Building Britain and Project Management

René Carayol’s column

Just like our politicians, today’s Super Project Managers want to win YOUR AWARD-WINNING SUPPLEMENT

April 2015 | business-reporter.co.uk

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

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Project management

Opening shots René Carayol

A

LL THE analysts are calling the upcoming general election the most closely contested in British history. Whereas before, party demarcation lines were extremely clear, and therefore elections were fought on policies and philosophies and not too much else, the political landscape has been transformed and electioneering has had to rapidly adapt.

When President Obama stunned the world by winning the 2008 US presidential election, we saw the rise to prominence of the electioneering “Super Project Manager”.

Obama’s digital guru, David Axelrod, has earned a stellar reputation for mobilising and energising support from many who probably had never voted before. Axelrod was also the mastermind of small donations from millions which afforded the underdog Obama the financial muscle that helped sweep him into The White House. Australia had their very own Super Project Manager some time before; Lynton Crosby has overseen a series of incredible election wins by John Howard, the former prime minister of Australia.

He was many things, more than policy, far more than just reputation management, but most of all he was a Super Project Manager.

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Just like our politicians, today’s Super Project Managers want to win These guys leave nothing to chance; they ensured everyone was on message, and every activity delivered like clockwork to a meticulous, risk-managed plan. So much so, Crosby has been retained by the Tories and Axelrod by Labour for 2015.

Crosby has kept a vice-like grip on all matters to do with their campaign, while Axelrod has adopted a much lower profile.

Crosby can be a divisive character, but he clearly has a plan and will not deviate. His frequent polling provides ongoing measures of success and he lives by his Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). It remains to be seen who can pull this cliffhanger off.

When looking at some of the smaller parties who have transformed and electrified this election, we perhaps do not see or feel the presence of the Super Project Manager. One of the leading lights of UKIP was supposed to have produced and published their party manifesto some months ago. It was with some

embarrassment that they had to declare that the manifesto was so far behind schedule that it would not be ready in time for the demands of their early electioneering.

Gaffe after gaffe being delivered by the diverse array of candidates, plus the endless straying off message to the continuing embarrassment of its leadership, perhaps informs us that UKIP, more than any other party, is in need of a quality Super Project Manager. This is of course is a very different world from my rather more humble entry into the world of project management in the 1980s while working for M&S. The complete focus in those days was all about risk management, an obsession with not getting things wrong and eliminating errors.

What has changed most is the scale and complexity that many project managers have to deal with today. Even more importantly, there was no mention of defying conventional methods the way Crosby and Axelrod specialise in – quite the opposite in fact.

Preventing failure and driving efficiency are still serious requirements for any project manager, but that alone is now no longer enough. It is not just about getting there on time and within budget any more. It is now so much more about “winning”. Whereas many of the traditional prerequisite competencies and capabilities attracted those with a slightly cautious disposition, are we now in need of those who are more risk-embracing and with a desire to win?

The way we view the problem might well be the problem itself.

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Project management

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The end, not the means: project management comes of age

By Tim Adler BIG PROJECTS such as the government’s £10bn upgrade of the NHS computer system or the BBC’s £98million plan to abandon videotape only make newspaper headlines when they fail.

Although nearly 80 per cent of projects fail to meet to meet planned objectives, most successful projects go unnoticed. Alistair Godbold, a consultant with The Nichols Group, says: “We should celebrate the success of good project management a lot more. You only hear about projects that don’t go smoothly. It may be that the lack of drama in successful projects undermines their own success.” Godbold, whose clients include Crossrail and Transport for London, compares good project management with flying an airplane. What you don’t want is a bumpy flight, he says.

Programme management expert John Bartlett thinks bad press about projects running late is often unfair. “In project management it’s quite acceptable for projects to go over budget. It’s quite unusual for projects to be delivered on time and on budget because of all the ‘unknown unknowns’,” says Bartlett.

“The scope of a project changing is not a bad thing as long as it’s controlled. Clients can swallow scope overruns but what they don’t like are surprises.”

Nevertheless the level of project failure – 70 per cent of projects are delivered late and do not deliver promised benefits, according to Project Management magazine – has prompted much soul searching among the project management community.

Always quick to embrace the latest thinking, current buzzwords include Agile, Critical Chain and Programme Management.

Agile, a method for developing computer programs, breaks down projects into smaller elements and concentrates on getting the most difficult parts out of the way first. It is also a different way of thinking – concentrating on the goal, not on how to get there.

Although Agile is gaining traction in other industries as a methodology, Godbold is sceptical as to how far it can be applied to construction. “Where you have large assets such as a railway or a bridge, you have to develop them in large chunks. You can’t deliver half a bridge,” he says.

Programme Management is a 360-degree view of a project, encouraging joined-up thinking as opposed to people working fixedly in silos. This kind of holistic thinking is permeating big construction projects. Could it be that project management is getting warm and fuzzy in its old age?

Bartlett says: “It’s about thinking holistically. Working in isolation is bad project management. The problem with many projects is that you have independent-minded,

22% of projects embarked on are wholly successful

Regeneration of a deprived London borough, not a sporting event, was the ultimate aim of the 2012 Olympics

driven people working in silos who just want to get on and do their job. Project managers hate having to change things. But the way you make change a force for good is by involving stakeholders at every stage of the process so there aren’t any surprises.”

For example, the 2012 Olympics project was not about staging a world sporting event – its endgame was regenerating a rundown borough in east London. This is still ongoing, with the Smithsonian Institute planning to open its first museum outside of America in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, alongside a V&A extension and two university campuses.

Godbold says: “The issue was legacy.

Taking a more holistic view allows you to think of other things you can add to deliver a better outcome.”

The Olympics, Crossrail and HS2 are all big projects employing hundreds of project managers. The reality is that most are working on their own juggling multiple projects. What Britain is not so good at, says Association for Project Management president Tom Taylor, is disseminating skills knowledge wide enough to keep all these plates spinning.

Godbold advises overworked project managers to forget the fancy lingo and

concentrate on getting the foundations right: this means planning correctly, getting the finance locked in and ensuring the commercials are all in place.

“No amount of fancy terminology is going to help if you haven’t got the basics,” he says.

So, why is project management a good career choice? APM president Tom Taylor says project management means a varied career – as soon as one project ends, another begins. And project management involves transportable skills that can be applied in people’s personal lives as well, whether they be in sports, hobbies – or even planning a wedding.

“Being a project manager is a career you can grow in, you can develop through it. With the old professions such as accountancy or law, once you’re in them, you’re there for life.”

For Taylor, the cutting edge of project management is not developing more leaders but learning how to be a team player. “You hear a lot of people talking about leadership but I’m more interested in ‘follow-ship.’

While we need good leaders, we need good followers as well. Not that many people actually fly planes in the RAF but they are supported by fantastic ground crew.”

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INSIDE STORY BUSINESS REPORTER’S TIM ADLER SPENDS A Tim Adler

O

RSON WELLES famously said that a film studio was the best electric train set a boy ever had. The same might be said of the Amazon warehouse in Swansea Bay that ships out millions of items each day. Amazon is the world’s largest online retailer.

The scale of the Swansea Bay fulfilment centre is jawdropping. The depot covers almost a million square feet of floor space. You cannot appreciate the scale of the operation until you see it in person.

Like a vast automated Meccano set and model railway combined, Amazon’s hi-vis-jacketed employees fill hundreds of yellow plastic bins. Others wander around with handsets to electronically tag orders.

Swansea Bay, which opened in March 2008, is Amazon’s second-largest fulfilment centre after Dunfermline in Scotland. It consists of multiple halls, with the three biggest chambers each roughly the size of an Olympic swimming pool arena. The warehouse is intimidatingly big.

Unlike other projects that end the moment construction finishes, the Swansea Bay fulfilment centre is about delivering Amazon’s customer service promise day-in, day-out. And the pressure keeps building. Amazon is even experimenting with packaging up an order before you have even pressed the buy button – it calls this “anticipatory shipping”.

Meeting ever-increasing expectations is a responsibility that Amazon Swansea’s general manager Sarah Rhoads relishes. “I see customer fulfilment as being an opportunity. It’s what makes the job exciting for a lot of people,” she says. “It’s been an evolution. We have to make sure that the Amazon experience is the best you can get anywhere.”

