“No matter how good the team or how efficient the methodology, if we’re not solving the right problem, the project fails.” Woody Williams
Introduction
Since the dawn of democracy in South Africa, we have experienced a massive rise of mega projects in housing, water, sanitation, electricity, energy, roads, airports, hospitals, social amenities, and sport stadiums, that cost billions of Rands.
Mega projects are large-scale infrastructure projects that require huge productive investments and research and implementation to achieve the final outcomes that will benefit the economy, increase employment, attract foreign direct investment, influence the establishment of micro-businesses, and add value to servicing the citizens of South Africa.
Although mega projects have been taken on with an almost unbelievable rate of recurrence in South Africa, many of these projects have suffered high-cost overruns, time consuming delays, and publicly displayed conflicts reported in the media.
Nevertheless, many mega projects such as the King Shaka International Airport, the five biggest green energy projects on wind farms and the Albert Luthuli and Cintocare Hospitals, have a transformational impact on society and communities.
Most mega projects require approximately between five to 10 years or more to complete, with a phased-in approach. Therefore, time clearly has a major impact on the eventual success of mega project, for example the construction of new cities.
Mega project’s guru Bent Flyvbjerg argues as follows: “Interestingly, our experience tells us that it is not the size or scope of the megaproject that makes it complex, but rather the time factor. The fact is that many megaprojects take upwards of 15 years to become fully operational and there are all sorts of unexpected changes that can and often do, alter the rules of the game in mid-development,” (Insight:2013).
Mega-challenges
In essence, if there are huge time gaps between planning and delivery, it is likely that new challenges and complexities will pop-up constantly during the project life cycle. The success of mega projects should include the quality of design, materials and workmanship of construction and the accomplishment of the expectations for functionality and performance.
Merrow (2011) explains that an industrial project can be a failure or success depending on the answers to the key questions below based on cost, time and quality limits:
Celebrating the benefits of new mega projects in South Africa
Last year Patricia de Lille, the current Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure, announced that 50 projects and an additional 12 Special Projects were gazetted on Friday 24 July 2020 as Strategic Integrated Projects (SIPs) in terms of the Infrastructure Development Act.
It is difficult to quantify the benefits of the mega projects collectively and reliably, either on the country’s economic growth or societal change since the mega-status is much more complex than simply the project cost. However, the major benefits of these mega projects are that they provide opportunities for medium and micro businesses, increase employment opportunities for the semi-skilled and skilled personnel, providing access to the internet and affordable data to South Africans, providing improved and new infrastructure such as water, electricity, housing, roads, and essential services throughout the country.
Businesstech.co.za (Staff writer: 2020) reported the following with respect to government projects:
a) Energy
Three projects from the energy sector have been gazetted, its total investment value is R58 billion. For example, the emergency power programme involves the development, installation, and operation of a total aggregate of up to 2,000 megawatts of new generation capacity by independent power producer (IPP) projects.
b) Water
Collectively the Water and Sanitation projects are worth R106 billion in investment, spanning across all provinces with the potential for direct job creation being estimated at around 25,000. For example, the Mokolo Crocodile Water Augmentation Project (Phase 2A) will be used as a second source for the Medupi and Matimba Power Stations, and it will also help to meet the growing demand for water in Lephalale Municipality. Further downstream, the economic benefits are that it might improve the prospects for development of mineral resources in the Waterberg region. The proposed investment value of the project is R12.4 billion and the investment period is five years.
c) Transport
In the transport sector, a total of 15 projects to the value of R47 billion have been gazetted. The potential for direct job creation in this sector is estimated at 50,000 and the focus will be on upgrading roads throughout the country.
d) Human Settlement
In the Human Settlement sector, projects worth R138 billion have been gazetted, and these projects have the potential to create an estimated 190,000 direct jobs. One of the major mega projects is the New City – The Greater Cornubia which already started in 2016. The Greater Cornubia development is a mixed-use and mixed-income development, which consists of industrial, commercial, residential, and open spaces. The proposed investment value of the project is R25 billion, and the investment period is 16 years. Over the first 10 years, investing in the Greater Cornubia will on average support 11,254 jobs per year, of which more than half (57%) will be for semi-skilled and low-skilled labour. By 2027, employment opportunities will increase to 15,603 jobs.
e) Digital
The digital sector has a single gazetted project worth R4 billion, with the potential to create an estimated 700 direct and 1,000 indirect jobs. These include the Space Infrastructure Hub and Broadband – Project Thobela. The Space Infrastructure Hub will provide information that might be used to develop products and services that can allow targeted responses to the socio-economic and infrastructure challenges which South Africa may face. The proposed investment value of the project is R3.1 billion for the investment period of three years and on average, support 4,695 jobs per year.
