Project Management

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April 2014 | business-reporter.co.uk

PROJECT MANAGEMENT A SPECIAL REPORT ON

Inside Dave Baxter on London’s changing landscape

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Opening shots René Carayol

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S A non-executive director of the then-Inland Revenue, the head office back then was at Somerset House and still had PAs, secretaries and typing pools in abundance. This was a real shock and a bit of a throwback to my initial days at Marks and Spencer in the early 1980s.

If we fast-forward to the new millennium, those entering the world of work for the first time know nothing of typing pools. They are more proficient and faster with Microsoft Word than any copy typist ever dreamt of.

Can t he “profession” of project management (PM) learn from this? Can everyone be a project manager in the future?

Why not? Classic PM has too often been about highly-trained technocrats demanding and acquiring dogmatic control. This singleminded approach, with a single point of ownership, may have been necessary in the past, but it is no longer appropriate for the complex and disparate projects that are demanded today.

T he recent Project Management Benchmark Report 2014 informs us that 97 per cent of organisations think PM is critical to business performance, but worryingly, only 54 per cent of organisations fully understand the value of PM. Even more alarmingly, fewer than two thirds of projects meet their goals and objectives, and a

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Achieving success is much more about empowering people to take responsibility desperate 19 per cent fail outright.

Strikingly, success is instructively due to 20 per cent processes and procedures (the “hard” skills) and 80 per cent is down to attitude and behaviour (the “soft” skills).

The conventional “control approach” has just become far too bureaucratic, timeconsuming and inefficient. Achieving success is much more about empowering people to take responsibility, and make the right decisions. This encourages and facilitates much better engagement, and the improved alignment produces fewer mistakes. This more collegiate approach will promote less fear of failure, and more desire for success. This requires more inspired leadership with a little less “hardcore” management.

New cloud-based tools, which encourage collaboration but do not require direct authority, have enabled the onset of faster,

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Follow us on twitter: @biznessreporter better and cheaper approaches to archetypal PM. But this is not about trashing some of the solid learning of PM techniques: a solid plan, a common understanding of the requirements, clear objectives, risk identification or frequent communication.

However, it might well be timely to discard some of the less-than-useful former approaches: inf lexible single-point estimates, infrequent updates, rigid control and remote leadership.

This transformation to less mandate and more influence sets a huge cultural challenge for most traditional and successful organisations – especially when it comes to PM. Some project managers firmly believe t hat w it hout t hem t he wheels of industry would stop turning, the lights would go out and nations would grind to a halt. It is of course true that we are still reliant on strong project managers in order to deliver large, complex programmes – transport infrastructure, utilities, and complex IT initiatives.

Massive and high-profile events like London 2012 could not have happened without gifted and resilient project managers at the core. However, there are still far too many high-profile failures where a raft of just as strong and gifted project managers could not deliver.

At a recent visit to HMRC, even it has been transformed. The copy typists were now executive assistants, whose main task was not typing, but making management more efficient.

Everybody types now, without even thinking, and this is the way forward for project management.

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Consortium aims to rescue Portsmouth shipbuilding industry BUSINESSES and politicians in Portsmouth are trying to get funding for new shipbuilding projects in an effort to rescue the local industry.

Last year the city was hit by the news that global defence and security giant BAE Systems would be closing its shipbuilding operations.

With around 900 people expected to lose their jobs because of the decision, a campaign is being waged to attract new shipbuilding projects to the city and keep the yard open.

Portsmouth Shipbuilding, a consortium of businesses and individuals, has been formed with the aim of keeping shipyard operations and any relevant local training going.

A statement on the group’s website reads: “Portsmouth Shipbuilding proposes to utilise

the existing skills, facility and management expertise to create a successful and sustainable shipbuilding company, operating within Portsmouth dockyard to deliver small and medium commercial/naval vessels for the domestic and export markets.”

It also promises to work with businesses, colleges and universities to offer relevant training in order to “support grass-roots maritime working and naval heritage for Portsmouth and Southampton”.

Local politicians have thrown their weight behind the campaign.

In a recent letter to the Prime Minister, the leader of Portsmouth City Council, Gerald Vernon-Jackson, wrote: “Over the last few months, it has become plain to me that the only realistic way of maintaining

significant levels of shipbuilding within Portsmouth is to work with a reputable company, who will need a significant level of government financial support to make this happen.

“My understanding is that all the serious proposals had an initial price tag of around £100million subsidy from government.”

Portsmouth Shipbuilding has claimed that the shipyard is attracting interest from a number of companies, but also believes it needs around £100million in order to keep the yard going.

Many in Portsmouth will hope to secure this funding, from government or elsewhere.

Without it, shipbuilding projects could be on the way to leaving England altogether.

BAE is closing its Portsmouth facility

Report: climate change to set new challenges for UK infrastructure

By Dave Baxter

Infrastructure projects such as flood defence will face new challenges in the light of climate change, claims a recent report

THE EFFECTS of climate change are “already occurring on all continents and across the oceans”, and will make projects suc h a s f lo o d de fe nce s i nc rea si ngly i mp or t a nt, according to a report.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warns that many parts of the world are “ill-prepared for risks from a changing climate”.

Its recent report, which had a total of 436 contributors from different fields of expertise, argues that those in charge of projects and developments will have to make choices about risks, whether these are from flooding or other hazards.

Vicente Barros, co-chair of one of the working groups involved in the report, said: “We live in an era of man-made climate change.

“In many cases, we are not prepared for the risks that we already face. Investments in better preparation can pay dividends both for the present and the future.”

The report acknowledges that countries in Europe have “significant experience in hard flood-protection technologies and increasing experience with restoring wetland”, but also warns boosting flood defence measures could be costly.

The report comes not long after parts of the UK were deluged by floods earlier this year, causing arguments between the government and the Environment Agency (EA) over who was to blame.

Ed Davey, secretary of state for energy and climate change, said: “The science has clearly spoken. Left unchecked, climate change will impact on many aspects of our society, with farreaching consequences to human health, global food s e c u r it y a n d e c onom ic development.

“The recent flooding in the UK is a testament to the devastation that climate change could bring to our daily lives.”

The EA was facing the prospect of shedding hundreds of cuts earlier this year, but has been given an extra £140million in the recent budget.

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F lo o d s m i n i s te r D a n Rogerson recently told MPs: “The additional £130million of funding announced in February and the £140million announced in the Budget for the repair and maintenance of vital flood and coastal defences will mean there is no reduction in the Environment Agency’s flood and coastal risk management job numbers.”

Chris Field, another co-chair of one of the report working

groups, says there could be hope as organisations react to climate change. “Climate change adaptation is not an exotic agenda that has never been tried,” he said. “Governments, firms and communities around t he world a re bu i ld i ng experience with adaptation.

“This experience forms a starting point for bolder, more ambitious adaptations that will be important as climate and society continue to change.”

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Project managment

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Project management in the cloud Real-time collaboration is vital for a plan to progress successfully INDUSTRY VIEW

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echnology that adds power to a project manager’s toolkit for success has come a long way in recent years as the need to manage increasingly complex, costly and global projects effectively has increased. Now it has taken off into the cloud, with Microsoft leading the way.

Not everyone is convinced that this revolution is the way to go, harbouring concerns over issues such as information security and even the software itself. Others believe these doubts must be overcome if 21st-century businesses are to flourish.

Sajan Parihar (below), group product manager leading Microsoft’s Project and Visio businesses, says the time has come for organisations to embrace the advances. It starts with choosing the right projects, taking into consideration the cost, time and resource implications. “After that comes the project plan, and you need a solution that helps teams to collaborate as it progresses,” he says. “It’s becoming more important to have that collaboration in real-time, with everyone able to access all the appropriate documents, and the latest project data at all times.”

Gero Renker (left) at APM Awards, sponsored

by Program Framework

With 20 million users, Microsoft Project and Project Server are already as familiar to project managers as the Microsoft Office suite of software.