So, from a project management point of view, what is the biggest challenge in running Swansea Bay? “My biggest challenge is finding enough staff during the holidays, especially at Christmas, our busiest time of the year,” Rhoads says. “A lot of my time is spent planning my labour needs.”

The other key to managing a project as big as Swansea Bay is keeping employees – or, in Amazon parlance, “associates” – engaged. Rhoads talks up Amazon’s brainstorming sessions among her workers. The company uses the Japanese term “kaizen”, meaning “change for better”, to describe this kind of productivity hack.

Swansea’s city fathers must have wanted to shake Amazon founder Jeff Bezos warmly by the hand when the e-retailer decided to base itself in economically deprived south Wales.

Around 1,000 employees check in for work each week. And none is employed on notorious zerohours contracts – although the number of seasonal casual employees does swell. Last Christmas Amazon UK took on 13,000 people in seasonal roles within its fulfilment and customer service centres to cope with demand. On November 28 Amazon shipped 5.5 million items across its eight UK fulfilment centres within a single 24 hours.

Shelf life: at home with the goliath of online retail Amazon Swansea general manager Sarah Rhoads

The Amazon smiley logo beams down next to the company motto – “Work hard. Have fun.

Make history” – emblazoned across the vast back wall of the packing area. The snarky journalist in me wants to say something about it being like a sign you might see in a Soviet-era tractor factory.

True, the vast grey and yellow building does look grimly functional from the outside. And a 2013 BBC Panorama undercover documentary claimed working conditions in Swansea Bay could cause “mental and physical illness” by working employees so hard. An undercover

reporter secretly filmed himself working as a “picker” and said some shifts involved walking up to 11 miles a day. The experience, he said, left him feeling “like a robot”.

It’s a charge that Rhoads rejects. “The truth is that there are a variety of roles here,” she says flatly. “Some pickers do walk a lot during the day and they like that. They even install pedometers in their shoes to measure how far they’ve walked. Other roles are in stationary positions during the day.” And it may be that this is all being put on for my benefit, but the truth is, nearly every worker genuinely seems to be in a good mood.

Goods from all over the world, either Amazon’s own suppliers or third-party companies using A mazon’s Fulfilled By A mazon (FBA) programme, arrive in Swansea Bay’s 20 unloading docks. (Amazon increasingly is offering outside retailers warehouse and stock fulfilment services – for a fee.)

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DAY AT AMAZON’S SWANSEA WAREHOUSE Below and centre: the facility is the UK’s secondlargest, covering almost a million square feet in floor space

This incoming stock is sorted according to size and then tagged using Amazon’s proprietary “pick system”. If Amazon itself is about satisfying what the customer wants, then this warehouse is all about stock control. Stock is racked in shelves and then pulled out on an as-and-when basis before being delivered to sorters, who help package up individual orders. There is also a bespoke giftwrapping service.

The most crucial element of the process is what is called Critical Pull Time, the deadline by which an order has to be fulfilled. A controller sits above the packing hall monitoring the system, making sure it is all running smoothly.

Swansea Bay mainly specialises in clothing and shoes, and Amazon has big plans for fashion as one of its fastest-growing categories – or “stores” in Amazon-speak. The online giant is creating a fashion photography studio in trendy east London this year, ahead of opening new offices in Shoreditch in 2017 which will have room for 5,000 London-based employees.

So, does Amazon really stock everything? “Heavy bags of dog food are surprisingly popular,” Rhoads deadpans.

Package weighing and printing of postage labels is automated. Most parcels are collected by either Royal Mail or UPS or one of the other dozen or so carriers Amazon uses.

However, Amazon is shaking up the logistics industry just as it democratised the books business through Kindle. Just as anybody can now selfpublish an e-book, removing the need for gatekeepers who decide what we read, so any man-and-van can deliver parcels through Amazon Logistics – providing they meet Amazon’s standards. The company simply provides the technology and logistics, as the name of the

“The truth is, there are a variety of roles here. Some pickers do walk a lot and they like that.

They even install pedometers in their shoes to measure how far they’ve walked. Other roles are in stationary positions during the day” – Sarah Rhoads, general manager, Amazon Swansea

business suggests, and acts as a platform for other delivery firms.

There has been a lot of speculation in the press about drone delivery next.

Rhoads says she is unaware of Amazon’s plans for drone deliveries.

First mooted in December 2013, plans for airborne deliveries in the US have stalled due to a ban on commercial drone flights. Amazon Prime Air has been undergoing testing in British Columbia, Canada for months, however. Meanwhile, talks with a supportive UK government may lead to trials here.

Rhoads, a brisk and friendly former US Navy pilot, was appointed general manager of Swansea Bay last June.

Her first Amazon posting was in Lexington, Kentucky, before she moved to Dallas, Fort Worth. In total she has been with Amazon for just four years.

So, is there any difference between a US Amazon fulfilment centre and its Welsh counterpart? Rhoads says: “The basic fundamentals are very similar. In the end we are fulfilling customer experience.”

Montana-born Rhoads grew up in an old mining town that used to export copper back to Wales for processing. “The Welsh people have been so friendly and I’m very fortunate to be with such great folks,” she says.

As a former servicewoman herself, Rhoads is sensitive to the plight of ex-forces personnel struggling to find work once they leave the military. Wales has always supplied tough soldiers to the British Army, some of whom find it impossible to find jobs as civilians. Amazon is very active with recruiting ex-soldiers – indeed, it was Amazon that reached out to Rhoads when she prepared to exit the navy. The way that Amazon actively recruits ex-soldiers is something Rhoads is visibly proud of.

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UK construction sector slowed by election uncertainty A LOSS of momentum in the construction sector has been blamed on election jitters as firms delay spending decisions ahead of the May poll.

The headline reading from the closely-watched CIPS/Markit purchasing managers’ index survey fell to 57.8 in March – where a figure of 50 separates growth from contraction. The figure is down from 60.1 in February and the lowest in three months.

Markit economist Tim Moore says the sector was still growing at a strong pace but had lost some of the swagger seen last year. He adds: “Activity saw a slowdown in March, in part reflecting softer new business gains as some clients delayed spending decisions ahead of the election.”

But Richard Threlfall, KPMG head of infrastructure, thinks the industry is being overly cautious. Threlfall says: “We’re in a much better place. The main parties seem to be outbidding each other when it comes to building promises.”

Labour says it will boost housebuilding to 200,000 new homes per year by 2020. David Cameron has pledged an additional 100,000 new homes ring-fenced for the under-40s. Meanwhile the Liberal Democrats plan to create a string of garden cities between Oxford and Cambridge.

Brian Berry, chief executive of the Federation of Master Builders, says: “Any election provides an element of uncertainty. Not knowing which way the market’s going to go is tricky for anybody in business, especially the construction industry.”

Infrastructure bighitters launch PM coaching scheme LONDON’S infrastructure heavyweights have thrown their muscle behind the launch of a new city-wide apprenticeship programme. The London Major Programmes Apprenticeship (LMPA) will specialise in emerging talent in London, designed to support young people in becoming world-class leaders in project management.

The programme is to train 30 to 40 apprentices per year, and is supported by partnerships with the Mayor’s Fund, management and training organisation n:gaged and The Crossrail Employment Brokerage, which targets and supports those struggling to find employment.

An initial 17 apprentices will receive on-the-job training to develop their knowledge, experience and professionalism within the field. The two-year programme aims to create an opportunity to secure positions at the heart of major projects underway throughout the city, while also gaining a Level 4 diploma in project management and an Association for Project Management qualification.

Kim Chaplain, director of charitable activities at the Mayor’s Fund for London, said: “We are delighted to be partnering with n:gaged on this fantastic opportunity. Project management is a great skill, and our Young London Working programme has already seen six young people start this programme. We look forward to putting forward many more candidates into jobs like these, where the young people can influence the future vision of this great city.”

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Why it pays to be

I

MAGINE THAT you have to build a railway bridge. You draw up blueprints for the bridge, start welding and, just as you near the other side of the river, you realise that the bridge is not strong enough. Oh, and it should be carrying cars instead. And the bridge has gone way over budget already. Not so much a bridge, more of a pier.

Agile is a project management methodology originally developed for computer programs but increasingly being used in aviation, construction, pharmaceuticals and the financial sector. The US Department of Defence is using Agile for procurement.

