Change management. Interim manager.
Operational management.
Project management – design and delivery. Project management – delivery.
Public sector procurement.
Software design, production & maintenance. Business case production.
Technical design – control rooms. ITS – technology and operations. Business turnaround
Business start up. Consultancy – strategy.
Engineering design and management. Coaching and team building.
CLIENT SKILLS DEPLOYED
Client
(extra detail if required)
What client does, line of biz
SITUATION
CHALLENGE
ACTIONS
CLIENT SKILLS DEPLOYED
Serco Consulting
(for Transport for London)
Associate consultant with Serco
Consulting.
Control room design Control room operations
Project management – org design. Public sector procurement
Consultancy
SITUATION
Serco Consulting, together with delivery partners Ove Arup and Booz, were engaged by Transport for London to design and deliver elements of functionality for the Olympic Delivery Authority’s (ODA) Transport Coordination Centre (TCC).
CHALLENGE
To improve the design and minimise risk, the client requested supplementary input from a subject matter expert on control room operations and design, procure and implement projects in TfL to ensure the designs were fit for purpose, pragmatic and deliverable. These were specialist skills in short supply.
ACTIONS
Keith Fisher was engaged as a subject matter expert to provide input to the project team on control room operations, control room design and public sector project and procurement management particularly in TfL.
A Design Review Panel was formed to assure content of design as it was being produced rather than at the end of a long design phase. This allowed designs to be modified in a more timely manner and facilitated joint working between work streams.
Design standards were drafted and SharePoint introduced to facilitate sharing of information across a multi-discipline team.
A transformation map was developed to show the interdependency between work streams and other delivery partners and the progression of the evolution of the control centre in relation to test events leading up to the opening ceremony.
Critiqued design documents, provided ad hoc advice and counsel to the client and project team on control room operations.
RESULT
Design of TCC improved. Integrity of documents and project deliverables improved. Timelines to 2012 produced, risk management and design review process introduced with purpose of reducing risk to key components of the TCC design such as information gathering and reporting processes, resourcing levels, management structures and supporting
CLIENT SKILLS DEPLOYED
Highways Agency and
Surrey County Council
Associate consultant with Parsons
Brinckerhoff
Control room operations. Project management. Consultancy.
ITS – technology and operations.
SITUATION
The Highways Agency (HA) was delivering a project in conjunction with Surrey County Council (SCC) to improve the use of, and minimise the disruption to, certain key routes in the Surrey area managed by the HA and SCC. In particular the interfaces between HA and SCC managed routes were of interest.
CHALLENGE
A specialist’s input was required to assess and design the operational implications for improved joint operations and network management of HA/SCC managed key routes in the Surrey area. The specialist needed to be skilled in ITS technology, control room operations, performance management and information dissemination as well as be a proficient project manager.
ACTIONS
Designed questionnaire and interview process to capture user requirements from multiple stakeholder communities.
Analysed user requirements and reported recommendations for those interventions deemed appropriate in terms of cost, timeliness and deliverability.
Designed follow on information capture process to elicit operational detail from control room staff in the HA and SCC, conducted interviews and documented results to provide a baseline of operational capability and assess where gaps may be perceived.
Drafted information collation and delivery strategies to provide a basis on which subsequent design and procurement could be based.
Documented four options for joint operations and identified preferred option to be pursued in business case.
RESULT
User requirements were documented and assessed for appropriateness in terms of cost, practicality and deliverability. Outline strategies were produced for the dissemination of information to the travelling public and other traffic management bodies. Proposals for enhancements to joint operations were documented providing an input for the business case
CLIENT SKILLS DEPLOYED
Directorate of Information
Metropolitan Police Service
Emergency services.
Project management. Public sector procurement. Business case production.
Technical design – control rooms.
SITUATION
The Directorate of Information delivers the information and communications systems used by the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS). The control rooms from which MPS operations are conducted needed to be reconfigured and augmented to allow the MPS to manage its resources in the lead up to, and during, the London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic Games.
CHALLENGE
The fact that there was an immovable deadline (Olympic opening ceremony) and that the control rooms were the primary and fallback operational control rooms for all MPS planned and unplanned operations meant a suitably skilled project manager was needed to inject pace and rigour into the technical delivery aspects of the control room reconfiguration project to ensure timescales and budgets were met whilst operations were not compromised.
ACTIONS
Developed and delivered the technical costs for inclusion in the business case.
Clarified the governance process for business case sign off; the process became a template for subsequent projects.
