Programme & Project Controls Have we lost our way ?

1. Programme & Project ControlsHave we lost our way ? Steve Elliott

2. Outline • Introduction -- SE & Crossrail • A simple view of Project Controls • What is success for Project Controls • Some observations • Summary & Conclusion • Discussion

3. Introduction • 35 years in engineering & construction projects • Chartered Engineer & Certificated PM – FIMechE, FAPM • First experienced Project Controls in Petrochem with Exxon/Esso • Project Experience • Heavy Engineering & Power, Oil & Gas, Petrochem, Pharmaceuticals • Infrastructure (Airports, Rail, Water) • Worked for contractor, consultant and client organisations • Last 2.5 years - Programme Controls Director at Crossrail

4. Concept of a railway in large diameter tunnels – 1941 • Current scheme has its origins in 1943 – London Plan • 1974 term “Crossrail” emerged – London Rail Study • 1989 - proposal of standard (BR) gauge tunnels • 2001 CLRL formed, 50/50 JV between DfT and TfL • 2005 the Crossrail Bill put before Parliament • July 2008 – Crossrail Act 2008 received Royal Assent • Construction commenced in May 2009 at Canary Wharf • Crossrail on track to open for business in December 2018 • Station mock up at Leighton Buzzard

5. Europe’s largest construction project • £14.8bn funding • 37 stations • 8 new sub-surface stations • 21km twin-bored tunnel • 19 Boroughs • 140 main works contracts • 10,000 suppliers • 4,340 commitments

6. Crossrail route • Why build Crossrail • Crossrail will cut journey times and provide additional capacity – increasing London’s rail capacity by 10% • Passengers will be able to travel from Heathrow to Tottenham Court Road in under 30 minutes, • Paddington to Canary Wharf in around 16 minutes, Whitechapel to Canary Wharf in 4 minutes • Generates ~ £42 billion in economic benefits • One of, if not the the most economically attractive rail developments in recent history. • Enables the regeneration of areas around the stations along its route • Improved accessibility likely to attract new private sector development.

7. 8 TBM’s

8. Current Status • Almost 50% complete • Spent (& Earned) to date – circa £5 bn • £800m spent of property aquistions • Around 9000 people working on the programme • On schedule and within the Sponsors funding envelope • Only rolling stock left to procure – contract award in Spring 2014

9. So what am I going to talk about • Spent all my career on projects – large, small, simple, complex • Across numerous different sectors – and after 35 years I often see: • A poor grip of the fundamentals of Project Management & Controls • Too much time looking backwards – driving analogy • Too many specialisms and too few rounded controls professionals • An obsession with detail that obscures the wood from the trees • Slow take up of IM technology in some sectors – eg construction

10. What is Project Controls – a simple view • We cannot change the past • It’s too late to change the present • So we are only left with the future • Isn’t that what Controls is really about ?

11. What is Project Controls – a simple view Knowing what has to be done (Integrated Scope, Cost, Time) • Baseline • Plan • Review • Physical • Progress • Measure Reviewing to check corrective actions have had an impact (Follow up) Knowing what has been done (Earned Value) Risk & Change • Course Correction • Analysis & • Forecasts Knowing how performance compares to the plan (So What & looking forward ) Recommending corrective action (Doing something to make a change)

12. What is success for Project Controls • Knowing what has to be done – the plan • Understanding the risks and opportunities in that plan • Knowing what has been done • Knowing what has NOT been done and why • Knowing how performance compares to the plan • Recommending corrective action to achieve the plan • Communicating the above - at the right time, in the right format • All at an APPROPRIATE level of detail

13. Observations • No 1 -- Lack of appropriate effectiveness models and structures • No 2 -- Dis – integrated Project Controls • No 3 -- Inappropriate levels of detail and unnecessary accuracy • No 4 -- A need to better exploit emerging IM/IT technology

14. Observation No. 1 • Programmes & Projects often lack an Organisational Effectiveness framework • There is no agreed simple, robust structure – much more than a WBS • Scope and structure alignment is left uncontrolled and silo working is rife • Controls professionals need to be at the core of projects to drive this

15. Programme Controls Effectiveness Framework Vision & Objectives Culture & Values Infrastructure Systems & Tools Structure Processes & Procedures People & Resources

16. The 7 Levels of Effective Strategy, Governance & Control Client/ Sponsors Corporate Strategy Governance Controls Strategy Governance Model Risk Management Risk Appetite Ensure alignment To Strategy Programme & Projects required to fulfil Strategy