Thanks to Project Online, offered through Microsoft’s cloud offering Office 365, these same tools are now available without the need to invest in expensive infrastructure, whatever operating system is on an individual user’s PC, Mac, laptop, tablet or phone.

Aligning investments with business priority sounds simple but, for many companies, these ideas are often hard to realise. With Project Online, such ideas are becoming a reality. Project Online enables businesses of all sizes to quickly start projects, prioritise project portfolio investments, and shorten the time-to-value. Creating and

storing project documents, tracking project progress, assigning resources, entering timesheets, capturing issues and risks, generating reports, taking notes at online meetings and collaborating with colleagues and clients anywhere in the world in real-time are all now possible in the cloud.

Ita McAndrew, Office 365 product manager, says it is all helping businesses to innovate. “What’s exciting about the cloud is you can start with one set of tools and keep on building, such as adding Microsoft Office that everyone’s familiar with,” she explains. “We have created a platform where you can develop and evolve your experience, transforming a standard offering to one which can grow and be even more powerful.”

Gero Renker, director at Program Framework, a Microsoft gold PPM specialist and Cloud Accelerate partner, points to partner-led trials and case studies of major organisations that have already taken to the cloud to dispel further doubts.

“It is so flexible and so straightforward to demonstrate,” he adds. “With very little effort you can set up a platform that talks the client’s language by having their terminology and project resources built in to create a functional prototype. It helps people to understand what it can do for them.”

There will soon be an additional tool in the cloud kit, as Microsoft is preparing for its May 1 launch of Project Lite, designed specifically for project team members and costing $7 per user a month.

Gero Renker is director at Program Framework Twitter: @progframework www.programframework.com

The five change leaders you will need Without leadership, change is in danger of failing INDUSTRY VIEW

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ost people know two things about change: it’s very hard to do and, without leadership, it’s impossible.

Most organisations use projects or a programme to trigger business change – and results continue to be mixed. CITI has operated in a number of roles with clients, including that of change leader, and has identified an approach that is fundamental to business change success.

Reliance on top-down, directive leadership alone typically leads to failure.

It is a distressing experience to watch senior business leaders, with a personal stake in the future, fail to engage the crucial leadership contributions of others who may feel less personal accountability. In our experience, successful change requires leaders to collaborate with other leaders.

Furthermore, we believe that successful business change needs five distinct leadership roles in order to be fulfilled.

1. Visionary leader. These are individuals who can paint a compelling picture of the future of the business and have the ability to make people believe in it. Without these people it is unlikely that significant change will even get off the ground but, on its own, it’s not enough.

2 Political leader. These people can make the change and its impact real.

Prime Minister Harold Wilson famously talked about the pound in your pocket, connecting an abstract concept (devaluation) to people’s everyday concerns. Until the vision is linked to the everyday, it is likely to remain a dream.

3 Action leader. It is in the space between the vision and reality that action leaders are needed. Often dismissed as tactical operators, but in fact central to change, these individuals marshal resources to circumvent barriers and cultivate new ground. A potential weakness of action leaders is that their drive and focus is on achievement of targets and deadlines; the dimension of cultural values – “how we do things here” – can be lost.

4 Standards leader. There needs to be guardianship, acting as a balancing influence, to ensure that change does not alienate people or processes from accepted norms.

5 Transform leader. These people are

often regarded as the change agent as they embed behaviours into business-asusual. They give others permission to stop and to alter what they have been doing, and to do new things with confidence.

Without such leaders, successful change is unlikely to be sustained.

If your organisation needs to change, first create an environment in which these different types of leadership can emerge and where leaders are encouraged to collaborate to “make it wanted”, “make it happen”, and “make it stick”.

CITI has been analysing types of change for more than 20 years. We’ve watched hundreds of organisations try – some made it work, others did not.

Those that are now successful took their people, showed them what was possible, and let them make it happen.

Christopher Worsley (left) is CEO of CITI Ltd. If you are interested in developing effective change leadership, contact us via the details below: 01908 283600 info@citi.co.uk

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Home on the rails

Plans to develop the UK’s first commuter garden city for more than 100 years to help relieve the housing crisis have been met with cautious optimism. By Dave Baxter

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T WILL make grim reading for any young renter struggling to climb the property ladder. The English housing survey, an annual piece of research carried out by the Department for Communities and Local Government, recently found that UK home ownership had reached its lowest point for 25 years in 2012/2013.

The research revealed that the proportion of homes held by owner-occupiers had fallen to 65.2 per cent – its lowest level since 1987. It also found that people privately renting outnumbered those in social housing for the first time.

Much of this has been put down to a lack of building. But one measure, announced in the March Budget, could begin to make a difference.

Welwyn Garden City, begun in 1920, was one of a number of planned urban centres of the time

Plans for the Ebbsfleet “garden city” in Kent would see 15,000 homes initially built, forming a self-contained community with a high-speed train line to London.

Chancellor George Osborne declared this to be the first “proper” garden city in more than a century, after a wave that involved examples such as Welwyn and Letchworth garden cities in Hertfordshire.

And while some have welcomed the idea, there have been warnings that the developments must be carefully planned and may not prove to be a “silver bullet” for the housing crisis.

The Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA), which began life as the Garden Cities Association in 1899, responded to the Budget by calling for a well-planned strategy.

The TCPA’s head of policy, Hugh Ellis, said: “Given the scale of the housing crisis, we cannot meet our current and future housing needs on a plot-by-plot basis, and garden cities are an important part of the solution.

“This is why in the r un-up to the 2015 election, the TCPA will be calling for all three major political parties to make a manifesto

commitment to delivering beautiful, welldesigned and inclusive new communities, with affordable homes and new jobs in places people wish to live and work.”

Others believe it could be part of the solution to the housing crisis, but more could be done.

Joe Kilroy, policy officer at industry body the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI), says: “We very much welcome the idea of garden cities, but it’s important to recognise there is a housing crisis.

“Garden cities could go some way to solving that, but it’s part of a long-term solution. There are other things that are needed in the short term, such as urban extensions.

“We need to take quite drastic action, but this is encouraging.”

Garden cities are often relatively small, selfcontained developments within the green belt – Kilroy estimates the median population at somewhere around 35,000.

They differ from conventional towns and cities because, in garden cities, the infrastructure is often put in place first, rather than being developed on a piecemeal basis by the community.

Kilroy argues that they could make a difference if handled correctly.

“I don’t want to criticise the concept,” he says. “You will need to think around the location. There is high demand in the south east. We need to alleviate this and the pressure on London.

“Typically, a good location would also be around the larger cities, such as Manchester or Birmingham.

“But if you build where there’s no high demand, you could have a settlement that just isn’t attractive. You need to know what the demand is.

“You need to look at a garden city and make sure it has sound infrastructure and is connected to areas people want to go to.”

A major argument for garden cities is that, unlike developed areas where planning permission is hard to gain, there is much more

freedom to create new infrastructure. Kilroy says: “There’s an advantage to garden cities in terms of use of land, because we are far less limited once we have allocated the land compared to things like urban extensions.

“There’s a little more freedom in a garden city. But you do need to make sure it’s integrated with established areas, and there’s no reason to emphasise garden cities as being perfect.”

He also notes that these major projects will require co-operation and investment from the private and public sectors.

“I think there needs to be partnership in this area,” he says. “I don’t think you can expect to completely lean on the public purse.

“It’s also essential to have a dialogue ongoing with the private and public sector, and that we have joined-up thinking.”

But others are less convinced. Sabine Coady Schäbitz, director of the Collaborative Centre for the Built Environment at the University of Northampton, says there needs to be a bigger debate on the housing crisis.

“I think we need a wider debate on how British cities and towns are developed,” she says. “It’s very difficult to know what people want.

“Often, things are only in people’s reach and they think it’s what they want.

“I feel that building extensions to towns and cities is as important, if not more important, than building new garden cities.

“Garden cities can solve some problems, but they require huge up-front investment infrastructure, and the government has limited resources.”