Drew up and documented the procurement strategy to identify roles and responsibilities in a complex multi- stakeholder multi-contract project.
Developed the implementation strategy for the roll-out of new technology to minimise risk exposure to operations whilst maintaining pace and allowing for lesson learned to be applied in a cumulative way to further reduce risk.
Set up the governance bodies to technical design, procurement and delivery.
Procured and delivered an audit of the pre-project configurations of technology in the control rooms and technical equipment rooms at the primary and fallback sites to create a clear baseline from which additions and amendments could be accurately assessed.
RESULT
Business case passed successfully through governance. Risks and implementation plans accepted at Gateway OGC review. Project in delivery.
CLIENT SKILLS DEPLOYED
Transport for London
Public sector; transport management.
Project management. Public sector procurement. Business case production.
Technical design – control rooms.
SITUATION
TfL intended to co-locate its existing traffic and transport management control rooms at a new location and create the capability to co-host the Olympic transport coordination centre in readiness for the London 2012 Olympic Games.
CHALLENGE
Attempts to co-locate and harmonise traffic and transport management control centres in the past had failed due to insufficient stakeholder engagement and commitment. Funding for the project was firmly constrained, there had to be no impact upon existing operational capability during the course of the programme and the capabilities and facilities of the new location had to meet (preferably exceed) current requirements.
ACTIONS
Architect for the entire management of the project: designed and set up the governance, stakeholder and communications methods, created the monitoring, controlling and reporting tools and processes; developed and rigorously managed the risk and issue management methods for the £15M pound investment.
Developed and delivered the business case for the co-location proposal.
Personally led all aspects of the project, defined the governance, communication and stakeholder engagement.
Managed multi-agency stakeholders (underground, buses, London traffic control centre, Metropolitan Police and British Transport Police) to deliver the programme.
Authored all procurement specifications and managed the entire procurement process. Led and programme managed [using PRINCE2] the design of the control room environment and facilities for the co-location at one facility of six existing operational control rooms in preparation for the Olympics. Did not interrupt 24/7 operations of existing facilities.
RESULT
World class co-located transport management facilities available in readiness for London 2012 Olympics.
CLIENT SKILLS DEPLOYED
Transport for London
Public sector; transport management.
Project management. Public sector procurement. Business case production. Change management
SITUATION
The maintenance contract for London’s entire traffic management equipment and systems was scheduled to expire on 1st Apr 2008. TfL expected to introduce a replacement contract that would provide better service to TfL (and the travelling public), transfer some of the risk to the contractor and improve value for money.
CHALLENGE
The teams appointed to deliver the new contract were not performing well, consultancy costs were rising and there was a growing concern that the new contract would (a) not be in place in time, (b) not offer reduced costs and (c) not provide improved service.
ACTIONS
Designed the entire project management structure and process for the delivery of the project. Engaged and led the teams (24+) comprising three consultancies.
Successfully took control of a faltering project to introduce a £100M output-based contract for the maintenance of London’s traffic control equipment.
Led the design of the new contract, its business case and procurement process including invitation to tender, evaluation methodology / process and the documentation of all results. Led the tendering process, evaluation of tenders, clarifications and award of contract. Managed the [political] stakeholder engagement process, the authoring of all approvals papers through all levels of TfL management up to and including the TfL Board.
Managed the development of an Oracle-based database for the administration of the assets and the associated availability and fault history information.
Managed the transfer of the IM systems to a Unified Environment, creating higher levels of resilience and improved levels of service.
Delivered the contract using an assembled team of two dozen consultants from three separate firms within budget and to timescales.
Managed the development of the TfL team responsible for administering the new contract.
RESULT
Contract in place one month ahead of schedule, delivered for less than stated 2% of contract cost and with an element of change management woven into scope to prepare the
organisation for the new contract.
Higher availability of traffic control equipment, reduced operating costs, improved responsiveness, transferred responsibility to contractors, enhanced service.
CLIENT SKILLS DEPLOYED
Transport for London
Public sector; transport management.
Operational management. Change management. Interim manager.
SITUATION
TfL had been unable to recruit a suitable permanent member of staff to take up the assistant director role for Real-Time Operations (the other three departments in the directorate had management heads). I was appointed to lead the department until a full-time member of staff had been appointed.
CHALLENGE
The 2 teams making up department were not working in harmony and there was a certain level of misplaced rivalry between teams. I was expected to develop the business
competencies of the junior management, align the two sub-departments and generate cooperation and a sense of common purpose. Additionally, I was tasked with introducing KPIs so that the performance of the operational teams could be better assessed and managed.