The Broadband – Project Thobela helps our economy to benefit from the opportunities of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) and grant access to affordable broadband, especially in the rural areas. The proposed investment value of the project is R9.8 billion and the investment period is seven years and on average, this project will create 6,553 job opportunities per year, of which just over a quarter will be in the informal economy.
Conclusion
South Africa is mega in terms of projects on the African continent. We certainly do not want major project failures at the expense of the taxpayers. Therefore, it is always best for project risks that have the potential to impact adversely on the anticipated project outcomes are identified at the earliest stage during scoping, appropriately allocated to those best-placed to manage and control them with adequate resources during project execution.
"Get the right people. Then no matter what all else you might do wrong after that, the people will save you. That’s what management is all about." Tom DeMarco
References
“Operations keeps the lights on, strategy provides a light at the end of the tunnel, but project management is the train engine that moves the organization forward.” Joy Gumz
Project Management is defined by five crucial processes which are Initiation, Planning, Execution, Monitoring and Controlling, and Closeout. It is at the Initiation Stage of project management that the seeds of success or failure are frequently sown. For example, in February 2019, the Department of Roads had signed an agreement with China State Construction Engineering Corporation to implement the Butwal-Narayanghat road. The expansion project has failed to gain momentum since its initiation two years ago. According to road project officials, the delay in the road expansion work has been caused due to the contractor’s negligence (kathmandupost.com: 2021).
Therefore, a simple but essential solution to avoid the failure of a project is by correctly defining what the project is expected to achieve.
Bernadette Felix, the Director of Felix Higher Education warns, “Projects often fail at the initiation, not later on in the other phases. Therefore, be serious and well informed on how the project is launched as this is when you truly make or break a project’s success”.
Project initiation phase steps
Felix further advocates that project managers should use the Project Management Body of Knowledge as a compass to anchor a project at the Initiation Phase, by structuring the following six steps:
Step 1: Create a business case to provide valid and achievable reasons for starting a project.
Step 2: Conduct a feasibility study. Research the reason for the project to determine whether it will succeed. Risk issues should be given priority attention during the feasibility study.
Step 3: Create a project charter that outlines the purpose for the project and how it will be structured and executed.
Step 4: Establish a project team by first identifying key stakeholders and then appointing people with the right skills and experience to execute the project. This is non-negotiable.
Step 5: Set up the project management office so that the project manager and support staff have the physical space and resources to manage the project life cycles properly.
Step 6: Review the initiation phase to determine whether the project should be moved to the next cycle.
Common reasons for project failures from the start
Project Hoefyster, for the supply of 243 Badger infantry fighting vehicles for the South African Army, is nine years behind schedule with little hope that the project will be turned around due to major challenges at Denel (Martin: 2021). It is further reported that very little progress is being shown at present due to financial constraints at Denel, technical challenges to meet contracted performance, and significant loss of capability to complete development and industrialisation. During December 2018 Denel indicated in writing it could not complete the contract in terms of specification, cost, and timescales.
Project Hoefyster is a realistic example of common reasons for project failures from the start.