Rather than building a bridge, an Agile approach would be to say, let’s get people to the other side of the river.

So you start with a rowing boat, and then a ferry and finally a toll bridge for cars. Crucially, it takes the highest-value part of the problem – in this case transporting people – and starts making money from it – getting people to buy tickets – right away.

This methodology has become the de facto way of developing IT software. Its supporters say that it can be applied to all sorts of problems, involving stakeholders, getting feedback early on as opposed to presenting a fait accompli.

Agile divides the project into vertical slices, repeatedly going into the process again and again in various iterations.

Rather than delivering a behemoth of a project by deadline, it delivers a project in tranches that work.

“It’s not a silver bullet but it works,” says Richard Stobart, CEO of web developer Unboxed Consulting. “You fail faster because you get feedback faster. You can apply it to most things because it’s just a way of addressing risk.”

The problem with other project management

methodologies, Agile proponents say, is that all lights are green at the start of a project but they turn red towards the end as you run out of money and time. Agile turns this on its head by tackling the most difficult part of the problem first, and then iterating as you go along.

Older methodologies such as Prince 2 (a civil service methodology used in the public sector) and Waterfall, runs the argument, are too legacy-focused without the flexibility of Agile. All their milestones are established at the outset.

Amy Hutton, editor of Project Management, says: “Agile is absolutely the buzzword because of the debate about project failure. Agile means breaking down a project into digestible parts. It’s a methodology that allows people to react much more quickly and learn lessons along the way.”

Steve Messenger, chairman of Agile standards body DSDM, says: “Agile takes a more fundamental approach to problems, enabling you to move forward with versions as you go along. Rather than try to design everything upfront, your experience and knowledge will increase as you go.

“Agile is a mindset. It’s a natural way of thinking. If you have complex problems, you don’t try to solve them all at the same time. It could be used in industry because you try and deliver value early – planning so you can deliver in smaller revenue-creating chunks.”

Stobart says that the problem with Prince 2 – which has been successfully used on big infrastructure projects such as the Port of Amsterdam – is that it depends on accurate estimates and, in his experience, people are not very good at estimates.

The more variances there are between the estimates and the actual, he says, the worse the slippage. “There’s a cumulative effect of variances, and the effect of the delay

Getting to the heart of project management

The Conditions for Project Success, a report commissioned by the Association for Project Management, was discussed in detail at a high-level breakfast briefing at The Goring Hotel in London earlier this month. Leading project experts from across industries analysed the critical factors for success, with clear planning, good talent management and improved collaboration high on the list of must-haves.

is increased cost,” he says.

“What you’re tr y ing to do is reduce risk. Prince 2 tries to reduce risk by reduci ng t he variables. Agile reduces risk by taking the biggest risks up front.”

Stobart is an award-winning mentor when it comes to applying Agile thinking to government projects. Given that civil servants themselves developed Prince 2, does he face resistance in government circles to adopting Agile?

Stobart shrugs, “Agile is just common sense. You don’t try to control all the variables at the same time. It’s difficult for project managers who’ve learned Prince 2 to let go but we’ve moved on. We used to have the horse and buggy and now we have the car.”

However, the government has caught on to the benefits of Agile thinking and is now incorporating it into the next version of Prince 2.

In 2013 the government and outsourcing giant Capita established Axelos as a joint venture. Axelos promotes Prince 2 as a standard for project management – it is currently used by more than a million professionals worldwide.

There is something glittery-eyed and evangelical about Agile proponents. The detractors of Agile say that you cannot just keep endlessly iterating – at some point a project has to be delivered.

Prince 2 Agile, due to launch in July, will blend the best of both Agile and project management disciplines. Peter Hepworth, CEO of Axelos, says: “What we’re in the business of doing is making organisations more effective, and we believe Prince 2 can make Agile more effective.

“There are a lot of positives in an Agile approach – it is about breaking a project down into manageable stages, going after the highest-value elements first. It’s about keeping your mind open to change.

“Equally, there’s a danger with Agile that you keep iterating with no end in sight. You can’t go completely away from having plans. Prince 2 Agile keeps your eye on the prize.”

Prince 2 Agile will be aimed at organisations throughout the private and public sector, and not just people who normally regard themselves as “project managers”.

Says Hepworth: “Project management is relevant for whatever you’re doing. For example in marketing, any product launch is a project. Equally, for those working in construction the ability to remain ‘agile’ is key. In fact Agile has its roots in ‘lean’, which in turn has its roots in manufacturing. So it’s very much about building things.”

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Five steps to project success

T

rillions of pounds invested in projects, programmes and portfolios every year risk being wasted if the causes of project failure are not addressed, according to a major new study by the Association for Project Management (APM).

The Conditions for Project Success report concludes that the cost of ongoing failure could have a catastrophic effect on the economy, environment and society.

The research reveals the environment in which the projects, programmes and portfolios operate, the conditions for project success, are at the heart of improving project outcomes.

And yet, having spoken to more than 850 project professionals and thought leaders across the private and public sector, APM reveals that while the key to success is known, this practice is often not applied. As a result, nearly 80 per cent of projects fail to wholly meet their planned objectives.

The report suggests the main reason is a failure to apply APM’s framework for success, which includes five critical factors: planning and review; effective governance; clear goals and objectives; competent project teams, and a commitment to project success.

Each was rated highly by respondents as either critical or very important to project success. Project planning and review scored 86 per cent, governance 88 per cent; clear goals and objectives 89 per cent; competent project teams 87 per

Five things to get right • Project planning and review 88 per cent rated planning as critical or very important • Goals and objectives 9.2 out of 10 said goals should be clearly specified • Effective governance 92 per cent had effective governance in place • Competent project team 87 per cent rated competent project teams critical/very important • Commitment to success 8.9 out of 10 said all parties are/remain committed to success

cent and a commitment to project success 87 per cent.

However, out there in the real world, a gap begins to emerge. While the majority of those surveyed acknowledge that they know what makes a project successful, the how – or how to apply the knowledge in a project scenario – was more problematic. For example, when asked to rate the presence of one of the five critical factors, planning and review, only 4 per cent rated it as excellent; while 14 per cent said it was absent or poor.

The others, including having a clear set of goals and objectives, were often found to be in conflict – or worse still, absent altogether.

Doing the basics well So how do you create the optimum conditions for project success? The report suggests that although there is no magic bullet or quick fix, specific blends of the factors identified

by APM all feature strongly in recently completed projects.

Recent successful project examples support this. The London 2012 Olympic Games famously made a point of “locking down” plans to mitigate the risk of external influences and political “flip-flopping”. Former head of programme controls at the Olympic Delivery Authority David Birch says the creation of an integrated suite of plans and schedules “was a key part of the delivery success”.

Crossrail, too, has reaped the rewards from effective governance. Martin Buck, Crossrail transition and strategy director, told an APM event: “Governance of projects matters because there is a strong correlation between good governance and project success.”

In both cases there is no element of surprise or mystery in the process steps identified – it is, simply, doing the basics of project management and doing them well.

• The Conditions for Project Success report is available to download free from apm.org.uk/ conditions-for-project-success • APM held a roundtable discussion at a breakfast meeting on April 15 where senior professionals from different sectors discussed the critical success factors. www.apm.org.uk

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PROJECT MANAGEMENT The key to competitive strength

• Organisations in which talent management is aligned to corporate strategy have an average project success rate of 72 per cent, while organisations in which talent management is not effectively aligned have an average success rate that is 14 points lower.

C

ontinued economic fluctuation and rising costs in 2015 are forcing UK organisations to take a more critical look at how successfully they hit their targets.

The verdict? They are not doing much better than they were a year ago. According to Project Management Institute’s (PMI) 2015 Pulse of the Profession® study, their success in delivering on their strategic initiatives remained largely unchanged over the previous 12 months. Furthermore, they waste an average of £126million for every £1billion spent on projects and programmes – 16 per cent more than the global average.

If UK organisations are to remain globally competitive, reducing this waste and completing strategic initiatives faster is imperative. For this to occur, organisations must refocus their attention on project and programme management. All positive change in an organisation happens through projects and programmes. When a project and programme management mindset is embedded into an organisation’s DNA, performance improves and competitive advantage accelerates. Organisations that do it successfully meet their strategic goals two and a half times more often, and waste 13 times less money, than their lowperforming counterparts.