ACTIONS
Designed, led and embedded business improvements and resilience in real-time operations for a 24/7 operational department comprising 100 staff to meet London’s objective of
“Keeping London Moving”; improving communication between agencies and enhancing resilience and business continuity.
Led, as the architect, the improvements to the organisation, the team make-up and
processes to realise significant improvements to performance in operation. Introduced KPIs and balanced scorecard techniques.
Acted as the chief client for a variety of operational projects to realise enhancements and changes to operational practices and systems.
Championed the elevation of data and information management to achieve performance improvements and allow TfL meet the challenges of a major world city.
Developed continuous improvement initiatives; led the adoption / take up of these initiatives.
RESULT
Focussed departments, motivated workforce. Individual performance aligned by a series of mutually supportive KPIs through teams, departments to TfL goals
CLIENT SKILLS DEPLOYED
Transport for London
Public sector; transport management.
Interim manager. Change management.
Project management – design and delivery. Software design, production & maintenance. Public sector procurement.
SITUATION
The business case for the introduction of new directorate for traffic operations in TfL had been authorised and an interim director appointed to lead its creation. Although existing teams and staff were available, there were no assistant directors, no operating philosophy, no documented roadmap and vision.
CHALLENGE
The directorate needed to be up and running quickly, leadership of the development and delivery arm of the directorate was paramount to demonstrate capability and attract funding. The operating philosophy of the department needed to be communicated and “lived” and a technical and operational roadmap was required to explain how the directorate would develop over 20 years.
ACTIONS
Designed, led and embedded project management, software development and maintenance and system development and resilience capability for a technical department of 50 in TfL. PRINCE2 methodology deployed.
Assisted in the development of the project office capability and delivery of projects working with a project office staff of six. Developed gate review mechanisms and coached staff on the application of gateway reviews.
Introduced a product-based method of managing the technical evolution of hardware and software technologies to achieve strategic goals.
Provided coaching to project managers in the use of structured methodologies [PRINCE2] for the delivery of projects.
Provided leadership to the formulation of a 20 year strategic vision for traffic operations in London.
Led the successful introduction of ISO9001 into software development and maintenance and preparing the organisation for TickIT accreditation.
Created a pool-based way of working to improve the utilisation of scarce software development skills and improve morale.
RESULT
Project office capability became more streamlined, gateway reviews became “the norm” and project managers acclimatised to the value of good process thus reducing conflict between project managers and project office.
Projects delivering benefits, software development management accredited with ISO 9001 and strategic work resulted in technology and capability roadmap.
CLIENT SKILLS DEPLOYED
British Nuclear Group
Specialists in the management and
clean-up of nuclear sites.
Change management.
Project management – design and delivery. Consultancy.
SITUATION
British Nuclear Group was part of British Nuclear Fuels Limited and its Project Services Group was responsible for the engineering design and project management of its
decommissioning services. The Project Services Group was not performing effectively in the emerging commercial market.
CHALLENGE
The Project Services Group had strong engineering and project management capability which had evolved over a number of years; however, the solutions that it was designing and endeavouring to sell were not commercially attractive. The governance for the delivery of projects was cumbersome and teams were expending more and more effort in delivering the paper trail rather than on commercially viable and pragmatic solutions.
ACTIONS
Designed and project managed the revitalising of the engineering design and project management capability for a 400 strong engineering contracting organisation as part of the Government’s drive to commercialise aspects of the nuclear industry.
Designed commercial, pragmatic and realistic project management and engineering design procedures to keep the client win business in a global market.
Coached senior management on the application of the new procedures.
RESULT
The company was better placed to submit bid-winning proposals and deliver commercially-viable engineering and project management solutions in a competitive market. It was subsequently sold as a commercial going concern.
CLIENT SKILLS DEPLOYED
Transport for London
Public sector; transport management.
Change management. Interim manager.
Project management – delivery. Public sector procurement. ITS – technology and operations.
SITUATION
Two departments were responsible for the design, development and delivery of technical solutions for TfL’s vehicle location systems & passenger information systems. They did not communicate effectively and cooperation was poor. TfL wished to introduce new technology but felt that the current organisations did not have the capability to manage the new project.
CHALLENGE
Both departments were ill-led and there was hostility towards one another and any prospect of change. Trust and rapport were absent and there were almost no documented
procedures. A change of this significance required comprehensive engagement with HR and unions. New roles had to be designed, staff hired and the new organisation led whilst
searching for and hiring a full time director.