Research provides similar and other serious reasons for project failures at the beginning that impacts on further project development:
Recommended project initiation questions to ensure success
Felix believes that unnecessary challenges can be prevented and managed during a project’s five crucial processes if the following project initiation survey questions are addressed with a committed attitude:
“Running a project without a work breakdown structure is like going to a strange land without a road map.” J Phillips
References
1) Bhandari, A. 16 April 2019 9 Reasons behind failed software delivery (Online) [Accessed on 22 March 2021]
2) Changepoint.com 2021 Turning Around a Failing PMO (Online) [Accessed on 22 March 2021]
3) Kathmandupost.com 20 March 2021 Butwal-Narayanghat road expansion project stares at delay (Online) [Accessed on 21 March 2021]
4) Martin, G. 12 March 2021 Troubled Badger project far behind, with little hope in sight (Online) [Accessed on 22 March 2021]
5) Mcconnell, E. 2010 Managing Project Initiation Phase – A List of Critical Problems & Suggestions (online) [Accessed on 21 March 2021]
6) Project Management Institute 2018 Pulse of the Profession (Online) [Accessed on 22 March 2021]
7) PWC Belgium 2018 Project Success Survey 2018 Driving project success in Belgium (online) [Accessed on 13 March 2021]
8) Wellington Project Management 2016 The State of Project Management Annual Survey 2016 (Online) [Accessed on 22 March 2021]
“Project management can be defined as a way of developing structure in a complex project, where the independent variables of time, cost, resources and human behavior come together.” Rory Burke
Organizations of all types are increasingly finding valid reasons to treat and manage specific activities that require a budget to allocate resources from the start to the completion as a project. Therefore, it is a necessity for project managers to have a good understanding of how to plan the budget as a financial blueprint to support the project to achieve its goals and objectives.
However, Bernadette Felix, Director of FHE, points out “Almost every day on a global level the media and corruption watch dogs are exposing failed projects that has a significant monetary loss for organizations, the economy, taxpayers and employees which very often results in unemployment.” According to Cohen (2000) every company and every project has a cash cycle. There are four phases of the cash cycle:
a) financing is used to acquire the cash it needs to begin,
b) investing uses the cash to grow,
c) operating finances the operations of the business or project and
d) returning returns the cash it owes to its creditors and owners
Perhaps, if the cash cycle model is considered seriously in a project cycle, cost management can be effectively implemented to prevent financial waste or loss.
The cost of failed projects
Research shows that exposure and strong dialogue on project cost and loss has become a subject of project focus:
a) In 2016 the Management Institute (PMI) Pulse of the Profession reported that interviews were conducted with 2500 project managers, directors, and other executives that held the authority to assess both the cost and the success of various projects. The findings showed that for every $1 billion spent on projects in the U.S., there was an approximate loss of $122 million. This finding means that on average 12% of the budget for projects, was wasted due to poor management, counter-productive behaviours, and bad decision-making.
b) The PMI’s Pulse of the Profession: 9th Global Project Management Survey 2017 showed that 14% of the surveyed IT projects were deemed as failures. Only 57% of the projects finished within their initial budgets, with the others exceeding the target they had set for themselves.
c) According to Paul Fitzsimons (2016) cost overruns and benefit shortfalls during project implementation occurs for the following reasons:
• the intricacy of mega-projects; the scope can and does change over time, and
• susceptibility to misinformation about costs, benefits, and risks during project development and decision-making.
Here are some examples of failed projects around the world to give the readers a realistic idea of the enormous, wasted cost involved:
a) Money 'wasted' on water projects in Africa: International donor agencies have made positive strides to improve access to clean water in many rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa. However, in 2009 the Guardian.com reported that almost $360 million USD had been spent on building boreholes and wells, only to find that 50, 000 water supply points quickly became non-functional and, in some cases, irreparable.
b) St Helena Airport costing £285 million of UK moneydelayed over safety concerns: An airport built on a remote South Atlantic island by the British government – at the cost £285 million of public money – cannot be used because planes landing there are blown off course (The Guardian.com: 2016).
c) Nelson Mandela Bay buses worth R100 million gather dust in ‘failed project’: In 2009, 60 buses were purchased at a cost of R100 million by the Nelson Mandela Bay as part of its integrated transport system used during the 2010 Soccer World Cup. However, as soon as the tournament was over, the busses remained idle and parked off outside a fresh produce market in Motherwell outside Port Elizabeth. This project was plagued by problems and allegations of corruption (News24.com: 2015).
d) Brand new $11 million overpass torn down in Montreal: An $11 million overpass in Montreal that was built just a year before was torn down because it turned out that the structure did not fit in with plans for the new Champlain Bridge (CTV News: 2016).
Why is Project Cost Management Important?
All professional project managers should know that Project Cost Management is one of the nine areas of knowledge in the project management framework. The evolution of project management requires managers to have the skills and applied competency to budget, track, and report costs and profitability to effectively manage its resources and to achieve the project’s objectives and goals.
