178 Hahn, Schmiedinger, and Stephan
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Transfer Phase (III)
The execution of this phase grants the efficient transfer of project results to
following departments, for example, the construction department.
Subphase III.1 – Preparation
Like the preparation of the target definition workshop, the preparation of the
transfer workshop overlaps the preliminary phase. The project manager plans with the
(external) moderator the workshop to fix the essential points. The target is to grant after
the workshop a detailed transfer plan (consisting of what, who, with whom, when, in
which kind) is available.
Subphase III.2 – Execution
The execution this subphase handles mainly the implementation of the transfer plan
and the documentation of occurring problems and responding solutions. To document
these steps, a transfer protocol is used.
Subphase III.3 – Feedback
The subphase feedback is the final step of the cooperating project handling. Of
importance for future projects is the documentation of gained experiences from the
current development project. To grant the best possible reuse of experience, it is
necessary to collect “lessons learned” of the technical topic groups, from the project
manager and subproject managers. This can be done by collecting special topics, such
as problem-solution combinations, or by using a storytelling, “light” approach (or
something like action reviews). Resulting documents will be collected and provided in
the project management software.
It is crucial to encourage or to “force” project managers to take a look at the
“experience database” before they start a new project. This is a point to change
organizational culture. Accepting know-how out of the experiences of others. “More-
over, they must clearly explain the rationale for their final decision, including why they
chose to accept some input and advice while rejecting other suggestions. By doing so,
leaders can encourage divergent thinking while building decision acceptance” (Roberto,
2002, p. X).
Project Supporting Activities (IV)
Project supporting activities are not directed to a certain stage of the project but
chronological delimited by the project duration. So measures lasting the whole period
such as established technical topic groups are started at the project start and finished
by a structured closing. Structured closing means the collection of gained know-how,
findings of lessons learned, and review of managed processes (including communication
processes) as described in subphase III.3 – Feedback.
The following measures could be defined as project supporting activities:
- Establishing of technical topic groups
- Organization of group meetings
- Providing IT support
- Creation of a standardized documentation and folder structure