Ebbsfleet already has some development in place, most significantly a train station which opened in 2007 and offers high-speed stations to King’s Cross St Pancras.

Ebbsfleet, which sits east of Dartford, is also not far from Bluewater Shopping Centre, which some may find attractive. But plans to create housing there have been slow – so far just 150 homes have been built.

With government moves to speed up this development, Ebbsfleet could become the first of a new generation of garden cities – but this depends on how, and if, more of them are launched.

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Project management

Education key to better architecture

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Find us online: business-reporter.co.uk A recent report claims affluent areas are more active in local planning schemes

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THE UK should focus on educat ion, com mu n it y engagement and more “proactive” planning if it wants better building projects, a wideranging report has urged.

Veteran architect Terry Farrell was asked by the government to come up with ways of improving the UK’s “built environment” and desig n of t he count r y ’s infrastructure.

The Farrell Review focuses on five key areas: education, outreach and skills; design quality; cultural heritage; economic benefits and built environment policy.

The review is extensive, but a key message seems to be that the public should be more closely involved in the design and planning of national infrastructure. It states, for example, that children should be taught about the “physical environment” and its social, economic, environmental and cultural impact.

Another suggestion is that tow n s w it hout a bu i lt environment centre should have an “urban room” where the public can learn about the past, present and future make-up of an area.

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Neighbourhood development plans flourishing in south

By Dave Baxter COMMUNITIES in the south of England have been most active in planning what building projects could go ahead in their local area, according to research.

In April 2012 the government gave communities the right to draw up “neighbourhood development plans” outlining their preferences on how local land could be used. This could, for example, include their views on where new homes and offices should be built, and what they should look like.

Now research published by Turley, which focuses on planning and development work, has found that much of the adoption of neighbourhood plans has been in the south of England, often in more affluent areas controlled by Conservative-led councils.

The research found that, at the time of publication last month, more than 980 neighbourhoods had applied for formal approval to draw up these plans, with around 750 of these requests being approved.

But it also found that 73 per cent of these plans had come from areas controlled

by Conservative-led councils, with just 9 per cent coming from areas under Labour control.

It also found that 75 per cent of published plans had come from the south of England, while only nine plans were published from areas categorised as “most deprived”.

Rob Peters, executive director at Turley’s Bristol office, said: “The preparation of neighbourhood plans is popular, but is being recognised more by communities in the south of England compared to the north. It also appears that less affluent communities are not yet engaging fully in the neighbourhood planning process.”

He also noted that reactions to the prospect of new developments were mixed, with some communities in favour of new infrastructure and others fiercely opposed.

Peters said: “The picture that emerges from the published neighbourhood plans is one of the majority seeking to maintain the status quo and restricting new development, with a smaller minority of plans encouraging growth.”

Collaborate for the common good INDUSTRY VIEW

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n the UK, London’s 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games remain the iconic major programme in terms of the public perception of what can be done in delivering to performance, cost and time.

The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) delivered a stunning performance, equalled only by the heroes of Team GB. But how can industries and professions work together to achieve this gold standard of delivery, not just once, but on a consistent basis? Lessons learnt and knowledge transfer are the staple of any profession.

The delivery of the stadia, infrastructure, and the industryleading approach to health and safety throughout the programme have been subject to much praise, but the measures implemented to get these results are often overlooked.

It was no coincidence – success came from meticulous planning, building on

Alan Macklin of the Association for Project Management explains why practitioners need to listen, learn and lead

best practice.

The ODA boss, Sir David Higgins – now in charge of High Speed 2 (HS2) – was lauded for his two-four-one approach, which saw two years planning, four years of construction and one year of testing. It sounds simple but the detail involved in the implementation was anything but.

A key element was collaboration.

Look no further than the ODA’s delivery partner CLM for an example: a consortium comprising CH2M HILL, Laing O’Rourke and Mace brought collaboration within the consortium and with the client.

This collaborative approach led to

the Olympic Development Authority creating a learning legacy of its own.

It was a very conscious decision to share the experiences of those working directly for the ODA, delivery partner and supply chain. Experiences, case studies and lessons-learnt documents were collated and published for the world to view, and hundreds of thousands of professionals have done just that.

Focusing on 10 functions, including programme and project management, the ODA also partnered with professional bodies, including APM, to disseminate its messages.

As an official dissemination partner APM took a unique approach in running several events, with various speakers from the Olympics sharing their experiences. Hundreds of members and non-members attended, helping to spread the learning legacy message and enabling people to engage. The series of events reflects the new model APM has adopted – “Listening, Learning and Leading” – characteristics that APM chairman Steve Wake says all

practitioners should endeavour to display.

The value of the learning legacy is there for all to see; best practice from the scheme is now being deployed on major programmes including Crossrail, HS2 and Thames Tideway Tunnel.

Collaboration is good for the profession and good for business.

The message from the likes of the ODA, CLM and APM is clear – collaborate for the common good. Our willingness to learn from the experiences of others strengthens our own offerings and adds value to UK plc.

APM board member Alan Macklin (right) is a director with CH2M HILL. See how APM shared the lessons learnt from one of the most successful British programmes at www.apm.org. uk/learning legacy

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A new €10million project aims to prevent Pompeii from slipping into disrepair

PROJECT managers are under pressure to save Pompeii from ruin, as the ancient Roman city threatens to fall into disrepair.

In 2011 the Great Pompeii Project was given €105million by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), with orders to secure unexcavated embankments, restore masonry and apartment buildings, increase video surveillance and protect buildings from weather exposure.

The city, which is south of Naples, has great historical significance because of the volcanic eruption at Mount Vesuvius which killed most of its inhabitants and buried people and buildings under ash in 79AD. Because of this Pompeii, a Unesco Heritage Site, is a popular location for tourists, and the Great Pompeii Project has also been tasked with boosting the number of visitors and the spaces open to the public.

It already attracts millions of tourists each year. But there has been uproar over the decline of the city’s ruins, as buildings fall prey to erosion and even vandalism. This has led to accusations of mismanagement, particularly in the Italian press.

In early March, Pompeii came to attention again when heavy rain led to two walls and part of an arch collapsing. Italy is

The evolving landscape of project management resourcing How the smartest providers keep in step with changing needs INDUSTRY VIEW

Project experts race to pull Pompeii back from the brink

By Dave Baxter

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now hoping for the success of the Pompeii Sustainable Preservation Project (PSP).

The project will involve researchers from Munich’s Technische Universität, the Fraunhofer Institute and the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property embarking on a 10-year crusade to stop the city from falling into further disrepair.

This will not be cheap, with PSP looking for funds of around €10million. A statement on its website reads: “The project is planned to 10 years and will require at this time a total funding of about €10million in order to implement the steps.

“This sum is for the employment of highly qualified personnel who can monitor the project over the entire period, the funding of research fellowships, visiting scientists, material resources for the construction and research and the publication and dissemination of results.”

The German-led project will begin this summer. Experts are expected to focus on the ancient materials needed to reconstruct the ruins, as well as trying to rescue the site’s frescos, many of which have already been moved to museums for better protection.

It seems researchers will mainly use traditional tools from Pompeii’s time. The release notes that “large equipment like

cranes would be of no use in the narrow streets of Pompeii”, and that materials such as lime will be used in favour of concrete, because “it was not used in those days”.

One of their first tasks will be to focus on draining water from the site, but more sophisticated techniques are expected in future. A release from Munich’s Technische Universität reads: “The researchers will not be foregoing all hi-tech aids. They will use nanotechnology to make the lime more fluid, thus stabilising through backfilling.”

It adds: “Researchers from various disciplines will be working alongside restoration experts and archaeologists in the Pompeii Sustainable Preservation Project.

“The ancient city will be accurately surveyed on the ground and through aerial photographs. Seismic measurements will provide information on how the monument will be impacted by future seismic activity, which will help to ensure the conserved structures will later withstand these tremors. Construction and structural engineers will be supporting activities in this area.”

