By
comparison, if you are accustomed to managing a several million-dollar
project, you can probably scale to a project 2-3 times that size. Could
you use the same processes and tools to manage a $100 million,
multi-year project with hundreds of resources? If you started the
mega-project today, could you sustain it?
Here are five areas to consider when starting or planning a mega-project:
1. Establishing the Project Management Organization
When establishing the mega-project’s program management office:
- Establish a single organization that is responsible for managing the entire program.
- Staff the organization with enough people that are also experienced executing mega-projects.
I
have encountered mega-projects with multiple management organizations.
Resist this urge for local control. Support a culture of collaboration
where the single, central authority is empowered and trusted. Having a
central authority is more efficient, reduces conflicting guidance, and
enables consistent messaging and communications.
Initially,
many mega-projects are understaffed because the demands on the PMO are
underestimated. Err on the side of initially overstaffing. To quote the
old adage, "a stitch in time saves nine." Building the PMO’s
capabilities early will help the effort get off on the right foot.
Set
the role of the PMO as the enabler of effective delivery. Avoid having
an organization that prioritizes best practice theory over execution.
2. Executive Stakeholder Management
Active
and engaged leadership is critical to the success of any project. It is
even more critical for mega-projects. Mega-projects generally cross
multiple organizational boundaries. Establishing and maintaining
alignment across the executive leadership team is essential.
Successful
initiatives have senior leaders that are at least 75% committed to the
effort. The sponsor needs to both lead the project team and manage the executive coalition. The sponsor should:
- Hold regular meetings with all of the key stakeholders to ensure alignment of expectations and priorities.
- Meet individually with stakeholders to build and maintain their support, as well as uncover unspoken concerns or hidden agendas.
- Scan the landscape to identify non-stakeholder executives that are potential allies or enemies.
- Stay
actively involved in the day-to-day leadership of the initiative by
regularly meeting and engaging with the project team leads.
3. Communications Management
The
number of communications paths on a mega-project is daunting. I once
worked on a mega-project with eight senior executive stakeholders and
several hundred resources. There were 28 communication paths within the
leadership team and over a hundred thousand across the entire project.
A
comprehensive and well considered communications strategy is
indispensable. The communications plan should be created to ensure that
people receive information that caters to their needs. Poor project
communications can resemble the children’s game ‘whisper down the lane’
or ‘telephone.’
Effective
communication is measured by what is received, rather than what is
sent. Consequently, the communication should be ‘listener centric’ and
should be tailored to the recipient. For example:
- Status, issues, and risks should be articulated differently for the project team and the executives.
- Requirements or design changes should be communicated in a way that is meaningful to the impacted team.
4. Project Management Processes
Organizations starting mega-projects often see an opportunity to change their project development methodology.
If
you have a functioning, well-adopted, and well-understood methodology,
do not introduce radically different practices. Project teams know and
understand the current process. Introducing a new one may create more
confusion than benefit.
If
you adopt a new methodology, ensure that the process is clear and
simple and that all scenarios have been incorporated to avoid having
teams improvise parts of the process. The risk and rewards built into
the methodology should also anticipate the impact on the organization’s
culture and role expectations.
5. Project Tools
Project
tools are not typically implemented to meet the unique needs of the
mega-project. When effectively used, the following types of tools can
enhance collaboration, communication, and coordination:
- Project scheduling and interdependency management
- Resource estimation, tracking, and cost management
- Documentation management
- Change management
- Communications
Establish
the tools before the project gets too big, and configure the tools to
enable rather than hinder the teams. Reconfiguring tools midstream
distracts from execution and is costly. Seemingly simple questions can
have large impacts on how the tools are configured and the project data
is integrated. For example: What is the hierarchy of the projects to the
program? Do we organize the document repository by project or by
document type?
Ensure
that you have skilled and experienced resources to build, maintain, and
use the super-sized tools. For example: a master scheduler with
mega-project experience is invaluable. If you hire new external
resources, pair them with tenured staff so that the new processes
resonate with legacy operations and culture.
Mega-projects
are exciting—they enable transformational opportunities. Leaders of
mega-projects and project organizations need to understand that they are
different than typical ‘large’ projects. To be successful, plan for the
scope and scale required for managing this massive effort. Good luck!