The UK government has taken notice of this need. Four years ago, it established the Major Projects Authority (MPA,) which oversees a portfolio of 199 major projects whose lifetime costs run to more than £400billion. In its latest annual report, the MPA charts a year-over-year increase in overall cost, an increase in the percentage of projects rated amber/red and a decrease in the percentage rated green in terms

For every

•T his alignment translates to bottom-line value: for organisations where the reduction of risk can be attributed to significant or good alignment of talent management to organisational strategy, there is a 33 per cent reduction of the dollars at risk on projects.

Green-rated projects are decreasing year on year as overall costs increase, says the MPA of confidence in the project’s delivery.

The talent connection Authors of the MPA report recognise the important role of talent management when they note that they “still have much to do to become excellent at delivering projects, particularly in planning and prioritisation, as well as further improving the skills and accountability of project leaders.” This aligns with PMI research findings about the direct connection between the ability to implement strategic

UK organisations waste on average

Spent on projects and programmes in the UK

£126m

…16% greater than the global average

Source: 2015 Pulse of the Profession®: Capturing the Value of Project Management (PMI)

objectives and the strength of an organisation’s project management skills. The lack of proper talent leads to lack of performance. High-performing organisations don’t just emphasise strategy and improve efficiency, they cultivate human capital to deliver successful projects and programmes. The outcomes are reduced risk, increased stability, improved growth and a stronger competitive advantage.

Strategic development of in-house talent can play a significant part in boosting overall organisational efficiency. As reported

by PMI’s Pulse of the Profession In-Depth Report: The Competitive Advantage of Talent Management: • High performers – that is to say, organisations that complete 80 per cent or more of their projects on time, on budget and in accordance with the original strategic goal and objective – are two times more likely than low performers to have their talentmanagement programme aligned to the organisation’s strategies and values (69 per cent of high performers versus 31 per cent of low performers).

Successful talent development must be an on-going organisational priority. Highperforming organisations such as NASA, CH2M Hill, Hewlett-Packard and others understand and invest in talent development, providing consistent, continuous training and development for project managers to enhance organisational success. They are significantly more likely than low performers to provide a defined career path for project managers, a process to develop project management competency, and training on the use of project management tools.

Naturally, high performers do not represent the majority of organisations.

When PMI sponsored a survey of a group of senior executives, it became clear that there is still a significant gap between recognising the importance of talent and putting that into practice. Key observations include: • There is agreement but no investment – 72 per cent of respondents say that talent management will become increasingly important to strategy implementation and execution in the next three years. Yet just 41 per cent indicate their organisation has an understood and accepted approach to strategic talent development. And only a minority report that their organisations provide adequate financial resources, C-suite attention, or employee time to manage and develop the talent needed.

•P oor alignment between talent management and corporate strategy is ubiquitous. For example, only 21 per cent of respondents say their organisations reappraise talent management approaches

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“High-performing organisations don’t just emphasise strategy and improve efficiency, they cultivate human capital to deliver successful projects and programmes” – Mark Langley, president and CEO, PMI

Mark Langley in light of corporate strategic requirements every six months or on an ongoing basis.

• Talent management must be a C-suite priority. Only 23 per cent of respondents believe senior leadership gives strategic talent management the priority it deserves.

Top executives must be involved in developing the next generation of leaders for the organisation. Executives need to emphasise that succession planning matters to the success of the enterprise.

Updating talent management programmes and increasing training for practitioners is a necessary step toward high performance. But it’s not enough.

Effective talent-management programmes need to be developed concurrently with an organisation’s business model and vision, rather than rolled out incrementally or tacked on as an afterthought.

Improving your project management team There is an additional challenge to embracing project management that may seem surprising in a labour market still recovering from a sustained recession: the demand for qualified project managers outstrips supply. Over the next five years, 1.57 million new project management roles will be created globally per year. Along with job growth, the project management profession is slated to grow its economic footprint by US$6.61trillion.

This creates a highly competitive job market, so organisations need to be prepared for a real commitment to attracting and retaining the right talent. Establishing a formal career path for project managers

The skills employers need Project management is a promising field for professionals who have the right skills and can demonstrate it. While demand is strong – an estimated 17,500 new project management jobs will be created each year in the UK – supply is not keeping pace.

Four out of five organisations say it is difficult to find qualified talent for their open project management positions.

Today’s project manager should combine three types of skills…

• TECHNICAL Two-thirds of organisations say these skills are the hardest to find but almost all (96 per cent) say they are the easiest to teach.

• LEADERSHIP These skills are the most important for project managers’ long-term success, say 71 per cent of organisations.

• STRATEGIC AND BUSINESS MANAGEMENT Aligning talent to organisational strategy increases average project success rates – 72 per cent for those with good alignment are successful, compared with just 58 per cent for those that lack it.

within the organisation is vital to retention in a competitive jobs market.

Reduce the risk of investing in uncertain skill sets by including certifications in your requirements.

Project management certifications such as the Project Management Professional (PMP®) assure the hiring organisation that resources are easily transferable across industry sectors, business units or geographical regions, bringing to each role the same set of proven skills and a shared vocabulary with other project managers and those who work with project managers.

To find out more, please visit www.pmi.org.uk

The PMI Talent Triangle shows the broad range of skills needed by professional project, programme and portfolio managers to support strategic objectives

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TUNNEL

C

LUMPING ALONG in my heavy boots, dressed in orange hi-vis overalls, hardhat and w it h breathing equipment belted to my waist, I feel like an astronaut as I step into the lift.

Except that instead of going up to a rocket, I am plunged 75 metres down into the deepest shaft in London.

There is a faint tang of sewage in the air, which is hardly surprising considering I am at Beckton, the biggest sewage treatment works in Britain, that deals with waste from 3.5million Thames Water customers.

The 75-metre deep Beckton overflow shaft is the entry point for the Lee Tunnel, a £635million project just as ambitious as the more highlypublicised Crossrail. Over the past five years, engineers have built a 6km tunnel stretching from Beckton up to Abbey Mills pumping station in Stratford, east London. The Lee Tunnel will help prevent more than 16 million tons of sewage from overflowing into the River Lee each year by capturing it and taking it down to Beckton. The sewage treatment works itself is being upgraded and expanded by 60 per cent to enable it to deal with the increased volume.

And the Lee Tunnel is just the first phase of the even more ambitious Thames Tideway Tunnel, a 25km tunnel that will handle sewage from Acton in west London through to Abbey Mills in the east. The Thames Tideway Tunnel will deal with the 34 most polluting overflow points along the Thames. Work on the £4.2billion project, known popularly as the London super sewer, starts in earnest in 2017 with engineers pulling the chain, so to speak, in 2023.

Separately, Thames Water is investing £675million into improving London’s five principal sewage treatment works.

Without the Thames Tideway and Lee Tunnel, London risks being overwhelmed by the amount of sewage pouring straight into the Thames, Thames Water tells me.

The volume of untreated sewage that spills into the tidal River Thames in an average year is 39 million tons – the equivalent of eight billion toilets flushing straight into the river. If

nothing was done about it, this would reach 70 million tons by 2020.

The push to address London’s overwhelmed sewerage system has mainly come from Britain having to comply with the EU’s Urban Waste Water Treatment directive.

Overall, t he t hree-pronged approach of the Lee Tunnel, the

Thames Tideway and upgrading London’s sewage treatment centres will reduce the amount of untreated sewage flowing into the Thames by 40 per cent.

That 39 million tons currently being flushed into the Thames is around one third of the amount that was poured into the river back in the 1850s. With

around 150 million tons then being flushed into the Thames, the river was biologically “dead” and the stench was overpowering. In summer 1858, Parliament had to be suspended because of the so-called “Great Stink”.

As a result, Parliament passed an enabling act to raise £3million to build a network of giant intercepting

sewers, pumping stations and treatment works.

In the 1860s, visionary engineer Sir Joseph Bazalgette had the foresight to build the sewerage system that Londoners still use today.