The project will also focus on botanical research to bring the city’s ancient gardens back to life and training researchers to ensure more conservation work in the future.

If successful, it could be the beginning of a long-term solution to Pompeii’s problems.

China must better plan its ‘rapid urbanisation’ CHINA must focus on “denser, rather than larger” cities if it wants to cut down on traffic congestion, pollution to its air and water and the maintenance costs for infrastructure, according to the World Bank.

A report put together by the World Bank and Development Research Center of China’s State Council argues that project management in China should focus on more efficient, denser cities in order to cut infrastructure spending and tackle other problems associated with what it dubs “rapid urbanisation”.

It states that building up cities to be denser rather than allowing them to spread further can preserve the amount of farmland available in the country and save an estimated

$1.4trillion in infrastructure spending. The report took 14 months to prepare, and details have been shared on a regular basis with China’s top policy-makers.

It notes that, with more of China’s vast population moving to cities, environmental problems and even social issues have cropped up.

The report reads: “In the last 30 years, cities, with abundant labour, cheap land and good infrastructure played a key role in lifting half a billion people out of poverty.

“While China has avoided slums, squalor and other common ills of urbanisation, strains are showing, such as inefficient urban sprawl, rising inequality and environmental damages.”

A

s the economy improves, strategic investment budgets are growing, but cost pressures remain high – so organisations need to continue to focus on ensuring they get the best value from their project resourcing models.

This shift is also being driven by a new generation of senior executives who are experienced buyers of the full range of project resourcing solutions and are highly discerning in the resourcing they choose and their expectations.

Clear segmentation is emerging as organisations demand high-calibre resourcing across the full spectrum of project and programme management roles.

This is why Campion Willcocks has evolved to deliver against three key offerings: • Consulting – delivering small to mediumsized advisory assignments via an extensive network of subject matter experts • Interim Management – providing seniorlevel project and programme managers and senior executives to support organisations in delivering their strategic agenda • Resourcing – delivering consistently superior yet excellent value junior-to-midlevel specialist contractors and teams Offering these three distinct services ensures that every size and type of project can be fulfilled with a meticulous and cost-effective approach: from specialised consultants to cohesive teams.

As many organisations look to transform themselves to take advantage of improving economic conditions, the selection of the right resourcing models to support their projects will be critical to success.

Richard Clifford (left) is managing director of Campion Willcocks 01494 725 885 www.campionwillcocks.co.uk

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GOING LOND L Dave Baxter reports

O

N A WARM summer evening in 2012, the world’s gaze was transfixed on London as a dazzling burst of fireworks went up across the sky. It was a fitting way to mark the end of an Olympic Games that had seen many British athletes run, swim and leap their way into the history books.

The event, a series of magical and enthralling bouts of athleticism, was mainly unhindered by security issues or organisational hiccups, and appeared to present London as the cultural and administrative centre of the UK. London’s dominance goes further than this.

It plays a leading role in British business and politics, and has become an international economic hub on a par with New York. Like the Big Apple, it is spreading its wings. A ballooning population, swathes of tourists and an influx of both business activity and investment mean an army of different projects is needed to keep it running smoothly.

Underneath the earth, the city is buzzing.

Crossrail, which will improve links between the capital and the south east, has huge diggers burrowing underground to create new tunnels.

HS2, the rail project intended to better link up the UK’s major cities, will mean the development of new stations and tracks in London and elsewhere. And the Northern line, which runs up through the city, will be expanded to create greater Tube capacity for the capital’s busy commuters.

The activity doesn’t cease above the surface.

In east London, the Olympic Games sites are being developed to ensure a lasting legacy. A more obvious transformation is taking place much higher up. Towers and cranes loom over central London, and the horizon is likely to get busier in coming years.

The Shard, a glittering glass building that towers above the capital, is set to be joined by a new generation of skyscrapers, with a survey by the New London Architecture (NLA) think tank suggesting that 236 buildings with more than 20 storeys could be on their way.

As the city continues to attract business, investment and new residents, such rapid expansion is not as excessive as it may appear.

But experts argue this growth needs to be coordinated in a way that benefits the city, without distorting its appearance or hurting communities.

The 236 new skyscrapers, for example, could help to address a need for more housing in the city, with around 80 per cent of them designed for residential purposes. This has deepened a debate over how such buildings develop without tarnishing the skyline, and who approves them.

Currently skyscrapers are approved or rejected

by London’s borough councils, meaning the spread of such towers across the city could be disproportionate. NLA chairman Peter Murray recently called on mayor Boris Johnson to create a London Skyline Commission to control the

London’s Crossrail promises to make transport into the capital faster, easier and more widespread

Huge investm capital, both a below the sur to be co-ordin a way that be

Crossrail project development of tall buildings, with a panel of experts on hand to comment on their size, design and location.

He said: “London is growing. Its population could well hit 10 million by 2030, and right now the capital faces a perfect storm of pressures on the development of tall buildings: a critical housing shortage, rocketing land prices and burgeoning international investment.

“More tall buildings can help to meet London’s growing housing demand, but they must be in the right places, be well-designed and with generous consideration to their impact at ground level.”

W het her upwards, outwards, or both, London will need to expand, particularly in order to reduce pressu re on squeezed renters and buyers. Recent figures from Nationwide showed that the typical price for a London house had reached £362,699 in March, compared with the national average of £180,264.

This has been blamed both on a shortage of available houses and the impact of foreign property investment.

In an interview earlier this

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DORGROUND!

ment in the above and rface, needs nated in enefits all

London mayor Boris Johnson inspecting a freshly drilled Crossrail tunnel last May

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year, Bank of England governor Mark Carney admitted that he could not use tools such as mortgage rates and lending rules to quell this, because foreign buyers did not rely on loans.

Colin Wiles, a housing expert and former chair of the regional committee in the east for

the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH), believes one solution could be to use some of the city’s current green belt land.

“One option is to push the green belt outwards and increase the footprint of London,” he says.

“I think there are around 35,000 hectares of

green belt within the London boroughs themselves and another 60,000 within the M25.

“At the moment, all the commuting into London is from beyond the green belt. In that respect, London spreads from the Isle of Wight up to Lincolnshire.

“The other option is to use the brown field land in London, but there’s not a huge quantity of that and some of it might be more appropriate for open space in some places.”

He argues that unless more housing is built, it could make it much harder for people to stay in the city. “The pressing issue for me is affordable housing, and not just for the people at the lowest end,” he says. “The priced-out generation will find it increasingly difficult to buy or rent.

“Even well-off people are being pushed out into the suburbs. The overriding thing is we are simply not building enough homes in London.”

New homes could be one of the city’s postOlympic legacies. Among other plans, including the transformation of Stratford’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park into a multi-use venue for the public, the London Legacy Development Corporation wants to see new neighbourhoods with up to 1,500 new homes created in the area.

As part of this, it has emphasised the inclusion of “much-needed private renting housing and affordable homes” in the proposed plan.

Professor Gavin Poynter of the University of East London, who has written widely about the post- Oly mpic legac y, arg ues t hat t he developments could be positive but need to focus on benefiting communities.

“We have got the capital trying to develop a public legacy, but they have to do it in a way that balances the books, so they have to try to achieve these goals by attracting private investment,” he says. “There is a tension between the public good and the need for the private sector to make profits. That’s playing out now in east London.

“The critics would argue that there is a relationship between the private and public sector but it makes it hard for a community voice to be heard.”

With people and investment continuing to pour into London, more projects will be needed to shoulder the burden. But how and where they will develop will continue to cause heated debate.

How to make the most of mobility Getting help to the people who need it most INDUSTRY VIEW

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SI Mobile is an Irish-based enterprise mobility software platform specialising in providing adaptable mobile solutions for sectors such as international NGOs. PSI Mobile has several clients in this space, with its technology being used in places such as Nicaragua, Syria, Darfur and many other emergency zones.

