Big/Major projects?

Blog piece by Adrian Pyne

In the last couple of years a number of conference sessions have been devoted to "Big" or "Major" projects. Attending some of these I have been struck by the descriptions of the approaches used to manage these projects. I was struck by the resemblance of these approaches to best practise Programme Management which has been evolving now for around 20 years.

So I started the discussion strand to put the challenge out there by posing the question: do they really exist as separate business challenges, or is someone re-inventing the wheel?

The actual question posed was: Do big/major projects really exist or are they really programmes by another name?

Responses and contributions so far from a wide range of people, from public and commercial sectors, consultants and included senior management and international comments.

Here is a summary of responses so far:

• Significant agreement that projects and programmes are often confused
• That the term “project” is frequently applied to an entity that has all the hallmarks of a programme – especially in the area of change
• That many senior managers do not have any idea of the difference between programme management and project management
• That a series of small projects is often easier to sell to a Board than a large programme
• That the parameters (i.e. time/cost/quality) are more tightly drawn for projects than programmes – by this definition building a large dam is a big project while decommissioning a nuclear power station is a programme
• That there are governance differences between programmes and projects
• That there probably are big projects
• That the governance of big projects is more monolithic than complex
• That if the additional programme management overhead cannot be justified then you probably have a big project using a project management approach
• There are also portfolios of projects and even programmes to consider
• One indication is who has responsibility for transition into operations. If the responsibility of the programme manager then its probably a programme, if with the operations manager, then its probably a project.
• The difference is not clear but we need clear blue water or drop the terms big/major projects completely  - at least in our profession

Where I am aiming for this to go is to understand whether big or major projects really do exist instead of just be programmes by another name. And if they do exist how are they differentiated from programmes, or, in other words, what are the characteristics of a big or major project?

In truth while the views expressed are valuable we need some research on this….any university business schools interested?

My grateful thanks to those who have contributed to the blog to date. For my take on this please come to Knowledgeshare 2009 and even better, join in the debate on the day.

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am an MSc student at Warwick University conducting my research project on Project Portfolio Management (PPM) examining the way organisations select and prioritise their programmes and projects.

I seek the help of people working in the project and programme management area to complete a short questionnaire on their views of the topic.

If you are able to help please visit the online survey at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=NyfkTIsznoia5IlOSK148A_3d_3d

I hope to share the analysed results of the survey with respondents.

Thank you in advance for helping the research project of a student.

Best Regard

Onyekachi Nwankwo

On 12th May, Paul Rayner, ProgM's Chairman visited the Wessex branch of the Association for Project Management at Eastleigh in Hampshire and spoke in support of the branch's AGM.
 
Paul's subject was "Projects, Programmes and Portfolios - why do we need them".  He used real-life examples, such as Heathrow's Terminal 5, to illustrate the differences and summarised some of the advantages of each model.  He also pointed out that, in practice, organisations often used hybrid structures combining elements of each.  Following the formal presentation, there were many questions and much discussion from the well-informed and highly-experienced audience.
 
At the close of the meeting, Russel Jamieson, the branch's Chairman, asked Paul to draw the winners of a raffle.  The prizes were two copies of the APM's "Models to Improve the Management of Projects", which includes a description of ProgM's Programme Management Maturity Model (PMMM).   The photograph shows Paul with the two winners, Elizabeth Russell and Jon Holgate.
 
A copy of Paul's presentation is available on the ProgM Website at www.e-programme.com.

Geoff Reiss, who is Honorary President of ProgM, is also one of the judges.

The Association for Project Management have just invited entries for the annual project management awards. Entry forms for the awards are now available on the APM website at www.apm.org.uk.

Amongst the glitterati at the awards event in October will be the three finalists for the Programme of the Year 2009 sponsored by Program Framework.

A well known, but yet unannounced celebrity will open a golden envelop with shaking hands and read the lucky winner’s name.   This is the Project Management version of the Oscars.

The 2008 winning team relocated Eurostar operations from Waterloo to St Pancras. Previously the Danske Bank/Bank of Ireland merger programme team celebrated their win.

Have you a programme worthy of consideration? The judging is very fair and open and the award is definitely worth winning, the 2009 winner will join a list of great programmes. See here for the APM’s general announcement.

Specialist training workshops

Monday 8th and Thursday 11th June 2009
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Tube: Holborn
Conference day = 9 APM CPD Hours
Workshop day = 6 APM CPD Hours

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