SESAN is the Digital Health Service, the GRADeS (Regional Health Data and Applications Group) for the Île-de-France region. It is a public interest group (GIP) whose missions focus on supporting healthcare professionals in the digital field through the deployment of tools and services.
SESAN makes its skills and expertise in digital health available to its members, i.e., healthcare professionals and institutions throughout the Île-de-France region.
SESAN's approach is based on taking into account business needs, best practices, and consistency with national and regional digital health strategies.
Agathe Watelet holds the position of PMO, cross-functional project manager. She is responsible for managing cross-functional processes, and more specifically for implementing and improving the project management process.
It is in this context that she deployed the Gouti project management tool, with the aim of standardizing management practices within the organization, centralizing project information, and improving the reliability of reporting related to the overall project portfolio, which until then had not been centrally managed.
« SESAN mainly manages projects aimed at providing digital tools for healthcare professionals.
These solutions cover the entire project lifecycle: from the initialization phase and development (build) to deployment in facilities, followed by monitoring and support for usage.
What sets us apart is that our projects don't really have an end date. The solutions we deploy are long-term and never completely stop. We therefore reset a project each year to ensure monitoring throughout the calendar year.
The project duplication feature in Gouti allows us to manage this annual organization precisely.
We manage both technical projects, particularly infrastructure projects, and cross-functional projects. Gouti is also used to manage divisions and departments : each has a dedicated project to monitor its cross-functional tasks.
And then, on a personal level, I also use it for my internal projects, such as the recent implementation of a CRM system. »
« Before, we made do with whatever tools we had available. There was Excel, Teams Planner, and Trello. Everyone used the tool that suited them best. There was also Open Project, but only in one specific department.
The implementation of a project management tool, whether Gouti or another, primarily responded to a need expressed by the teams : to finally have a common operational tool to manage their projects.
The aim was also to strengthen project management, structure activities, and harmonize practices.
Another key objective was to centralize information, improve visibility on project progress, and support more cross-functional and effective management across the organization.
At SESAN, we are organized by departments and divisions, and project teams are often spread across several of them. The challenge was therefore also to break down silos: the tool had to serve as a lever to strengthen collaboration and promote greater cross-functional working within the organization. »
« Yes, of course. A benchmark of project management solutions had been carried out before I took up my position. Among the tools studied were Asana and Open Project, which was already being used in one department. At one point, the idea was to see if it could be rolled out across the entire organization. »
« The choice naturally fell on Gouti because it was already being used within GRADeS Normandie. The presentation of the solution and the positive feedback from their teams reinforced our decision to commit to Gouti.
The tool perfectly met our needs in terms of project management and information centralization. »
« In parallel with the implementation of the tool, we worked on setting up a real project management process. The tool is therefore a central element, but it is not the whole process: it is more of a foundation, a pivot point that supports management.
For me, it provides better cross-functional visibility as a PMO and ensures the reliability of information, particularly through traceability. For example, for reference dates, it allows us to assess deviations and capitalize on them for the following year. Our projects are reset each year: a task scheduled to take 10 days in January 2025 ultimately took 20 days, and next year we will adjust the schedule accordingly.
Gouti thus enables effective information tracking and helps to harmonize practices through common operating rules around the tool. It really is an excellent tool, and it has become my everyday work tool. »
« For me, the features that really add value are the detailed views and consolidated reports. They allow you to structure the portfolio and filter by department, theme, or division using company categories, providing a detailed analysis of SESAN's portfolio based on each person's role.
One particularly useful feature I worked on with Gouti is the generation of consolidated Flash reports. This met our need to produce consistent reports for management and facilitates the daily monitoring of project activities within departments.
The concept of actions is also a real plus, as it allows activities to be monitored operationally without weighing down project planning, while ensuring that progress can be tracked. It is possible to have one task manager and several action managers, which offers a lot of freedom in project management.
Finally, the comment feature is particularly useful, especially in consolidated Flash reports. It enables collaborative exchange directly within the tool during bilateral meetings or synchronization points between managers and teams. This feature is also used for instance reports. In a dedicated task, decision points can be noted and kept fully traceable. »
« Unsurprisingly, the tool was eagerly awaited within the organization. Its deployment was gradual, starting with a pilot phase before extending Gouti to SESAN's entire portfolio.
I sequenced the rollout into different batches, which allowed me to offer personalized support to help project managers frame their projects, set up weekly follow-up meetings with milestones, complete the project charter, and use the Excel import features, which are a real plus.
Each batch also benefited from small group training sessions, allowing for progressive support. At each stage, feedback was collected, which made it possible to identify needs, adjust practices, and prepare for the next batches. Above all, this approach helped maintain a dynamic of continuous improvement throughout the deployment. »
« According to RETEX, feedback has been very positive, both from operational teams and management, which is important. The tool is perceived as easy to use, suited to operational needs, and quick to learn.
Gouti has also enabled greater cross-functional collaboration within teams and ensures that everyone has the same level of information, which facilitates project coordination and monitoring. »
« I received excellent support, particularly thanks to the start-up support offered by Christian. This enabled us to better structure the initialization and deployment stages, especially the functional configuration, as we were starting from scratch. Overall, it helped us organize the portfolio by business category.
The follow-up by the teams, especially Sean, is top-notch. The regular updates are really useful. Requests for changes are heard and taken into account, which is a real plus. We are also given visibility on upcoming changes, with clear follow-up on what can be done immediately and what will be available later, on a quarterly basis.
For me, this gives visibility to the teams and shows that their feedback is being taken into account and that there is continuous improvement. And the user club is a real bonus. »
« I would say structuring, because Gouti provides a common methodological framework and the same functionality for everyone. Next, collaborative, because all notifications, comments, and features make it easy to communicate within the tool. And finally, centralized, because it truly brings all project information together in one place. »
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