This document discusses how project management skills can be used outside of work through volunteering on community projects. It details Barnaby Beere's involvement with the Wotton Community Sports Foundation, including developing sports facilities through "hard" construction projects and taking over management of a local sports center through a "soft" organizational change project. It highlights lessons learned around fundraising, stakeholder engagement, procurement, and managing challenges that arise during periods of change.

1. Project Management –
Not Just for Work
Barnaby Beere
Freelance Project Manager
23rd April 2015

2. Overview
• Themes
• Background
• “Hard” project – construction of new
facilities
• “Soft” project – creation of a joint venture
company
• Challenge to Project Managers
• Questions?

3. Themes
• Project Management
• Economics
• Cooperation
• Managing change
• Stakeholder engagement
• Environmental issues
• Concrete, drainage, floodlighting, pitch
surfaces …

4. Why do Project Management
outside of work?
• PM is a skill, and skills need practice
• Opportunity to use your skills to do
something constructive and positive for
your local community
• Make new friends!

5. Wotton Community Sports Foundation
• Charity with a 999-year lease on a 38 acre site
outside Wotton-under-Edge
– “New Road site”
• Purpose is to develop and provide sports and
recreational facilities for the local community

6. New Road Site, original layout
Red line shows site boundary

7. New Road site, current
Skatepark
Astro
pitch
3G pitch
Attenuati
on ponds
Rugby
pitch

8. What do I do and how did I get
involved?
• Skate park project in neighbouring village
• The benefits of cooperation, and
economies of scale
• The difficulty in raising ~£1.6m
• Missing a great opportunity to shut up
• Eventual success!

9. “Hard” project – creation of new
facilities
• Lack of sports / playing facilities in local
area
• 38-acre site donated as part of S106
• “If we build it, they will come”
• Difficulties in obtaining funding from Sport
England, Football Foundation, England
Hockey
• A new approach, and a generous donation

10. Construction of Artificial Pitches

11. Lessons Learned 1
• To keep project teams motivated, you
really need some “wins” along the way

12. Construction
• The Law of Comparative Advantage and the
importance of being a good client
• Getting to the start line - the benefit of
hard deadlines
• Building a delivery team
– How do you know when you’ve got the
right supply chain?
– Agreeing the end point
• Celebrating the success!

13. Opening Ceremony - Sept 2013

14. Facilities in use

15. Lesson Learned 2
Impatience is a virtue!

16. Interim Solutions - power
• No mains connection in time for grand
opening September 2013
• Would mean that floodlights unusable, would
reduce usability (value) of facility significantly
• Rented temporary power 50 KVA generator
• Was on site from September 2013 - February
2014

17. Like this one, but blue ....

18. Lesson Learned 3
• Best kind of problems are those that can be
solved with the application of money
• “Count of Monte Cristo theory of project
management”

19. Concrete example
• In order to put construct this
ramp:
– Identify the need
– Agree a specification
with the user
– Ensure that we had
sufficient funds to pay for the work
– Engage a contractor
– Agree a start and finish date for the work
– Monitor and accept the work
– Pay the contractor

20. Interim Solutions part 2
• Planning permission for site development includes
changing room and pavillion

21. Interim Solutions

22. More construction - skatepark
• Effective procurement process - the benefits
of experience
• Success breeds success - proven track record
of delivery
• Seed capital - easier when you’ve got a source
of revenue income
• Raising >£60k in 9 months
• Unexpected early start and early completion

23. Skatepark Opening Ceremony - March
2015

24. Positive Externalities

25. Attenuation Ponds, Trees

26. “Soft” project – taking on the
management of the sports centre
• Adjacent sports centre owned by KLBS,
managed by Stroud District Council
• Lack of marketing, opportunity to
cooperate and deliver better service
• The challenges of organisational change
• “How hard can it be to set up a new
business?”
• Early successes

27. Organisational structure

28. Learning from Experience,
Best Practice
• Docs on Charity Commission website
– Choosing to Collaborate: Helping you succeed
• Docs on APM website
– Directing Change - A guide to governance of project
management
– Co-directing Change - A guide to the governance of
multi-owned projects
• Benchmarking visits to similar local
facilities

29. Change project
• Long buildup, short execution
• Challenges in building a business case
• Getting two governing bodies to agree -
stepwise progress
• Building consensus, overcoming
resistance
• The benefits of hard deadlines pt 2
• Implementation challenges
• Joining the 21st century

30. Post-implementation

31. Social Media
Linked Twitter and Facebook
pages for both Sport Wotton
and WCSF - Twitter accounts
also post automatically to
websites

32. Some things take longer than you
expect ...
• Procurement, configuration, installation and
commissioning of new IT, website, telephone
system
• Opening a bank account - turned into the
critical path activity (90 days!)
• Preparation for TUPE transfer of existing staff

33. Things we’ve had to do to take over
the sports centre
• Establish a new company, c/w PAYE number, bank
account etc
• Prepare a business plan c/w financial forecasts
• Set up a pension plan for employees
• TUPE transfer existing employees to the new company
• Make arrangements for handling cash
• Set up a website
• Get a logo and branded workwear
• Recruit a manager
• Undertake advertising and marketing

34. Lesson Learnt 4
• Change is messy and difficult, and challenges
people in ways that can make them feel
profoundly uncomfortable
• But, that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t do
it ...

35. Social Capital
• The expected collective or economic benefits
derived from the preferential treatment and
cooperation between individuals and groups
• “bonding” and “bridging”
• The importance of strong and weak network
links

36. Things I’ve been able to practice
• Procurement and contract management
• Building supply chains
• Leadership, delegation, chairing meetings
• Applying economic theories in practice
• Financial management
• Civil engineering
• Networking
• Planning law
• Charity law
• Websites, marketing, Twitter

37. Next Steps - Access Path for Skatepark

38. A Shameless Appeal for Funds
• We urgently need to build an path to provide a safe access
route into our site for skatepark users
• Cost estimate £95k (of which just under £10k already raised
or pledged)
• Can be offset by donations of building materials
– 250 tonnes of Type 1 sub-base material
– 35 cubic metres of Tarmac
– 1000 metres of pre-cast concrete edging kerbs
– 80 cubic metres of concrete
– 1000 square metres of geotextile membrane
– 20 lighting bollards and 1000 metres of lighting cable
• Would your company like to sponsor a yard of path, or could
you donate some of the above materials?

39. The Challenge
• Project Managers have specific skills that can
be used for the benefit of society
• What are you going to do?
• How are you going to improve your
community?
• What are you going to create?

40. Thank you!
If you’re interested:
Wotton Community Sports Foundation
http://www.wcsf.org.uk
Twitter: @WCSF_Wotton
Facebook: WCSF - Wotton Community Sports Foundation
Sport Wotton Ltd
http://www.sportwotton.co.uk
Twitter: @SportWotton
Facebook: Wotton Community Sports Centre
Barnaby Beere
barnaby@charleshookfrancis.co.uk
LinkedIn: barnabybeere