Multi-Stream Project Management: Driving Digital Transformation with Simultaneous Projects

If you want your company to become a digital pioneer, just having an online shop or being active on social media is no longer enough. Great digital offers are much more complex!

It starts with a suitable IT system architecture to ensure that your company’s processes are as efficient as possible and encompasses everything up to an appealing design across all your channels.

This will probably lead to your company tackling multiple digital projects at once to perfectly keep up with the ever-changing world of e-business. However, managing several projects comes with its own challenges.

That is exactly why dotSource has developed the »Multi-Stream Project Management« framework. It makes this job a lot easier and lets you optimally utilise the synergies between projects.

Multi-Stream Project Management: A Framework Stemming from Practice

Multi-stream project management makes it possible to intelligently link processes from different areas such as e-commerce, cloud services, product data management and user experience.

However, the goal is not to combine all of a company’s projects. Rather, it is about coordinating interrelated projects, large or small, within your organisation in a meaningful way.

The origins of multi-stream project management lie in programme management. This method involves both the planning and steering of multiple interrelated projects, with programme managers monitoring and coordinating the overarching strategic business goals of the organisation.
Programme management is guided by a plethora of predefined workflows, complex sets of rules and subdivided authorities. This method is usually applied in larger organisations and conglomerates.

In contrast, multi-stream project management is characterised by the fact that it is based on smaller process steps and is very adaptable and agile. It is a framework developed in practice for practice!

Multi-stream project management involves the simultaneous implementation of individual projects in streams, all within a digital context. By managing the streams in parallel, you can work synergistically across the individual projects. It also includes regular evaluation meetings in different settings with different project stakeholders.

This allows all stakeholders of multi-stream projects, such as employees and the management, to remain close to the streams and keep an overview of the overall goals.

Multi-Stream Project Management: Who Is It For?

Multi-stream projects are suitable for all companies that are interested in growing as quickly and effectively as possible and have made digital transformation their mission. In these cases, it can be particularly beneficial to implement several projects at the same time.

Multi-Stream Project Management: How Does It Work?

Using the example of a tool dealer and manufacturer, we will show you how multi-stream project management is applied. Like many companies, the dealer has set the following goals as part of its digitalisation strategy:

• • Standardised customer data
  • Optimal digital support for sales representatives
  • User-friendly B2C online shop for its own brands
  • Higher visibility online
  • Faster product data maintenance and distribution
  • Better measurability and evaluation of its marketing campaigns
  • Personalised marketing mailings

The company wants to achieve all these goals quickly and simultaneously. This means that it needs support in the following project areas:

• • PIM/MDM/DAM
  • CMS
  • Digital marketing
  • Marketing automation
  • CRM

Of course, this requires a suitable IT system architecture. Especially in projects of this size, it is important to get everyone on board before the project begins and to define a common vision and concrete milestones.
When simultaneously managing multiple projects, similar challenges often arise:

• • Lack of a common vision and roadmap
  • Insufficient communication and knowledge silos
  • Streams that are dependent on each other
  • Missing prioritisation and focus
  • High complexity and low transparency
  • Unclear responsibilities

Multi-Stream Project Management: The Two Most Important Factors

The solution is simple: intelligently link multiple streams!

Communication is one of the two most important factors when it comes to managing streams. With transparent communication throughout the entire project, you can contribute enormously to the project’s success. At the same time, you can prevent the creation of knowledge silos, as everyone involved is always at the same stage of the project.

This way, you can keep an overview of the individual streams without losing sight of the overall project. The management can also get insights into the project’s progress, use resources sensibly and monitor cost and time budgets.

The second key factor of multi-stream project management is to remain agile.

By dividing your projects into smaller, manageable processes and making them easy to adapt, they are leaner than they would be using other methods such as programme management. Keep an eye on the to-dos and milestones and make adjustments as required to stay agile throughout the duration of the entire project.

Multi-Stream Project Management: Roadmap to Success

How do you keep track of all your streams? With the help of a roadmap that accompanies you every day.

This is where every important piece of information, such as milestones, goals, events and individual work packages, is collected in a clearly structured way.

A roadmap will help keep your streams transparent and reveal dependencies. You can also split up to-dos like work packages and make adjustments to events as well as milestones.

To master multi-stream projects, you need a multi-stream project manager. They organise and establish streams, keep track of all projects and pool stakeholder interests.

Besides a project manager, the following roles are usually needed in multi-stream project management:

• Customer success managers know how to optimise a company’s vision and strategy and advise you in this regard
• Account executives understand and recognise the complexity of streams, provide advice at the beginning of a project and represent your interests
• Enterprise architects assess your architectural environment
• Product owners are responsible for your streams from a technical point of view
• Scrum masters plan, monitor and document the individual projects

The role set-up can be individually configured depending on the project goals you wish to achieve.

In addition to the roadmap and the distribution of roles, regular meetings are also part of multi-stream project management. There is a weekly meeting in which the project manager and those responsible for the streams exchange information about particularities and dependencies of the subprojects.

Moreover, there are monthly or quarterly steering meetings as well as bi-annual customer success meetings. In steering meetings, a C-level committee makes overarching decisions, implements major changes if necessary and advises the multi-stream project manager.

In contrast, customer success meetings focus on the needs and requirements of you and your customers. Here, the customer success manager acts as a bridge between the company and its customers.

Beyond this, multi-stream project management includes accompanying measures such as the training of employees and other stakeholders, for example multi-stream project managers or product owners.

Multi-Stream Project Management: Download the White Paper for Free Now!

With your new knowledge of multi-stream project management, you are well equipped to implement your digital visions as quickly and efficiently as possible. To achieve your multi-stream project goals, it helps to keep an eye on the right KPIs.

Our »KPIs in E-Commerce« white paper can teach you

• • how to develop a suitable KPI strategy
  • which KPIs will make you a digital business pioneer
  • how these KPIs will help you measure the progress towards important goals

Fill out the form now and receive a free copy in your inbox!