The issue
- Curzon Consulting were initially engaged to define the programme efficiencies of a public body with a target of £302m for the current investment period
- Alignment of financial targets and scope at scheme level enabled us to provide assurance that the programme will succeed
- It also revealed that there were some critical underlying issues around people and processes that needed practical solutions
- Project configuration and change control were not historically managed well across the programme; project baselines were not agreed/recognised, and redesign often occurred
- There was an embedded Process Compliance culture. People were more concerned on outputs and checklist completion than project outcomes and performance
- There was inconsistency in capabilities and performance among the PM community. Projects seemed to follow contractor’s agenda rather than the client’s
- Project and programme performance was poor and in general all projects were over budget and running behind schedule, costing millions to the Programme
What we did
- Assessment of the management capability to implement change and mobilise the workforce
- Analysis and prioritisation of the project management capability gaps for current and future operating model
- Project lifecycle process mapping to understand gaps, levers and weak points
- Communication of spend profiles to focus on project high cost and critical path activities
- Reinforcement of the role of the PM in the operating model and the support available from specialist functions
- Development of an on-the-job training approach to deliver immediate results and simultaneously start to address the capability challenges for long term results
- Focus on people behaviours around process adherence and promote and install an intense focus on project performance to achieve the Programme’s objectives
- Set performance indicators that were aligned towards outcomes, rather than outputs, to bring performance visibility
The results
- Established a holistic view for an integrated project configuration and control framework. Programme has visibility on project progress and Project Manager development
- Increased alignment to project configuration and adherence to the baseline
- Created and installed a clear set of impactful project cost, schedule and risk related metrics. These are now being used for project performance management
- Improved forecast stability and reduced risk exposure
