Our Insights
Insight #8 Foundations for Success – Inadequate owner readiness
Dar Al Riyadh Insights reflect the knowledge and experience of our Board, executives and staff in leading and providing PMC, design and construction management services. Dar Al Riyadh believes in the importance of broadly sharing knowledge with our clients and staff to improve project outcomes for the benefit of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Large complex projects require strong foundations if they are to be successful. Arguably, these are the same foundations any project would require but experience suggests otherwise. When we look at recurrent weaknesses in foundations for success of large complex projects we see several recurring themes.
This Insight looks at another of these weaknesses.
Inadequate owner readiness
Major projects often succeed or fail based on the readiness of the owner’s organization. It is clear there are certain elements of readiness which must be in place in order to promote project success. Owner’s readiness must look specifically at issues within the owner’s organization, its processes, and the level of shared understanding.
Execution frameworks greatly impact program success. As part of readiness activities, the owner’s organization must have a secure handle on several execution processes that include but are not limited to:
- Business model, scenarios, and relationship to program.
- Prerequisites for owner’s executive approvals and linkage to a formal stage gate process, including clarity and comprehensiveness of stage gate requirements and processes; stage gate approvals, authorities granted, resource commitments and constraints; and an approvals matrix.
- Prerequisites for external approvals.
- External approval requirements, timing, and likelihood.
- External prerequisites linked to stage gates including regulatory approvals required, process clarity, and timing, including safety case requirements; and process for property acquisition.