When Bazalgette started work, most of London’s rivers and streams were carrying both sewage and

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Project management

VISION

Left: The Thames Tideway project is designed to take the pressure off London’s aging Victorian sewerage system with a new overflow tunnel. The tunnel connects the system to the treatment works at Beckton, to intercept sewage before it leaks into the River Lee and on to the Thames itself; Bottom left: Tim Adler (right) gets the inside view of the Lee Tunnel with Andy Sefton

London’s super sewer

rainwater. Separating the two at the time was practically impossible, and so Bazalgette harnessed the north/ south flows of London’s smaller rivers to feed into the Thames. To prevent the system backing up and flooding people’s homes, he designed it to overflow into the river, with 57 combined sewer overf lows situated along the river’s banks from Ha m mer sm it h to Greenw ic h.

Bazalgette built 100 miles of intercepting sewers in London using 318 million bricks.

Though built to last and still in excellent condition, today London’s Victorian sewerage system is struggling to cope with the demands of the 21st century.

At the time, the capital had a population of only two and a half million, but Bazalgette had the foresight to build in capacity for four

million individuals. Today, London’s population is eight million, and set to rise to 10 million by 2030.

Standing inside the 7.2m diameter tunnel, you are overwhelmed by the scale of the project. The tunnel is the width of three double-decker buses and resembles nothing so much as a sepulchral cathedral.

The project has been managed by CH2M Hill, working with joint venture MVB – Morgan Sindall, VINCI Construction Grands Projets and Bachy Soletanches.

A n d y S e f ton , L e e Tu n n e l construction manager, tells me: “A project of this scale is mind-blowing, everything is so much bigger.”

Sefton, a down-to-earth Brummie, is visibly proud of what he and his team have achieved. The Lee Tunnel has been 10 years in the planning. The site took two years to excavate.

The next stage was to send down a 120m-long £15m tunnel boring machine (TBM), named Busy Lizzie by a local primary school. Busy Lizzie crunched her way along, blending more than 100 tons of excavated chalk with water for every metre of tunnel advance, forming a white slurry with a similar consistency to single cream, before transporting it through a pipe the length of the tunnel, so that it could be processed above ground.

In its first year, only 1km of tunnelling was completed as engineers came up against unexpected geological formations. The second year saw 6km of tunnelling completed, with engineers completing a 250-metre push in a record week.

Sefton says: “The biggest challenge for the tunnelling was getting the TBM launched. That took two years of planning alone.”

11

The tunnel itself has been created piece by piece, locking more than 30,000 concrete segments together to form 4,072 concrete rings. The last concrete ring was completed on January 24. An inner smooth concrete sleeve, 5.6km wide, has been inserted throughout the Lee Tunnel to prevent any seepage. A cement injection system, travelling on a flatbed railway and looking like a Soviet rocket, runs up and down the tunnel 24 hours a day. Engineers are 80 per cent of the way through completing this.

The big moment will come when the Thames Tideway connects to the Lee Tunnel. The original plan called for the Lee Tunnel to be shut down for three months during connection. Good project management has cut that downtime to between four to six weeks.

For Geof f L oader, head of stakeholder engagement, the biggest

challenge has been to get public support for the project. Unlike Crossrail, which is fairly accessible for public visits and will have a visible impact on people’s lives – increasing house prices in some areas for one thing – the Thames Tideway has less tangible benefits.

Loader says: “One of the biggest challenges is to be seen as successful, and success will depend on everything we do over and above just being an engineering project. That means having a positive impact on the local community in terms of jobs and training. The difference between us and Crossrail is that people don’t get that direct a benefit. All they see is disruption, and, understandably, not wanting construction where they live.”

Towards the end of this year, engineers will pull up the railway track, switch off the lights and flood the tunnel. Nobody will come down here for another decade.

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Rebuilding skills for the next generation in construction

E

By Joanne Frearson

do Mapelli Mozzi, managing director of Banda, is a creative guy. What inspires him is the creativity of being able to turn an idea about a property space into reality. He started to buy properties when he was at university, converting houses into flats and then started doing private commissions after he stopped studying. Since forming Banda in 2007, his residential developments have proved to be very popular.

The apartments for his Parkgate House project in Battersea sold out within 24 hours of being released, while the penthouse for the same development sold within a month.

His other projects have included properties in Kensington, Notting Hill and Fulham.

“It has been a very tricky time in the market for residential developers,” he tells Business Reporter. “A lot of the current property pipeline is relatively high end which takes a lot of skilled labourers, and there has been a big shortage.” Mapelli Mozzi (above right) believes apprenticeships in the building sector

should be encouraged more. He believes people do not respect the trades of bricklayers and electricians as craftsmen as they did 50 or 60 years ago.

He says: “There aren’t many people who grow up and think, I would love to be in construction, I would love to be a bricklayer. You do not get that as much. It has to start from the beginning with apprenticeships, training from school.

“We are not very good in our education system in teaching people life skills. It is all grades and teaching people about geography and other things. Life skills are incredibly important. We should try to build more apprenticeships and all sorts of finishing skills where people can learn a trade.”

It will be a huge challenge going forward, he explains, if this workforce shortage is not addressed. In combination with the skills shortage, the prices charged by subcontractors are inflating, which is making it

difficult for property developers to secure good contractors to build projects.

Rising building materials costs have left contractors that agreed fixed-price contracts two or three years ago hurt by the increases. A lot of the contractors are trying to make up for losses over the past couple of years and are factoring quite a lot of inflation into prices when they tender. “Three years ago the range between top and bottom would be 10 per cent and that would be made up of the size of the contractor and their overheads,” Mapelli Mozzi says. “Now we might see 40 per cent difference between the top and the bottom.”

He does not expect this will change until there is more stability and confidence in the economy, however. “People worry about change, whether it is an election or referendum in Europe. These sorts of uncertainties make people hold off and wait to see what the lay of the land looks like after the events happen. That sort of turmoil is obvious with the forthcoming election.”

Mapelli Mozzi also believes the lack of property able to be developed in London is also causing problems, and governments and councils need to be more forceful in terms of pushing through large-scale redevelopment in central London.

He says: “There is a sure lack of numbers.

The problem is caused by us only producing 23,000 or 24,000 units of property in London, when we have got a net migration of 170,000 to 180,000 people a year.

“This is a worry, and can push up prices to an unsustainable level. Then you get politicians who start tinkering with trying to increase taxes or putting mansion taxes in place.”

According to Mapelli Mozzi there is land everywhere that could be redeveloped if the process of doing this was not so onerous. He says: “There is a lot of stock in central London, whether it is brownfields sites, unused offices, space above high streets on shops, or sites along railway lines. In my opinion we should be less fearful of things like CPOs, which we did for the Olympics and Crossrail. We have to produce more. If this doesn’t happen, the risk is that prices will continue to move out of the reach of Londoners.”

Although the issues in the construction industry are making it challenging for property developers, Mapelli Mozzi is seeing a lot of demand for his developments. He is working on nine private commissions and his visions seem to be bearing fruit.

Making homes more sustainable and efficient

W

ithin the housing sector, the recent emphasis has very much been on the need to build more homes for the UK population. While this is critical for the UK housing market, and Keepmoat is helping to support this demand – our homes division has grown by 15 per cent over the last year – it is important to keep investing in our existing housing stock.

Although the Decent Homes Standard has gone some way to ensure that homes across the country meet a certain benchmark, unfortunately this standard hasn’t been updated since 2006, and it is a number of years since many of the houses have been refurbished. Reports also indicate that the UK’s housing stock is among the least energy efficient in Europe, and is responsible for nearly a quarter of our annual carbon emissions.

A core part of the Keepmoat business is in refurbishment – almost 45 per cent – and we are passionate about improving the lives of people who live in the communities in which we work. Our refurbishment projects go above and beyond the Decent Homes Standard; we are committed to making homes more sustainable and efficient – and we are keen to futureproof them for generations to come.

Tens of thousands of lives have been transformed through our fuel poverty projects across the country, and Keepmoat’s retrofit work has made a significant impact on the sustainability of Britain’s social housing stock.

Investing significantly more in energy efficient measures will not only help to create an even bigger transformation of the country’s homes and create a greener Britain, but it will help to create further jobs and apprenticeships within the construction industry.

Keepmoat is committed to employing local people, and we have pledged to support 400 apprentices over the next 12 months. By investing in this area of our industry, we would be able to further support the excellent source of workforce of which this industry is so reliant.