Bernadette Felix explains, “To implement effective cost management practices, project management tools and techniques are required to correctly determine the cost of the project, to know the exact amount of money that the project needs and the cost baseline that influences the financial needs of the project.”
By implementing effective cost management practices, project managers can (Hexagon EcoSys: 2021):
a) set clear expectations with stakeholders,
b) control scope creep due to transparencies established with the customer,
c) track progress and respond with corrective action at a quick pace,
d) maintain expected margin, increase ROI, and avoid losing money on the project, and
e) generate data to benchmark for future projects and track long-term cost trends.
Effective project cost management is the art of managing time, cost, and quality to achieve the project objectives and goals without wasting money
“The project manager is expected to integrate all aspects of the project, ensure that the proper knowledge and resources are available when and where needed, and above all, ensure that the expected results are produced in a timely, costeffective manner.” Meredith and Mantel
References
1. Cohen, D. J. (2000) Why finance matters for project managers. Paper presented at Project Management Institute Annual Seminars & Symposium, Houston, TX. Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute
2. PMI’s Pulse of the Profession: 9th Global Project Management Survey (2017) Success Rates Rise – Transforming the high cost of low performance (online) [Accessed on 15 February 2021]
3. PMI’s Pulse of the Profession: Pulse of the Profession 2016 (2016) The High Cost of Low Performance (online)
[Accessed on 17 February 2021]
4. Hexagon EcoSys (2021) Project Cost Management: Steps, Basics and Benefits (online)
[Accessed 13 February 2021]
5. Biz Community: Fitzsimons, P. (2016) Why Mega-Projects Fail (online)
[Accessed 20 February 2021]
6. The Guardian. Com (2009) Money 'wasted' on water projects in Africa (online)
[Accessed 20 February 2021]
7. The Guardian. Com (2016) St Helena airport costing £285m of UK money is delayed over safety concerns (online)
[Accessed 20 February 2021]
8. News 24. Com (2015) Nelson Mandela Bay buses worth R100m gather dust in ‘failed project’ (online)
[Accessed 20 February 2021]
9.CTV News (2016) Brand new $11-million overpass torn down in Montreal (online)
[Accessed 20 February 2021]
“Don’t be intimidated by what you don’t know. That can be your greatest strength and ensure that you do things differently from everyone else.” – Sara Blakely
Project management is receiving prominent attention globally in all sectors because of the important role it plays in structuring the way an individual or team should organize and manage resources that are necessary to complete a project from start to end to successfully reach the desired goals. The demand for project managers should not mislead us to believe that project management skills exclusively belong to professionals, successful business leaders or giant male-dominated construction corporates. In fact, every woman should invest in project management skills irrespective of your career status. It does not matter whether you manage a small creche, are a CEO of a fashion company or sell muffins from your home-based kitchen – at some point you will be involved in an activity or a project that has a beginning and end; such as hosting a fund-raising event for the creche, launching a new fashion product, or building a new bakery to expand your muffin business. Therefore, as a key decision maker, it is important that you are empowered with project management skills to be on top of your game.
Irrespective of gender, a project manager must have appropriate skills and capabilities
Bernadette Felix, Director and Owner of Felix Higher Education (FHE), unapologetically advocates that more South African women should capture the project management market in all sectors and break barriers by becoming the leaders in this field.
She manages a training service offered to corporates, and her success is in customizing projects to satisfy the needs of each organization.
She says, “I treat my service delivery to each client as customized projects to ensure that the organization achieves its desired goals through the performance of their staff”.
FHE, without a doubt, supports the idea that having the appropriate skill sets and capabilities that are required to be a project manager is the vanguard to successful projects - irrespective of gender. However, greater balance between men and women can be experienced if at school level; teachers and career advisors alert female students that they can enter the male-dominated industries to pursue a career in project management.
Gender balance value is supported by the Global Leadership Forecast 2018 which reported that companies with greater gender diversity were 1.4 times more likely to have demonstrated sustained, profitable growth.
South Africa’s success stories
South Africa has its success stories of women project managers that demonstrated perseverance and boldness to conquer the male dominated project management industry. Yet male project managers still earn 8% more than female counterparts (Project Manager Average Salary in South Africa: 2021).
