Blue Ant Multi-Project Management at Stadtwerke Norderstedt

Insights from Project Portfolio Manager Anja Kunze

Thank you for taking the time to speak with us today about Blue Ant and your project and resource management. Could you briefly introduce yourself, your role, and your company?

Certainly, thank you! My name is Anja Kunze. I studied Business Informatics and worked for a long time in management consulting. Since February last year, I have been working at Stadtwerke Norderstedt as Project Portfolio Manager. In this role, I can apply my experience in project management and am currently building up the Project Portfolio Management (PPM) area. This includes developing and implementing all necessary processes and systems.

Additionally, we are working to further deepen project management expertise within the company. We create detailed guidelines and instructions to optimize collaboration across the company. By centrally recording all projects, PPM has a comprehensive overview of the wide variety of activities and projects running in our company.

Great! Before we dive into specifics, could you tell us about the size of the Stadtwerke team and the scope of your responsibilities?

We are a municipal utility company with around 500 employees. Our main task is to reliably supply the citizens of Norderstedt with gas, water, electricity, and district heating. Additionally, we have a wholly owned subsidiary, wilhelm-tel GmbH, which provides the city of Norderstedt with full fiber-optic services, including mobile, telephone, internet, and TV. Beyond utility services, we also operate the Arriba leisure pool and the Norderstedt city park.

That’s an impressive portfolio, almost like a conglomerate. I imagine your projects are very diverse and challenging. How is your project landscape structured, and what drives these projects?

Exactly – we have a very broad spectrum of projects, both in size and topic. Some smaller projects involve 20 to 30 person-days, while larger projects take several hundred person-days. A key ongoing topic is IT security, as utility companies are often targets of cyberattacks. We therefore continuously invest in improvements and corresponding projects. Another major project is currently the implementation of a new CRM system.

In addition, we are working on a comprehensive energy strategy program. This includes projects such as expanding public charging infrastructure, extending the district heating network, increasing grid reinforcement, and creating a municipal heating plan. Besides these external projects, we also have numerous internal initiatives, like introducing a new personnel management system and expanding our cafeteria. This variety illustrates the wide range of our activities and the different challenges we face.

I assume there are diverse methods and needs. In many industries, human resources are often the bottleneck. How is it for you?

Exactly. That was one of the main reasons the company hired a Project Portfolio Manager and established a PPM system. Particularly in technical departments and IT, we regularly face resource bottlenecks. New laws and requirements continually add tasks, while we must maintain our core service delivery. These increasing demands constantly create resource constraints.

PPM was introduced to better monitor and manage these constraints. It helps us prioritize projects efficiently and ensures that resources are optimally allocated. This allows us to reliably handle both new requirements and our daily tasks.

You chose Blue Ant as your tool. What were the main reasons for this choice? Which criteria were especially important?

There were several reasons we chose Blue Ant for project and resource management. Initially, Blue Ant was already used in our subsidiary wilhelm-tel, but in a highly customized version to support their specific construction processes. Although I could see that Blue Ant is a good tool, I could not work with this customized version.

We created a list of requirements for the tool. Beyond classic project management, portfolio management was particularly important. We wanted a single integrated tool rather than combining multiple modules. Another crucial point was that data from the cloud solution must be hosted in Germany, which is essential as a public service provider.

After evaluating six or seven different systems, we ultimately chose Blue Ant. Another advantage was that Blue Ant was already partially present in the company and positively rated by colleagues at wilhelm-tel. This existing satisfaction, combined with comprehensive data and time tracking capabilities, also contributed to our decision. With the addition of the Project Portfolio Management module, we now have a complete overview of all projects across the company.

You decided to run Blue Ant as a separate instance to implement your own processes and methods. Looking back at the implementation process, how did you experience it, and what lessons learned or tips could you give to others planning to introduce Blue Ant?

We put a lot of thought into processes beforehand. An additional requirement from management was that not only projects but also line activities should be mapped. This allows us to represent overall resource utilization. Blue Ant covered this requirement. We created “line projects” for each department, where colleagues can record their hours.

This change initially met some resistance, as some employees felt monitored, even though everything was coordinated with HR and the works council and corresponding agreements were made. To address this, some colleagues who only perform standard line activities were exempt from time tracking in Blue Ant unless they were involved in projects.

In retrospect, I wish we had spent more time informing and involving teams. Implementing everything at the start of the year caused some unrest, as we wanted a clear overview from January 1.

Within the projects themselves, things run very well. Although not all data is perfect yet and there are occasional uncertainties, colleagues record their time and plan projects with commitment. We held our first project portfolio committee, where we were able to present important points and show management which areas are overloaded or at risk.

The defined process from project idea to project proposal to approval by the portfolio committee has helped us identify potential overloads early. If all current project requests were implemented, some areas would already be overloaded. Therefore, we need to either postpone or reprioritize projects to manage workload.

It’s great that you are also using the project lifecycle. Do you use a scoring model to prioritize projects by importance?

Yes, we developed a scorecard in 2023, which we are now implementing in Blue Ant. The scorecard ensures consistent project prioritization. At the end of the year, we will revise it to add missing points and adjust less important items, helping us set priorities more effectively.

Despite the scorecard, we still review all projects with department heads to hear their assessments. The scoring gives an order, but sometimes priorities must be manually adjusted. In October, we plan another round with department leadership to review the scorecard, ensuring priorities remain current and relevant.

Blue Ant has been in use for a while, but not long in this new configuration. Looking ahead, which areas or features do you plan to focus on in the next two to three years?

Currently, we primarily use classic project planning, especially for utility-related projects. In IT, we also have agile projects, where colleagues can choose their preferred method.

We need to deepen project management knowledge in various departments. Additionally, we plan to connect the Blue Ant system used at our subsidiary wilhelm-tel, currently in planning. We are discussing with Blue Ant colleagues how to link the systems via a connector or web services.

At present, wilhelm-tel teams working in both systems must enter data in both. We want to eliminate this. Another goal is to replace manual timesheets some colleagues complete on-site with direct time tracking in Blue Ant, ideally via mobile devices. We hope to implement both this year.

You mentioned consulting and support colleagues. How satisfied are you with their assistance during implementation and current operation?

I am very satisfied with the implementation and use of Blue Ant. System implementation was relatively fast, impressive for such a comprehensive system. Cloud deployment eliminated the need for additional IT servers, though integrating all basic data and mapping processes was still challenging. These tasks were handled efficiently.

Most communication occurred via phone and Teams, which was very effective. Blue Ant colleagues were always available for support. If we couldn’t find something in the system, help was quickly provided. For larger issues reported to support, responses were also prompt. Some problems were fixed in the next release, others were user errors, of course.

You mentioned a short implementation time. Could you clarify the timeline?

We decided on Blue Ant in July 2023 and went live on January 1, 2024. By the end of August, the system foundations were ready. We then adjusted the system, convinced colleagues, and conducted initial training—a demanding schedule. In retrospect, I would recommend planning an additional three months for implementation. December was particularly busy despite the holiday season.

Nonetheless, everything went smoothly. By January 1, all projects identified in 2023 were transferred from Excel to the system, basic data was integrated, and everyone could immediately record time. It was impressive and fast.

Finally, a brief outlook: You work with line projects and track line capacities. Are there plans to expand this further?

Yes, we recently reviewed LTS 24, which introduces new features in this area, from resource dashboards to enhanced reports for team leaders. We plan to continue emphasizing this topic to support those who need this information.

Thank you for this insightful interview and the overview of your Blue Ant work. I wish you continued success in project management!

Thank you! We certainly will, and there is still much to do.

(Customer review 2024)