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DAR AL RIYADH INSIGHT #34

Insight #34 Giga Program Manager’s Checklist - Part 1 – Program Management Perspective and Program Governance

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.

Introduction

Program management is about managing the challenges of scale and complexity. It is also about capturing the opportunities of leverage. In the engineering and construction sector, program management is begins in front end engineering and design (FEED) and continues through the engineering and construction phase.

Large programs in the engineering and construction industry comprise a multiplicity of projects that together create scale challenges in engineering, procurement, construction, and logistics which may dwarf even the largest single project. Such a program is the norm when it comes to giga projects. A giga project can be defined as a large-scale megaproject with dramatically increased complexity and often increased durations. Often considered as those projects in excess of $10 billion, giga projects typically encompass a number of megaprojects that comprise the overall project and program.

Program management requires a broader, more strategic focus than project management and a tighter integration across all elements of the execution process. The following are a few of the activities that the program manager must pay particular attention to. These should be viewed as supplementing or amplifying more traditional good project management practices.

The checklist contained in this series of Insights is compiled from, “The GIGA Factor: Program Management in the Engineering & Construction Industry”, published by the Construction Management Association of America (CMAA).

The checklist has been segregated into four parts:

Part 1 - Program Management Perspective and Program Governance

Part 2 - Program Initiation and Program Execution

Part 3 - Program Management Oversight (PMO) and Risks and Opportunities

Part 4 – Sustainability and Innovation

 

Program Management Perspective

1. Ensure owner’s organization and PMC (program management consultant or contractor) team have a true program management perspective.
   1. Is their program management perspective holistic?
   2. Does their program management perspective consider the full life cycle?
2. Does project selection support the defined strategic business objectives (SBOs) that the owner has articulated?
   1. Is each project, its phasing, and its features absolutely required to meet strategic business objectives? If not seek clarification, resolution, and alignment between owner and PMC organizations.
3. Are the owner’s SBOs well defined, communicated, and reinforced?
   1. If key owner and PMC managers are asked to describe them, will they know what they are? Are they aligned?
4. Have top level key performance indicators (KPIs) been put in place that allow measurement of strategic business objectives and desired outcomes?
5. Is the owner’s organization, including executive (board and C-suite) and supporting functions (legal, procurement), aligned with the strategic business objectives and the selected strategy?
6. Have key stakeholders been identified and liaison efforts adequately progressed at program initiation?

 

Program Governance

7. Does the collective execution team understand the differences between program and project management and how their roles shift under program management?
8. Is the concept of “white space” clearly understood and have organizational elements and processes provided for its continued understanding and exploration?
9. Have traditional alignment efforts been broadened to account for this more holistic and life-cycle perspective that programs require as well as ensuring alignment around strategic business objectives, execution strategy, and changed organizational roles?
10. Are the owner’s perspectives and drivers well understood by the program team and have they been comprehensively communicated to all program and project participants?
11. Have oversight organizations within the owner organization been comprehensively and clearly identified and are they included in alignment processes?
12. Has the gated execution process been well developed and expectations at each stage gate assessed and agreed to between the PMC, the owner, and other key stakeholders?
13. Are processes in place to adequately identify risks and opportunities that either exist within the “white space” between projects or are cross-cutting or multi-project in nature?
14. Have areas that may lend themselves to a PMC⁺ (management plus some elements of execution) vs a traditional PMC (no elements of execution) approach been identified and reviewed with the client?
15. Are the program management roles in stakeholder management clearly defined and are all program level stakeholders adequately addressed? Is there clarity in contractor roles in stakeholder management? Are clear messages defined across the program?
16. Is a formal organizational change management process in place and accepted by the various program participants?
17. Have key focus areas and challenges experienced in a program management approach been reviewed collectively with the owner?
18. Has a common program problem checklist been reviewed?
19. Has adequate attention to governance structures occurred and are governance relationships well understood and agreed to?
20. Does the program approach incorporate the key success factors for program management?
21. Are strategy and governance mutually reinforcing?
22. Is the need for change, in all dimensions, recognized and agreed to? Are the requisite commitments and resources in place?
23. Do the selected project execution framework processes comprehensively address the programs likely set of needs? Are the management and project execution systems agreed to and accepted?
24. Are metrics related to the various elements of strategic program management in place and are they being effectively used?
25. Have cultural factors and their role in organizational transformation been fully taken into account?
26. Are required changes required for organizational transformation and their rationale clearly communicated and explained?
27. Is the owner’s primary executive sponsor sufficiently and meaningfully engaged? Is there a shared understanding of the keys to success with this individual?
28. Is the program team professionally and emotionally engaged and understand what success looks like?
29. Have “change-agents” to drive organizational transformation been clearly identified, roles well thought out, and clearly communicated?
30. Have potential barriers to change been reviewed with the program team and “change-agents” and strategies developed to address them if they emerge?
31. Is the change management plan fully integrated into the overall program plan?
32. Has the program governance regime been clearly defined and the necessary alignment activities undertaken between owner and program management staff? Do accountabilities, responsibilities, authorities, and program policies and processes reinforce the agreed-to governance regime?
33. Have key success factors in program governance been reviewed as part of alignment activities?

 

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