What is the Owner’s Role in Project Success?

Debra Nauta-RodriguezSmithsonian Institution

Leadership for Today

WorleyParsons

Leadership – Bridging the Gap

• Andrew Bates

• Dan Christian

• Curtis Fisher

• John Friedrich

• Bud Griffis

• Dale Griffith

• Scott Hill

• Tony Palma

• Brian Kong

• Fred Lyu

• David McKinney

• Peter Murphy

• Debra Nauta-Rodriguez

• Joel Sauer

• Jim Vicknair

• Paul Walls

Project Success

TeamWork

Project Failures

Leadership of TomorrowBridging the Gap

• RT 204 created to answer the question…

What is the “RIGHT” level of owner involvement that leads

to project SUCCESS?

Statement of Project Success

The “RIGHT” level of owner involvement is the key to

project SUCCESS

Who is the Owner?

The ultimate decision making authority

In many projects, the “owner” may change throughout the life of the project

Upon completion: owns & operates facility

Project Success

Project Success =

Achieving the stated goals & objectives

*Respondents provided the

success criteria used on their

project

Success Factor

Safety

Duration (Schedule)

Budget

Quality

Business Expectations

Future work

Profit / Return on Investment

Other:

“Project Success”

Success Factors Outcome

ZERO Incidents SPR

Finish On or Ahead of Schedule DPR

Finish On or Below Budget CPR

Finish Project With Specified Quality QPR

Achieve All Business Goals BPR

SAFETY*

DURATION

COST

QUALITY

BUSINESS

* CII Owner’s Role in Construction Safety Report

Research Effort

1.Developed a survey for CII membersLiterature review, CII Benchmarking,

PDRI questionnaire

2.Collected 73 projects (45 companies)

3.Conducted quantitative & qualitative analysis

What Can the Owner Do to Affect the Outcomes?

Owner’sInvolvementPre-

Project Planning

Project Management

Leadership

Outcomes of System Performance

Safety*Duratio

nCost Quality

Business

Drivers of System PerformanceInputs

1 < x ≤ 2 2 < x ≤ 3 3 < x ≤ 4 4 < x ≤ 5

10

13

18

32

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

1 < X = 2 2 < X = 3 3 < X = 4 4 < X = 5

Cost Performance Results

73 Total Projects = 3.66

Nu

mb

er o

f P

roje

cts

10

13

18

32

Pre-Project Planning

Owner Involvement

Leadership

Project Management

Owner Actions Drive Success

Improved input = Improved outcome

Increase the value of the owner input

IMPROVED

OUTCOME

Leadership Principles

Team Leadership

Owner Leadership

BusinessLeadershi

p

Leadership Performance

Leadership Principles

Business Leadership

– Communicate the business plan

– Foster an innovative environment

– Evaluate available resources

– Train employees in core competencies

– Emphasize scope definition & management

“Drivers of System Performance”

Pre-Project Planning

Owner’s Involvement

Leadership Performance

Project Management

“System Performance Results”

Safety

Duration

Cost

Business

Quality

Owner’s Role Implementation Tool

Come to Our Implementation Session

• What makes a project successful

• How to measure what you are doing during the project to ensure you are on track

• Make your project successful

Austin 1-33:15 - 4:15 pm and 4:30 - 5:30 pm