Project Management Consultants
We have a wide range of knowledge and expertise available that enables us to provide support in a number of ways, please contact us to discuss your requirements.
Numerous projects need to be undertaken regularly in all organisations. They have to be planned from a financial and operational viewpoint, not just to get the best financial deal but also to ensure delivery of the project to time. Always appoint specialist consultants to the project team as required, The Centre can provide support in many different areas in a flexible, customer friendly way.
Projects vary in size from the very small to the very large.
Facilities Managers may be responsible for a small redecoration project or maybe tasked with replacing major items of plant or even buildings and relocating the business to a new location. Complexity does not necessarily go with the size of the project. Some small projects can be extremely complex particularly if internal politics are involved.
Managers involved in projects often find that:-
They do not have the required levels of expertise over all aspects of the project
Expenditure can escalate
Specialists concentrate on their own areas of concern with no regard to the project as a whole.
All can have a dramatic effect on the success of the project, be detrimental to the organisation, create unhappy customer departments and result in reduced credibility for the project leader.
Projects need to be planned and controlled with care: they need to be flexible enough to cope with changing needs and must be continually measured and reviewed to keep them on track.
We always hear about projects that go wrong, rarely about those that are completed to brief, time and cost.
What are the elements necessary to ensure that the project is planned for success?
Planning the project
Unless the project is planned from the outset we cannot expect it to be completed successfully. There are various actions that Facilities Managers need to take to ensure the plan is robust - among them are:
The brief must be clear, concise, accurate and understood. Unless a brief exists the project leader can only guess at what is expected. The brief needs to be set by the owner of the project who takes over all responsibility and must set out clearly the aims and objectives. If the owner does not deliver the brief then the project leader should design one and gain agreement to it.
The brief should be displayed on one sheet of paper to ensure that it is concise.
Having received and agreed the brief it is essential that the project leader ensures that sustainable finance is available. The project must be costed in its entirety and funds released. It makes sense to add a contingency figure, usually of about 10 per cent and to agree the method of reporting on the finance situation regularly. This usually takes the form of the normal monthly finance report on revenue spends. The project leader's financial authority level also needs to be agreed, as does the mechanism for seeking extra funds for all agreed changes in the objective.
The project team needs to be planned and set up ensuring that the individual elements are committed to the task and can make the necessary time available. This team will include all of the necessary support functions to ensure that administrative processes run smoothly. If consultants/contractors need to be hired and integrated into the team they need to be appointed as early as possible if they are to play a full support role. It is important to remember that members of this team must be competent for the role that they are to play.
A key role within the project team is that of the Facilities Manager if that person does not take on the role of the project manager. The Facilities Manager will bring a full knowledge of the organisation and personal politics and also assist in ensuring that the design and materials used on it will not only be practical and fit for purpose but will match need within budget.
Risks and Timetables
Any risks to the project need to be identified so that they can either be removed early on or be managed to ensure that they can be dealt with as they arise. These risks maybe in the area of Health and Safety but may also relate to people, the possibility of change, the potential of late delivery or other external influences.
The project timetable needs to be fixed again with the contingencies in-built. Normally in the form of a GANTT chart or project table, the timetable must clearly show all aspects of the project so that nobody can use it as their excuse for non-delivery. Vital dates that must be met to ensure no slippage, 'Drop Dead Dates', must also be clearly identified with all members of the project team and particularly contractors should be made to understand their importance. The project leader should pay particular attention to these dates to identify potential problems.