Evolving Project Implementation issues in Mega Projects

Gabriel Ozique (MBA, M.Sc., C.Eng. FIET)
Senior Fellow Telecommunications Engineering
Evolving Technological Issues in Transport Safety
i-Transport and UATP* Conference and Exhibition - Midrand/South Africa – June 18-20 2018.

2/3 of MEGA PROJECTS FAIL
The Interconnected World

EXTENDED FOCUS OF LARGE COMPLEX PROJECTS
Classical Focus Extended Focus
Project readiness Owner readiness
Output focus Emergent outcomes (Multi-finality)
Tasks and transformative Flows including emergent
Flows influencing and induced flows
Stakeholder management Stakeholder engagement
(partners in success)
Organize, direct, coordinate, Confirm, monitor, engage,
and control influence, evolve

PM THEORY MUST CHANGE
 Management endeavors to introduce regularity in a world that will
never allow that to happen.
 Fayol’s plan, organize, direct, coordinate, and control are now
expanded to include confirming, monitoring, engaging, influencing,
and evolving.
 Project management must create context, capacities, and
capabilities.
 “It’s not about perfecting an imperfect model, it is about
creating a new one.”

MEGAPROJECTS REQUIRE CHANGED LEADERSHIP BEHAVIOURS
Traditional Leadership Behaviours New Leadership Behaviours
Individual leadership vs. Group Cross Project Leadership
Control and order vs. Motivation and movement
Scientific management vs. Transformative leadership
Outputs focus vs. Shared outcomes focus
Assignment and directive vs. Agreement and acceptance of
goals
Hierarchical and siloed vs. Project-wide flat communication
and information structures

MEGAPROJECTS REQUIRE CHANGED LEADERSHIP
BEHAVIORS
Traditional Leadership Behaviours New Leadership Behaviours
Acceptance of normative vs. Questioning (assumption,
process, outputs)
Adversarial or transactional vs. Collaboration and information
approach sharing with stakeholders
Management of tasks vs. Management of flows
Centralized decision making vs. Engaged and decentralized
decision making

Dynamic Communications for Highways /
Railways Infrastructure

MEGAPROJECT CHALLENGES
Baselines are not accurate
 Preliminary work not complete; risks not understood or
provided for
 Time not valued
 $$$ not understood

MEGAPROJECT CHALLENGES CONTINUED
Basis of design too narrow
 Weak change management processes
 Project management theory does not serve Megaprojects
 Inadequate owner experience/capabilities
 Frameworks for life cycle analysis are inadequate

MEGAPROJECT ADVICE (1) – STRENGTHEN FOUNDATIONS
Strategic Business Outcomes are #1 reason projects fail
 Owner’s organizations are not ready
 Baseline schedules and estimate are optimistic
 Scope baselines must be “fit for purpose” and fixed
 Low frequency, high impact risks are prematurely screened out
Track assumptions – they migrate
 Expand risk focus
 Recognize risk profiles change over time

MEGAPROJECT ADVICE (2)
USE NEW GOVERNANCE STRUCTURES
Top level RACI at outset of program
 Continuing focus on program and
organizational alignment
 Megaproject Dashboards Will Need
To Track Outcomes Oriented Parameters

USE NEW GOVERNANCE STRUCTURES (CONTINUED
 Formal readiness assessments
 Performance based contracting, compensation and management
 Recognition of organizational change management role
 Programs consist of “beginnings, middles and ends”

MEGAPROJECT ADVICE (3) FOCUS ON FLOWS
 Manage the arrows not just the tasks
 Manage the “white space”
 Ensure packaging and phasing enhances project schedule
 Create supply chain opportunities through packaging
 Drive program logistics plan
 Project management must strengthen its focus on flow management

RECOGNIZE MEGAPROJECT IS NOT BOUNDED
We Need to Improve Performance Assessment
 Weaknesses
1. We do not “see” leading indicators well - They get lost in the
volumes of data
2.We do not see the complexity of challenges embedded in the
project plan
 Opportunity – Big Analytics: We already have Big Data, now we
need to be able to use it

Keys to Mega Project Success
1. Take the time to set up and kick off the project correctly
2. Identify key challenges/risks
3. Implement proven structure and strategies
4. Use appropriate tools and systems that can accommodate your
project processes and needs
5. Use modern technology to manage volume and provide
intelligence to data

Connectivity to Collaboration..& Market
Sizing (McKinney, Frost & Sullivan, & Yankee Group)
Collaborative
Critical
Infrastructure
SMART PUBLIC SAFETY
SMART GRIDS SMART TRANSPORTATION
SMART CITIES
$31 Billions by 2014 of which ICT
major part (30%).
•CAPEX for a national US public safety network:
$18-40 Billions.
APAC NBN Market 66 Billions Euros up to
2015
By 2020: 35,000 km of new track
(today 14,000 km). Comms. is the
fastest growing sector.

Case 3 - Google’s Fibre Optic Installation in USA

Final Thought…

Advance Intregration Method (AIM) Overview

AIM lifecycle

Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Tool

Requirement Traceability Matrix (RTM)
illustration

Report Dashboard

Requirements coverage graphs

Summary
Improved oversight of Testing processes by providing a
framework for project development and delivery
More efficient requirements capture (functional/non-functional)
and change management processes
Improved execution of Testing activities through technical
descriptions and templates provided by AIM
Impact of Artificial Intelligence or Machine Learning
Less on multiple Apps and using just one software tool to
manage projects from START to FINISH.

Evolving Project Implementation issues in Mega Projects

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