ACTIONS
Single-handedly designed, led and embedded a business transformation that successfully introduced a project-based, customer-focused way of working for 112-strong department. Designed and rolled out a project management methodology and project office (based on PRINCE2) for the control of the portfolio of circa 50 projects (>£100M).
Put in place business case justifications, programme management methodologies, project governance, and project benefit statement & measurement systems.
Engaged stakeholders, creating communication & management systems / techniques to improve project success, minimise risk exposure, and optimise opportunities.
Initiated the introduction of new technology (GSM, GPRS, and GPS systems) to meet the evolving and expanding business requirements.
Whilst creating the organisation, designed the processes and hired the staff to operate the new organisation, also enhanced the delivery and operation of the legacy electronic and communications systems.
Handed over the management to the newly appointed Director and assisted in the bedding down of the new PM methods.
RESULT
Poorly ran, opaque projects became efficient, transparent, co-ordinated. The organisation is now able to see the issues and has sound business cases and strategies.
TfL subsequently designed, procured and is now managing, through the newly created department, a new technology roll-out programme worth £117M to locate in real-time the position of 8,000 buses and provide passenger travel information.
CLIENT SKILLS DEPLOYED
Magic4
EMS, MMS software design and
development for mobile handset
manufacturers
Project management – design and delivery. Software design, production & maintenance. Business start up.
Consultancy – strategy.
SITUATION
Magic4 was a start up entity jointly funded by 3i, Philips Ventures and Motorola Ventures. The desire was to grow the business and sell it at profit. The innovative company was burning through cash and there was a risk that funding would dry up before Magic4 would realise its potential.
CHALLENGE
There was insufficient order in the way work was being conducted, projects were being delivered and resources and products were being administered. It was also necessary to make sure innovation was not stifled by an over bureaucratic application of control.
ACTIONS
Specifically engaged to design and implement improved project management techniques to honour contract commitments for a start-up software company designing, writing and developing messaging software for mobile phones.
Created and implemented commercially-focused programme management methods, introduced project planning, reporting & control methods appropriate to the business. Created a project office capability comprising 3 people responsible for capacity and resource planning and management information on the status of projects.
Developed a product development roadmap and lifecycle methodology to minimise abortive work and encourage efficient use of development resource.
Designed resource allocation models to assist in staffing projects from resource pools of internal staff and created flexible commercial arrangements for the hire of external temporary staff to meet peak demands.
Concluded the assignment by authoring the two-year strategy for the company to enable it tap its potential, maximise its strengths and develop its core capabilities.
RESULT
The company met all its contractual commitment, new projects were better administered, efficiency improved and the company was acquired by Openwave Systems for $83M.
CLIENT SKILLS DEPLOYED
SDS (now Sepura)
Designer and supplier of TETRA portable
& mobile radios to emergency services,
military & transportation markets
Change management. Interim manager.
Project management – design and delivery. Engineering design and management. Business turnaround.
SITUATION
Brought on board by 3i to design and lead company-saving measures for an ailing telecommunications product designer developing digital TETRA radios.
CHALLENGE
A new product was delayed in development and the expectations of customers were that the product delivery (for contracts in force) would be honoured. Bid management appeared “loose,” project management (of the product development and service delivery) was sub-optimal and contract arrangements for existing maintenance provision needed an overhaul. Additionally, the ISO9001 certification was in danger of being rescinded.
ACTIONS
Designed and led the rescue activity which enabled the company to retain its ISO 9000 certification – a key success factor.
Provided direction to the 100 strong team of IT & telecoms hardware and software engineers and brought back on track the progress and focus for the design and development of a digital radio handset that was contracted for imminent delivery to UK Police forces.
Designed and led the implementation of programme management methodology for the organisation to regain control of the delivery of its new digital radio technology. Value >£100M.
Authored and directed the procurement of an outsourced repair service contract, achieving 60% savings in operating cost.
RESULT
The development of the new product was concluded and models were made available for a major conference to reassure the market. ISO9001 certification was retained, The company is now the world’s leading network-independent TETRA radio supplier.
CLIENT SKILLS DEPLOYED
Ericsson
Global provider of telecomms equipment
and related services to mobile and
fixed
network operators.
Procurement.
Project management – design and delivery. Consultancy – bid management.
Interim manager.
SITUATION
Ericsson was failing to win appropriate numbers of bids, at appropriate margins, in the emerging 3G mobile phone market. Ability to deliver on those bids which were successful was compromised given the unrealistic expectations set in the tendering phase. The tendering 3G contracts was not working.
