Insurance firms must undertake projects to improve their business operations, develop new products and services, comply with regulatory requirements, and meet the changing needs of their customers.
Effective project management helps firms plan, organise, and execute these projects in a structured and disciplined manner. Insurance firms are becoming smarter at utilising project management practices effectively while remaining flexible to adapt those practices to demand. But while there has been improvement in the area, it’s essential for companies to continue to improve and stay focused on how best to execute a project.
Keep your plan dynamic.
Every manager will agree that having a solid plan of action from the very beginning is essential. But that doesn’t mean that the plan can’t be modified along the way. You need to be flexible to meet market and customer demands. Always have a Plan B ready.
Insurers are familiar with risk management, but as well as identifying the risks for clients, it’s important to identify, assess and mitigate risks when implementing a project—and have an actionable plan ready. Think about what could go wrong, what can be done to prevent problems from occurring, and countermeasures needed to mitigate issues. By adopting a proactive approach, you’re always ahead of any risk that might hinder your projects.
It’s easy to get caught up in trying out new project management or business methods and solutions, but it’s important not to forget that project management is used to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the business and to streamline processes. Project managers need to keep this goal in mind and keep project management simple.
To achieve effective simplicity, it’s important to have clear project objectives, set realistic deadlines, and balance time, cost, and scope. Make sure that these factors are aligned with the overall business strategy and that they are economically and technically viable.
There are many aspects related to executing a project, from documentation, to planning, communication and the use of technology. As well as many other things. Many individuals are involved in implementing a project, all with different capabilities. Look to maximise individuals’ strengths by putting them in roles best suited to their skillset.
Keep your project on track.
Now that you have a strategy and identified risks, how do you make sure that things are going according to plan?
Regularly assess the project. Are you still on track? If you aren’t, you need to ask why. Understand the situations that led to the project falling behind schedule or expectation and address them accordingly as the project manager. Are these setbacks due to internal issues or are they out of your hands due to a 3rd party or situation out of your control, and how can these setbacks be mitigated in the future. The projects budget and time frame may be impacted. It is important to reassess the project scope and budget and make any necessary amendments.
Data is essential to measure in the industry. Analysing data helps track whether actual progress is in line with the planned progress and provides a comparison of actual costs with estimated costs. As well as calculating the ROI. All these metrics will help in determining whether the project is successful or unsuccessful.
Schedule and task management software are key components for project managers to effectively delegate roles. Work and workflow visualisation tools such as Trello are helpful in planning and scheduling tasks. For long-term planning, Gantt charts ensure that teams see the big picture and stay focused on their project goals.
Keep improving your processes.
It is important to adapt your product to the needs of your clients. Selling insurance to different generations and income levels will create different demands, and the product needs to be flexible and adaptable to cater to a wide range of clients.
Staying flexible is essential to remain competitive, and that’s particularly necessary for introducing new products and services to the market, in a highly competitive industry such as insurance, it is vital to have and retain a competitive edge, which can be achieved with efficient processes.
Your firm's current process of handling project management might work, but is it really the most efficient way? There’s always room for improvement, and by continuously analysing and improving on project management methods your firm can increase efficiency and help deliver products and services to market.
The Development Zone hosts a range of courses to improve project management performance including:
Existing users can find these courses and over 500 more, in their course catalogue.
If you are new to the Aviva Development Zone, we offer a 14-day free trial where you can try every feature and every course.
To start your 14-day free trial click here: https://mydevelopment.zone/free-trial
About the author
Luke Forrest
Luke joined RWA from July 2022 - July 2023. He has 10 years of graphic design experience creating marketing material and 7 years of direct marketing experience, most recently working as a freelance social media marketing manager. Luke’s role at RWA involved overseeing RWA's social media channels and assisting with the creation of e-learning and blog content.
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