions and strong governance . 

 A business line present in 2 countries was chosen to use the new tool for their financing activity . They   were satisfied by the new tool . The users find the tool user friendly , they divide their file processing   time by 2 and they are able to know the financing file status with one click . 

 Insight & approach 

 Two elements are key in this approach , ( 1 ) gathering all stakeholders and making them discuss and share   the problems and the solutions , ( 2 ) adopting the learning launch showing concrete results reinsuring the   end - users and bringing confidence to IT team . 

 All these elements were used to build a case for change and propose the abandon of the old project and   start a new project with a roadmap of 12 months and a reasonable budget . The roadmap was based on   the scale up of the 2 main functionalities built in the learning launch , split in 2 waves and 2 deliveries   each 6 months . A pragmatic approach was introduced to manage perimeter changes : any add on should   be coupled with a take off a lower priority feature . So , the waves weight will remain stable to keep the   budget and planning on the track . 

 The case for change was validated by the high - level management and the new project was started by   scaling up the learning launch tool . 


EMAIL: 
ID_NUM: 
NAME_STUDENT: Ali Zarei
PHONE_NUM: 
STREET_ADDRESS: 
URL_PERSONAL: 
USERNAME: 

### Task: You are a PII (Personal Identity Information) Detection. Given a essays written by students, you have to identify ONLY the following:
NAME_STUDENT - The full or partial name of a student that is not necessarily the author of the essay. This excludes instructors, authors, and other person names.
EMAIL - A student’s email address.
USERNAME - A student's username on any platform.
ID_NUM - A number or sequence of characters that could be used to identify a student, such as a student ID or a social security number.
PHONE_NUM - A phone number associated with a student.
URL_PERSONAL - A URL that might be used to identify a student.
STREET_ADDRESS - A full or partial street address that is associated with the student, such as their home address.
### Input: Ali Zarei Reflection – Learning launch 

 Challenge & Selection 

 I was appointed to assist the Management to get an IT project back to the track . The project aims to   deliver an IT tool to support financing activity for several business lines in many regions involving 43   countries . The project has been started 3 years ago , and by now , is entering a crisis mode as the team is   struggling to deliver and finalise the project . The costs are steadily growing , and the end date is   uncertain . The project partially delivered some functionalities . The end - users are not satisfied and are   reluctant to adopt the new tool , they keep using manual processes or existing tools that are supposed to   be decommissioned . My role is to identify and implement a solution to get out of this situation . 

 Based on the preliminary discussions with various stakeholders , it was obvious that the project suffers   from " tunnel effects " and end - users un - satisfaction , I decide to use the learning launch as it will bring   visibility to the users . They can see quickly what the tool looks like and they interact with IT team . 

 Application 

 The starting point was to identify the roots of the crisis , what is behind the " tunnel effect " and the un- satisfaction of users . Based on " what is " technics : first , I gathered all data available on the project   documentation . Second , I prepared 3 types of interviews forms , one for the project team , one for the   end - users ( clients ) and one for the management . 

 The " what is " phase allowed to find out the following root causes : 

 1- The requirements have been amended several times , the project team adjusted the roadmap 

 involving costs increase and planning extensions 

 2- The end users ( clients ) are not appropriately represented in the project governance , some 

 business lines are absent , so their needs are not captured 

 3- The tool reached a degree of complexity that any change requires significant time and money 

 Then , we organised an offsite ( 1 day ) involving project team managers and end - user 's representatives .   It was the first time in 3 years that all stakeholders are gathered . We discussed the main findings of the   previous phase and asked each stakeholder to envisage what will be the ideal tool for him . The main   outcomes : 

 ( a ) the end - users want visibility ( no tunnel effect ) and simplicity ( break complexity )   ( b ) the project team wants stable requirements committed by all business lines 

 The decision was made to build a learning launch initiative in 2 months ' time . The initiative was   conducted by a core representative team including IT , end users and operations . A set of common   requirements was established and committed . The objective was to implement a tool for financing files   validated at local level . To break complexity factors , the tool will serve 2 main functionalities :   documents storage and files status management . 

 The IT platform was replaced by an " on the shelf IT tool " to minimise customisation . The working mode   was also changed to involve Agile interactions and strong governance . 

 A business line present in 2 countries was chosen to use the new tool for their financing activity . They   were satisfied by the new tool . The users find the tool user friendly , they divide their file processing   time by 2 and they are able to know the financing file status with one click . 

 Insight & approach 

 Two elements are key in this approach , ( 1 ) gathering all stakeholders and making them discuss and share   the problems and the solutions , ( 2 ) adopting the learning launch showing concrete results reinsuring the   end - users and bringing confidence to IT team . 

 All these elements were used to build a case for change and propose the abandon of the old project and   start a new project with a roadmap of 12 months and a reasonable budget . The roadmap was based on   the scale up of the 2 main functionalities built in the learning launch , split in 2 waves and 2 deliveries   each 6 months . A pragmatic approach was introduced to manage perimeter changes : any add on should   be coupled with a take off a lower priority feature . So , the waves weight will remain stable to keep the   budget and planning on the track . 

 The case for change was validated by the high - level management and the new project was started by   scaling up the learning launch tool .
### Output: 