Project management is crucial for the volunteers on the ground. For example, the PSI Fusion technology is helping many NGOs with processing beneficiary management. Beneficiaries are essentially people who are in the most urgent need of help. The technology allows staff to process their details for vouchers, food supplies and medical aid in a much more efficient manner.

Not only can the Fusion platform benefit NGOs in the field, but also for donor sign-up applications on the street. In addition, by using the platform a staff member can verify bank details in real-time.

The PSI Fusion platform has been used in a variety of emergency areas – for example, one of its clients had

a requirement to monitor a water source in Mozambique.

This required data gathering, monitoring, geo-tagging of water wells and water treatment installations and a survey of water usage by local communities.

Another client was involved in an emergency response to cholera; this required data capture to identify intervention actions regarding a cholera outbreak. Both of the clients used the Fusion platform to gather the required information efficiently and effectively, and ultimately used the data to facilitate a better outcome.

Due to the flexible nature of the Fusion platform it has a variety of uses across multiple sectors, including utilities and telecommunications, public sector organisations, and field service and field sales. To find out more about how PSI Mobile’s Fusion platform can benefit your organisation take a look at PSI’s website, at www.psi-mobile.com. +44 845 287 3433 info@psimobile.co.uk

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Project management

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As traditional PM software fails, a new movement takes shape INDUSTRY VIEW

I

n 2008, the programme management team at Trek Bicycle Corporation found themselves in a bad spot. Some 30 per cent of their time was lost re-typing data from their PM software into emails.

Three project status meetings every week consumed even more time. Different tools in the hands of different teams were making it impossible to improve the situation.

“It was very hard to go back and remember exactly what caused us to be late,” recalls Steve Malchow, Trek’s vice president of operations. “Our annual loss from not being ready was literally millions

of dollars in sales.” Unfortunately, Trek isn’t alone…

The failure of traditional project management Across every industry, traditional project management tools are failing. Teams that turned to these tools to better manage their work are finding that, instead of increasing efficiency and visibility, their tools are only making their jobs harder.

It only gets worse as teams become larger and more globalised. Every new tool means more resources wasted gathering data - more productivity lost.

Fortunately, a new movement in work management is taking shape.

Work management for the enterprise Led by SaaS company AtTask, this new movement – entitled enterprise work management – presents a surprisingly simple solution: a single solution all team members can work in.

The ideal enterprise work management solution covers the entire work lifecycle, from request to collaboration to reports. Repeatable work

processes are automated. In turn, the solution gathers and provides real-time comprehensive work data to all team members.

The benefits of such a solution can be seen in the rest of Trek’s story. Using AtTask across their enterprise, Trek removed their bottlenecks, gave their team members back 12 hours per week, and boosted their on-time ratings by 60 percent.

To learn more about AtTask, the only enterprise work management solution, visit www.attask.com or call +44 (0) 1256 807352

The five steps to a successful change It is vital to get everyone on board INDUSTRY VIEW

She says: “The first is for the leader of the change to understand how each individual reacts to change.

Training can help people understand there is a psychological reaction to change.

“Secondly, by understanding people’s emotional states

C

hanging the way a company operates is not an easy task. It takes support, encouragement, coaching and training to get everyone in an organisation on board.

Melanie Franklin, a keynote speaker and founder of Agile Change Management, who has helped lead organisational change in FTSE 100 firms, says: “The difference between being successful and failing is whether or not the people at the top can get everyone in the company them on board.”

Franklin, who is also author of the book Agile Change Management and regularly coaches senior board members of FTSE firms about change, explains there are five main factors companies should know when implementing change.

you can understand how to harness the enthusiasm of those who are predisposed to it – and understand how to coach and support those who are not.

“Thirdly, it is being able to shape the change around the needs of different preferences. The most important thing about change is that one size does not fit all. The fourth thing is people need to be given an appreciation of all the different activities that would be sensible to do in managing change.

“Lastly, you have to think about the factors to consider in making the change fit your organisation. Understand the environment can consist of decisions coming from the top, while others are driven by ideas filtering up.”

Helping companies achieve change can take many different forms, from onsite workshops to individual coaching and broader training courses. By putting these practices in place it can mean the difference between success and failure. melanie@agilechangemanagement.co.uk www.agilechangemanagement.co.uk/blog

Government needs to focus on the right things at the right time INDUSTRY VIEW

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rocurement of complex functionality to drive transformational change within government needs to evolve otherwise the current “hopper” of challenged programmes is only going to get bigger. Currently, large amounts of resource are channelled into procuring and contracting while comparatively little time and resource is spent on the upfront planning and design phase and on-operational delivery.

How can suppliers know what benefits are expected from the projects that they are contracting for if they are not deeply involved in the planning and design?

We are still seeing major government projects being approached as technology/IT projects as opposed to genuine transformation projects. The underlying technology is simply the enabler, but those involved at all stages of the project lifecycle need to understand the differences and tailor their approach appropriately. Contracts should include express transformational elements that coach those in government departments on how to change behaviours/processes and so on, so as to take best advantage of the enabling technology.

Supplier rewards should be linked to delivery of benefits or at least the delivery of the means from which benefits can be derived. We need to create an approach to transformational projects that is collaborative in nature and one that builds a balanced partnership across “builder, buyer and user” communities with project risk sitting with the relevant party best able to manage it, and

not unilaterally flung over the wall as “someone else’s problem”.

In addition to evolving the approach to procurement, it has become increasingly apparent, especially with the introduction of fixed-term parliaments, that the large-scale nationally critical projects relating to defence, infrastructure and welfare need unswerving (but not blind) cross-party support if they are to stand a chance of being successful. This will require mature reflection and action on the part of our politicians.

Dominic Cook (left) is a partner at law firm Bird & Bird, an associate fellow of the Oxford Saïd Business School and the only practising lawyer who presents to the Cabinet Office’s Major Projects Leadership Academy.

020 7415 6146 www.twobirds.com

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Inspector Dogberry What makes a good employee?

While the Inspector likes the idea of “nodding dogs”, he has always been wary of “yes men” who blindly follow instructions.

In the world of project management, it seems Dogberry’s fear is not misplaced. A recent study published by the Massachusetts Institute of Te c h n o l o g y (MIT) Sloan Management Review, The Pitfalls Of Project Status Reporting, claims that human nature

can threaten effective project management.

The study argues that misreporting of corporate project statuses – that can lead to missed targets and spiraling costs – is often down to human factors.

The report, put together by researchers from the business schools at Wake Forest University, Georgia State University and the Miami University of Ohio, draws on insights from 14 previous investigations conducted over

As project management training becomes more formalised, Dogberry is glad to see one organisation seeking young talent.

Transport for London (TfL) has been advertising a new project management apprenticeship scheme to youngsters. The scheme, which begins in September, offers two years of training to candidates who are 18 or older, and promises to give them “a broad knowledge of different types of projects, and an understanding of what it takes to provide a world-class transport system for the capital”. It puts an emphasis on the need for good personal skills and an ability to solve problems.

Such training could help create a new generation of project managers. And as long as the Tube runs on time, Dogberry will be delighted.

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the course of 15 years.

It argues that people can misreport, or misinterpret, a project’s status for multiple reasons. Some workers may be unnecessarily optimistic about a project which is in fact struggling.

Some may be risk-takers. And others may be the “yes men” who decide not to give their superiors bad news. The study even claims that, in some cases, executives can actually ignore bad news.

While human nature is hard to undo, organisations should be aware that it could be their weakest link.

The IT department has become a crucial part of managing projects well. But as IT grows in importance it is coming under greater scrutiny, according to a survey by McKinsey.

The research firm warns that businesses are starting to view IT staff more closely – and pick up on their shortcomings.

It states: “Among the most substantial challenges are demonstrating effective leadership and finding, developing and retaining IT talent.”

It also notes that more executives see IT as “core and relevant to day-to-day business, not merely a cost centre”.

Some IT managers may be relieved that boards are finally taking them, and their role, more seriously. But this brings greater pressure to perform.

