Project Management Framework
James Varughese
Southern Downs Regional Council (SDRC)
Abstract:
This paper is about an interesting journey in developing a draft Project Management Framework (PMF) for SDRC. Council currently uses a software based project management system which is an efficient mechanism for reporting requirements however very cumbersome to project manage individual projects in real time. A recent independent audit 2019 revealed Council’s Project Management practices were rated poor and significant weaknesses were found in the design and application of controls which directly impacted efficiency, effectiveness and/or economy. To ensure a cultural shift in the acceptance and implementation of the framework, an operational policy was developed and approved to underpin this framework.
Previously, Council’s project managers have been delivering their projects based on their own personal previous experience. This meant that there was inconsistency in Council’s approach to project management and few control measures were in place to avoid project management pitfalls, such as scope creep, budget overruns and time delays.
The PMF aims to up-skill Council’s project managers to achieve a paradigm shift in Council’s approach to project delivery and improve Council’s systems. The aim of presenting such papers in conferences and publication is to provide insight how project management practices assist in risk and financial management. Taking time to plan is far greater than the delivery timeline of the project itself.
The author acknowledges this work was challenging, but fulfilling and predominantly a side hustle to his primary role as Capital Delivery Principal Engineer of SDRC.
Keywords: PMF, Up-skill, improve, fit for purpose, paradigm shift
Write body of paper here – 1000 words (5-6 pages)
Council undertook a comprehensive audit of its project management practices in 2019 through O’Conner Marsden Advisors. The key objective of this audit was to provide limited assurance that there are effective controls in place over project management within the Council to maximise the likelihood of project success and to ensure the project objectives align with corporate objectives.
The audit findings were rated ‘4-poor’ where “significant weaknesses were found in the design and application of controls which directly impacted efficiency, effectiveness and/or economy”. This
highlighted an inherent issue that needed addressing such as the lack of a project management governance in the management of projects. This resulted in the non-delivery of capital funded state/federal grant monies and directly affected major capital program outcomes.
Council’s financial capability was severely buffeted due to the significant drought season, bushfires, intermittent flooding and the nation-wide pandemic. Council rely on the current staff to meet capital and operation needs whilst maintaining service levels to meet community expectations. This
financial disadvantage meant Council’s priority in the formulation of the project management framework was non urgent. Council’s Executive Management Team (EMT) walked a fine line to address audit recommendations and community and the region’s expectations.
Council had some tools to facilitate project management practices. Council had an approved policy PL-CS080 – Project Decision Framework Policy to assist Council to make informed decision and approve projects. Council relied on Technology One, a financial tool for organizations, to undertake project management practices and risk reporting activities. The lack of a procedural document in assisting council officers particularly in relation to prioritising projects further compounded the decision making process in project choice, project phase and most importantly delivery timelines.
The notion of approving and delivering a project became increasingly an oblivion as staff struggled to deliver projects in time and on budget. This directly affected Council’s ability to deliver capital funded programs.
In August 2019, Council invited the author and Anneke Jacobson Project Coordination Officer to attend a briefing session with Council’s Director Corporate Services and discuss the audit findings and recommendations. With a large capital works program within the author’s portfolio, EMT requested the formulation of a plan to develop a framework to assist Council staff to deliver
projects. During this briefing session, it was made very clear the intention was not regarding project decision making, but rather development of a framework or procedure for managing approved projects.
The recommendations from the audit and risk report were as follows:
• Develop a Project Management Framework;
• Consult with directors and senior managers on the development of PMF;
• Update Project Decision Framework to reference PMF;
• Within PMF, define monetary thresholds;
• Create a Project Management Office/Officer;
• Ensure all PMF templates are available on the intranet; and
• Assess Council’s ability to deliver projects as part of the PMF process prior to lodging funding applications.
With the onset of the Covid pandemic in January 2020, the task became increasingly challenging to meet in person and formulate a strategy. Challenges create opportunities and organising meetings became exciting with Council increasingly adopting the idea of virtual meetings with no impact to
‘business as usual’. Thus most meetings to date has been virtual with no impacts and staff embracing
the technological evolution. Six working group meetings have occurred towards developing a draft PMF.
The working group meetings were very interesting as it included Directors, Managers and
Coordinators. These meetings were very significant as it helped to gauge the cultural resistance, the background of Council’s delivery methodology and the expectations from the ELT on the way forward. These robust discussions enlightened the ELT on the drawbacks of the IT systems put in place to address the audit findings, absence of defined procedures and the lack of appropriate skills and strategies. The draft PMF was presented twice to the Senior Leadership team key findings and challenges were discussed. During these working group meetings, it was highlighted a change management and an implementation process needed to be developed as part of the framework.
General information was sought from Google, the Department of Transport and Main Roads’
website, the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) and various regional councils such as Toowoomba Regional Council, Scenic Rim Regional Council, Lockyer Valley Regional Council, etc. The expectations from the Executive Leadership Team were to formulate a framework fit for purpose such that low value projects are not burdened by cumbersome processes. More importantly, a succinct framework will be easily palatable by a resolutely resistant council staff.
With the help of some training in change management, three key focus areas were identified for ensuring success of the framework:
1. Develop a policy to underpin the framework;
2. Each department to establish a benchmark; and
3. Each department to nominate a champion and trial the framework on a respective project.
Communicating the need for a benchmark and the requirement of a champion was easy within the working group. Benchmarks or strategic goals help any team to echo the popular saying, “aim for the stars and you will at least hit the roof”. Resourcing is an important terminology in every organization and the stark truth is you need to do your magic with what you have at your disposal. The most challenging part of this whole process was the development and formulation of the policy. This process took approximately six months. This was predominantly due to the change in Council, Council executive and internal approval processes. The success of the implementation of the PMF fully depended on the formal adoption of the policy. Any policy helps the organisation to
acknowledge it is a strategic/operational requirement and helps with the subtle and organic change required in the cultural transformation.
To communicate the focus area of change management, a broad implementation methodology was formulated aiming to camouflage the change management objectives across a broad range of focus areas such as
1. Transition working group to Project Steering Group (PSG)
2. Communicate Councils approved PMF policy to all staff once adopted 3. Release Draft PMF to Council Staff for comment
4. Appoint champions within each Department.
5. Each Department to adopt a benchmark and Trial a project (3 months).
6. Champions to progress implementation of PMF and report progress to PSG 7. Review the below timelines based on the feedback and implementation
The draft PMF along with the approved policy was circulated by email to the whole council on Monday, 10th January 2022 approximately two years and six months after being tasked with the role.
This is the first project the author has managed with a dynamic timeline, stakeholder turnovers, no budget and high expectations. The working group was renamed to steering committee, because the author exercised high degree of autocracy.
The framework is now at the point where we have compressed PMBOK from some 976 pages to 28.
We hope that it will provide guidance and assistance to the growing group of champions initially and then more broadly across Council.
Acknowledgements
Southern Downs Regional Council, CEO Dave Burgess, Director Gary Murphy, Manager Mike Holeszko, PMF steering group and nominated champions, and Anneke Jacobson.
References
Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK)
