Presentation led by Steve Elliott from HydroFormer Project Management Services Ltd, within the 'Organisation' stream at the APM Project Management Conference 2016.

1. April 2016
Steve Elliott
World Class Programme &
Project Management
Major Projects – Where are we?

2. Introduction
• SETTING THE SCENE/INTRO
• MY ROLE TODAY
• WORLD CLASS – SHOW OF HANDS
• AGENDA

3. 3
• INTRODUCTION
• “WORLD CLASS” – WHAT DO WE MEAN BY THAT TERM?
• SUCCESS OR FAILURE – HOW DO WE KNOW?
• ARE WE FOCUSSING ON THE RIGHT THINGS AT THE RIGHT TIME?
• WHAT LESSONS SHOULD WE THE APM/MEMBERS BE LEARNING?
• WHAT CAN WE AS AN ASSOCIATION AND PM PROFESSIONALS DO?
• Q&A
Agenda

4. My Background
• Chartered Engineer, 30+ years Programme and Project Management experience
• Fellow of the I.Mech.E and A.P.M
• Worked for Clients, Contractors & Consultants
• Heavy Engineering, Oil & Gas, Pharmaceuticals, Infrastructure (Airports/Rail/Water)
• Esso Petroleum, Glaxo MRC, LHR Terminals 5,3 & 2, Crossrail, Thames Tideway
• My views/comments not necessarily those of any organisation I have worked with

5. 5
World Class
Lets explore a few World Class organisations:
Apple Google Boeing Amazon Caterpillar Sony Lego Save the Children Macmillan Nurses
Numerous terms or words are used to describe World Class ----- I think we only need three
Oxford English definition: of World Class ------- “of or among the best in the world.”
Relevant, Consistent (trustworthy) and perhaps most important Successful
All others flow out from these:
You cannot be Relevant without being, customer-centric, innovative and differentiated
Being Consistent is about being trustworthy and able to repeat great performance
If we aren’t Successful in our endeavours, then what’s the point
Are they all Relevant?,
Are they all Trustworthy?
Are they all Successful?
I think the answers are yes.

6. World Class
Probably the most important of the three to describe World Class is:
The definition and agreement of success should be the guiding light towards which ALL
projects are focused -------- Lets explore SUCCESS a bit further

7. But what is Success ? – do we spend enough time & effort agreeing what it is?
This was on time and on budget
The Millennium Dome -- a complete failure
• Expected 12m visitors – 6m actual
• £1m/month to maintain - empty for 10 years
• Majority of visitors disappointed at content
• Now the O2 – private enterprise turned successful
This was 3 x budget and embarrassingly late
The Millennium Wheel – a huge success
• Now the London Eye
• Most successful tourist attraction in Western Europe
• 4m visitors annually, feedback from most is excellent
• Lucrative for sponsors BA and now Coca Cola

8. Success or Failure?
Early North Sea Platforms – 4-8 X
Approx. £2 Trillion extracted to date
estimated £1-2 Trillion still in there
JLE – 2.5 X, late
1 train every 100 secs at peak!
imagine London without it
Thames Barrier – 6 X, late
Used over 180 times since it opened
cost of even a minor flood of London
estimated at £20bn (excl. business loss)
M25 – 5 X
Junction 12 to 17 most used
stretch of motorway In Europe
Channel Tunnel – ??
Many still consider it a failure
albeit mostly driven by isolationist desires
Now making profits after 26 years of losses
Terminal 5 – 4x, late
Voted best airport terminal in the
World for last 4 years running

9. 9
Are we focussing on the right things at the right time
• Most of the focus in the UK is on the delivery phase of projects and current economics
• In the UK we have become obsessed with “on time, within budget”
• Other key metrics although reported, are usually given minimal attention in reality
• But strangely, especially in the public sector all this only applies in the delivery phase
• Observers say – delivery is where 90% of the investment is spent – really!
• I think its down to lack of accountability or ownership and poor or no decision making
• There is also a bit of UK “Banana Syndrome” – which in some respects we are all guilty of

10. 10
• Spending 20 or 40 years developing infrastructure even if the last 5 years meets targets with
exemplary community and stakeholder management can hardly qualify as World Class
• Terminal 5 – 20 years – obsession with last 5 --- questions in The House over opening disruption
• Questions asked by the very people who wasted 15 years faffing about over its consent
• Crossrail – 40 years in planning and now its all about December 2018, if it’s so much as a week late
• Again, MP’s would ask why – perhaps they should look in the mirror
• HS2, Crossrail 2, airport capacity, power --- who knows what the future holds – it’s not good
• There is no accountability and minimal professional PM input during early stages
• Indecision and politics surrounding our infrastructure and investment is disgraceful
• Other countries just do not tolerate it -- lets not hide behind “we are a democracy” either
• The UK wastes decades and billions through indecision driven by politics and outdated processes
• Which, in the main, simply creates an illusion that people are being listened to
• The lights will go out in the UK at some point in the not too distant future
• A 10 year old child can predict what is inevitable for his/her future
• Doesn’t make me feel very proud actually, and I suspect it doesn’t make you feel proud either
Are we focussing on the right things at the right time