By Matt Smith, web editor

u Editor’s pick Web Project Management Blog www.thesambarnes.com Development team manager Sam Barnes offers his advice on web project management on this beautifully-designed blog.

Although the subject matter may seem quite niche, the tips given here can be applied in a range of environments – after all, it’s handy to know what to do when a project goes wrong no matter what industry you work in.

Association for Project Management

Don’t call the doctor…

What exactly happened to NHS Direct? The service, aimed at providing health advice on the phone, the web and via mobile around the clock, was quietly closed at the end of March.

Some readers may remember that NHS Direct had won a number of contracts to provide the NHS 111 help line service, but in July announced it was planning to pull out of these because of financial difficulties.

In October, the organisation announced that it would close at the end of the financial year. The 111 line, which was launched in April last year, had been criticised for a number of teething problems and is now under pressure to run smoothly.

One thing is clear: high-profile projects have little room for error.

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The Daily PM Blog

www.apm.org.uk/blog

www.projectmanager.com/ project-manager-blog

For frequent updates on a range of management-related topics, look no further than the Association for Project Management’s blog, which includes advice and case studies on everything from how to talk to stakeholders to the evolution of the role of project manager.

One post per day on the issues surrounding project management. Recent posts include different ways to manage project risks, how to muster the enthusiasm to finish your projects, and how to bring the best out of different teams working together.

The LiquidPlanner Blog www.liquidplanner.com/blog

Project Schedule Free (FREE – Android)

hiTask – Team Task Management (FREE – Android)

This app, allows you to organise your projects on a timeline, making them clearer and easier to understand.

Organise and distribute tasks for your team with hiTask, which features cloud synchronisation and email deadline notifications.

What makes a great project manager? What are the secrets of the top performers? And how is the role changing within modern businesses? Find the answers to all of these questions and more on this blog, which is run by the team behind the LiquidPlanner online project management tool.

Will your transformation project fail without change management?

INDUSTRY VIEW

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am often asked whether change management is really needed when embarking on a transformation initiative. It’s a hot topic, and we have found at Chaucer that organisations are simply not clear on why and how change management should be considered or implemented. Viewing your portfolio, programme or project through the prism of change management can offer new approaches to ensure success.

At its heart, change management is about delivering the benefits of your transformational change. It does this by ensuring that the people who will ultimately own and embrace new ways of working adopt them quickly, correctly and sustainably. Ideally, change management activity should start early and finish late on any

transformational change. Organisational leaders of change need to embrace this people-centric approach.

Today there is almost a universal acceptance of delivering intentional change by using traditional project management skills. Yet initiatives still fail. The same rigour and discipline now needs to be applied to change management to ensure that the human element of change receives as much attention. Where we see a mature and detailed change management strategy considered and applied to transformational change of all sizes and complexity (with accompanying practical implementation activity such as change landscaping; change readiness assessments; awareness, engagement and communication planning; active benefits identification and ownership; business sustainability planning and so on), we find greater rates of success for the longer term.

I would ask you to consider whether you feel you or your team have really got a handle on change management? Do you have the practical tools, techniques and know-how to be effective? Can you afford to get this wrong?

Our clients ask us what change management success looks like, and for us it is simple. We achieve this every time for our clients by ensuring we help them realise their benefits business case. Most importantly, the secret to success is how the change is embedded thereafter. How else will you achieve the sustainability your project deserves?

Deborah Feakins (left) heads up Chaucer’s Change Management division in Europe www.chaucer.com/change-management sue.akam@chaucer.com

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Business World Qatar

Qatar has put aside billions of dollars for infrastructure projects, including preparations for the 2022 World Cup. In last month’s Budget, the government announced it had allocated around $24billion for key projects.

Some of this funding will go towards the state’s World Cup preparations, with work set to start on seven new football pitches and a new airport. Money will also be spent on a medical and research centre and several new health centres.

Singapore

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Singapore has moved a step closer to becoming a regional infrastructure hub with the launch of a new facility.

The Asia Infrastructure Centre of Excellence (AICOE) is a joint venture between International Enterprise (IE) Singapore, a government agency, and the Asian Development Bank.

The centre, which will be funded with S$17million over three years, will work with governments across the region to work out infrastructure needs and explore financing options through capital markets in the area.

Singapore’s government hopes this will lead to more joint ventures between the public and private sector.

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Dammed if

Japan

Industry officials have met to discuss opening up railway markets between Japan and Europe. Talks organised by the European Commission and the Japanese government have covered the idea of giving companies in both regions equal access to each other’s markets.

The European Rail Industry Association (Unife) recommended that Japan improve its procurement processes and urge its companies to post information about upcoming and previously awarded tenders for railway work.

Unife director general Philippe Citroen said his organisation expected “a comprehensive set of measures to be agreed upon, to achieve a level playing field between the European and Japanese rail markets”.

Grand projects in emerging nations, such as hydro-electric dams, could end up doing more harm than good if they are not efficiently managed.

Dave Baxter reports

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NEW boom in hydropower “mega-dams” could create a costly headache for the emerging markets, a study warns. Writing in a University of Oxford’s Said Business School publication, researchers argue that a new spate of large-scale projects in countries such as China and Brazil could spiral out of control because of a number of factors, from project overruns to the costs incurred by volatile currency exchange rates.

Bent Fly vbjerg (opposite), chair of programme management at the University of Oxford, the founding director of the university’s BT Centre for Major Programme Management and one of the authors of the report, claims that

Brazil

The 2016 Olympic Games have been dealt another blow with the news that a key official plans to resign. With the games approaching, Rio de Janeiro needs to complete around 50 key projects, including building some venues and vital infrastructure such as roads. News that Maria Silvia Bastos Marques, the president of Rio’s Municipal Olympic Company, plans to resign may cause further worries. The public company is responsible for around half of the projects being carried out in preparation for the games.

We are all project managers now Firms across the world acknowledge the need to manage their processes INDUSTRY VIEW

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fter years of being associated with tunnels and bridges, project management has moved beyond infrastructure. Firms across different countries and sectors now acknowledge the need to manage their processes and keep costs and timing under control. As businesses begin to recognise the importance of project management worldwide, questions are being asked about the standards required. AXELOS, a new joint venture between Capita and the Cabinet Office, is focusing on how these can apply to different staff and situations, as well as how workers can develop a career path in project management.

It provides guidance and qualifications around best practice, from ITIL, which focuses on service management, to Management of Risk (M_o_R) and project management standard PRINCE2.

The company has worked on a number of major schemes, but CEO Peter Hepworth (right) has plans for growth. “It’s hard to measure the adoption of our products, but if you look at the number of exams taken, you can

see strong growth outside the UK, as well as in the UK,” he says. “In the US there’s a lot of interest, and the biggest international user of PRINCE2 is the UN, to make sure their aid development is correctly managed.

“Our Managing Successful Programmes (MSP) product was used to deliver the Olympic Games. I was in Tokyo after they had won the right to host Tokyo 2020 and the focus was: ‘When can we have MSP?’ They want to see the same success as London has had.”

Hepworth is interested in new countries and new techniques, such as simulation scenarios.

“Young people are learning things online and changing how it is done,” he says. “There’s online training for PRINCE2, and we are looking to optimise that with simulation. At the same time we need to look at issues such as cybercrime.

“We are also speaking to business schools and universities about how we can improve the quality and awareness of courses they teach.”

When asked about future priorities for AXELOS, he answers: “Career path.” He says: “For the individual, it’s about how your career can develop.

There’s a different skill set between project and portfolio management, and no linear route. It comes to modularisation. We have been able to offer different dimensions.”

The company varies its training approach. Its Portfolio, Programme, and Project Management Maturity Model (P3M3), for example, encourages users to assess their performance against benchmarks. Mike Acaster, PPM portfolio manager, says: “PRINCE2 is applicable to many sizes of organisation, but sometimes it’s

better to be a bit more specific. It’s about tailoring advice for that context. In some cases it has been tailored, and people don’t realise it’s PRINCE2 – you have to scratch the surface.