Dave Sheridan (right) is chief executive at Keepmoat 01302 346 620 www.keepmoat.com

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Creating positive disruption for business success

B

usiness transformation is one of the most challenging programmes of work any organisation can undertake, and when it is of the size and complexity of a business with many thousand employees and multiple locations the challenge is daunting.

A number of well-known retailers have failed in the last few years. It has been said that the prevailing culture of these failing businesses has been one of resistance to change and failure to adapt quickly enough to evolving influences such as digital retail versus the traditional model.

Currently the major established consumerfacing businesses are under scrutiny for their failure to adapt to evolving customer needs, and are now in battle to defend market share against new leaner challenger brands. Organisations historically have hired talent on the basis of cultural fit and industry experience, but during major business transformation the requirements are very different.

Interim managers are sometimes seen as a transient workforce by employers, but their effectiveness to deliver a legacy of cultural change is powerful. An immediate injection of support that is overly experienced not only reduces the risks, it offers the existing leadership

team the breathing space to clearly act on the long-term strategic challenges of the business.

Interim managers are the catalyst to positive disruption by offering: • Independence With no historic attachment to the business, interim managers provide independent, committed support to the strategic direction of the business with no personal or political agenda. Many business cases are prepared with generic and unclear benefits, making measurement of delivery almost impossible. In addition, if the senior stakeholders have differing interpretations of the deliverables there is little chance of successful delivery. As a first step, it is therefore important to ensure the benefits are clearly articulated with a baseline and target key performance indicators identified. An independent but experienced perspective can ensure the programme is aligned from day one.

• Fresh perspective Organisations can often underestimate the scale and complexity of a programme and the associated risks to successful delivery as their first encounter with a major business transformation. While the interims bring experience, having managed

transformations of equal complexity and scale, they are able to highlight areas of potential financial and non-financial benefits much quicker than internal staff.

• Proven track record Using interim managers instead of management consultants or inexperienced internal resource, clients have greater control over outcomes, retain intellectual property and help reduce the costs and risks associated with successful delivery.

Governance, programme frameworks control and success are delivered through their tried and tested experience.

• Legacy When using any external expertise there is a risk of losing significant knowledge

and intellectual property when the project finishes. Management consultancies will frequently walk away with this intellectual property, whereas interim managers will always seek to transfer this knowledge to the current internal staff. By working with the existing employees, interim managers have a positive impact on their professional development, and support the organisation to successfully deliver future change initiatives.

For more information contact Justin Whitehouse, managing director, Norman Broadbent Interim Management +44 20 7484 0000 Justin.whitehouse@normanbroadbent.com

www.normanbroadbent.com

Norman Broadbent Interim Management is part of the Norman Broadbent Group Plc. As a globally respected supplier of human capital solutions, we have the resources, expertise and industry knowledge to connect you with the right candidates, whatever your needs. An interim manager should be more than just a gap filler; they should be a source of lasting value to your organisation, especially in times of transition, crisis or change. We are constantly sourcing and investing in our relationships with the very best, fully referenced and proven interim candidates in the market. Our values, vision and personal pride ensures we deliver sustainable and strategic results to our clients.

For more information on these services please contact: Justin Whitehouse

Managing Director Norman Broadbent Interim Management justin.whitehouse@normanbroadbent.com +44 207 484 0000 Norman Broadbent Interim Management | 12 St James Square, London, SW1Y 4LB

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Inspector Dogberry

l ia ec p s y a d li o h ip h s e is Cru

Wrike project management blog

THE INSPECTOR could hardly

www.wrike.com/blog

15

By Matt Smith, web editor

believe his eyes when the world’s

The people behind project management application Wrike run this blog, which brings together tips and recommendations on (often free) software. Recent posts include a trick that can help to make your meetings more productive and must-have skills for project managers in 2015.

third-largest cruise ship, Royal Caribbean’s Anthem of the Seas, hove into view in Southampton earlier this month. Talk about project management! The figures about this £670million engineering marvel are truly jaw-dropping.

Standing upright at 348 metres the Anthem of the Seas is two and a half times taller than the great pyramid of Giza and longer than tons of steel and 346 tons of glass

Association for Project Management blog

were used in its construction and

www.apm.org.uk/blog

five Boeing 747 jets. Some 37,000

when it is fully loaded, it will have 25

The Association for Project Management is a registered charity committed to developing and promoting project and programme management.

On its blog its experts give their insights on everything from myths in risk management to

tons of fresh fruit, 36 tons of fresh vegetables, 10 tons of fish, 79,000 eggs, 22,200 litres of still water and 12,000 litres of sparkling water onboard.

It took 4,800 man hours to build and install the North Star viewing capsule, which can take passengers more

of passengers who

than 300 feet above the

can order their

ocean for panoramic sea

favourite cocktails via

views (top right).

smartphones or tablets.

And, with Royal

The Makr Shakr – it was

Caribbean expecting the

always going to have

ship to deliver around £50million to

impressed

a trendy name, wasn’t

the Southampton economy during

by what they are calling the bionic

it? – uses several robotic

the upcoming season, that’s good

bar (above), where drinks can be

arms that can perform four actions:

news for the south coast.

served up at 120 per hour – surely

muddle, stir, shake and strain. Make

enough for even the thirstiest

mine a salty dog!

The Inspector was particularly

T

he surveying of previously inaccessible and larger geographic locations and structures is now safer and faster than it’s ever been. The Geocurve Ltd group undertakes tailored land, hydrographic and aerial surveys. This group of engineers, pilots and survey specialists has the perfect combination of skills needed to deliver excellent results by using both fixed and multi-rotor UAVs, hydrographic survey boats and the latest laser scanners.

Every project and environment has different requirements so each system is selected according to its suitability. Data and imagery gathered is then edited to create 3D

The UK Construction Blog http://ukconstructionblog.co.uk For news and infographics from the UK construction industry look no further than this blog, which examines the latest research and events from the sector. Most recently, the site has analysed young people’s knowledge of construction industry jobs and an FA project to deliver new changing rooms.

Construction Industry Council blog http://cic.org.uk/blog

Basecamp (FREE – Android and iOS)

This web-based project management app handles everything from to-do lists to discussions and files, so everything is in one place.

Asana (FREE – Android and iOS)

Manage your team’s conversations and tasks from one place with this free app, which saves you from scanning long email threads.

Greener credentials making work safer and more efficient point clouds, GIS models, video inspection fly-throughs and flood-level analysis.

Surveys have been commissioned by major utility companies, land agents and the Environment Agency. UKAerovison (part of the Geocurve Group) has recently been contracted to survey the flood defences of the entire Norfolk Broads national park. This is a project combining topographical data gathered on the ground and in the air, which is then married with data from the river beds, allowing principal contractors and government agencies to calculate the volume of water that can be held in flood defence compartments.

Carbon footprints are an increasing concern for contractor and principals alike, and the use of unmanned aircraft could not

reasons why traditional project management is broken.

have better credentials, especially when compared with manned aviation flying extended distances during surveys.

In addition, the perspectives gained by UAV platforms for commercial purposes are second to none and far less cost prohibitive.

All survey work is backed up by years of on-site engineering experience.

Gary Nel, director of Geocurve Ltd, said: “It has been a tough task to get UAV platforms accepted as a professional survey tool. That is now less of an issue with our greener credentials and techniques that are making our work safer and more efficient.” info@ukaerovision.com www.ukaerovision.com

The Construction Industry Council, which represents professional bodies, research organisations and specialist business associations in the construction industry, runs a blog where its members and representatives share their thoughts on best practice developments in the sector.

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INSIDE TRACK

Understanding the step change in the management of major projects

T

An elegant solution to flood risk management W ater management is one of the most pressing issues facing the construction industry.

Flooding in the UK is on the increase, and it is not going to go away. Changing weather patterns, coupled with our rapid urban development, mean more rainwater is falling more frequently onto hard, impermeable surfaces. The water then runs off in high volumes and at high speed to the nearest drain or water course, which were not designed to cope with such a deluge. This results in the kind of devastating flooding that we see featured in the news increasingly frequently.

One of the most effective ways to mitigate the worst effects of these floods is to keep the runoff where it lands. The idea of holding back rainwater is a key principle of SuDS (sustainable drainage systems).

