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

HR organisation

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

Curzon consulting mca finalist 2019

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