Giovanni Coppa

Agile Multi-Project
Management , The PULSE method speeds up project status meetings.

The biggest challenge for management is getting a complete picture of what’s going on in the company.

The company group I worked for was changing and needed to find its place in the market. The company had to keep meeting new service provider requirements to succeed in the future.
Management meetings were held to create the Group’s 2025 strategy. We defined a path for the future in various areas, which formed the basis for future projects.
To grow our company, we needed a good system for managing new ideas and projects.
To succeed, we had to be able to choose the right goals with the resources we had and achieve them in a way that worked for us.
The project management system governs the interplay between organization, processes, tools, and culture throughout the corporate group. Group companies must use the same project reporting methods and metrics.

The goal was to reduce the risk of meetings becoming too long and detailed due to the variety of topics and participants in major projects. Project managers have little time.
Synchronization is slow. For a company, it is important to save time and money on activities.

The bureaucracy made R&D work increasingly difficult. The solution was temporary projects that got people out of the silo mentality. Projects solved one problem but created another. Management lacked insight into what was going on because the projects were isolated from the organisation.

Innovation means redesigning or improving processes, products, services, or organizations. This applies to all levels of our company.

As Team Manager, I faced the following challenges during company reorganization:

• How can we make our program status and meetings more efficient?
• How can management see approved projects and improvment quickly?
• How can we make our project more transparent and encourage open communication?
• How can we make it easier for people in different departments to interact?
• How Inform about 15 projects in 60 minutes?

To answer all the questions and modernize the company quickly, I have taken examples from other large companies, such as Volkswagen AG. Volkswagen has used this method since 2014. SCANIA, a Swedish truck manufacturer, has used the Pulse method since 2004. Audi uses the Pulse Board for weekly reports.
In 2019, I was able to attend the Wolfsburg vehicle manufacturer during the the PULSE Meeting and I learned more about Pulse Board in their weekly status meeting. Project managers meet every week to discuss developments and get help if things go wrong.

my first-hand experience

Centralized Control / Decentralized Execution
Decentralised initiatives within an overall strategic design.
Decisions should be made on the basis of a fluid, constantly evolving situation.
Detailed planning is replaced by a system fot real-time decision making at all levels.

The time had come to transform ourselves into an agile decision-making structure with Pulse.

In 2019, we tried out the method and the board to see if they would work for us. We made our own version of the PULSE BOARD. At least 20 projects and 20 project managers attended the sessions each week. Each project got 5 minutes.
The goal was to communicate project progress and identify deviations from the plan. The Pulse method solved our problems. It gave an overview of the project status and structured the inter-project coordination meeting.

A Pulse meeting network creates an agile decision-making structure in the “Pulse room” that has the ability to make decisions quickly with the help of up-to-date information.

Next, I’ll explain how we used the PULSE method and how it can be adapted for different needs while maintaining company standards.