Relationships are key
Project Manager Morten Fenger has spent the past six months breaking down silos and bringing people together. Because operating the healthcare platform across the region takes a strong partnership.
Interview with Morten Fenger, project manager through ProData Consult
No two organizations are alike. Morten Fenger experienced this first-hand in April 2016, when he was tasked with helping to get the operation, support and technical side of the healthcare platform up and running in Region Zealand.
Although Fenger’s main focus has been getting Region Zealand ready for the new IT project which will be implemented at hospitals in Zealand over the course of 2017, his biggest – and most exciting – challenge has been collaborating with the Capital Region of Denmark:
“It’s been enormously interesting to be part of developing this setup, where people are physically far apart but are part of the same virtual organization. And harder than I thought it would be. People come from different worlds, so some compromises have been necessary in order to work together successfully. So I’ve focussed on working to bring people closer together - to get things to work from a relational and human perspective. This is one of my main preoccupations as a consultant,” says Fenger.
Respect for all abilities
As a project manager, Fenger has approached the project with a consultancy mindset, which is primarily a question of getting people with different professional backgrounds to speak the same language.
“The specialists are extremely focussed on their own world. They’re super skilled at some particular corner of a field, while I as a generalist draw on my particular expertise, which is knowing a little bit about what all of them specialize in. This means I can also facilitate a process which brings them closer through their understanding of each other’s work.”
Prior to his work on the healthcare platform, Fenger was involved in the implementation of a new accounting system in the region. This familiarized him with the workflows and organizational structure of Region Zealand. Nonetheless, he finds the sheer scope of the healthcare platform project surprising.
“The project is so large that it’s hard to get an overall view of it. Some people focus on implementation, others on the technology and others on the healthcare platform itself. As a consequence, silos have a tendency to emerge, and here it’s important as a manager to coordinate the process across the different areas of specialization.”
However, the puzzle of piecing together the region under a single IT platform has not shifted Fenger’s gaze from his most important task as a manager.
“Everyone has to feel that what they do is respected, and that there’s a good atmosphere. That’s key.”
3 helpful tips
Create good relationships between people
Coordinate the work across all silos in the organization
Establish and meet goals for the project
Who's who
Name: Morten Fenger
Age: 43
Education: MSc in computer science from the IT University of Copenhagen
Title: Project manager
Has previously worked for: KPMG, Region Zealand and Nordania Leasing
