1. Multinational, steel: implementation of an international Web platform.
| Client |
ArcelorMittal, the largest steel producer in the world, present in 60 countries, with over 325,000 employees. |
| Scope of project |
The Web solution affected 78 factories in 20 countries, and included 14 Web platforms. |
| Period and duration |
Work was spread out over 41 months, from March 2004 to November 2008. I am still a consultant (in 2010) fro ArcelorMittal. |
| My responsabilities |
Business Analysis, Internet strategy, creating and managing web services and implementing platforms. |
Mandate
At the start of 2000, ArcelorMittal began expanding through acquisitions, and in 2007 became the largest steel manufacturer in the world. Although the organization’s interest in the Web and electronic services is growing, it has rarely been a priority for company directors. Nevertheless, I was hired as an electronic services consultant.
My first mandate was a pilot project developing an Internet platform that involved 5 factories. The success of this project encouraged the company’s upper management to envisage a more ambitious electronic solution, harmonizing 14 Web sites and Internet services, using an international Internet platform. I headed this second project from beginning to end, managing dozens of simultaneous operations until the file was transferred to a permanent internal director of Web services in 2008. I am still active as a consultant for the corporation.
The challenge of this project? Giving ArecelorMittal a UNIFIED face to clients, employees and Internet suppliers, and making the Web experience simple and fast. Users should not be aware of the fact that Web information came from dozens of different manufacturing systems.
There were many constraints. Firstly, participation of different factories in the project was not mandatory, although hoped for. 90% of my contact with involved personnel was done from a distance. Under these conditions I had to develop and maintain trustworthy links with hundreds of people. I also had to deal with significant linguistic and cultural differences in various countries, as well as the corporate cultures in different factories. Last but not least was the resistance of upper management, who had other priorities, and who would have to live with the consequences of an acquisition that was no less important.
Some of my tasks…
- Preparing an inventory of existing Web services, evaluating the 14 proposed platforms, and choosing those to implement in factories not offering any virtual services.
- Promoting the benefits of a Web presence to company directors.
- Participating in the development of implementation strategies, and promoting the project’s vision and directives.
- Educating upper management and the various teams involved in the processes that had to be followed, and changes they should expect in the organization and financial aspects of the project.
- Analyze and prepare documents for on-line use, and manage their Web integration.
- Collaborate in the management of computer resource priorities.
- Write communications to users (employees, clients, suppliers) about the project and how to exploit the platform.
- Training: design and animation (or co-animation) of some 300 personal and electronic training modules for use in 20 countries (with interpreters in some cases); writing training guides and memory aids for clients in English and French.
- Technical support for users, follow-up and documentation of complex cases for reference to the support team in Chicago.
- Managing and finding solutions to complaints.
- Defining performance indicators (usage rates, number of documents downloaded, etc.), monthly documentation to determine what corrective measures to take, and proposing improvements to the platform and electronic services.
- Collaborating in the implementation of inter-country servers and Web applications.
- Making Web design uniform according to ArcelorMittal graphic norms.
- Participating in weekly follow-up meetings.
- Quality control and user testing.
2. Education (University), Health: Managing a Web project involving the reorganization of working
methods.
| Client |
Pedagogic Centre of Applied Health Sciences (Centre de pédagogie appliquée aux sciences de la santé – CPASS), Faculty of Medicine, University of Montreal |
| Scope of project |
6 working teams were involved. |
| Period and duration |
12 months in 2008-2009, one or two days a week. |
| My responsabilities |
Business analyst, project manager, coach and trainer.
|
Mandate
Two factors triggered the client's need to take action:
- The eventual departure of a retiring employee led to a rethinking of working practices for the inscription, incoming payments and certification of hundreds of doctors taking continuing education courses each year. How to document and conserve the knowledge and expertise of this retiring employee? And how to transition from a paper-based approach to a Web environment?
- Also, the 6 working teams, previously autonomous, all had to be grouped under the CPASS banner for administrative reasons. That required revisiting the Web strategy and creating a unified image or brand. In some teams the fusion was met with apprehension.
A decision was taken to create a CPASS Website and include a secure section for the promotion of the continuing education program, and the inscription, payment and distribution of certification to users. The site is now on-line at www.cpass.umontreal.ca.
Details about my work
- Documenting present processes with the future retiree and collaborators; writing and/or obtaining content material from the 6 teams, and harmonizing and simplifying it so it could be integrated into a new process that would be supported by the new Website management tool.
- Benchmarking: researching University teams that had already set up Web sites using external suppliers.
- Collaborating to define the site vision and its overall directives, and develop a decision-making process for directors.
- Participating in the pre-selection of potential suppliers.
- Collaborating with a supplier to develop a site structure and a secure section.
- Training and coaching: 1) for directors, on the methodology of a Web project and the impact of changing procedures; 2) for 6 administrative assistants (4 working sessions); 3) for the system administrator.
- Participating in monthly meetings of the CPASS direction.
- Managing expectations and fears, and answering questions from the 8 doctors directing CPASS, who had little or no experience managing complex Web projects.
- Documenting the evolution of the project on a weekly basis, and managing requests for approvals, changes, etc.
- Developing a logo and visual identity for the site with a graphic designer.
- Participating in user testing of the new Web platform.
- Transferring the project to an internal manager.
3. DIRECT MARKETING AGENCY: ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT AND BUSINESS DEVELOPEMENT
| Client |
Direct Marketing Strategies (Montreal agency with 8 employees in 2000). |
| Scope of project |
Account executive and business development |
| Period and duration |
12 months in 1999-2000 |
Mandate
This agency, known for its unique expertise in direct marketing, needed someone to manage its clients. After I was hired, I quickly became involved in business development.
- Managing important clients like Québec Loisir, Visa Desjardins, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Canam, etc.
- Project manager: acting as a link between numerous suppliers involved in various projects (strategists, art directors, computer specialists, writers, translators, revisers, printers, postal processing companies, etc.) and respecting extremely tight deadlines.
- Conception of original and effective business development tools, notably portfolios describing the agency's projects, both printed and on the Web. One of the printed versions consisted of 5 large leather portfolios, “representatives” of the agency that were hand-delivered to marketing directors of target businesses, accompanied by a box of cookies and teabags. A few days later a messenger would recuperate the portfolio. This strategy allowed the agency to win a number of $100,000-plus accounts, including the Museum of Fine Art and VISA Desjardins.
- Accompanying the agency’s owner to presentations for active and potential clients.