Here are some noteworthy success stories:
Zeenat Ghoor, Director of Aspire Consulting Engineers, undaunted by the challenges of operating in a traditionally male-dominated industry, started her own construction and consulting engineering practice working primarily with skilled disadvantaged artisans. She started her company by constructing new buildings and renovating homes. Today, the company attracts projects worth hundreds of millions.
Linky van der Merwe is well known in the project management community as an author and consultant. She humbly gained her initial experience as Project Management Administrator in the Financial Services Sector in 1996. With perseverance she used her experience to evolve as a Project and Program Manager in different industries including IT, Telecommunications, Retail IT and with Microsoft Consulting Services. She has partnered with ITM Platform to distribute a simple yet extensive project management software in South Africa to enable small and medium companies to support their strategic and operational project initiatives.
Yvonne Moela is the Chief Construction Project Manager at Gauteng Department of Human Settlements and owns Glam Dazzler Events. She has been involved with various construction projects, such as construction of schools, security installations at Klerksdorp Prison and construction of over 10 000 RDP houses in Naledi, Soweto and Soshanguve. In spite of the many discriminating challenges she experienced, she never gave up but continued to be a success story.
FHE believes that these successful female project managers (and many others not mentioned in this article) are a force to reckon with, because they:
According to Maltzman and Shirley (2020) Pike Sahra Ozguler, an internationally recognized project manager, conducted interviews with female project managers in 17 countries and on the issue of gender differences, it was pointed out that women had to work harder than their male counterparts to get the work done and to get recognized for their achievements.
Evidently, the global culture of female project managers working harder than male counterparts has significantly started to break barriers despite many social challenges.
References
DDI World Global Leadership Forecast 2018 (online)
https://www.ddiworld.com/research/global-leadership-forecast-2018#
[Accessed on 21 January 2021]
Harrin, E. 2020 Inspiring Women in Project Management: Linky van der Merwe (online)
https://www.girlsguidetopm.com/inspiring-women-in-project-management-linky-van-der-merwe
[Accessed on 24 January 2021]
Maltzman. R. & Shirley. D. 2020 The Perspective of Women Project Management Professionals (online)
https://www.projectmanagement.com/blog-post/64458/The-Perspective-of-Women-Project-Management-Professionals
[Accessed on 20 January 2021]
Moela, Y. M. My Journey as a Female Project Manager (online)
https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.projectmanagement.org.za/resource/resmgr/Events/Yvonne_Moela.pdf
[Accessed on 23 January 2021]
Project Manager Average Salary in South Africa 2021 (online)
http://www.salaryexplorer.com/salary-survey.php?
[Accessed on 21 January 2021]
The Workspace 12 of South Africa’s Top Women Entrepreneurs (online)
https://www.theworkspace.co.za/blog/12-south-africas-top-women-entrepreneurs
[Accessed on 24 January 2021]
“Project management is like juggling three balls - time, cost and quality.” G. Reiss
FHE understands that Project Managers are in demand in South Af rica and that they are crucial contributors to productivity in key sectors such as manufacturing and construction, finance and insurance, information services and publishing, management and professional services, utilities and oil and gas.
The good news is that the Council of Higher Education (CHE) has accredited FHE with the Higher Certificate in Project Management (NQF Level 5) recently. This accreditation provides the institution with the tools to use this programme to empower students, the self-employed and professionals to learn the art of managing the products and its deliverables that will directly impact on the success of the company that they are either employed in or own.
Once the South Af rican Qualifications Authority (SAQA) provides the identity number for the qualification and the Department of Higher Education’s (DHET) approval is received, FHE will roll out applications for the project management programme in June 2021. The minimum entry requirements for the project management programme is a Grade 12 National Senior Certificate or an equivalent.
Why is project management important?
According to McManus Consulting (2020), “The project management profession has all the necessary tools, techniques, checks and balances to ensure projects are aligned to strategy, correctly planned, optimally staffed, and executed to ensure that budgets are controlled, and quality outputs delivered”.