CHALLENGE
Any remedial action identified and proposed had to (a) be implemented without stopping the business ;(b) demonstrate clearly that the plan was the appropriate way to proceed; (c) be capable of replication in other business units in the company, and, (d) completed before the expiry of 3G opportunities.
ACTIONS
Directed and won the bid for a €1M+ assignment then led it and enhanced Ericsson’s bid and contract support methods for its worldwide 3G bids.
Led a team of 20+ consultants / client staff to create a new capability to deliver business-winning bids for Ericsson, focusing on improvements to the pre-contract stages.
To demonstrate the worth of the proposed enhancements, led the pilots on live (and ultimately successful) Ericsson 3G bids thus proving the merits of the designed enhancements.
Designed the new bid-winning organisation and defining the competencies of staff needed to populate the organisation and managing the initiative for their recruitment.
Directed the handover and adoption of the improvements in the client’s organisation, helping them become the world’s most successful turnkey 3G service provider.
RESULT
Ericsson secured numerous 3G bids worldwide with improved commercial viability and reduced risk exposure.
CLIENT SKILLS DEPLOYED
GTS (Flag Atlantic-1)
Joint Venture Communications
infrastructure and service provider
Project management – design and delivery. Project management – delivery.
Procurement. Business start up.
Engineering design and management.
SITUATION
A 50:50 JV was created to deliver the world’s first transatlantic Terabit DWDM fibre optic system linking USA, Europe (France) and UK. Services were being marketed and sold and the project had to deliver to time / budget.
CHALLENGE
The technology for the high [Terabit] bandwidth was not commercially available; it was still in the labs. The 50:50 nature of the JV made decision making difficult and protracted. There was reluctance to allow the programme management team access to information, funding or resources. The business critical nature of the venture meant high levels of stakeholder interest. The banks installed their own independent engineer to vet performance.
ACTIONS
Led the programme / contract management team that successfully delivered the over-land element of the world’s first transatlantic Terabit DWDM network - a $1.2 Billion, triple redundancy, system linking New York, London & Paris.
Designed in entirety, using structured methodologies [PRINCE2], the project management capability to monitor, report, document and control the £155M terrestrial delivery.
Designed, recruited for, and led the programme office for the terrestrial partner of the joint venture comprising seven staff.
Defined the contract methodology and leading contract negotiations for the project. Directed four in-country project managers and the project office team of seven to deliver: programme, procurement & contract management, programme support office operations and co-ordination of the technical design engineers in Belgium.
Provided thought leadership to the JV President on programme and commercial
management matters and liaised directly with the funding bank’s independent engineer.
RESULT
Put in place the entire project delivery / project office capability to manage the £155M terrestrial element of the joint venture.
System using “from the lab” technology delivered ahead of time, to specification, within budget by employing innovative and commercially successful techniques. Service commercially ahead of schedule based on confidence in delivery.
CLIENT SKILLS DEPLOYED
BT Cellnet (now O2)
Global mobile phone operator.
Change management. Interim manager. Procurement. Business start up.
Project management – design and delivery.
SITUATION
Seconded to a mobile operator as project and change management expert for a £10M JV to secure a licence to operate a cellular mobile phone system in Italy.
CHALLENGE
Effort from the parties of the JV was not orchestrated effectively; there were no common systems, methods, operating principles, or agreements on the way forward. The budget for the venture was finite, the timescales for putting together a bid demanding and stakeholders were guarded in their commitments of resources. A new business model needed to be designed, rolled out and adopted.
ACTIONS
Designed and led the programme management and project office functions: building the, monitoring and reporting methods, stakeholder management techniques and business capability.
As lead for the project office of three, designed, benchmarked and managed all plans, budgets, business cases and project quality on behalf of the JV.
Hired and managed, from scratch, each member of a team of 40+ consultants and client staff to prepare the bid, and deliver a "fast-start" roll-out capability: incl. IT, radio and transmission design, roll-out and O&M skills.
Developed and implemented an innovative vendor selection and negotiation process that enabled the JV to have contracts in place ahead of the competition.
Designed HR processes, created & implemented team structures, recruited staff. Closed down the venture, documenting lessons learned and providing insights into “fast track” roll-out organisational capability.
RESULT
The project management and project office capability to manage the £10M JV were in place within a matter of weeks and evolved to meet changing demands.
CLIENT SKILLS DEPLOYED
BASE (formerly known as
KPN Orange)
Global mobile phone operator
Engineering design and management. Business turnaround
Project management – design and delivery. Interim manager.
