Ensuring You Have a Strong Foundation for Project Success

CONFIDENTIAL 1 INDEPENDENT PROJECT ANALYSIS

IPA’s Organizations & Teams Services Ensuring You Have a Strong Foundation for Project Success

Optimizing the Project Organization

Strengthening the Project Team

Organizational Assessments

Organizational Effectiveness

Organizational Design

Work Process Effectiveness

Organizational Dynamics

Staffing Guidance and

Benchmarking

Structure Optimization

Alignment & Functionality


The Problem• The project organization is the heart of

capital effectiveness – if it isn’t working properly, teams can not be effective

How IPA Can Help

• Identify organizational gaps that inhibit the successful implementation of Best Practices on projects

Methodology• Assess elements of organizational

effectiveness relative to Industry best practice:

‒ Structure of the project system

‒ Work process implementation

‒ Staffing of project personnel relative

Organizational Effectiveness AssessmentOrganization






Organizational Effectiveness Assessment Process

Organization

1 Orientation & Preparation

2 Interview & Analysis

3 Deliverable Preparation & Delivery

• Align expectations and establish preliminary understanding of the project organization

• Organization completes workbooks and sends supporting documentation

• Collect data through interviews with organization leadership and key personnel

• Compare organization with industry best practices and prepare staffing benchmarks

• Presentation delivered to organization leadership:

‒ Identifies organizational strengths & opportunities

‒ Includes organizational effectiveness metrics

‒ Compares staffing to Industry given portfolio characteristics

‒ Provides specific, actionable recommendation

Timing: Approximately 4-6 Weeks






The Problem• Capital effectiveness is dependent on the

project organization effectively supporting project teams in the use of Best Practices

How IPA Can Help

• Identify opportunities to strengthen the support the project organization provides to capital projects

Methodology

Organizational Design AssessmentOrganization

• Detailed assessment of the project organization’s structure, involvement in the project work process, and responsibilities relative to top performing organizations in Industry






Organizational Design Assessment Example: Comparison of Organization Responsibilities

Element Organization

Class A Project Management Organizations

A B C D E

Developing and Maintaining a Common Work Process

Maintaining Cost Estimating Skills and Databases

Providing Work Process Assurance

Providing Value Assurance/Endorsement of Project Readiness at Gates

Providing Functional Leadership for Project Professionals

Developing Competent Project Professionals

Monitoring Project Performance

Facilitating Post-Project Reviews/Lessons Learned Workshops

Maintaining a Portfolio Status Report/Watch List on a Routine Basis

= Full/Sole Responsibility = Partial/Shared Responsibility = No Responsibility

Example


Organizational Design Assessment Process

Organization




• Align expectations and establish preliminary understanding of the organization

• Organization completes online survey and sends supporting documentation

• Collect data through interviews with organization leadership and key personnel

• Compare organization with Class A project organizations

• Presentation delivered to organization leadership:

‒ Identifies organizational strengths & opportunities

‒ Assesses organization’s status relative to top project organizations

‒ Provides specific, actionable recommendations







The Problem

How IPA Can Help

• Align work process and procedures with Best Practice

Methodology

Work Process EffectivenessOrganization

• Assessments are customized based on client-specific needs, but generally fall into two categories:

‒ Comparison to Industry Best Practice

‒ Build or optimize the process to align with Industry best





• Even with an established work process, projects still fail

• An effective project process improves capital effectiveness by ensuring:

‒ Only the right projects are developed and executed

‒ Project teams use best practices


Work Process Effectiveness ProcessOrganization




• Align expectations and establish preliminary understanding of the project system and work process

• Company provides work process documentation (e.g. process maps and deliverable guidelines)

• Interview organization leadership and project personnel

• Assess work process (or plans) relative to best practices

• Optional add: Evaluate application of written processes

• Optional add: Refine process to align with best practices





• Presentation/report delivered that identifies:

‒ Process strengths and weaknesses

‒ Specific, actionable recommendations

• Optional add: Create or refine of work process documentation (e.g. process maps and deliverable templates)

Timing: Approximately 6-10 weeks


The Problem• Project personnel are in the best position

to understand the true status of the organization but often have no way to communicate concerns

How IPACan Help

• Quantify project personnel perceptions of the project system’s health

• Identify organizational gaps that impede capital effectiveness

Methodology

Measuring Organizational DynamicsOrganization

• Online questionnaire completed by project personnel working in or with the project organization

• Responses aggregated to identify areas of strength, opportunity, and misalignment






Project Personnel Perception of Organizational Dynamics Is Measured

Across Four Elements

Organization





Project personnel rate each statement on a Likert scale ranging from Strongly Agree (1) to Strongly Disagree (7)

Target Setting

Clarity of Business Objectives

Contracting Strategies

Project Procurement

Team Staffing

Work Process Clarity and Support

Decision-Making Effectiveness

Gatekeeping & Governance Process

Organizational Support

Vision

Strategy

Alignment

Involvement

Functional Collaboration

Communication

Satisfaction

Commitment to Continuous Improvement

Project ProcessProject Leadership

Project Development Culture & Behaviors


Organizational Dynamics ProcessOrganization

1 Orientation & Data Collection

2 Analysis


• Align expectations and establish basic understanding of the project organization