Furthermore, research findings prove why project management skills are crucial:
a) By 2027, employers will need nearly 88 million individuals in project management-oriented roles. China and India will represent more than 75 percent of the total project management-oriented employment.
b) Nearly 70% of South Af rican organizations have a career path for those engaged in project management training.
c) Organizations that invest in proven project management practices waste 28 times less money because more of their strategic initiatives are completed successfully.
d) The main driver behind the application of project management in government is to improve State institutions' ability to deliver efficient, effective and high-quality services.
e) Organizations that undervalue project management report an average of 50% more of their projects failing outright.
f) Individuals with project management qualifications and experience are likely to experience a salary increase by an average of 20%
Convenient, accessible, blended teaching and learning approach
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has inspired FHE to adopt the blended teaching and learning approach which includes online, virtual and contact classes. This methodology of teaching and learning provides students effective control over their time, place, way, and speed of their learning with the guidance of their subject expert lecturers and student support.
A project management qualification is a lifelong career investment
FHE believes that project management is a unique profession that requires you to have a specific skill set that determines the successful implementation of strategy, cost control, continuous quality improvement, risk mitigation and stakeholder’s engagement to achieve goals for the company. Therefore, a project management qualification is a lifelong career investment, that will also help South Af rica to be globally competitive.
“A project is complete when it starts working for you, rather than you working for it.” – Scott Allen
References
1. McManus Consulting 2020 Project Management (online) https://www.mcmanus.co.za/project-management-can-help-south-af rica-prosper [Accessed on 20 December 2020]
2. PMI 2017 Earning Power Project Management Salary Survey 10th pdf Newton Square Pennsylvania USA (online) https://www.pmi.org/-/media/pmi/documents/public/pdf/learning/salary-survey-10th-edition.pdf [Accessed on 20 December 2020]
3. PMI Pulse of the Profession 2018 Success in Disruptive Times: Expanding the Value Delivery Landscape to Address the High Cost of Low Performance pdf Newton Square Pennsylvania USA (online) https://www.pmi.org/learning/thought-leadership/pulse/pulse-of-the-profession-2018 [Accessed on 19 December 2020]
4. Pulse of the Profession 2017 Success Rates Rise: Transforming The High Cost Of Low Performance pdf Project Management Institute, Newton Square Pennsylvania USA (online) https://www.pmi.org/learning/thought-leadership/pulse/pulse-of-the-profession-2017 [Accessed on 27 December 2020]
5. Selepe, M.M The Appropriateness of Project Management Mechanisms Within the South Af rican Public Sector Environment The 4th Annual International Conference on Public Administration and Development Alternatives 03 - 05 July 2019, Southern Sun Hotel, OR Tambo International Airport, Johannesburg, South Af rica http://hdl.handle.net/10386/2702
6. PMI 2017 Project Management Job Growth and Talent Gap 2017–2027 pdf Newton Square Pennsylvania USA (online) https://www.pmi.org/learning/careers/job-growth [Accessed on 28 December 2020]
According to some researchers (Owen, Connor and Linger, 2012), internationally, there is a growing concern that governments have lost policy capacity, particularly around implementation and delivery. The above researchers argued that today's projects simultaneously facilitate organisational change, and this dual agenda has allowed project management to extend from the traditional industry sectors of construction and engineering to other non-traditional sectors, such as banking and legal processes. The extension of project management practices into all areas of government and business represents the key challenges to the theory, practise, and application of project management.
Complexity, uncertainty, and ambiguity characterize policy development because the issues are difficult to define, with many interdependencies, no clear solutions; they often involve changing the behaviour of individuals and there may be a lack of knowledge, skills, or expertise about the given situation (Rittel & Webber, 1973, cited by Owen, Connor & Linger (2012). This makes policy implementation difficult, because the risks are hard to define and measure, the stakeholders broad and varied, and the implementation processes and structures are complex. To successfully manage these complex processes involves working across department boundaries and engaging with stakeholders and community groups. Involving such a diverse range of stakeholders adds to the complexity, as each has a different agenda and viewpoint (Head, 2010).
If policy development and implementation is considered a project, classical project management assumes that everything in these policy processes can be controlled (Owen, 2010). This approach does not adequately deal with the complex nature of government policy processes, because project management processes do not adequately acknowledge or incorporate the human, contextual, and emergent elements of such projects and therefore do not equip practitioners to deal adequately with the socio-technical complexities and change (Young, Owen & Connor 2011). Thus, project management needs to be conceptualised more broadly in order to incorporate a range of outputs with inherent complexity and rethink the assumptions that underpin project management practices.