17. Crossrail Structure Client/ Sponsors Board/Executive 1 - Programme 7 - Areas (Projects) Programme Management Control & Reporting Strategy & Governance 35 - Projects (Contracts) 140 - Contracts (of Control Accounts) Project Management Several Hundred - Control Accounts (of Work Packages) Task Management Thousands of Work Packages (of Activities, where the work gets done)

18. Structure • Fundamental– usually not given the attention it requires • If not well developed and controlled – control will be virtually impossible • Challenging in early phases – teams prefer flexibility and will resist • Different specialisms want different structures • Misalignment occurs vertically and horizontally • Its for ALL the programme – i.e. not just a WBS (Typically focused at Levels 5,6 & 7) Its all about being in control – NOT – being controlled

19. Observation No. 2 • Lack of integrated controls • Commercial, Planning, QS’s – not joined up • Often each discipline has it’s own structure, processes etc. • They could be working on different projects • Controls professionals need to get a grip of this

20. Dis - integrated Controls • What happened to Cost & Schedule Engineering – Ingegneria Economica • Oil & Gas vs. Construction vs. IT -- Worlds apart in approach & capability • Procurers, Planners, Estimators, Contract Administrators, Cost Engineers. • The UK is too focussed on developing specialists • In fact the various Institutions promote this – it’s in their interests to do so • We produce professionals who know more and more about less and less • We need Project Controls professionals – rounded, experienced, multi-skilled • We need standards to drive and ensure skills and competence

21. Glaxo -- Stevenage versus Glaxo – North Carolina Same Client, similar approach: Client Team + PAE + Management Contractor with LS Subs. Typical Project Meeting One facility cost twice the other – guess which one!

22. Observation No.3 • Three parts to this and each feed of the other and create a spiral which is difficult to stop • 1 --- A drive for more and more detail – does it mean better control – NO! e.g. the 10,000 activity costed programme > 1 million activities in Crossrail – P6 • 2 --- An unnecessary quest for decimal point accuracy e.g. Anticipated Final Cost £10,925,863,253 --- HS2 – Budget £42.6 bn CPI and SPI 0.957, CPI 0.893 – 3 decimal places - who is fooling who? • 3 --- Reports with pages and pages of data and detail – but little analysis Clients and Sponsors, usually persuaded by consultants and government departments often request excessive levels of information and metrics. Which they then do very little with.

23. Greater levels of detail • Create an illusion of greater control and accuracy • More data to manipulate & information to report • Leads to more resources

24. Observation No. 4 • We must exploit the full power of emerging information technologies • BIM and 4, 5 D models – real integrated Project Controls software/tools • Portable devices -- still too much paper • Simple to use software – the days of PM tool experts are numbered • There are some really good examples, but they are few and far between • The petrochem/oil & gas/IT sectors are way ahead of construction

26. What could it be like in the future • BIM and 4, 5D -- the virtual project world • Automated progress measurement using intelligent components • Smart handover of projects to operators and users • The capture, cataloguing and Intelligent use of life cycle data • Realtime reporting instead of month end snapshots • Clients will expect much more automation and less resources

27. Summary --- Need to focus on the fundamentals & move forward • The application of a robust Strategy, Governance and Control model • Need to develop more rounded Project Controls Professionals • Need to constantly remind ourselves what the real purpose of controls is • Need to develop standards for competency and excellence • Really embrace BIM/4 & 5D technology to improve efficiency

28. So what should we be doing to address these issues • Ensure that Planning and Controls is at the CORE of projects & programmes • not an add on function or a support function or a PMO • The pilot/navigator analogy • Carefully consider the level of detail you are getting into • Challenge – why do you need this – remember the first slide – plan/measure/recover • We cant change yesterday or today – too long in the rear view mirror causes crashes • We can and should all develop and broaden our skills • Get involved in other disciplines – planners in cost; QS’s in schedules – radical!

29. To conclude --- Have we lost our way? • In some areas, I think we have – but we can easily find it again if we focus on what matters -- the fundamentals • Put more effort in developing rounded PC Professionals • Fully exploit information technologies and emerging devices • And stop wasting precious time, resources and money creating overly complex, too detailed, fragmented control models which don’t provide Sponsors, Project Directors, Managers and colleagues what they NEED. Which is :

30. Knowing what has to be done – the plan • Understanding the risks and opportunities in that plan • Knowing what has been done • Knowing what has NOT been done and why • Knowing how performance compares to the plan • Recommending corrective action to achieve the plan • Communicating it all at the right time, in the right format

31. Thanks for listening