By mimicking natural drainage processes we can hold rainwater at source, slowing the flow until it can either be absorbed by soft landscaping or released safely into a receiving watercourse at a controlled rate.

There are many ways of achieving effective SuDS, most of which involve simple engineering techniques. The most straightforward examples include

attenuation ponds or swales – green landscaping which has been excavated or contoured to direct water across the surface of a bare site, where it is collected until it infiltrates slowly into the ground.

These “soft SuDS” techniques provide additional benefits by providing a pleasant habitat for both wildlife and residents, as well as filtering and cleansing the runoff as it permeates through the ground.

But modern lifestyles are not always compatible with soft landscaping. As much as we might enjoy the countryside, we also need hard, load-bearing surfaces and clean, dry pathways to walk, drive and park cars on. The challenge is to create functional and attractive landscapes which balance practical requirements with the need to mitigate flood risk.

As the UK’s leading hard landscaping manufacturer, Marshalls understands how to manage surface water. Our diverse portfolio of products allows us to suggest solutions for the most demanding sites.

Kerbs can be used to direct the flow of water into soft landscaping, our linear drainage channels can collect and direct large volumes of water safely and efficiently, and our market-leading

Priora permeable paving system provides an ideal combination of hard-standing and SuDS performance.

A permeable paved surface looks like normal block paving, but features specially created gaps which allow water to flow through the surface. This is then collected and stored until it can infiltrate into the ground or be channelled away at a controlled rate. This simple technology uses easily available materials and cost analysis suggests it is equivalent to a macadam surface with adequate linear drainage. Tests Marshalls is undertaking with Coventry University also show that the sub-base of a permeable pavement cleanses water flowing through it.

Managing flood risk is a complex problem, but by insisting on sensible water management within all new developments we can at least ensure that the current boom in the construction sector doesn’t make the problem worse for generations to come.

Chris Griffiths is water expert at Marshalls 01422 312 000 www.marshalls.co.uk/wm

he process of getting consent for the country’s largest infrastructure projects is speeding up and being replicated across sectors.

Project managers should be aware of this regime if they are looking to sell their services effectively in the infrastructure sector.

In 2010, a new compulsory legal regime for getting permission to build and operate the largest power stations, wind farms, airports, railways, motorways, sewage works and other projects in the UK was introduced. This has meant a common and highly technical process for the engagement of those affected by projects and the scrutiny of applications by inspectors, who will then recommend whether a project should go ahead or not.

Not only that, but the process has been tweaked and extended over the last five years, and now optionally applies to a raft of more conventional business and commercial developments such as warehousing, sports

stadia, offices and quarrying.

Having worked on projects to authorise highways, harbours, power lines and now the first non-infrastructure project, a proposed entertainment resort in Kent, I have seen the evolution of best practice in project management. The key is not just possessing generic project management skills, but being fully aware of how this particular regime works. The three most significant features are strict adherence to legal requirements for consultees and content of materials, handling large volumes of written information and responding to multiple requests at short notice.

If you want to know more, please get in touch via anguswalker@ bdb-law.co.uk. We have presented on this regime to PriceWaterhouseCoopers and would be glad to do the same for your company. +44 (0)20 7783 3441 anguswalker @bdb-law.co.uk

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Effective risk management is key to successful projects

T

oday’s businesses have to operate in a more competitive and complex market environment than ever before. After countless projects have been unable to deliver the anticipated benefits, top-level decision makers now understand the importance of proactively managing risk. This is usually the difference between a project’s success and its failure.

The basic risk framework can be applied

to all situations – teams need to invest time and effort up front to identify risks and evaluate them against a consistent set of criteria. Mitigation strategies should be developed, both to reduce the probability of an adverse event occurring, and to minimise the impact of that event if it does. Finally, it is imperative that risk management is an ongoing process, with regular reviews conducted to assess the latest status of each

risk, identify new ones and ensure that the mitigation plan is being delivered.

This basic framework should be tailored to the size and complexity of your project to maximise the return on investment from risk management activity.

For some, a simple High/Medium/Low risk assessment may be sufficient – for others a fully quantified statistical analysis may be required. Project managers must be mindful

to ensure their risk process provides effective management information while increasing the engagement of the entire team and developing a risk-aware culture.

IRIS Intelligence provides specialist webbased software solutions to help identify, assess and manage risks more effectively. enquiries@irisintelligence.com www.irisintelligence.com

Mastering your role in project management

M Why construction is important for Britain, both now and in the future

C

onstruction is a hugely important sector for UK Plc, employing more than three million people and contributing £93billion to the economy each year, or 7 per cent of GDP. The recovery which began two years ago is now felt in most key regional cities, led by renewed housebuilding and helped by infrastructure mega-projects such as Crossrail.

But while the UK construction industry has rebounded strongly from the global financial crisis, major challenges lie ahead in the short-tomedium term. The last recession was the deepest and longest in living memory, and its legacy will be pronounced. We’re witnessing a return to the capacity issues of the boom period much earlier than expected, with output still far below the 2007 peak of £104.1billion. Already a massive shortage of skilled labour is hampering project delivery, after a generation left the industry for good.

Efforts to address this through apprenticeships and recruitment drives have commenced, but it will be a difficult four years before they come to fruition.

As a result, prices will inevitably rise faster than inflation – a challenge for developers and a danger to

cash-strapped contractors. Most entered the recession wealthy; many emerged with their reserves drained. They may still be posting profits, but their balance sheets are fragile. Firms that took on projects in leaner times at tight margins must now deliver them in an aggressively rising market. We’ve already seen large sub-contractors and regional contractors go under and they will not be the last.

As the market picks up, contractors are exercising considerable discretion in bidding for projects, favouring those that can be won relatively quickly and shunning slow, multi-stage tenders.

It can cost millions just to bid for major schemes – these are the ones that may not get off the ground.

This includes public-sector projects, which will hinder the government’s efforts to drive more integrated project teams and new technologies through its own procurement process. A clear pipeline would make a major difference, giving contractors the confidence to invest. This is what the government has tried to provide with the Construction 2025 strategy and the National Infrastructure Plan, but now it must deliver to them.

The outcome of the general election is another key area of uncertainty, with the future of major projects such

as HS2 to be confirmed. Added to this is the possibility of a referendum on EU membership, which will cause investment decisions to be put on hold, as Scotland’s recent experience demonstrates.

One factor that could help to relieve the skills shortage is the arrival of new players from abroad. As in the aftermath of previous recessions, the growing UK market is attractive to foreign contractors and the diversity of the supply chain makes it a relatively easy target. The last wave from France, Spain, Germany and Sweden has driven consolidation and led to fundamental change. This will no doubt continue, but Chinese contractors too are now seeking to enter the UK on the back of well-resourced developers. It’s a proven model for contractors from Europe – the only difference is distance.

Given the importance of construction to the economy, it’s surprising that it’s not given greater prominence in the party manifestos. But even if the politicians aren’t looking our way, you can bet that hungry players from overseas are.

Alan Manuel (left) is deputy managing director – Europe, Sweett Group 020 7061 9000 www.sweettgroup.com

aster’s degrees in Applied Project Management are making “transactional” training a thing of the past.

As Britain’s economy continues its regeneration, training budgets look healthier for many of the UK’s project management teams. But there is now a firm demand on training providers to demonstrate a strategic benefit from their qualifications.

QA has a proud history of delivering PRINCE2, Agile and other methodologies to more than 10,000 professionals annually. For those earning their stripes as project technicians, these are popular and relevant routes for setting firm foundations in the first years of a long career.

For more senior roles, such transactional training needs a more defined route to enable the application of training in a strategic business context, avoiding frustrating pitfalls created from rehearsing a set code of practice.

It is these factors that have shaped the QA Executive Master’s MA in Applied Project Management, where a long-term structure of 360-degree learning forms the training.

Over two years, students attend seminars facilitated by world-leading experts, covering high-level topics including:

• Leadership in project management • Managing different methodologies • Strategic impact of project management The programme focuses on applying the students’ new knowledge to their workplace.

These students, already experienced and talented project managers, will improve their repertoire of soft skills as a result.

The Master’s is therefore an immersive method of driving quality and engagement with the theory of project management.