Owen, Connor and Linger (2012) cite Shergold (2006) who argued that repeated, consistent, and systematic failures in policy implementation have led governments to focus on ways to
[1] The author acknowledges that this newsletter has been written based primarily on a paper by Owen, Connor., & Linger, (2012), titled: Project management as a tool of policy implementation, which was presented at PMI® Research and Education Conference, Limerick, Munster, Ireland.
strengthen their ability to effectively implement policy. The above researchers conceptualised policy development and implementation as a project and extended project management practices to manage such complex projects. They introduced the concept of knowledge-based practices (KBPs) as a way of understanding project practices that are deployed to deal with complexity, and intrinsic and emergent issues. The above researchers also set out to address the specific question: Can project management contribute to building government policy development and implementation capability?
We are all aware of the phrase “Change is constant” and there is no denying it. When conflating change with project management, there's fierce debate over who is best equipped to manage it: project managers or change managers. Some insist that project managers are the ideal agents of change because they can maintain technical and rational stability in the face of disruption. Others believe that a dedicated change manager is necessary because that person views change through the lens of behavioural science and with high levels of interpersonal skills, astuteness, and sensitivity.
It is difficult to state who is right but change definitely presents an opportunity for a fruitful collaboration between project managers and change managers. Change managers and project managers can peacefully co-exist and help their teams understand what it takes to genuinely embrace change by inter-alia, creating clear lines of work; sharing responsibility and supporting cohesion.
According to PMI's latest Pulse of the Profession,® Organizations and their teams will have to adapt quickly, if they want to maintain their competitive advantage. To grow their project management capabilities, organizations are prioritizing: Technical skills (68%); Leadership skills (65%); Customer-centricity (59%); Business skills (58%); and Digital skills (50%).
The Table below reflects the results of a global PMI survey of 3,060 project professionals, 358 senior executives and 554 project management office directors/directors of project management in 2019 to determine what will make them succeed in the complex changing environment. The majority (53%) of organizations are embracing a change-ready culture and the executive leaders believe these factors are most important to achieve project success in the future. Organizational agility is on top of the list of factors which will contribute to project success
Factors most important for project success
| Organizational Agility | 35% |
| Choosing the right Technology to invest in | 32% |
| Securing the relevant Skills | 31 |
| CEO Leadership | 29% |
| Ability to close the Gap between Strategy and Execution | 28% |
| Creating a culture of constant change | 25% |
| A well-functioning Project Management Office | 22% |
| Forming relevant Partnerships | 22% |
| Adequate Funding | 21% |
| Becoming less Risk-averse and embracing change | 20% |
Source: Fast Forward: PMI 2020
It can be concluded thatProject Management has developed in an evolutionary manner from a technical endeavour, with objectives expressed in terms of physical artefacts, to a socio-technical process that can deliver artefacts, organisational change, and/or knowledge.
Companies need to re-imagine and re-invent (innovate) since the organizations that develop the technologies, systems, products, services, and customer experiences that change the game will shape the future of the project economy.
PMI research suggests that this ‘always-on’ innovation push will be a given in the years to come: Three in four project leaders say their organizations will invest more to promote project management innovation over the next 10 years, and in an era of nonstop disruption, companies will see the value of game-changing ideas delivered through projects. Organizations must invest in building a culture—and project teams— that can turn cutting-edge ideas into reality.
References
Fast Forward: PMI'S 2020 'Pulse of the Profession' Reveals How Teams Are Adapting to Change (2020). PM Network, 34(3), 16–17.
Head, B.W. (2010). How can the public sector resolve complex issues? Strategies for
steering, administering, and coping. Asia Pacific Journal of Business Administration.
Owen, J. (2010). The role of knowledge-based practices in the effective management and delivery of information systems development. Unpublished Dissertation Faculty of Information Technology Monash University Melbourne Australia.
Owen, J., Connor, J., & Linger, H. (2012). Project management as a tool of policy implementation. Paper presented at PMI® Research and Education Conference, Limerick, Munster, Ireland. Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute.
Young, M., Owen. J., & Connor, J. (2011). Whole of enterprise portfolio management: A case study of NSW Government and Sydney Water Corporation. International Journal of Managing Projects in Business (4)3, 412–435.