• Project personnel complete online survey

• Analyze personnel responses

• Identify areas project personnel feel are functioning well, areas of concern, and areas with high variability

• Presentation delivered that identifies:

‒ Areas of strength, opportunity, and misalignment

‒ Trends based on function, experience, and employment

‒ Areas of greatest risk and recommendations to close gaps







The Problem• Resource limitations create inefficiencies

and gaps in the information process

• Projects with resource limitations are on average 25 percent more expensive, have 20 percent more cost growth, and have 5 percent worse schedule slip

How IPA Can Help

• Determine if a project team has (or plans to have) enough of the right people

Methodology• Identify industry team staffing

benchmarks based on the project’s unique characteristics including size and scope

• Project team’s staffing by phase and function is compared to benchmarks to identify areas of staffing strength and risk

Project Team Staffing AssessmentProject Teams

Staffing Guidance and Benchmarking


Alignment and Functionality


Function Poor Caution Good Revisit

Line Functions

Project Management

Engineering

Construction Management

Operations & Maintenance

Commissioning

Support Functions

Project Services

HSSE

Procurement & Contracting

QA/QC

Stakeholder Relations

Interface Management

IT/IM

Commercial

Finance

Corporate Services

Project Team Staffing Example:Summary of Results

Example


Team Staffing Process




• Align expectations and establish preliminary understanding of the project scope, cost, schedule and team

• Project team provides supporting documentation

• Collect data through interviews with project leadership

• Perform team staffing analysis

• Presentation delivered to the project team:

‒ Identifies team staffing strengths and opportunities

‒ Compares staffing by function to Industry Best

‒ Provides specific recommendations to close staffing gaps


Project Teams





The Problem• Information is at the core of capital

projects

• The organization of teams directly affects the production and flow of information

How IPA Can Help

• Identify or optimize the project team structure to maximize accurate and timely information production, flow, and use

Methodology• Identify comparable industry projects and

perform a detailed study of the team size and structure

• Produce detailed organization charts and provide recommendations on structuring the team during each project phase

Project Team Structure OptimizationProject Teams





Project Team Structure Optimization Process




• Align expectations and establish preliminary understanding of the project scope, cost, schedule and team

• Project team provides supporting documentation

• Collect data through interviews with the project team

• Identify set of comparable projects and analyze organizational structure

• Create detailed organizational charts containing alternatives and their associated trade-offs

• Presentation delivered to the project team that provides:

‒ Detailed organizational charts

‒ Research and insights to guide structural decision-making

‒ Guidelines to align current structure with recommendations


Project Teams





The Problem• Team members are in the best position to

understand the true status of the project but often have no way to communicate concerns

• A functioning project team delivers projects at an average of 30 percent lower cost

• A poorly functioning team averages 40 percent budget overruns

How IPACan Help

• Quantify team member’s perceptions of the project’s health

• Identify underlying issues that jeopardize project success

Methodology• Online questionnaire completed by project team

members

• Responses aggregated and compared to Industry to identify risk areas

Measuring Team FunctionalityProject Teams





Project Personnel Perception of Team Functionality Is Measured

Across Four Elements

Project Teams




Project DevelopmentProject Leadership

Team Behavior Project Success

Project personnel rate each statement on a Likert scale ranging from Strongly Agree (1) to Strongly Disagree (7)

Communication

Conflict Resolution

Commitment

Clarity of Business & Project Objectives

Stakeholder Alignment

Project Risks

Competency of Team

Decision-Making Effectiveness

Vision

Strategy

Functional Integration

Team’s Perception of Project Success


Team Functionality Element Good Fair

Ind

ustr

yA

vera

ge

Cautionary Problematic

Clear Objectives

Stakeholder Support and Alignment

Team Alignment

Effective Decision Making

Technology Understood

Project Risks Understood

Competent Project Team

Realistic Cost and Schedule Targets

Good Basis for Cost/Schedule Control

Roles and Responsibilities Understood

Team Behavior

Project Process

Project Vision

Confidence in Project Success

Team Functionality Example:

Summary of Results

Example


Project Team Functionality Assessment Process

1 Orientation & Data Collection

2 Analysis


• Align expectations and establish an understanding of the project scope and status

• Team members complete online survey

• Analyze team responses

• Compare with Industry

• Identify team strengths and opportunities

• Presentation delivered:

‒ Compares project team’s perception of key elements relative to Industry

‒ Highlights areas of concern within project context

‒ Provides specific recommendations to help the project team address issues


Project Teams





IPA’s Organizations & Teams Services

Optimizing the Project Organization

Strengthening the Project Team

Organizational Assessments





Alignment & Functionality

Have a specific question about your project organization or teams?

Ask us!The knowledge gained from our research and extensive data allow us to

help find solutions to your specific needs

For More Information, Contact Sarah

Sparks, IPA’s Organizations & Teams

Product Champion

+1 703 726 5487

[email protected]

Ensuring You Have a Strong Foundation for Project Success

Leadership & Management

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