“If we look at one of the bigger projects, that of Maasvlakte2 in the Port of Rotterdam, this involved about 20,000 people and was being run using PRINCE2. The project director and the port company both agreed it was the governance structures they developed using PRINCE2 that kept them on track.”

Meanwhile, Hepworth is clear anyone can benefit from project management guidance.

“We are all project managers now,” he says.

Ask@AXELOS.com www.AXELOS.com

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you do…

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such projects can have a “bull in a china shop” effect in terms of costs. “Our argument should not be seen as anti-hydropower,” he says. “The paper isn’t against huge dams. In terms of stable irrigation and hydropower, there might be instances where there’s a good reason to do a huge dam.”

But he adds that smaller ventures can be more effective and less prone to uncontrollable spending. “There’s a huge financial risk because the costs can turn out to be twice as high as expected,” he says. “With big finances, there is the risk of having these costs overrunning.”

He notes that this could be because of unexpected “black swan” events – simple inefficiencies, or changes in currency exchange rates.

He says: “When we are in emerging markets, a huge part of the structure comes from imports such as turbines.

“That means that you are buying these things with foreign currencies such as dollars or euros.

“The currency risk seems to be substantial. If the rates change, the amount you are expecting to pay [for imported supplies] is very different from the amount of money you have to pay in the end. For fragile economies, our

recommendation would be to do smaller projects instead of huge ones.”

Flyvbjerg is keen to stress that when he talks about “small” or “large” projects, he is focusing on the amount of time they take to complete rather than other factors. “It’s not the physical size or the money involved,” he says. “Shorter projects spiral less out of control. There is less of a window for bad things to happen.

“The longer the time period, the bigger a window there is for a black swan event, and the bigger and fatter a swan can fly through that window.”

The report, Should We Build More Large Dams? The Actual Costs Of Hydropower Mega proje c t D e ve l opme nt note s t hat large dams take, on average, 8.6 years to complete.

As emerging powers decide to focus on their infrastructure needs, big projects could be both tempting and risky. Flyvbjerg admits that, because of factors such as prestige and political impact, longer, large-scale projects are difficult for governments and companies to resist. “It’s to do with a bunch of things,” he says. “Prestige is one of them. There’s nothing politicians love better than to get these projects off the ground.They are

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China’s Three Gorges Dam: experts argue that emerging markets need to be more cautious about large-scale projects

very high-profile and they get politicians in the media. And you need to get in the media if you are in a democracy.

“They would rather have a big project than a piece of legislation, because legislation is just a piece of paper. With the big dam, you can throw your arm out in front of people and say: ‘I did this’.

“It’s also about money. It’s a way of making lots of people lots of money, and these people argue that we need more big dams.” He also notes that, in the case of large-scale projects such as the Golden Gate Bridge, there is a tendency

towards building “monumental” pieces of infrastructure. “There is a focus on the aesthetically sublime, where people look to build beautiful monuments like the Golden Gate Bridge,” he says. “All these forces taken together are really strong.”

As the emerging markets look to flex their muscles and meet big demands for new infrastructure, there could be a new generation of prominent, time-consuming projects.

These may be impressive and make headlines worldwide. But if operations run out of control, such projects could become a costly mistake.

How to stand out from your peers Go beyond the traditional professional project management qualifications route INDUSTRY VIEW

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t is a well-established fact that effective project management directly improves overall organisational performance. The benefits of having a consistent delivery method and the increasing need to deliver more complex projects is leading more organisations to invest in establishing structured career paths for a range of project roles, even going as far as Master’slevel programmes focused on developing strategic capabilities.

Eileen Roden, learning programme director at training company QA, commented: “Within the project management profession, we are seeing activity at both ends of the experience spectrum. At the top end, the Association of Project Management (APM) continues to work towards chartership, which will see project management firmly established as a profession in its own right. At the other end, there is increasing recognition that project management is a skill or competence that adds value to any role – even children at senior schools are provided with project management training by APM and PMI. Last year at QA, we worked with over 35,000 project management professionals

helping them develop skills and capabilities.

This is only set to increase next year.”

With the continued growth of project professionals and a range of project management certifications (such as APMP and PRINCE2), it has become increasingly difficult for organisations to select the best candidates, and individuals to stand out in the workforce. Last year in the UK alone approximately 30,000 individuals became PRINCE2-qualified practitioners.

Currently, there are nearly 4,000 UK-based project management positions available on LinkedIn in the UK, which demonstrates the importance organisations are placing on recruiting the right talent into this area, but also the demand there is for competent, skilled project managers.

More than half of those roles on LinkedIn are senior management or director-level roles – recognising the deficit of qualified applicants at the higher levels.

Organisations are now beginning to realise the importance of “leading” a project management team, rather than just managing (people don’t follow methodologies). Roden says: “We have seen a real increase in interest from our clients on bespoke programmes in this area, as

organisations understand that those leading a project management team not only need to have the technical and management skills, but also the leadership skills to inspire the team to achieve the project goals”.

Roden continued, “One of the real growth areas for this year at QA has been individuals enrolling on our part-time master’s degree in applied project management programme. They have realised that in order to accelerate their career they need to be able to demonstrate not only an in-depth understanding of how to deliver a project, but how the principles

can be applied across organisations to shape the success of those firms. They are really looking to broaden and deepen their experience in project management and move to the next level of their career.”

The growth in this profession only looks set to continue and there will be exciting opportunities for those who possess strong technical, business, and leadership skills with a proven track record.

To attend a free Master’s taster session, please call 0845 074 7967, visit www.qa.com/masters or email executivemasters@qa.com

Business Reporter · April 2014

Project management – Industry view

Business Zone

14

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The future

Agile is worth the risk

Q&A with David Miller, founder, Changefirst

A

question often posed of agile projects is whether they are more or less risky than working in a non-agile way. Organisations not used to agile certainly see more risk, mainly due to a feeling of not having control.

Agilists would argue that there is far less risk, since the whole ethos of constant customer interaction and feedback ensures that the right solution is delivered, and the short delivery cycles give immediate indications of progress.

The truth lies somewhere in the middle. Agile projects are prone to risk in the same way as any other project, and going agile is no excuse for not carrying out good risk management.

The approach to risk management does not change and they still need identification, analysis and mitigation plans. The change is in the types of risks.

The iterative feedback loops endemic in agile projects do, indeed, eliminate the risk of doing the wrong thing. However, this is only the case if the right people from the business are involved and can spend sufficient time on the project. In fact, failing agile projects are often failing because of lack of user commitment. This risk needs active monitoring.

Constant delivery of value using short timeboxes or sprints does ensure that the project status is understood every two or three weeks, if not daily.

But the enthusiasm this breeds in teams needs good direction to ensure teams do not get sidetracked and miss the main goals of the project.

Agile breeds a team spirit and teams want to work together, but factors such as team size, stability and skills can

cause problems if not correct, as can distributed teams. Actively monitoring these can greatly reduce the risks around them. Moreover, understanding the distributed nature of a project enables the team to put methods of communication in place that then almost eliminate the risk.

An organisation’s acceptance of agile relationships (for instance, within governance structures) with suppliers’ empowerment policies all also need to be considered.

But don’t despair – agile certainly is a better approach and will deliver a high-quality solution that meets user requirements. Going in with your eyes open helps to achieve this, and DSDM provides a project approach questionnaire to help you assess and manage the risks.

Steve Messenger is chairman of DSDM Consortium 01233 611162 www.dsdm.org

In focus: Turning spreadsheets in portfolio management from a threat to a strength David Brent, Slough businessman (or so he thinks...)

“

Never do today that which will become someone else’s responsibility tomorrow

What are the people risks in change projects?

F

rom security threats to financial meltdown, many things keep executives awake at night.

But there is a less obvious threat already present in offices worldwide: the ubiquity of spreadsheets.

Spreadsheets support business-critical activities and are used extensively in the governance of project portfolios worth millions of pounds.