11. 11
Lets look at a current real example – Airport capacity
1986 - Britain’s main London airport, Heathrow
expands to four terminals. Application to expand to
5 submitted in 1989 (T5 opens 2008!)
June 2001 Labour ministers are seriously
considering a third runway at Heathrow to
relieve increasing congestion in London and the
south-east
December 2003 Alistair Darling, publishes
white paper plans for a third runway and
sixth terminal
to be completed within 12 years
December 2015
Third runway & hence increased capacity,
Government procrastinating
Decision promised by PM by end 2015, but
put off at last minute until at least summer
2016.
Pundits feel this is now highly unlikely
December 2030 – a worst case view
Heathrow, Gatwick & Stanstead described as an irrelevance
by major airlines as BA relocate to Schiphol
• T5 stands more or less empty, Stanstead to close in 2032
• London loses crown as World’s No.1 city
• City no longer financial centre of the World
• London tourist numbers decline to lowest in years
• National debt spirals out of control to almost £2.5 Trillion
• Who is accountable -- ??????
2015 – approx. $700bn spent
this year it will be a Trillion
dollars Worldwide
and the UK ? – would be good
If airport owners/operators were
allowed to invest!
December 2012--15
Airport Commission investigates additional
Runways across the South East
Heathrow, Gatwick, Stanstead, Boris Island
It recommends Heathrow

12. Early Optioneering/Screening
Concept Development
Scheme Development
Delivery
Operation
Negligible Programme or Project Management
Maybe a bit of Programme or Project Management
Some Programme or Project Management
Significant Project
Management
The Challenge – most projects follow a lifecycle like this
Time
Accountability
& PM Focus

13. Cone of Uncertainty - or Certainty versus PM focus
Options Generation
Early Screening Studies
Single Option
Concept Design
Scheme Design
Sponsor/Board
Approval
Detailed Engineering
Definitive Execution
Plans
Completion

14. Key Messages so far
• World Class is about being:
• Relevant
• Consistent (Trustworthy)
• Successful
• The Key for me is being SUCCESSFUL
• Spend time agreeing with ALL parties what SUCCESS is and isn’t
• Purpose/Outcomes/Objectives/Scope
• Clear Goals and Targets
• Stakeholder relations/impact on
• Numerous others unique to each project
• Its also about being successful in ALL stages of a project -- not just delivery

15. Lessons we ought to learn – the clues are all there
• Failure more often than not is built in right at the outset, long before the delivery phase
• Because we didn’t fully define and agree what success looked like – for ALL stakeholders
• Leading to flawed solutions with inappropriate/unrealistic delivery strategies and plans
• We also need to move on from tired old fixed/target price competitive bidding models
• To enable real collaboration instead of talking about it, then all retreating back to type
• End the obsession with current day economics – the Victorians took a much longer view
• Re-define Project Management as being much more than delivering to time, cost & quality

16. So where are and what can we do about it? -- Recent CBI Survey:
• Shows business confidence in the UK’s ability to attract investment has fallen of a cliff
• 4 out 5 business leaders have a negative view of the future for our infrastructure
• Less than a quarter believe government (any party) has the competence to develop projects
• Almost all respondents feel government(s) have an “irresistibleurge to meddle”
• The majority support a National Infrastructure Plan, but agree its profile is far too low
• Sir John Armitt’s Review recommended the National Infrastructure Commission
Consultation and review is under way, Chaired by Lord Adonis – a huge step forward for the UK
• APM could and should play a major role in such an initiative, leading on
structured process, lessons learned and inputting real, professional PM
expertise and experience

17. 17
So, where are we, and what should we take away?
• Are we World Class ?
• Delivery, I think we are World Class – as long as we are “dealt” a decent hand (we should be dealer)
• And as long as we are clear and have agreed what the successful outcomes are
• So from the perspective of the entire programme/project lifecycle - falling short by a long way
• We (APM and Members) should build on our successes in delivery to:
• Widen our influence upstream during early project development
• Do more to engage & support Government, Clients, Sponsors, Developers etc. to help them
• Push and lobby to ensure professional PM skills are brought to bear from the outset
• Transfer learning & expertise from private to public sectors
• I will finish where I started – to be World Class we must be:
• Relevant, Consistent and Successful --- Successful throughout – not just the last bit
• So, the target is clear and straightforward – hitting it is another matter!

18. 18
Thankyou for listening – hope that has provoked thought
Momentum is a fragile force
Its worst enemy: --- procrastination
Its best friend: --- a deadline
Tom Peters
The UK is World Class at procrastination and muddling along
Our infrastructure is far far too important to be treated in this way!
We need to be World Class at whole life Project Management.
APM Members need to be actively lobbying, influencing and
showing politicians and society the way – is it a big ask?, yes.
But if we want to be World Class – then, I’m sorry we have no choice.