Students gain perspective over methodologies, ability beyond technical competence – and, crucially, international recognition for their Master’s achievement.

Their business gains an outpost into the accumulated knowledge of project management, with a strategic mind-set and strong leadership skills. After years of steady development, they will be a long-serving proponent of project management success.

Lorette Parker is the QA Executive Master’s business manager 0845 074 7967 masters.qa.com

Business Zone

18 · Business Reporter · April 2015

AN INDEPENDENT REPORT FROM LYONSDOWN, DISTRIBUTED WITH THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

Why your strategy should be insight-driven

The future

Delivering quality at every stage Why Thames Water realised quality assurance was the missing jigsaw piece of successful project delivery

T

here are numerous software tools available to help project, programme and portfolio managers deliver projects on time and on budget. But, when it comes to managing quality, such tools are few and far between. Assure software from Business Collaborator fills this important and overlooked space.

In 2011 Business Collaborator worked closely with Thames Water to build Assure – a product designed to deliver quality to projects. Thames Water wanted all projects to go through a standard process and to reduce the time taken for handover of each project to operations and maintenance. Assure has since been proven to save 40 hours per project per month across a portfolio of hundreds of projects.

So, what do we mean when we speak of project quality?

P

• Ensuring that all deliverables and documentation are present and correct when the project is at handover stage.

• Using best practice throughout the entire process to ensure consistency, efficiency and accuracy.

• Ensuring governance is in place across all projects – essential if an ISO9001 quality management certification is important to you.

To deliver quality, project managers need software that clearly specifies roles and responsibilities across the project. Those roles and responsibilities should provide a clear indication of the deliverables required by the project’s process.

For those providing the deliverables, clear guidance of what needs to be done when, and why, is needed. In addition, immediate access to the latest templates means that correct information is collected at every step

of the process, enabling correct decisions to be made throughout the project.

Key deliverables must go through clear and auditable approval processes.

At any point there must be a real-time overview of the status of each deliverable so that projects can ensure they don’t get into trouble.

Above all else, pragmatism is crucial. Processes are great in theory but often practical considerations require deviations from the norm.

Having agility to react to the real world and then record any divergences in an auditable manner is critical.

The substantial return on investment aside, adopting Assure makes deliverables and documentation easy to file and easy to find. And Assure also benefits suppliers because the solution makes it crystal clear what they are required to deliver, and when. +44 (0)118 902 8543 www.groupbc.com

In focus: Is there a project-shaped hole

in your corporate governance?

Video special

“The standard of project management in my company directly affects the bottom line” – Managing director of a ship fittings company

G Ruth Ireland, Risk & Advisory Services Partner at BDO LLP, talks about effective internal controls and how a good risk management framework can enable companies to embrace opportunities, increase corporate value, and create wealth at: http://bit.ly/1I3aVzr

ood project management is good business. Conversely, project problems are bad for business – whatever your industry sector. If you think about the impacts of project problems and failure you’ll see that they are all business impacts.

Public project failures in the

news raise eyebrows where, clearly, basic mistakes contributed to the failure. But the few projects making the headlines don’t show the full scale of the problems experienced in tens of thousands of business projects run in organisations across all sectors. Many problems are avoidable with good project governance, which is a part of good corporate governance.

Like corporate governance, this must start with top management, and be

sustained at the top.

Before you worry, it’s not a matter of developing complex procedures and incurring substantially more project overheads either.

It’s more a matter of an intelligent, systematic but pragmatic approach. An effective project governance approach will help reduce costs by avoiding predictable project problems and avoiding other businessdamaging impacts.

If your organisation’s projects are

not running at their best and delivering reliably, your business is being damaged, and probably unnecessarily.

Decide to take action now, and that might include getting some knowledgeable, cost-effective help.

Nick Graham (left) provides highly practical project governance advice and training. He is also the UK author of Project Management For Dummies. www. projectgovernance. co.uk

roject managers the world over – and indeed the majority of business leaders – are struggling to keep pace with an increasingly challenging and competitive business landscape. And ironically, their difficulties are often down to the fact that their commercial strategy is based on their knowledge, experience and intuition.

“So what’s wrong with that?” you may ask.

Research conducted at the world-renowned Henley Business School suggests that up to 90 per cent of organisations put their future at risk by ignoring evidence that is available to them. They rely instead on repeating what has been done before, updated in line with their gut feeling.

So ask yourself: Is it a challenge to make a profit?

Are your customers less loyal than you’d like?

Do new competitors pose a serious threat?

If you answered yes to any of these, it may be that the best opportunities for your organisation haven’t been identified, or maybe the benefits just aren’t being communicated in a way that engages your customers.

Jeff Callander, programme director for The Henley Strategy Programme, believes that an outward facing business strategy is necessary to address these issues. “The programme enables leaders to create strategies that are based on real evidence,” he says. “It’s essential that the strategy challenges and supports the corporate aims, with every individual able to identify their role in the success of the business.

“The programme is a living tool, underpinned by rigorous research, but always delivered from a practitioner’s point of view.”

For more information or to book The Henley Strategy Programme, call 01491 418767 or visit www. henley.ac.uk/strategy

Business Reporter · April 2015 · 19

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The debate What is the key to eradicating failure in projects?

Steven Wynne Managing director, Macallam Interim & Executive Search

Amy Hatton Editor Project Management Today

Steve Messenger Chairman DSDM Consortium

Sara Drake Chief executive, Association for Project Management

Determining the “real” benefit to the organisation has to be the first step. We know that if a project has been set up properly with clear objectives, an adequate budget, a well defined scope, a realistic timeline and a strong project team to run it then surely you’re on to a winner? No. As with any programme of change, good communication is key. Without it, the usual measures of budget, time and quality could be wrongly perceived as project success if the requirements of the organisation have changed or the perception of the need wasn’t fully communicated.

The principles of project management haven’t changed. It is project governance that has. Governance is formed around the project sponsor; the person with the most to gain from its success, or to lose by its failure. The principles can be used on all sizes of projects as the business leader has to run, grow and change a business, the latter two of which are achieved through projects. Good governance is therefore key to avoiding project failure.

The tendency in projects is to think big.

But big doesn’t have to be rigid. Too many failed projects are characterised by heavy front-end investment, uncompromising frameworks and the fear of professional reprisal if things go wrong. A change of narrative is needed.

Where possible, investment should be incremental and carefully staggered to avoid costly snowball scenarios.

A flexible, iterative approach allows the project to adapt to those inevitable changing circumstances or unforeseen obstacles before money and time are wasted.

Most importantly, transparency must be promoted to deal with problems before they grow. The days of fist-banging are over. If you want a successful project, create an environment where your people know it’s OK to say so when things are going wrong.

If they feel they can do so openly and in a positive, solution-oriented way, you’re much more likely to catch and rectify errors before they impact on the bottom line.

I believe that ineffective communication is the main reason projects go wrong. We need to understand who the stakeholders in a project are, how they can influence the outcome and how they may be affected by it.

Then we can build communication plans that ensure they receive the right level of information at the right time. Constantly involving those who will benefit from the project outcomes and using iterative feedback techniques to develop the right solution will greatly increase the probability of project success.

It is also important to be totally open and communicate the bad news as well as the good. All too often, the bad news is buried until it is too late to do anything.

If stakeholders understand the problems they can deal with them, and often will come up with good solutions to them.

Perhaps, then, it is not surprising that iterative feedback, openness and collaboration are core to the Agile philosophy.

When working for the Secretariat of the Treasury Board of Canada, Martin Cobb famously asked: “We know why projects fail; we know how to prevent their failure – so why do they still fail?”

Cobb’s well-known paradox still challenges us. The reality is that projects can fail for all sorts of reasons – but we have moved a step closer to understanding what it is that could ensure a project succeeds.

A recent study by APM into the conditions for project success has identified five critical success factors.

The report, more importantly, also shows that we already knew what the key to success is. The problem is that this knowledge is often not put into practice.

To ensure we give ourselves every chance of avoiding failure, we need to close the gap between knowing and actually doing. Only then can we move a step closer to creating a world in which all projects succeed.

01423 704153 steven.wynne@macallaminterim.com

editor@pmtoday.co.uk www.pmtodday.co.uk

01233 611162 www.dsdm.org

+44 (0)845 458 1944 www.apm.org.uk