While seemingly harmless, it creates commercial risk. “Handcranked” consolidation of individual spreadsheets can lead to inaccurate and inconsistent reflections of progress and financial status.

The approach has another disadvantage –information can be two to three weeks out of date by the time it’s reviewed.

Liz Barron, MD of InfoCTRL, warns that decisions based on such information can be expensive. “If you are governing multiple projects then you’ll naturally focus on ‘unblocking’ those that report

a poor RAG status. When the basis of this information is flawed your management focus will be misplaced.

These days, when innovation and responsiveness are key, missing a major problem with just one project could result in the organisation losing competitive edge or market share.”

Barron’s company has built a solution, Info-CTRL, which allows you to keep the spreadsheet input that is so familiar to everyone, but brings together their input in a way that is consistent, accurate and available in real time at the touch of a button.

This means that you can continue using the beloved spreadsheet with, as Barron describes it, “an industrial strength back end”. It transforms their ubiquity from a corporate threat into a strength that is accessible to anyone who can use a spreadsheet. +44 (0)20 3714 6144 www.info-ctrl.com

What are the biggest people risks?

Our Initiative Legacy Assessment asks respondents their view of what the biggest risk factors were in a major change initiative that has just finished. We have collected over 160,000 data points from this tool. The top five risks are: 1. I thought my salary or benefits might be negatively impacted 2. I didn’t understand why the organisation needed to change 3. I thought my job responsibilities might be reduced 4. I didn’t know why I had to change the way I worked 5. I didn’t see my direct boss changing – they carried on as normal What are a couple of lessons you learned from 25 years of work in change?

There are many but the two most common are: 1. Leaders need to actively lead change and not delegate this to junior staff or project teams. We need change leaders who can converse with people, role model, coach and support members as they adapt.

2. Pulling people into change is always more successful than pushing them. This is especially true if you want people to be committed to change rather than complying with the minimum requirements.

Why are you moving your education, tools and planning processes online?

We wanted to make our training, tools and databases available to a much wider audience, and give clients the consistency, convenience, scalability and cost-effectiveness that online gives organisations.

Our online portal, e-change, allows us to achieve all of this in a way that enhances our offering rather than detracting from it.

01444 450777 www.changefirst.com

Business Reporter · April 2014

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Project management – Industry view

15

The debate

How do you ensure a project succeeds?

Deborah Feakins Co-lead UK CMI Change Management Institute

David Virden Managing director Mouchel Infrastructure Services

Simon Puryer Managing director i-Realise Ltd

Amy Hatton Editor Project Manager Today

Tom Taylor President APM

All projects result in a change that affects someone. Project success is often measured by how much has been done or the number of changes implemented. Managing the impact of change on people has a profound effect on project success: accelerating adoption and minimising productivity and efficiency losses.

Change management must define and support the journey employees go through during the life-cycle of the project. Change management must work on the rational level (by providing information), emotional level (by building trust), and on the political level (through sponsorship and role modelling). Activities and communications must also ensure momentum is being actively managed.

A change management skillset and focus on the application of changes requires managing the inevitable tension between the differing needs of the project and the business. To find out if you have the right skills and knowledge take a look at the CMI’s Change Manager Competency Model and the recently published Change Management Body of Knowledge.

Effective and professional project, programme and portfolio management is crucial to our ability to deliver commercially sound and sustainable business performance.

It is at the very heart of being able to consistently satisfy our clients by delivering projects and services on time, to quality and within budget.

Any substantial project is delivered in a dynamic environment with input and expertise from a broad set of people and disciplines; it is the ability to project manage all these variables that ensures successful overall delivery.

Looking ahead, the need for ever-closer collaboration with clients and other members of the supply chain will place an even greater emphasis on having the right people and the right skills in place.

To be ready for those challenges and support growth in our business, Mouchel has developed a framework for career progression based on experience and recognised professional qualifications, and is investing in the continuous development of our PM community, as well as recruiting suitably experienced people.

There is often a danger that once somebody has a project management qualification they believe they know how to manage a project, rather than using it as a toolkit to refer to. Much like learning to drive a car, only once you have passed the test do you really start to learn.

One thing I learned early on was the importance of managing stakeholders. An agreed approach to managing them needs to be determined, considering details such as how significantly they will be impacted by the project, whether they are a supporter or potential blocker, and exactly how they are going to be communicated with throughout the project lifecycle.

However, the key to success is remembering that stakeholders don’t like surprises. Therefore, being open and honest with them throughout is essential, even if this may lead to some difficult conversations.

Communicate with them regularly, concisely and openly and you should have a recipe for a successful project.

Ask the right questions from the outset of the project. No amount of good work will rescue a project with an illogical business case. Create a culture of open, transparent collaboration. Fist-banging and secrecy will only result in difficult news being hidden, and that can lead to costly consequences.

Cascade the importance of project success from the top. If your board, CEOs and project sponsors understand why good projects matter then that message will become an inherent part of your organisational approach.

Appreciate and nurture your people.

It’s incredible how many project managers are out there struggling to get the job done without support, training or professional development. But a good project manager is worth their weight in gold and certainly worth investing time and budget in. And, above all, listen: it’s the people at the front end of your project who can give you the intelligence you need to make successful decisions.

Let them do what they do well.

I am still an advocate of getting the basics right: focus on delivering on agreed time, within an agreed budget, and above all, ensuring what is delivered is fit for purpose. These basic achievements still sound pretty good to me, and every time are worth a prize and some praise to everyone involved.

Obviously each project and each sector is different on how to balance and achieve these basics.

Understanding the requirements and their priorities in detail will certainly increase the chances of success. Once the scope is known, the monitoring and managing of a project becomes much more focused and interesting.

From a personal point of view, at the end of a successful project I expect to be saying “… and none of this would have been possible without an integrated and collaborative team, a committed and satisfied client and an appreciative and enthusiastic end user”. And that combination does not happen by accident. Good luck.

ExpertInsight

ukinfo@change-managementinstitute.com change-management-institute.com

+44 (0)1483 731000 www.mouchel.com

+44 (0)20 3008 6358 spuryer@i-realise.co.uk

amy@projectmanagertoday.co.uk www.projectmanagertoday.co.uk

0845 458 1944 tom.taylor@apm.org.uk

Why project management should be more resourceful There are substantial benefits to managing resources as well as projects

W

hat if you were told that you have a lot more resources in your organisation than you think? The truth is that resources are never allocated as efficiently as they could.

Modern project management mostly originates from the US Navy/Lockheed’s Polaris missile and submarine programme in the 1960s. The PERT and critical path method still forms the basis for project management systems today.

One often overlooked factor is that, while the Polaris programme was completed within time and within budget,

resources were never a significant constraint. If you wanted a thrust vector specialist, a gyro guidance expert and 16 aeronautical engineers assembled at 7am on a Sunday in Scotland at two days’ notice, it probably wouldn’t have been an issue. Resource management has now developed into its own discipline, but its potential to be a core element of success in programme management has yet to be fully realised.

A classic book, The Theory of Management Systems, Systems compares businesses to the human body. Using that analogy, resources are our food but some projects are starving, others are too heartily fed, and more importantly, a lot of food simply goes to waste.

Resource allocation is mostly manually processed using inappropriate software, and often de-centralised, causing inefficiencies and overbooking of people or equipment, and leading to an average waste of about 30 per cent of resources.

A resource-centric focus, using specialised optimisation software such as Hydra, can make a huge difference to the outcome of a programme. For example, a major construction firm working on multi-million pound developments moved to a resource-centric approach. Centralising resource management and using a dedicated software solution resulted in 8 per cent better utilisation and savings and efficiencies of more than £10million.

True resource management is often overlooked in the demands for greater efficiency. When resources are modelled realistically and accurately, the majority of organisations discover they have a lot more capacity than they originally thought.

Juan Manrique (left) is CEO and founder of Hydra Management Ltd 01252 302354 www.hydra-management.com