Change management.
SITUATION
A joint venture of KPN and Orange was failing to meet the requirements of its operating licence and the conditions placed on it by the banks funding the venture. Unless demonstrable improvements in performance were made, the government proposed withdrawing the licence and the banks were considering cessation of funding.
CHALLENGE
The root causes of the failing performance needed to be identified swiftly and accurately (despite a climate of denial) and an effective, comprehensive revival plan mapped out and delivered.
The leadership of the plan required the buy-in of in-house resource and their commitment to deliver the plan. Stakeholder engagement needed to be of the highest level; results needed to be evident.
ACTIONS
Analysed the failure symptoms and recommending immediate triage actions.
Benchmarked performance metrics and formulated appropriate modifications to roll-out organisation and process to produce success.
Designed and rolled out improved project management and stakeholder management techniques.
Determined revised operational targets, which were subsequently successfully delivered by using new working practices to meet those targets.
Directed, as interim manager, the reprioritisation of the radio planning design and roll-out strategy, negotiating with multi-national team leaders to ensure buy in and adherence to the revised process improvements, and re-engineering the technical and roll-out solution.
RESULT
With confidence restored, the Belgium government ceased its actions to withdraw the operating licence and, similarly, the banks stopped their action to cease funding for the venture and to seek compensation for failure to meet funding obligations.
CLIENT SKILLS DEPLOYED
Old Mutual
Financial services: asset management,
assurance, savings.
Project management – design and delivery. Change management.
Consultancy – business strategy. Coaching and team building.
SITUATION
Old Mutual wished to list on the UK Stock Exchange. Improvements to operational performance were required to demonstrate capability and attractiveness.
CHALLENGE
Old Mutual had over 400 financial services products, a team of 400+ software programmers, business analysts, systems analysts and project management teams, little orchestration of effort and significant resource costs and morale problems.
It appeared as if the development and maintenance of its products was verging on the chaotic.
ACTIONS
A team of 12+ consultants was engaged to overhaul Old Mutual’s business planning and technical and management methods and, specifically, introduce a project-based way of working.
I led two work streams – 1 to design and develop a project management capability and 2 to introduce the resource management capability to deliver technical, administrative and project management skills in an effective way.
Designed the organisation and operation of, and migration to, a project-based organisation.
Defined the business case system, identifying and designing the resource planning and management capability to deliver the full portfolio of projects.
Designed and embedded project / project support office methodology and processes for a wholly software-based systems engineering organisation.
Designed and led the piloting of new processes prior to their full scale roll-out. Led and mentored the HR consulting team consisting of personnel from Gemini
Consulting, HR specialists and client HR staff to ensure staff development and retention and reduce contractor costs and dependency.
RESULT
The project-based organisation, its management methods and business case and
stakeholder management techniques were completely adopted and gave sufficient credibility for the company to be listed on the UK Stock Exchange.
CLIENT SKILLS DEPLOYED
Telkom South Africa
National telecommunications provider.
Project management – design and delivery. Change management.
Consultancy – business strategy. Coaching and team building.
Engineering design and management.
SITUATION
Nelson Mandela had just become president in South Africa, the incumbent telcomms
provider (Telkom) was looking to attract investment (£5Bn) and needed to demonstrate it had the ability and means to manage such an investment in an effective way.
CHALLENGE
Telkom was insufficiently well prepared to demonstrate this management capability,
particularly in terms of its programme and project management. It had no formal, company-wide project management methodology and no formal, documented means of managing its portfolio country-wide.
ACTIONS
Designed, developed and embedded a project management methodology that would be adopted by Telkom as its corporate standard and used to develop and demonstrate its competence in managing pan-South African telecoms projects:
Designed and implemented, from scratch, the entire £5Bn project management capability for the company. Defined processes to manage financial approvals, produce business cases, administer the start up, delivery and closure of projects in a proficient transparent way.
Developed a scheme to cater for Telkom’s envisaged portfolio of projects (projects ranging from months to years in duration, covering country-wide roll-outs, technical enhancements and encompassing technologies such as wire-line, data, telephony, microwave and GSM).
Derived competency models, selected, trained and coached programme
management staff in the start up phase of the “new” organisation until processes and systems were embedded.
RESULT
This transformation secured overseas investment and realised the South African
government’s strategy for Telkom. The project management methodology was documented in a manual, delivered to the project management community.
The approach was presented at the ’96 programme management conference in Singapore and judged to be best practice by the delegation.